How long does this last? Opiate withdrawal...
 

Today is day 8 clean, still feeling like crap on a stick. Burning in the stomach/chest, stomach issues, hungry and nauseous at the same time, this sucks. And everything is so damn sharp and bright, going outside gives me a huge headache!

Still tuffing it out but catching myself scheming in my head to get some oxy, hydro, or whatever, just to clear me up for a little while.

Those of you who have cleaned up, how long did you suffer these symptoms?

On my second attempt at cleaning up which was just over 3 years ago to feel totally normal it took me a good 3 months, but then my drug was heroin. I think the first 2 weeks were the worst, I would have done anything just to get a good nights sleep also I suffered with hot and cold flushes not nice in the middle of a cold winter and the stomach pangs, throwing up went roughly by week 4.
I'm cleaning up now and I'm on my 2nd month off opiates come March the 13th, I still get random hot and cold flushes and just recently my stomach has been playing up and once in a while I get a very anxoius flighty feeling, sadly the urge to use again still lingers I really wind myself up just by thinking about the stuff =/
Well 8 days is great, just keep going taking each day as it comes by next week you will feel much better, scheming and thinking about it just makes things worse, divert your thoughts, meditation is something that will help a great deal. Good luck and are you on any treatment?

My drug of choice was opiates for almost 8 years and I relapsed over and over. The withdrawal time varied for me but I know once it took me a good month or two to feel better. Then, I would relapse most of the time. :(

The first weeks are the worst and for some reason, when I would hit one week, I would feel the worst. Mostly psychologically.

Good luck to you.

No treatment. I took Xanax for the first few days, but don't really remember much. Those little pills will mess you up! No more of that for me. As much as I would like to escape this, I know I have to face it to beat it.

It just goes on and on and that's what's so damn depressing about it.

The burning though, that's what kills me. If it weren't for that, for me at this point, it would be easy.

No caffeine for me for about a week. I noticed that it adds to the symptoms by a very large degree.

It's been something new day by day. I made it through the skin-on-fire, the black outs, the suicidal ideation, the unbearable pain in my knees and femurs, and now I am left these seemingly endless symptoms that just don't want to leave.

I am a little scared of taking a vitamin. They add so much to those to amp you up and give you energy that I am afraid I would come completely unhinged if I took one. I have been riding that edge and I think that would tip me.

Today I have kept myself busy, or tried to. I got my motorcycle out for the first time in over a week and watched the weather change. (Amateur meteorology) It hit 80 degrees today and we are in a blowing-snow advisory and tornado watch. LOL That was an all-out assault to my senses. The wind cut, the light hurt, the smells stunk, yuck. I hated it as much as I enjoyed it, as weird as that sounds.

I have my ups and downs. As I am sure you can see just by reading this how scattered my thoughts are. Right now I have nothing in my system with the exception of tylenol, ibuprofen, and immodium. That REALLY helps BTW, the immodium. You know almost instantly as soon as it wears off though!!!!

Thanks all.

i'm battling the opiate demons myself right now. Know that you aren't alone. I'd say more but i'm, well, you know how it Simmion. I'll hang on if you hang on.....

8 days is killer. Congrats on getting far. It took me several weeks to get past bulk of w/ds. The physical mind games start once you start feeling better which can be tougher then the withdraws. You gotta hang in there dude and keep positive. It gets easier over time.

After 8 days I sure didn't feel like running a marathon.Most of it was better, but energy takes a while to come back, and for me the stomach stuff lingered a while. But it is worth it even if it doesn't seem so right now.

You should be getting better every day from here on out. Day 8 is better than Days 3 and 4, eh?

Actually, last night was really, really bad. No sleep, super bad headache, vomiting, burning, etc. Today's been a little better so far. YesterDAY was ok, but once the weather turned, so did I. I didn't think I was going to make it. I was ready to tear out my veins at 6am. Went and sat in the bath for a while, puked some more, finally fell asleep around 8am, then a client called with a problem and woke me up at 10, couldn't get back to sleep after that.

Still clean. Welcom to day 9.

Simmion, I have two things to say. You could have a stomach bug in which case, ugh,or you may be having very bad w/ds. By day 9, it shouldn't be happening so badly. Have you considered going to the ER?

