Heroin: Methadone & Heroin Facts

Question: What is it like to come off heroin or to just really need it?

(Posted by: roobs on 2010-02-26 07:29:50)

Can you say what it compares to as well.

Posted by: Kathleen on 2010-02-26, 07:34:29

Heroin is addictive. You don't just really need it, you're addicted to it. Early symptoms of withdrawal include: * Agitation * Anxiety * Muscle aches * Increased tearing * Insomnia * Runny nose * Sweating * Yawning Late symptoms of withdrawal include: * Abdominal cramping * Diarrhea * Dilated pupils * Goose bumps * Nausea * Vomiting Opioid withdrawal reactions are very uncomfortable but are not life threatening. Symptoms usually start within 12 hours of last heroin usage and within 30 hours of last methadone exposure. Complications include vomiting and breathing in stomach contents into the lungs. This is called aspiration, and can cause lung infection. Vomiting and diarrhea can cause dehydration and body chemical and mineral (electrolyte) disturbances. The biggest complication is return to drug use. Most opiate overdose deaths occur in people who have just withdrawn or detoxed. Because withdrawal reduces your tolerance to the drug, those who have just gone through withdrawal can overdose on a much smaller dose than they used to take.

Posted by: perryinjax on 2010-02-26, 08:04:04

There is no way to describe in words...you can only truley understand by experiencing for yourself...but I will try in vain and you will still have NO IDEA how bad it sux...when you experience for yourself and only then will you begin to understand..... Think of the worst flu you ever had but multiply it times 10...and also combine it with severe depression and anxiety...your brain tells you that the world sucks and everything negative that you can think of will come to mind about life and the world and your life etc...anything you analyze will be negative outlook on life..and you will have severe diarrhea but too hurting and weak to keep getting up and going to the bathroom...hard work to do anything..even hard work to just lay there and moan...especially hard work to shower and the constant trips to the toilet suck and are soo much physically demanding on your weak, shaking, body, you begin thinking it must stop at all cost...most addicts do not go get more drugs to get high...they go back on just to get well and get out of hell...those that cannot get back on...like people in jail for example...I have heard of them hanging themselves and doing things like intentionally breaking all their fingers just in hopes of getting some opioid pain reliever administered not to get high but to get out of the withdrawal hell, Some more symptoms that make you more miserable than you have ever been in your life are; your nose will run...and you will NOT sleep at all...it sux worse than anything in the world....some people have killed themselves not because they wanted to die but just to make the withdrawals stop. that is how bad it is...Methadone is MUCH worse than heroin and lasts longer by the way....but the symptoms are pretty much the same. Withdrawal symptoms Physical symptoms[citation needed] * Lightheadedness * Tearing * Runny nose * Yawning * Sneezing * Nausea * Vomiting * Diarrhea * Fever * Sweating * Chills * Tremors * Tachycardia * Aches and pains, often in the joints and/ or legs * Elevated pain sensitivity * Elevated blood pressure Cognitive symptoms[citation needed] * Suicidal ideation * Susceptibility to Cravings * Depression * Adrenal exhaustion * Adrenal fatigue * Spontaneous orgasm * Prolonged insomnia * Delirium * Auditory hallucinations * Visual hallucinations * Increased perception of odors (olfaction), real or imagined * Marked decrease in sex drive * Agitation * Anxiety * Panic disorder * Paranoia * Delusions Withdrawal symptoms are generally slightly less severe than those of morphine or heroin at equivalent doses but are significantly more prolonged; methadone withdrawal symptoms can last for several weeks or more. At high maintenance doses, sudden cessation of therapy can result in withdrawal symptoms described as "the worst withdrawal imaginable, " lasting from weeks to months.[31] There is a trend in the management of opiate addiction towards the reduction of a patient's methadone dosage to a point where they can be switched to buprenorphine or another opiate with an easier withdrawal profile. Methadone's long half-life and minimal side-effect profile makes it ideal for maintenance, but is not considered to be a desirable opiate to withdraw from when attempting to become completely opiate-free.[citation needed] However, when detoxing at a recommended rate (typically 1-2 mgs per week), withdrawal is either minimal or nonexistent, as the patient's body has time to adjust to each reduction in dose. [edit] Methadone maintenance treatment MMT (Methadone Maintenance Treatment), a form of opiate replacement therapy, reduces and/ or eliminates the use of illicit opiates, the criminality associated with opiate use, and allows patients to improve their health and social productivity.[32] In addition, enrollment in methadone maintenance has the potential to reduce the transmission of infectious diseases associated with opiate injection, such as hepatitis and HIV.[32] The principal effects of methadone maintenance are to relieve narcotic craving, suppress the abstinence syndrome, and block the euphoric effects associated with opiates. Methadone maintenance has been found to be medically safe and non-sedating.[32] It is also indicated for pregnant women addicted to opiates.[32] In Russia, methadone treatment is illegal. Health officials are not convinced of the treatment's efficacy. Instead, doctors encourage immediate abstinence from drug use, rather than the gradual process that methadone substitution therapy entails. Patients are often given sedatives and painkillers to cope with withdrawal symptoms.[33] [edit] Effect Methadone maintenance treatment significantly decreases the rate of HIV infection for those patients participating in MMT programs (Firshein, 1998). At proper dosing, methadone usually reduces the ap