Positive The Tapering Support Thread v 2.0

Yeah, it sometimes sucks. I really can't imagine being put in the psych ward, while going through withdrawals. I had alcohol withdrawals so many times and being forced into a psych ward, would be a nightmare, especially when sick.
Yes... it does suck. I've been in the Psych ward over 50 times or maby more in my life. Sometimes going through withdrawals. There basic job is to stabilize you. And most of the time it helps. Especially when you get out of there and feel great, but you do wined up on a bunch of drugs they give you on your way out of there.
 
I take it that they are psych Meds, like Zeprexa, risperdal, Seroqual ect... or do they give you anything good?
They provide mood stability and can stop psychosis/delusional thinking/paranoia. A lot of illegal drugs fuck up your mind. Probably most.

As a previously long-term periodic abuser of anabolic steroids, benzos, and occasional user of every recreational drug imaginable... Seroquel helps a lot though it's the only antipsychotic I've used. I hate it though, and I've long hoped to get off it and replace it with something else.
 
I take it that they are psych Meds, like Zeprexa, risperdal, Seroqual ect... or do they give you anything good?
They gave me 2 x 5mgs of Diazepam in the evenings, but that was because I came off benzos (and heroin) CT which is what landed me in there. I had stopped about 10 days prior but collapsed into a seizure one afternoon in my porch and hit my head. I was incredibly weak, dehydrated and sleep-deprived when I was brought into A&E after the seizure and it wasn't long afterward that I began hallucinating and became delusional so I was admitted to the psych ward until they could work out what was wrong with me. I was so spaced out from the toll the cold turkey had taken on my mind and body that I couldn't communicate properly for a couple of days and when I eventually could I told the psychiatrist that I had recently stopped both the Heroin and the Benzos cold turkey. They eventually put me on 10mgs of Diazepam in the evenings to keep me calm. They kept advising me to go on Methadone which I really didn't want to do as I was sick of being dependent but I eventually promised my father I would go on it but no more than 20mls and that I'd stay on the 20mls for a few weeks but then I'd be weaning down which I managed to do within a 3-month timespan.

TL;DR: I went in clean and sober and left with a prescription for Diazepam and Methadone.
 
Damn you went in clean and sober now your opi and benzo dependent. Gotta agree with Jnowhere here; that was bad business. At

long lasting benzo and long lasting opioid with a buzz. (full agonist) I guess if it is for rehab they will try not to let you get a buzz. And if you choose to up your #'s that buzz is gunna go away real quick.

So don't totally agree or disagree. Bupe n Clonazepam. Methadone and Valium. I think hes got the better deal than me and I will not complain. (or get a buzz as ya know partial agonist and shot benzo tolerance).

Give a normal human a half a 10 mg methadone and 5 mg of valium they are gunna have a good time. I guess that is my take away. Probably 5mg of methadone even.

On the note of seroquil, they suggested I try it once in place of high dose citalopram; I felt there was alot of middle ground but my reaction was "not a chance that is a sister drug of thorazine; no antipsychs ever!" She was a little taken back by the fervor of my response but understood.
 
Done with my taper but willing to offer my opinions on anything. Once dependent on benzos and opioids at high doses. No longer. Approaching three years for the former, and nearly a year for the latter! Shit can still be hard. I just power through and know that it gets easier with time and healthy uses of my energy. Just one more adversary to conquer!
On the note of seroquil, they suggested I try it once in place of high dose citalopram; I felt there was alot of middle ground but my reaction was "not a chance that is a sister drug of thorazine; no antipsychs ever!" She was a little taken back by the fervor of my response but understood.
I feel you, but I will say that I've seen antipsychotics completely transform lives and make them much better. Takes a while of being on them for them to fully work. Like several months at least. Not to derail.
 
^Sorry if I sidetracked. I only have generalized anxiety and insomnia. Which I didn't have untill they crashed my pad full swat to get that sweet attempted codeine charge. (I know im a big fish lmao). After that I couldn't sleep and had a healthy amount of anxiety and depression honestly. If the world doesn't depress you a bit I question intelligence/naivety. Well really I always had sleep problems. Brain won't shut up ever lol.

