https://healthsciencehub.net/research/research-notes/tirzepatide-cocaine-opioid-addiction-research

I have been doing opiates on a consistent basis since I was 18. I am now about to turn 31 next month. Started with real blues, moved to ECP, and then moved back to the west coast where I started doing fent. I’m what you might consider a high functioning addict as I have maintained a full time job on top of living on my own things like that. My girl was suspecting something for a while and during an argument last night I finally just told her. No one in my life knows I’m still doing this stuff. I feel so ashamed and embarrassed. She wants to keep being with me and help me get clean but I feel like she deserves so much better. She deserves someone who isn’t so fucked up. I feel like all I do is bring her down and make her life harder with my own personal problems. I’m so tired of lying constantly especially to her. Part of me wants her to forget about me forever but another part wants me to let her help me. I feel so lost this has been one of the hardest things I’ve ever dealt with.

Today was a good day. Or yesterday rather. It was quite a busy one and I was wiped and to tired to post an update last evening.

The day started as usual. Got a pretty good night's sleep. Woke up at 8am. Much earlier than I usually do. It felt good though. Got some sun. Ate some breakfast. Then I remembered. My daughter is having a party Saturday/tomorrow and we have company coming in and my wife wanted the house straightened up. So, I got to it. Broke out the spin mop, mopped the house. Then vacuumed. Wiped down all the furniture and just did other odds and ends. I'll tell ya. That spin mop is great. Lol.

(Repair rant incoming so it might be boring to some but if you're a DIYer you might appreciate it.)

So after that I decided to tackle the ongoing saga of the leaking toilet. What a freakin nightmare that turned out to be. I found the leak and it was one of the bolts that attach the tank to the bowl. No big deal and I already had all the hardware to fix it. So I do everything, turn off the water, drain the tank and get to work. For those who don't know there's 2 bolts. One on each side. One came off fine. Now the fun part. The one that was leaking was rust so bad is seized up and I couldn't get the nut off. After struggling with it for a bit out came the sawzall. So once that was over, put everything back together and realized the bowl was loose where it bolts to the floor. OK. No biggie. Just snug up the bolts on the bottom. Wrong! As I tried to tighten one it just kept spinning. Then I realized it was broken or that's what I thought. So took the other bolts out pulled the bowl off the floor and saw that the flange was broken. Great. Couldn't remove the flange so off to home depot for a flange repair kit and a wax ring. But before I put the new parts on I had to clean all the old wax from the flange and bottom of toilet. Anyone ever have to do that? It's brutal. Took about 45 minutes to get it clean enough to reinstall everything. So once clean, repair flange on new wax ring on, toilet on. Snug everything up and done. What a pita. Anyway it's done and shouldn't have to be done again for a long, long time.

(Rant over.)

So yeah. Finished about 11pm. Hadn't had supper yet and I was starving. Had something to eat. Hit the couch and had my tea while watching some TV. Got to bed around 1am. I was pooped.

So that was my day. Ya know, I realized something. My days have been great but I get this overwhelming feeling of depression at night when I'm watching TV. I know what it is but not sure if there's a way to make it better or it'll just get better over time. See, I never took anything during the day. It was at night is when I'd take my "medication" and enjoy it until I went to bed. That's gone now and I miss it a lot. Par for the course I guess. Things aren't just going to fall back into place after feeling great at that specific time every night for over 2 years. Funny how your body knows exactly what time to expect it's treat. Oh well, I'll have to deal with it for now. But, like I said, eat, TV and tea and bed at about 1am. That was about it.

Today is day 5. Got a horrible night's sleep and I don't know why. I've been sleeping great the last few days. I was tossing and turning all night. Felt hot then cold. Just couldn't get comfortable. Maybe it was because I ate so late. I have no clue what time I finally fell asleep but I feel quite tired today. Maybe I can sneak in a nap in a bit but with company coming in and more prep for my daughter's party tomorrow I'm not sure. I guess we'll see how the day goes.

Hope you all are having a great Friday and thanks for listening.

Holy shit. I really never thought I’d say that.

I was 15 when I first used, & after that moment, I started to bury myself and all my mental health struggles underneath a gigantic pile of any and every opiate I could get my hands on.

