Home Remedies For Opiate Withdrawals

Hi Rose,
There is some good info on this thread, if you look folks have laid out several plans that worked for them, these may work for you. As far as energy goes, find something naturual, I understand what you are saying that is one of the addictive qualities of these pain meds.

Georgia Shakes wrote:

Hi, thanks for the information. Will definitely look for the information on valerian root.

Shakes: So did you start the Cymbalta yet? I don't know if I want to share my Cymbalta story or not. I know thatA Depressants work for some. So, I will wait until I hear from you and see if you started them. Anyways, I see you posted today and was wondering how you are doing? Day 37 for me. I know its getting better; but of course I wish it where faster. I need to get up the energy to get a job and I just don't have it yet. I did mountain bike for 2 hours yesterday. Exercise seem the best thing for me. I have tried most of the supplements. Protein powder seems to help. I tried 5htp the other day; I had a great energy the first day and then couldn't hold my head up the next. So I stopped. I didn't take any yesterday; as I was also getting strange headaches. Keep fighting, man. It can only get better!....:)

RSTANKIEWICZ wrote:

guest wrote:

I was an opiate user for about 5 mnths (i know others were on it a lot longer than i was) but i was determined to get off the stuff because i was just tired of a pill running my life.  this is a method i've come up with and hope it helps anyone who tries it. first i took the basic formula of the Thomas Recipe (L-Tyrosine, B-6, strong multi vitamin, other vitmains for mood enhancers Immodium) and added my own little twist to it.  i started taking a strong thermogenic (oxyelite pro)twice a day to boost my metabolic rate to get the opiates out of my system quicker and speed up the withdrawl symptoms.  this also gives you more energy than any energy drink or anything else you can take i find for energy.  you can find thermogenics at any GNC, smoothie king.  and each day drink at least 2 smoothies with protien and antioxidents. well the first day was downright miserable and the first night i may have slept 2 or 3 hrs, don't know if it was my body hyped up on the thermo or just that it was the normal part of the withdrawl symptoms.  2nd day was very bearable, i was able to get out and jog/walk 2 miles, this in return made me create natural dopemine and made me feel great.  in fact after doing that, i felt almost normal the rest of the day except for the occassional goose bumps.  but i decided that i needed to sleep the 2nd night just to recharge my body so i took some benzo's to help me sleep and i can say i only woke up once during the night.  the 3rd day i was almost normal with slight body chills, but did some physical activity and got in a sauna to help expel more of those bad toxins.  by the 4th day i can say i was normal as could be, my mood was great, wanted to be around people and was finally myself again after 6 mnths of being a different person.  i hope this works for anyone that reads it and wish you all the luck on your battle with the addiction

this is the best email i have ever read..i am very addicted to pain pills and am trying to get off..i need to have energy though..that is why i was always taking them...my body is very immune to pain killers so i need a really good ENERGY med to help....i hope you get this - help..please repsond to _[removed]_.

I would research thermogenics (It’s basically just stimulants), before I would take them. And while stimulants can help you get on your feet, they also will interfere with your sleep (I do green tea at no more than 3 bags a day. Otherwise I would be awake all night. Rose, how long and how much Drug of Choice have you been taking. This will give you an honest answer to how long you will have energy problems. Yes, some people jump off and get back to somewhat normal after a week or so. Others, it takes months. It all depends on what you where taking and how much, and age. Pls don't look at this as a discouragement, as I have spent a lot of time reading and studying this subject. By all means quit. The sooner the better, that way you are that much closer to getting back to normal.

Hey Josh, yes day 2 on it, I am very leary of taking anything that will mess with my head, I have family history of mental disorders.....
first day all it did was give me the runs and keep me awake all night tossing and turning. but today I do feel better just very tired, so I am going to keep taking for a few more days, the doc wants me on 30mg a day one week, then 60 mg, a day, 2 weeks.. I am not sure of that....
Speaking of work what do you do? what area are you in? I am looking forward to getting exercise, I hope to find something that will not aggravate my back/shoulder issues. I a curious about your experience with Cymbalta, if you care to share, like I said I do not like taking anything like this. keep going, I hope I am as far along as you by day 30 :)

Well, I have tried every spectrum of the anti depression drugs and I have never had one that worked for me. Cymbalta was the scariest for me. I am a pretty gentle person at heart, but I took those for weeks and wanted to kill. I tried them a few times because I was so depressed and it was also supposed to work on pain, which it actually did. But I stopped them because I was getting homicidal. I haven't had a job in 2.5 years. I used to be a driver. And got laid off. Then I tried to get a job again as a driver and with the legal narcotic use, they won't let me drive. One of the reasons I quit. I live in the Detroit area. You?

Check out “Antidepressants Facts, The Truth about Psychiatry Depression” on youtube. Pls, just be careful.