As far as the ward goes I have never been but know people that have. Sounds like a fresh hell; they can keep there pentobarbital. I would rather stick it out at home 100 times out of 100. My tool kit always beats the tools they are willing to implement and I am not special in that regard.
 
Done with my taper but willing to offer my opinions on anything. Once dependent on benzos and opioids at high doses. No longer. Approaching three years for the former, and nearly a year for the latter! Shit can still be hard. I just power through and know that it gets easier with time and healthy uses of my energy. Just one more adversary to conquer!

I feel you, but I will say that I've seen antipsychotics completely transform lives and make them much better. Takes a while of being on them for them to fully work. Like several months at least. Not to derail.
I agree on the antipsychotics I’ve been off opioids for about 8ish years but been on different prescription psych meds. The key is finding one that doesn’t make you feel like a zombie (seroquel for me) or too activating (Latuda). Abilify is in my cocktail I’ve been stable since I started it.
 
I agree on the antipsychotics I’ve been off opioids for about 8ish years but been on different prescription psych meds. The key is finding one that doesn’t make you feel like a zombie (seroquel for me) or too activating (Latuda). Abilify is in my cocktail I’ve been stable since I started it.
being off opoids for 8 years, do the cravings ever go away? I dont know if i can do this the rest of my life if they dont get better as much as i hate being a dependendt addict.
 
I am new to this dependency of opiates, and with only 10 days clean of them (Hydrocodone)I have cravings.
But I have been sober from alcohol for 14 yrs now, and the cravings do go away for that substance. Do I think about it? Yes, but I know that I have Lost the privilege to drink. TBK: I Never had the privilege to drink "Womb to Tomb I have always had the Disease of Addiction, born with it die with it!! all I can do is make choices of how I will live my life between those two point?
 
It is very hard to look at what I have let slip away as I took opiates to dull, pain ( physical and emotional )I assume with most people Covid has been a very difficult time, financially , physically , Mentally (Death) as it has been for me.
So it was time to get out of the opiate Fog and move on with life No matter how difficult it may be! I had thought that life would be different at my age 63m? I do not know why I thought that, just wishful thinking I guess?? But I am very grateful that I have not lost more than I have.
So the dream of Retirement is off the table for now, and I am fortunate to have a job, my health, family healthy, a roof over my head.
I do love this thread.
 
It is very hard to look at what I have let slip away as I took opiates to dull, pain ( physical and emotional )I assume with most people Covid has been a very difficult time, financially , physically , Mentally (Death) as it has been for me.
So it was time to get out of the opiate Fog and move on with life No matter how difficult it may be! I had thought that life would be different at my age 63m? I do not know why I thought that, just wishful thinking I guess?? But I am very grateful that I have not lost more than I have.
So the dream of Retirement is off the table for now, and I am fortunate to have a job, my health, family healthy, a roof over my head.
I do love this thread.
It ain’t over til you’re dead. I’d say you’re winning so far…..
 
It is very hard to look at what I have let slip away as I took opiates to dull, pain ( physical and emotional )I assume with most people Covid has been a very difficult time, financially , physically , Mentally (Death) as it has been for me.
So it was time to get out of the opiate Fog and move on with life No matter how difficult it may be! I had thought that life would be different at my age 63m? I do not know why I thought that, just wishful thinking I guess?? But I am very grateful that I have not lost more than I have.
So the dream of Retirement is off the table for now, and I am fortunate to have a job, my health, family healthy, a roof over my head.
I do love this thread.
<3
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hi all. i'm a longtime lurker that finally decided to directly join the comm. i've been here in the shadows for about eight years and benefitted frequently from the support and advice offered here, but i've been back and forth in my recovery for the last five years now.

currently, i'm at the lowest usage level i've been at, aside from when i was attending in-patient treatment and got ten months of sobriety under my belt.