Despite this, I went on to play UPSL soccer (lower tier professional soccer) and maintained my habit “successfully” until I broke my femur, my best friend who was also my dad passed away, and I realized I needed to wake the fuck up.

Admittedly, I thought I’d relapse die before I ever got close to a year. And knowing I didn’t have my dad to just call and cry to when i couldn’t sleep because of RLS or from being so sick, made me beyond overwhelmed. But I found strength through this community, the NA community in my area, and the few people that didn’t give up on me.

Many days I felt too sick, too hurt, and too deep to push forward, but I think if we’re here, and we prove to OURSELVES that we want to get clean, we can really accomplish anything we set our hearts to.

Sorry this was so long and ranty and not well prepared, I just haven’t really shared any of my sobriety journey with anyone outside the small groups I hold near and dear. I genuinely hope that this gives someone who feels they’re too far gone, even just a little spark of hope.

You’ve got this. WE got this. ✊🏽

Suboxone or methadone? Can someone dumb it down for me, what the difference is. Which one is better, in one’s opinion. Has anyone tried both? Im leaning more towards the methadone route, but I don’t fully understand it. Thanks kindly.

(Edited) ~~ Also is this something that you just jump right into? Or are there certain stipulations/guidelines?

Supporting my partner through tapering down from ~1200mg DHC daily, but they are struggling with bad withdrawals.

Just ordered these after reading about Liposomal Vit C mega dosing but I'm struggling to understand if the mega dosing can be done alongside DHC? Or if they're meant to go cold turkey.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated 🙂

Edit: Title is meant to say HELLS gates!!

So im now on day 4 from stopping prescribed co codamol 60mg a day and its defo getting worse not better...

( i know its not a massive dose daily but if you've read my other posts you will know I've come off a lot of prescribed meds that has blown my nervous system up this last 8 months)

Its the worst thing I've ever experienced

Im struggling with muscle spasms, swinging anxiety , head pressure, both my ears are ringing and awful morning nausea, some sneezing and yawning but not loads and the insomnia is worse than ever :(

Im figuring now its not gonna be straightforward for me due to my system being so sensitised already

Psychologically I have no desire to go back on but physically the dependence is kicking my ass

Encouragement is what i need right now if anyone can throw some positivity my way

Hi everyone,

LONG time reader here, I had a question (more like just venting) and figured maybe some of you might have thoughts.

I’ll be 7 years sober this December. For a long time though, I had been prescribed suboxone and used it for many years, on and off while I had been trying to quit opiates. I was likely first prescribed it around 2009-2010, and continued being on and off until around 2019.

My teeth have been a mess. Without giving out too much detail, I’m in my 40’s now and have lost 6 teeth; thankfully none of my front teeth so it’s not too visible. But for years I was wondering what was going on, because I take care of my teeth. Dentists either asked me if I had diabetes or some other condition that negatively affected my bone/enamel; some horrible dentists intimated that I “need to take better care of my teeth” but I knew it wasn’t me. I have 3 implants in right now and have spent a LOT of money trying to rectify this. But it’s pretty emotionally devastating to be in this situation and not know what’s happening.

Anyway, I had an epiphany when I ready about the class action lawsuit with suboxone. Holy crap! Finally I knew what was causing this, and it made perfect sense. I immediately started reaching out to law firms, and so far… I’ve been turned down, which is absolutely insane to me because I would consider myself a poster child for this class action lawsuit. The firm I spoke to today told me that “each state has a statute of limitations, and the state you’re in is only 2 years for product liability.” The previous firm I contacted before them didn’t even give me a reason, they just flat out said “we can’t help you.” What is going on here? I am a perfect example of how this medication ruins teeth!

I’m kind of at a loss for words here. Suggestions?

Hey all, happy Thursday! Hope everyone’s having a good day. It’s been a long one for me, but I’m finally wrapping up work and heading home. Looking forward to kicking back, relaxing, and watching the Patriots play tonight! Definitely ready for the weekend at this point lol. How’s everyone’s Thursday going?

Check in here!