Agreed, Josh. I've been on at least 12 anti-depressants and I've found they either don't work (at best) or make things much worse. I've also read not to take them during withdrawls, especially those of us coming off of the more addictive meds like methadone, because your brain is attempting to re-wire its self and putting more crazy chemicals in the mix impedes the process...or something like that. How are you doing, BTW? Is your depression getting any better? I hope so. This is such a dark place. :(

wow, interesting video. not surprising the pharm companies cover up the whole story. Baby you bring up my concern with this as well, during this time, but I don't know what else to try, needed to do something....but like the herbs, I am not going to take this for very much longer, I just hope with this I won't have any problem when I stop. The doc told me I can just stop taking them when ever I feel like it with no side effects, but that is not what I am reading...

Yeah... dotcors like to tell you stuff like that, Mr. Shakes. I don't trust them anymore, although I will happily keep taking benzos for the rest of my life. I swear I'm never quitting anything again!! Good luck to you & please do keep us updated. It's nice to not feel so alone, ya know?

Hi Baby, Yes it is, Thank you for taking the time to reply and you to Josh :)

I have reached out to another doctor, in the family, (he is family, that is why I have not so before, still trying to keep my struggle private :( to get his input on this latest stage and Cymbalta... I know I have had mild depression for many years and have had lots of other doctors tell me to take anti-depressants, but I have always resisted. this time around I dont know if it was just bad timing or if it was from all the years of Rx pain meds and then WD, but I just broke down.....but still holding out on the pain meds, as I know every day I am off it will just keep getting better. I just hope I can get better soon, this mental side was very unexpected and has really worried me.

Stay strong!

You stay strong too, dear. I expected depression, but not like this. I hope you can find a way out of it. Best of luck, Shakes & Josh. Let me know if you guys figure anything out that takes away this terrible urge to die, okay?

Hey, Baby.....Depression comes and goes! The hardest part of my journey is the motivation level is bad. I don't feel like doing anything. Some people may benefit from antidepressants. Not me either. They either turn me into a zombie (Paxil) or sleepy or crazy. I did have my first beers over the weekend. It was ok, but nothing special. Yep, I don't like the idea of adding anything to this mess. I like to see what is going on. I tried the 5htp and the rebound was bad (and I only took it for 2 days)...:) I am trying to let it re-wire on its own. On your last note; no I don't know of anything that will take that away. Exercise it my only help; but the problem is that I have to whip myself to do it.

Hey Shakes, Hows about an update....:) Yep Cymbalta aint no picnic to come of of. All SSRI's will give you brain Zaps, when you come off. Man they feel weird. Peace......Hope your still on track....:)

Encouragement of the day:::You have made it this far so you know all about how you’re going to feel. The guilt and shame of being addicted will only get worse if you turn back now and take more pills. Remind yourself of all the reasons why you quit: the depression, the moodiness, the lack of energy and the absence of joy in your life were largely due to pills. Now all you have to do is get through a few days of being sick and all of that can be behind you.

Hey Josh,
I am still here, trying to work today...don't have any time off left at work, so trying to hope I can push thru. Physically I am feeling better, mild shaking, headaches, stomach issues, but not a complete wreck like I have been. Mentally I am still bouncing around quite a bit, just want to get out of here. Really just think I need some more time to heal and don't want to push this with trying to pretend everything is okay at work, because it is pretty obvious it is not :(
But hey, one more day closer!
Peace

It's been 4.5 days since my last dose of oxycodone. I started using opiates recreationally back in high school/ college but more frequently after my knee surgery a year and a half ago. Knowing that I had an addictive personality for opiates made me excited to be prescribed to them at first...wrong, wrong, wrong. For the past 8 months I've been taking anywhere from 10-14 30mg oxycodone per day....enough to kill most people. I knew that my habit had become an addiction and felt that taking meds the rest of my life may be the only option. To be completely honest, I didn't know if I still had chronic knee pain since I was always under the influence. So, 4.5 days ago I took my last 30, that was Thursday night. Friday sucked...hot, cold, sweats, chills, goosebumps, aches, mild tremors, restless leg, no appetite...pretty much all the withdrawal symptoms happening at the same time. Saturday was worse, Sunday I checked myself into the local addiction recovery unit which was a waste of time. They took my vitals twice in 4 hours and held my xanax for anxiety which def helps through the mental portion of the withdrawal. Monday I can say was the first sign of progression. Although I still have to be around the toilet every 3 hours due to diahrea, I'm starting to eat, but still don't have much of an appetite and my taste buds are extremely sensitive. I must admit that the cold turkey route is brutal and difficult for 72 hours but the goal is to be drug free, so substituting oxy's with sub's is unadvisable. My next step is to surround myself with family and friends who care and can help me through these next few days/weeks/months.....really the rest of my life. I will be seeing a pain specialist tomorrow to come up with a plan on how to move forward. Id like to finish by thanking those of you who poured your heart out here and gave some good info on how to cope with the hardest days of our lives. My final words: Epsom salt baths.