like a lot of people, opiates are my downfall. i find myself detesting myself and the drugs to an extreme that i never have before, and that's what's finally given me the push to give tapering my best efforts these last few months. right now, i'm down to using once or twice a week when that was twice or three days a day every single day six months ago. and i really have no desire to use at all. what has me caught in this vicious cycle is the withdrawal. in patient treatment isn't an option for me again and i'm hiding my use from my family, who i live with. i start a new job in a couple of weeks as well and it's the first real serious ~career position i've ever had, so it's something i can't afford to make a balls of.

having started out initially by tapering my days of use, i'm now tapering doses as well. that's largely been going well, but the one thing that constantly looms over me is the restless legs. i don't mind so much feeling like shit mentally, because i can barely remember a time when that wasn't the case anyway. my stomach doesn't give me too much bother (although if it's going to, it's after restless legs keep me awake for 72 hours straight) and i'm familiar with and practiced enough in other short and long term withdrawal symptoms that i'm luckier than most.

right now, i have a prescription for pregablin for restless legs that my doctor knows i have a history of outside of my drug use, but that's a very recent prescription so i'm not sure how long that will take to have an offset affect on restless legs directly relative to withdrawal.

anyway, sorry for rambling but that's where i'm at. seesawing back and forth between feeling good at the progress i've made in tapering to this point, and being terrified of the looming restless legs.
 
hi all. i'm a longtime lurker that finally decided to directly join the comm. i've been here in the shadows for about eight years and benefitted frequently from the support and advice offered here, but i've been back and forth in my recovery for the last five years now.

currently, i'm at the lowest usage level i've been at, aside from when i was attending in-patient treatment and got ten months of sobriety under my belt.

like a lot of people, opiates are my downfall. i find myself detesting myself and the drugs to an extreme that i never have before, and that's what's finally given me the push to give tapering my best efforts these last few months. right now, i'm down to using once or twice a week when that was twice or three days a day every single day six months ago. and i really have no desire to use at all. what has me caught in this vicious cycle is the withdrawal. in patient treatment isn't an option for me again and i'm hiding my use from my family, who i live with. i start a new job in a couple of weeks as well and it's the first real serious ~career position i've ever had, so it's something i can't afford to make a balls of.

having started out initially by tapering my days of use, i'm now tapering doses as well. that's largely been going well, but the one thing that constantly looms over me is the restless legs. i don't mind so much feeling like shit mentally, because i can barely remember a time when that wasn't the case anyway. my stomach doesn't give me too much bother (although if it's going to, it's after restless legs keep me awake for 72 hours straight) and i'm familiar with and practiced enough in other short and long term withdrawal symptoms that i'm luckier than most.

right now, i have a prescription for pregablin for restless legs that my doctor knows i have a history of outside of my drug use, but that's a very recent prescription so i'm not sure how long that will take to have an offset affect on restless legs directly relative to withdrawal.

anyway, sorry for rambling but that's where i'm at. seesawing back and forth between feeling good at the progress i've made in tapering to this point, and being terrified of the looming restless legs.
Terratt,

Welcome to The Suck. For me, the fear is something that always drove me back to giving into the drug. It was the fear of not sleeping. There’s something about that quiet time, with no distractions, that drives me legitimately insane. And knowing that it will be here soon is enough for me to take a preemptive strike. “Just one, so I can get some sleep”

The RLS (restless leg syndrome) can last a while. Pregablin can be great for that, but also be a powerful sedative. When I was first prescribed it, 300mg about 1 hour before bed and I would literally pass out in the middle of a sentence and sleep like a corpse for 8 hours. The only drawback was that I woke up with a chemical taste in my mouth. I suggest trying that at least once. Perhaps you can use it instead of opiates to knock out.

How much Pregablin are you prescribed per day?
 