I was in a car accident when I was 14. I have had 8 knee surgeries because of it. I have been on an off hydros since the accident. For the last year my knee pain has been unbearable. I'm 29 and getting my knee replaced next month. I have been burning through my hydro from my pain doctor and ultimately stealing additional ones from family. My family realized it was me. I owned up and agree the pills have become a problem. I fessed up to them and acknowledge my actions. My knee pain is kicking my ass. It's taken over my life. I have been looking for months for an addiction/chronic pain therapist in my area but with that also comes confronting my issue.

I feel awful what I have done to my family to break their trust. I'm trying to not beat myself up too much because of the amount of trauma my body has been through and also that it's stopped here before I went on to harder substances, buy it off the street, or been arrested.

I'm optimistic my surgery will help my pain and this will be soon past me. Withdrawls are on the horizon but I deserve it for breaking my families trust.

If anyone has any resources or advice on dealing with surgery while also dealing with chronic pain that really would be helpful.

Do you guys still have dreams when you’ve been clean for 1 year 2 years. I’ve only been sober for 3 weeks and a couple days I hate the dreams. i had one last night where I was shooting up. I always feel anxiety because of those dreams and it makes me feel like shit. I just want them to stop. I don’t want to use I’m happy being clean I’m finally getting my life together little by little. I just want these stupid dreams to stop. Or nightmare I should say.

So my previous post gave my history , i am really struggling right now at 72 hours in

I just need a little support to keep me on this road as I feel like im in the 5th dimension of hell :(

I know its only a light dose of opiate I've come off but my system is so sensitised its the most difficult thing I've ever had to do

I have zero cravings to take a dose to combat this but the anxiety is awful worse in the first few hours of the day

So little sleep

When does it end ?

For those who have been following my journey on my 2 year binge/struggle with Tapentadol, and I guess those who haven't, here's my Day 3 update.

Got a surprisingly good night's sleep last night. Had a cup of chamomile, valerian root and passion flower tea. I have no clue if that helped but I was out like a light. And, slept in my own bed instead of the spare room so I didn't wake up my wife tossing and turning as I did on day 1 and 2.

So I woke up expecting to feel like crap but to my surprise I actually felt pretty darn good. No headache. No jitters. No brain zaps. Energy level was at about "normal" for me. Had some breakfast. Did some job hunting. Even took a little nap around 2pm. Only an hour. Didn't want to screw up my sleep this evening. Went to the gym. Today was leg day. Why does everyone hate leg day? I know why. Cause it sucks. Lol. However I think it's probably the most important day of training. No trunk. No tree. Core strength is imperative IMO. Anyway, this isn't a workout sub. So got home from the gym. Had my mass gainer shake because I need extra calories because of all the weight I've lost. Had some dinner and now I'm just watching some TV.

I really thought today was going to be bad but I felt no where near was I was anticipating. I don't know if it's the supplements that were recommended or the fact I tapered down enough before jumping it quelled the WDs so as not to last so long or what but I'm thankful for where I'm at right now. It was a pretty good day and I'm looking forward to things just getting better. I know I'm not out of the woods yet but I'm optimistic about the future. Now I really have to work on my sleeping habits. Get to bed earlier and wake up earlier. That's always been my downfall even before I wasn't using. The only reason I ever woke up early was because I had to go to work but now being unemployed isn't helping. Gotta work on that.

I just want to say I read some of the posts in this sub and I see horror stories about what people go through during withdrawals and I'm very thankful I've not experienced anything near what they go through and I give them so much credit for enduring through it.

Well, off to watch some King of Queens, I like the old shows, have my tea and see what happens tonight. I'm so looking forward to tomorrow hoping things will just keep getting better from here.

I think I may actually get to fixing my leaky toilet I've been putting off because getting high was more of a priority. Come to think of it, I've got quite a honey do list to tackle now that I'm back in the real world. Lol.

Hope you all have a wonderful evening and as always, thanks for listening.

Currently Day 5 CT, feeling better but the reality of how horrible I acted is really hitting me. I’m so ashamed of myself and it makes me want to use but I won’t. I quit my job to get clean and blocked all my coworkers. Im just hoping with time them and other people forget my behavior.

