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As a Detox Facilitator
Methamphetamine & Opiates
Citation:   Icarus. "As a Detox Facilitator: An Experience with Methamphetamine & Opiates (exp58413)". Erowid.org. Aug 25, 2009. erowid.org/exp/58413

 
DOSE:
  repeated smoked Methamphetamine (powder / crystals)
BODY WEIGHT: 175 lb
I recently used meth to successfully detox myself from a strong and deeply habituated opiate addiction. The assistance of crystal made the process easily tenfold less painful and debilitating. I believe meth gave me a great benefit that in my case was well worth the use of this terribly devastating substance.

The depression that comes with long-term use opiate-withdrawal is very difficult to deal with. Meth took all that pain away. The multi-faceted stimulating properties provided a striating effect that supported my psyche during the separation from the opiates. The pleasure-stimulating and pain-reducing effects of the glass eliminated most of the pain that opiate withdrawal caused. I was rather amazed. While the meth presence was strong it was like I never did opiates. I knew that I had a habit but I didn’t feel it. It wasn’t tangibly real. I felt no connection, no draw to the concept of the opiates. Essentially the meth’s presence was very dominating.

I would like to stress that I am very impressed with the return-ratio of the benefits I received. I did a very moderate application of meth and the assistance it rendered in detoxing from opiates was incredible. I believe it was much easier to use meth a handful of times to break the original addiction and then kick the comparatively mild connection to the meth than to kick unaided the connection to something I’ve used very regularly. A smoother transition tends to be more stable. I see this is having widespread life-saving potential. I can not say for certain how this effect is in dealing with detox from non-opiate addictions. I think it is likely that the fact the stimulating effects of meth are in many ways diametrically opposed to the effects of opiates has a part in its effectiveness. I also believe that the metabolic enhancing effects are ideal in this role. It also provided me a great deal of support and stimulation that was wonderful in getting through the depression and pains of withdrawal. Basically it let me get through that first week of withdrawal much more easily, letting me put more distance between myself and my habituated substance and makes it so much easier to do I would consider it life-saving.

To get over the initial opiate withdrawal (after daily use for over a year… and towards the end I was doing 2-3 80mg OCs (Oxycodone) in a day. Or over 10 percocet or vicodin if for some reason I was forced to do those. I know that’s pretty mild compared to some hardcore heroin addicts but it was a pretty bad habit with a nice depression pricetag to break. I only needed to take meth twice at .4 grams each. I did .4 grams during the course of a nite. It would be all gone. I would be intensely on it and acting quite nepotically degenerately for about 12 hours. Then I would ride out the rest of the effect over the next two days, with no more meth. Day one was easy, day two was pretty easy... it was no longer euphoria but I was greatly helped in not feeling the opiate pressure. Day 3 took a bit of pain and effort, as combined meth withdrawal and opiate withdrawal could be felt, but still better off than otherwise. Day 4 came and I felt the need to repeat. So two applications of .4 grams used all in 1 day to cause a high peak then multi-day residual effects.

I prefer to smoke the substance. I know there is much debate on how to consume it and the each of the various methods has its benefits but in my case I simply prefer the smoking method. I would have supplemented with snorting to get a more consistent effect but was not willing to do that to my nasal passages. I did not have enough to find out how well ingestion would work in this process obviously a much high average effect for multiple days but I worried about not having a peak that really makes 1 day go by in a blur. So, the two .4 applications of it got me through the first week of opiate withdrawal. I felt sufficiently strong to battle the rest out on my own. Did not want to become too focused on the meth, naturally.

My detox was successful, its been 4 weeks now but recently I felt the need to use meth again (3rd application in 4 weeks of .4g… not trying to start a meth habit) because I had an echo-type opiate relapse effect that won me over on a depressed nite and one application of meth was able to squash it for now, and remind me of the pain meth brings, bringing renewed strength to continue with my quest of healing and constructing. I’m in pretty bad place in life. I am depressed and have made a habit of failure and although I’ve had wonderful potential I’ve squandered it. I am trying to break out of years of unfocused and undisciplined unconstructive pursuits and start doing something worthwhile. I’m 25 and I have a lot less than I’d like to show for it. I need to be more responsible and constructive and productive. It is difficult. So much pain and chaos in the mind.

Exp Year: 2006ExpID: 58413
Gender: Male 
Age at time of experience: Not Given
Published: Aug 25, 2009Views: 37,196
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Methamphetamine (37), Opiates (207) : Depression (15), Multi-Day Experience (13), Addiction & Habituation (10), Unknown Context (20)

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