SWIM is addicted to 1-3 bags of dope a day. He hasn’t had anything today and he is starting to feel sick. 1-3 bags a day isn’t too big of a habit but still enough to make a person feel shitty. My question is; at 1-3 bags a day would 60 mg of oxycodone be enough to stop withdrawal symptoms?
What is a SWIM? Single White Immature Male?
Stands for “Someone Who Isn’t Me”. Many People use it on message boards to not incriminate themselves. I on;y use it cause others do, and if I don’t i tend to get static from other people.
Opiate withdrawal can be dangerous. Taking oxycodone without a prescription is illegal. Get thee to a physician!
Good lord. :rolleyes:
OK, first thing - I am not a doctor, nor am I former drug addict. I used to work at a methadone clinic and have a little knowledge of these things.
Let’s start with the smack he’s been using. Is it pure? Not bloody likely. Any idea how far it’s been cut? Probably not. In other words,* there’s no way to know just how much actual opiate he’s been using.* Depending on purity that might be a “minor” habit or a major one. You have know way to know, sort of chemical analysis.
Now, the oxycodone. I’m assuming you’re talking about diverted prescription pills, right? THAT stuff is reasonably pure, being the product of legit pharmaceutical production. (It’s also time release. No way in hell am I telling you how to get around that here). What are you going to do if that 60 mg oxy turns out be much higher in opiates than what he’s been using?
Can you handle an overdose? Would you even recognize an overdose before it gets into lethal territory?
You’re not helping this person by supplying them with drugs.
Yeah, opiate withdrawal sucks. Want to know something else? It’s very, very, very rarely fatal. It feels awful but unless this person has something else wrong medically it’s unlikely to kill him. Withdrawal is sure as hell a lot safer than monkeying around with pharmaceuticals on an amateur basis.
**
If you want to help this person either drive them to a treatment program, take them to a hospital, or hold their hand and soothe their fevered brow while they go through this cold turkey. Don’t continue to enable their addiction.**
nm
The dope isn’t pure and it’s different stuff everyday. I wouldn’t worry about an overdose because, 1st: SWIM has been through that and would know how to deal (that is if he doesn’t go unconscious) and what amount may cause it. 2nd: SWIM was taking a lot of pills before he started using heroin, up 200 mg of oxycodone or more so, 60 mg Isn’t all that much. Now, before he started using heroin, after the pills, he quit using for about a year, so, his tolerance went down to near nothing. I know 60 mg isn’t going to get him high but, is it enough to get him off E? (E meaning “empty” as in no drugs in his receptors) He’s just curious if anyone reading this has taken percs to help with withdrawals and if so, what is the minimum amount that one must take in order to feel “normal”?
Oxycodone basically is legal heroin. It is an opiate and it’s effects on the body are nearly identical to that of heroin. What possible earthly good could come out of switching one opiate addiction for another, considering that both would be obtained illegally (I’m assuming the oxycodone wouldn’t be supplied by a doctor)?
Many, many heroin addicts got their start with the use of oxycodone. A lot of the time, this usage was perfectly legal and prescribed by a doctor to combat some sort of serious pain.
It’s a trick question. Are we talking ‘bags’ as in 20 bags per sack, 12 sacks per bail, and 4 bales per crate?
Or are we talking ‘bags’ as in 4 bags per slug?
Imposible to answer without additional information.
There’s no safe (or legal) way to answer this question in this forum. Take him to a rehab center or a hospital if necessary.
This is correct. Contrary to what Mr. Excellent says*, opiate withdrawal is almost never dangerous. (Alcohol and benzodiazepine withdrawal certainly can be, but not opiates.) To be sure, vicario’s “SWIM” will wish he were dying, but won’t be.
IANAD, but I do have some experience and education here: I’m a former addict, myself, and I’ve done a lot of research in authoritative medical sources into all this.
*But to be totally fair to Mr. Excellent, he does offer very good advice anyway: “Get thee to a physician!”
Again, I agree with Broomstick. Get SWIY some sort of medical help. Right now. Having been through withdrawal so many times myself, I CERTAINLY understand the desire to ease the suffering with Oxy or virtually any other narcotic, but SWIY is ultimately only prolonging his suffering. Medical help will do two important things for him: 1) Ease (but not alleviate) his withdrawal suffering; and 2) Enable physicians to recommend and supervise a comprehensive recovery program.
Best wishes to SWIY.
Opioid withdrawal is rarely life or health-threatening, substituting oxycodone for heroin is not a medically accepted or safe method of detox, and if your friend really wants help, he should get to either a doctor, or a Narcotics Anonymous meeting, or both.
QtM, physician, treater of many, many opioid addicts in various stages of withdrawal, and clean and serene myself for over 2 decades.
I echo others here. Get SWIM to a doctor or detox center. It may not be life threatening at the moment, but (unless you are a doctor in RL) you aren’t qualified to determine how to substitute one drug for another, and it would be most likely illegal for you to do, leaving you open to arrest and a possible LONG sentence for Possession with the Intent to Distribute. You don’t want that.
And that somehow makes it OK? :rolleyes: I don’t think so… And you completely missed my point.
My point is what are YOU going to do if he “goes unconscious” and can’t help himself. You don’t have a clue, right?
You’re an addict yourself, aren’t you? Because you’re “reasoning” like one. You’re talking about yourself, aren’t you? Get real.
200 mg of oxy a day? Did he leave it in pill form/time release? Then I doubt he ever developed much tolerance. Is he intending to get around the time release feature for that 60 mg? With a tolerance you already state is lowered? You don’t see anything wrong with that? Of course, that’s assuming he (or you) are telling the truth here.
Hello, you’re playing Russian roulette with this.
Look, I know the name of the site is “Straight Dope” but this is NOT a drug forum. Take your “buddy” to a treatment program or hospital and stop screwing around with playing pharmacist/doctor before someone gets hurt or dead. You are asking people to engage in either illegal activities, unethical activities, or both. As we are not in the BBQ Pit area I can’t tell you what that make you in my eyes, but suffice to say it isn’t at all flattering.
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If there’s a GQ to this question, you’ve received it: get to a doctor or rehab clinic.
Since you’d already know what doses to use if the oxycodone was received legally, you are violating two GQ rules here: asking for medical advice, and asking for help breaking the law.
This thread is closed.
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