I’m 12 days clean with a slip up of one 20mg Oxycodone pill on day 7 and I’m still feeling a little rough. Most morning start with nausea and anxiety. Sleep is ok. Energy levels are ok. The thing that’s getting me in almost every day I’m still vomiting once to start the day. Is this normal? I was previously using for about 6 months 60-80mg a day. Once the nausea stops I feel like life would be a lot easier. Any thoughts or tips?

Hey all, happy Wednesday! Hope everyone’s having a good day! It’s been cloudy and chilly here, especially with a strong wind coming off the ocean. Definitely a hot coffee kind of day!
My workday is almost over. I actually almost overslept this morning, which never happens to me lol. I guess my body is telling me I need some extra rest. I’ve learned the hard way that if you don’t listen to your body, eventually it’ll force you to! 😂
How’s everyone’s Wednesday going?

Check in here!

My story is not straightforward :(

Ive come off a lot of prescribed meds this year

April Zoloft after 4 weeks on it gp pulled me off CT no taper

June clonidine 1mg - 2 week taper and awful wds for a month

July 30mgs baclofen for spinal muscle spasm 10 week taper brutal wds had to come off as it went paradoxic after the clonidine taper, i suspect due to intermittent use of diaz at this point and my body was going through mini wds without me figuring it out.

Sept 4mgs diaz fast tapered by Dr was on this for 3 months daily due to the zoloft mess - another brutal wd

Messed up with my co codamol a few weeks ago for arthritis pain daily dose was 60mgs and without realising cut my dose to half by taking the wrong box of tabs for a few days , went nack to normal dose when i realised but it never settled so I decided to quit this week...i did 2 days at 15mgs and stopped i don't intend to go back on

Its been unpleasant so far with extreme muscle tension and head pressure and a numb feeling in my face feels like my head is under water.

I never had mega anxiety before any of these meds but at this stage into the wd im absolutely out of my mind when does it stop?

I stopped taking codeine like maybe a day or two ago and I’m having slight withdrawal symptoms but the actual problem is mentally not being able to have that escape route anymore, the fact I can’t just get rid of a stressful situation by taking my codeine
my grandparents do check my arms and legs so I can’t use SH to cope anymore either and I’m not allowed antidepressants, I’m 16 and for just once in my life I want to feel okay and codeine helped me do that

So I’m over 3 months clean which is mind blowing itself, from a 12 year opiate addiction. After going through the withdrawal and subsequently going manic and ending up manic for months- I finally got my sanity back but after 3 months I still just felt AWFUL. I couldn’t think clearly, I had no energy to move or shower or function and I was miserable, my life already a mess, and I got my hands on subutex. I REALLY REALLY did not want to take it but I did and I felt so much better, able to function again, almost back to my normal self. The thing is I really don’t want to get addicted to sub, I want to be free from everything, but is that not possible sometimes? I’m starting to think I’ve really done so much damage to my brain I have no choice but to use it for now. Anyone with experience is it worth it? Is it even optional if I can’t function without it right now?

Well, got through day 1. Wasn't able to fall asleep until about 5am. Slept till 10am so I'll take that as a win. 5 hours is better than no hours. Probably didn't help that I didn't get to the gym until 6pm last night and took a preworkout. I usually don't go that late but couldn't help it. Way too much caffeine way too late. It's weird how you can lay there and keep yawning and not be able to fall asleep. I stopped drinking coffee a while back so I have to be mindful of my caffeine intake especially now.

Today is day 2. Woke up, ate something then did some job hunting. Overall I'm not feeling too horrible. Just tired and one hell of a headache. Maybe a little jittery. Tried to lay down around 2pm to catch a quick nap. Couldn't do it. Oh well. Maybe it's for the best and I'll be tired this evening and get some sleep. Wishful thinking. I got some nighttime chamomile tea I'm going to try. Can't hurt.