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Terratt,

Welcome to The Suck. For me, the fear is something that always drove me back to giving into the drug. It was the fear of not sleeping. There’s something about that quiet time, with no distractions, that drives me legitimately insane. And knowing that it will be here soon is enough for me to take a preemptive strike. “Just one, so I can get sone sleep”

The RLS (restless leg syndrome) can last a while. Pregablin can be great for that, but also be a powerful sedative. When I was first prescribed it, 300mg about 1 hour before bed and I would literally pass out in the middle of a sentence and sleep like a corpse for 8 hours. The only drawback was that I woke up with a chemical taste in my mouth. I suggest trying that at least once. Perhaps you can use it instead of opiates to knock out.

How much Pregablin are you prescribed per day?
i share a lot of your sentiments, Squeaky.

sleeplessness and the fear of it has definitely been the major motivating factor behind my opiate use for a long time now. that was actually how i ended up addicted to opiates in the first place at all. no one ever believes me on that, but i live in a country where sleeping tablets are a more controlled substance than opiates, and it was never getting high that made them appeal to me. i was prescribed them for an injury and fell in love with the feeling of knocking out at the end of the day without the psychological torture.

i'm prescribed 200mg a day pregablin, currently. i'm prescribed it for a combination of RLS and neuralgia. the neuralgia is a temporary thing owing to an impacted eardrum that i think is already cleared up, so it wouldn't be a problem to switch my dose. my doctor thought the pregablin was a handy way to treat both of my problems at once, so i'm advised to take 50mg early in the day, 50mg in the middle and 100mg before bed. the last time i had RLS come on due to withdrawal, i had just started the pregablin and tried taking my 100mg dose, but found it didn't help at all. i have read, however, that it can take a few weeks for the pregablin to build up enough in the system to be properly effective. that could be the case for me owing to the fact that i unfortunately suffer from RLS even separate to withdrawal.
 
so I thought I would give my tapering story from loperamide

i was taking about 72mg a day for months when i came off the bupe

i knew the lope was screwing my heart up as i could feel it and when I went for a check up they put me on an ECG and said i had an irregular heartbeat and put me on beta blockers which worked

that shit me up big time and scared me so i started lowering 12mg of lope every week/10 days until i felt stable, when i got to 24mg a day i stopped and took a bit of kratom (not insane amounts id say 6g a day) for 3 weeks then i stopped that and hardly had any negative effects apart from the wild shites for about 5 days as my guts got used to no lope/K

now im clear and feeling better and better each day, i sleep ok now and i dont wake up drenched in sweat with full on body aches

nice and steady and you can do it, now i have to stop drinking as im currently on 2 750ml bottles of wine a day, but i think that will be easy as I dont wake up and start drinking , i start about 4pm every day so going to knock that on the head now, i want to experience a totally drug free life for a while
 
so I thought I would give my tapering story from loperamide

i was taking about 72mg a day for months when i came off the bupe

i knew the lope was screwing my heart up as i could feel it and when I went for a check up they put me on an ECG and said i had an irregular heartbeat and put me on beta blockers which worked

that shit me up big time and scared me so i started lowering 12mg of lope every week/10 days until i felt stable, when i got to 24mg a day i stopped and took a bit of kratom (not insane amounts id say 6g a day) for 3 weeks then i stopped that and hardly had any negative effects apart from the wild shites for about 5 days as my guts got used to no lope/K

now im clear and feeling better and better each day, i sleep ok now and i dont wake up drenched in sweat with full on body aches

nice and steady and you can do it, now i have to stop drinking as im currently on 2 750ml bottles of wine a day, but i think that will be easy as I dont wake up and start drinking , i start about 4pm every day so going to knock that on the head now, i want to experience a totally drug free life for a while
Wow congrats. How much opiates did you come off? How are the cravings? That’s my issue.

Be careful w the heart. Obviously nothing to mess w. I’m coming up on 1 year the end of think from open heart quad bypass surgery at 38. That’s what threw me into a tail spin and now I’m struggling to string together double digit sober days. This is the hardest shit I’ve even tried to get ahold of.
 
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