I listened to a locally produced program on an NPR station this weekend that dealt with heroin use. A lot of the ancecotes involved kids who started with available medicine cabinet drugs (such as vicodin), and moved on to oxycontin, where they got hooked. When the cost of that got too high (say $75 a pill), they turned to heroin which could go for $5 a fix.
I had always thought that different addictive substances affected different receptors in the brain. How does one switch from one addictive drug to a completely different one and not suffer withdrawal?
vicodin, oxycodone, and heroin are all opiates, so there is no switching from one drug class to another in the scenario you described.
Many opiate addicts substitute benzos or alcohol when they run out of opiates because while those have different mechanisms of action, they’re still sedatives that will blunt the opiate withdrawal symptoms. Ditto substituting barbiturates.
I’ve been on OxyContin for a few months for severe back and nerve pain, taking what my doc says is a low dose of 20 mg 3-4 times a day. It does dull the pain considerably, but it wears off in a few hours. Because I was due to see a surgeon for second opinion a while, back, I decided to try to taper off from four to three to two a day to see how bad the pain was.
Of course, the pain returned, but worse, I experienced really bad withdrawal symptoms: dizziness, heavy sweating and then chills, nausea, all my muscles aching and burning, loss of appetite, etc.
I then slowly got back to taking four a day spaced evenly every six hours, and am tolerating the pain. I discussed this with my family doc, and he says I seem to be more susceptible to this than most, but when the times comes, will have to do a much more gradual taper.
I hate the damn stuff, but can only tolerate the pain by using it, so until the decision on surgery is made, will continue.
This discussion is especially interesting to me, as i had noticed from the beginning that I got no euphoria or any high at all from the stuff, and was wondering why in the world anybody would want to abuse this type of drug for “recreational” use. Now I see the reaction differs. I’ll be a happy camper when i can get off all such narcotics.
And if that stuff (which is designed to last for 10-12 hours) is only lasting “a few hours”, you might consider discussing alternate narcotic meds with your doc. Your call, of course, but I’ve had better luck with my patients using methadone, or long-acting morphine, or even fentanyl patches, than I have with that oxycontin stuff.
And where the hell is the “High Sonoran Desert”? I thought Joshua tree was Mojave.
The Sonoran Desert, unlike most, is heavily populated with lush vegetation (including the giant Saguaro cactus). It extends from northern Mexico through southern AZ and little bit into CA. We live north of Phoenix up about 2600 feet above sea level, so it is even richer in fauna and flora, with heavier rainfall.
Yup, the Joshua trees do grow in California’s Mojave desert, much more desert-like.
Benzodiazepines = Valium, Xanax, Ativan, a class of drugs that are sedative/hypnotics. They’re very addictive and tolerance can build quickly. Withdrawal from benzos is a hell unlike the withdrawal from opiates. The physical sickness isn’t the same; with opiate withdrawal you experience a lot of GI upset (diarrhea, vomiting) along with restlessness, insomnia and uh, I forget what it’s called when you feel like your skin is crawling and your muscles won’t stop twitching.
With benzo withdrawal…gosh, I don’t even know how to explain it. Remember that commercial for V-8 Juice where the guy is walking sideways because he didn’t drink V-8 that day? It’s like the world is sideways. Anxiety, head zaps, dizziness, uncontrollable twitching, insomnia, the worst restlessness ever, and just increase all of that by about 100%. The problem is that unlike opiate withdrawal, benzo withdrawal takes a LOT longer to go through. Withdrawal from **opiates **won’t kill you, it’ll just make you wish you were dead. Withdrawal from a serious **benzo **addiction, on the other hand, is dangerous and can cause seizures.
I’m sure QtM can speak with more authority about the medical necessities involved with getting someone off of a heavy benzo addiction, but I was hospitalized with a phenobarbitol taper, and I was very heavily monitored. It’s dangerous stuff.
Again, I’m not a medical or mental health professional. I just happened to have spent most of my adult life as an addict until four years ago, that’s all.
[segue]My only experience with the Sonoran desert was the stretch from the Salton Sea to Desert Hot Springs. Except for the oases of Thousand Palms, I didn’t note too much lushness, or elevation. But thanks for the education[/segue]
Fiveroptic, sorry, but benzo withdrawal, while a bitch, is generally not harmful or fatal. I think you’re thinking of barbiturate withdrawal, which does have a signficiant risk of fatality.
Or Lord, that’s a bleak and desolate stretch, and I thought that was part of the Mojave. Anyway, for a glimpse of the beautiful Sonoran desert, you can go here
The vast majority of it is in Arizona, and you should really come and see it. There is not a month year-round wen some cactus, tree or shrub is not in bloom.
Is it for sure Oxycontin? I only have experience from the pharmacy side of the situation, but people aren’t always clear on the distinction between Oxycontin™ and oxycodone. (Oxycontin™ being an extended release formulation of oxycodone, which as QtM mentioned isn’t designed to be dosed every 6 hours.)