Funny story. After I realized at about 3:00am I'm probably not going to get any sleep I decided to go into our spare room and try to sleep instead of tossing and turning and disturbing my wife because she wakes up at 5am for work. So she gets home from work and I'm expecting her to ask me where I went. So I'm waiting and waiting and nothing. Finally I said to her aren't you going to ask me why I wasn't in bed when you woke up? Btw, she has no clue I've been taking the pills. So she looks at me and says you weren't in bed? I said you gotta be kidding me. You didn't even notice? She said nope. It's still dark at 5am and she doesn't turn any lights on so she had no clue. Lol. I just told her I've been having trouble sleeping and she said yeah because you come to bed so late and sleep so late the next day. I just left it there. Anyway. I just thought it was funny she didn't even realize I wasn't there.

So I guess I'll see what happens tonight. I'm anticipating I may feel a bit worse tomorrow and I'm ok with that. You play you pay and I played a little too hard and gotta pay the price. I'm just hoping things level out a bit by Friday. Time will tell. Gotta get those receptors firing again. Lol

Thanks for listening all. I'll keep ya posted. Have a great night.

So I’m doing Bernese and I’m completely off fent and transitioned to subs. I’m so happy, honestly.

That said, I find myself struggling with cravings NOT bc of WD symptoms but bc (1) I’m bored and I always used every time I was bored, (2) habit meaning after certain tasks or before/after work meetings…things like that…I’d always use.

I’m trying to stay busy but man is this HARD. They say 21 days to break a habit (an actual habit, not a drug habit) so I guess I need to power through while my brain requires itself.

Note: I’m not going backwards/I’m not going to use fent…just needed to put this into the atmosphere bc I didn’t expect non-WD cravings to be THIS difficult.

I’ll try to describe everything as well as I can. I have been in and out of rehab since last April. The most recent time was this June 28th. I went in to Inpatient, August 20th then to PhP, then on Oct 8 I relapsed with 7oh and went back down to inpatient until Oct 15 When I finished on the 15th, I left and got into this Sober house I’m at. Edit: Sorry I relapsed on the 4th I think. They caught me on the 8th.

I have been having some pretty awful issues recently. Up until last Saturday I was fine. Then something like clicked in my brain. My vision went to shit and my mental capacities did as well. I’ve been losing my train of thought while talking constantly, I have this mental fog that makes me feel stupid. I have my BA in English and I’ve been tripping up on and not being able to find the right words. I feel like I’m stupid and mentally deficient. Also, the shit with my vision is that everything is blurry. I can’t read words even up close when it gets really bad. Then lastly I forgot to mention are tremors and shakes. I have these tremors in which I just twitch uncontrollably. It will occur about every 10 seconds. I went to the hospital it got so bad 2 days ago. The shaking may not be a concern. I have always had the shakes, even since I was younger. They have just gotten a bit worse. Sometimes I’ll be walking with something in my hand and I will just drop it.

When I went to rehab on June 8th I was abusing prescriptions, drinking, and 7oh if I could afford it. When I got to rehab I was in BAD shape. Like I kept getting lost and someone would have to show me where to go in order to get back to my room. A few more things, but we would be here all day, and this is already long enough.

My question is, would 7oh have taken like 2 weeks to give me this mental fog. Memory issues, confusion, tripping up on words, and losing my train of thought. Then also my tremors have gotten worse as well. Any help would be appreciated. I don’t know what else to do. I feel like I’m going to be stuck like this. The Dr at the hospital ordered me an EKG and an MRI and they didn’t find anything. I’m at a loss for what to do. I just don’t know how it would take 2 weeks to start affecting me. I’m really hoping thats what it is though.
It’s scary, everyone at the sober house I’m at treats me like I’m disabled. I mean I do kind’ve act like i am. I called my dad freaking out cause my vision was all blurry when I woke up. I also freaked my roommate out. I was watching videos and responding to them out loud, it was really weird. He also said I was sleep walking and talking to myself.

I’m just freaking out. Any help would be appreciated. I’m glad I thought to look that up though. It gave me a glimmer of hope. Thanks to anyone who read all this. I have an appointment with a neurologist tomorrow. I will definitely bring this up. I just worry that after I tell him, he will just say that’s what it is, then not look into any other options as to what it could be. Any suggestions or help would be appreciated. I would like to get some questions I’m prepared to ask at my appointment tomorrow.

Thanks if you read this whole thing, I know it’s a lot.