I was thinking the same thing...maybe resistance was down and you just got a stomach flu. I know that kicking wipes you out and it has to lower resistance to bugs.

today is my 5th day and i feel better, was doing heroin daily for a few years but i went to the doctor and got a bunch of comfort meds to help, but they say heroin only takes a week for the phyical, give or take a day or two, but the mental part can make u feel physically sick, but just try to say busy and remember you should be over the worst of it now

Did a lot better today. Last night was so bad though. I thought about going to the ER, but seriously, I felt too sick to bother with it.

I overall starting feeling a bit better after a couple weeks then BAM I got with this nasty stomach that stayed with me for 3-4 days. That most brutal part of all.

Welcome! I can't say much that the others haven't already said, but I do remember that getting out in the fresh air and sunshine made a HUGE difference in my recovery!! {opiates were my DOC too!}

I also remember how leary I was of putting any pills in my system so early on too, but the multi-vitamin really is a good idea! I take "One Source" {WalMart brand} and have noticed quite a difference in my overall health!

It takes awhile for our bodies to get over the shock of what we've done to them so give yourself somemore time and try to be patient.
The things that helped me the most early on were setting a good sleep pattern, eating well {but not depriving myself of the occasional chocolate bar or pizza!! LOL!}, taking walks, getting out and not isolating even when I didn't feel like it, and hobbies {there is always something wonderful about creating something with your own two hands!!}.

BTW...I see your a weather buff too! Good stuff there!! Can't wait till the weather warms up enough to star gaze!
Hang in there and keep focused!
~Jane

I actually slept last night, for the first time in ages. Then I was awoken with this bad sore throat. I looked at it and I had all these bloody sores everywhere. Great. I am already nursing an upper respiratory infection, now this! I should have gone to the doctor this morning but I never got around to it. Then around 4pm, I started having trouble breathing and got a bad pain in my chest. NOT GOOD! So I got up to the ER. My upper respiratory infection went systemic because the antibiotics were ineffective. Now it's in my mouth, sinuses, ears, throat, and it's in my blood. After several lab tests, IV's, X-rays, they did a specific culture to find the proper antibiotic, dosed me through the IV, gave me a breathing treatment, and kicked me out. My fever hit 104. Great. So I just walked back in the door. Under normal circumstances, I would be using like crazy. But, still clean.

Welcome to day 11 and 22 minutes.

Now is the perfecti time to take care of yourself. I had a feeling it was more than withdrawals.

Yeah, it was. When I got in to the hospital, my pulse ox was only 88, I was in respiratory distress, my respiratory rate was cycling between only 4 breaths per minute and over 70. My throat was swelling shut. They said the infection was poisoning me. I don't know what all they gave me, they put in a main line, but when I started breathing more normally, I was freaking out! I wanted to RUN!!!! BAD!!!!! I was doing markedly better after my trip to the respiratory section and had a breathing treatment. The doctor said he could keep me or send me home with scripts. Since I don't have insurance and a bazillion dollars to pay for a few days in the hospital, I decided to go home.

It was kind of cool to see them scramble at the ER for a change. Usually when you go up there, you sit for hours. But I walked in the door and they are all freaking out and doing their jobs for a change. I think the 20+ people in the waiting room were a little tweaked that I didn't have to wait. They took me straight back in a wheel chair and on the way they took my shirt and started hooking up all these probes. It was kind of neat. Course, I felt like I was dying and I think they thought that too. I got a private trauma room with my own bathroom and a tv!

I think it is different for everyone. I was on lortabs for more than 3 years, 2 years of taking everyday at 15 a day. The first 3 days were the worse but mine lasted 7 days of feeling real bad. At 2 weeks the physical part was gone, but had to deal with the mental part. I read somewhere that it could take up to 90 days, but typically you should feel much better after 30. I have only been clean for 2 weeks, so I am still going through it. For me, it is a daily battle that I must defeat. Everyday I have to tell myself today I will not use. You take 1 hour at a time and then 1 day at a time. Not every method will work for everyone, at least in my opinion. I tried taking vitamins but they did not seem to help me much. I would say try to stay busy and not think too much about them. I know how hard that is because it was all I could think about at first. It does get better, I know right it seems it like ever will but it does. I detoxed at home, and the first few days it was all I could think about. After about a week, I would go and visit my family and just visit. Just getting out of the house helped me a great deal. Lucky for me they were very supportive, not at first mind you.