subs vs cold turkey

[jayeye]

anybody do both and have any opinions.....ive done cold turkey before and it was hell i really dont want to go thru that again....but i heard its a lil easier to take the medicine all at once so to speak than to have the long dragged out sub withdrawls.

i'll also be alone this time last time i wasnt so thats a lil  scary to not to sound like a baby but i couldnt even move last time and my habit is worse this time....plus i would have to miss work maybe take med leave for a month IDK...im really confused and looking for away out...and i know there is no easy way out of this.  wanna play gotta pay i guess.

anybody every try subs for a week and than a quick jump??? im so confused.....i might just end up checking into a detox..i just dont know........im hating myself these days

[weaver71]

My last dose of methadone was 160mgs, did 4 days of 150mgs Hydros, went 48 hours with nothing and took subs 20 days, tapering after the 3rd day at 8mgs sub down to .5 and jumped. I think the sub never formed an addiction and the methadone withdrawal picked up where it would have been at a month, which is not very good for that much methadone. It took me 10 months to feel good enough and 16 months to feel satisfied. H won't be that bad, but the mental part really is powerful. It can manifest physical symptoms even. The aftercare is key. I think I would have stayed on subs for a long time had I not had my accountability and plan in place. My mind went all over the place, but it was all in my mind. The sub helped me get through the acute withdrawal, vomiting and shaking violently, but I should have stayed on the sub for 3 months for best physical benefit, but I was scared to death of never being totally clean. It also gave me a moment of clarity. Subs broke my confused addiction thinking, I felt insane and scared. I used that. 20 days to build support , go to meetings, meditate, form a solid plan. I wanted to take a little piece again after 16 days of not sleeping. I looked at my written plan and asked my wife if. I should take a little so I don't lose my mind. She said, "why don't you follow through with your plans for a change." I just wanted it so bad. I couldn't form a plan on methadone and it got hard to follow a plan, much less make decisions after the sub detox. They saved my life, but I do think they should be reserved for extreme cases and used with accountability and counseling. Just sharing what I've seen work most often. My doc wanted me on subs for 2 years, I asked how he came up with that number and would love to read the clinical study. He blew me off, I understand needing a GOOD sub doctor. That is it in a nut-shell. Many meetings, classes in addiction, therapy, and studying the brain and body, I can say a total lifestyle change is really what we get in recovery. It's not a sober me in the same old situation. The real me would be in a totally different situation had he never used drugs. If I am changing, everything related to me is changing. That's how you know if you just quit drugs or are recovering, EVERYTHING changes.

[jayeye]

dont think that is the worst idea at this point....might be past the point of helping myself....i just cant bring myself to do it for some reason....maybe its because my best friend went to rehab came back and od'ed a week later?

i did have a script for subs at one point but the doctor was an idiot and never seemed to have an end game for me....so i stopped going.

what was your sub w/d like

[jayeye]

i never tried rehab basically in my early 20's im 32 now i got addicted to pain killers first vics than onto oxy's than to roxies....worked my way up to 10-20 30mg pills a day....after about 7-8 years of being on pills i made the choice to go cold turkey and it was heeeeeeeeeeeell.....thank god at the time i had a girl that stuck by my side day and night or i dont think i would have been able to do it.

anyway i managed to stay clean for just about two years than i had some back problems perfect excuse to start popping again and with a script what could be better i thought...which led me back to my street game which lead me back to the roxies at the same dose....and now for the past year ive been shooting dope....never in my wildest dreams did i think i would ever shot dope....b4 i was doing it even when i was at my worst of popping pills and doing whatever other drug i could get my hands on i looked down on that now im one of them.

to stay clean this time i think im gonna need a support system.....NA meetings, this site......I also want to move....i need to get away from all these people i know you cant run from your problems but you can get away from your enablers.

i was thinking of maybe just taking the subs for a week and seeing how i felt

[weaver71]

I just read your other tread. I would not do the subs without a doctor, you already had a hard time quitting them before. No accountability is bit good with subs, or in general, but especially with subs. I'd go rehab before doing it on your own. Just my opinion.

[weaver71]

What and how much have you taken the last month? I have used subs and think they have their place. I also think CT has it's place. How have you dealt or plan on dealing with why you relapsed last time? I think a lot if support is essential either way. Give is a little more I info and maybe we can help more. Subs helped break my street methadone addiction, I used subs for 20 days, was not easy. Methadone is very hard to detox CT, few ever make it. If you are taking fast acting opiates, chances are the sub withdrawal will be worse if you get stuck on it. There will be so e withdrawal no matter how you do it. Have you tried to taper down? You mention rehab, what else have you tried?