Opiate Tolerance....

[BuddhaLife]

Ok, first off let me apologize if this is a topic that has been covered.

Whats up with my tolerance... Like i said in another post, it just doesnt seem to go down at all. I mean i can, (recently, and in the past) go without opiates for 2 month periods. When i eat them again, yeah the amount i was doing in past feels a little better, but a few days later i do it again, and it seems the same as it was months ago. I just dont understand this, i mean have I permanently fried my opiate receptors? Does it take YEARS to lower withdrawl through abstinence? It just seems strange to me that it took me 10 years to acquire this tolerance, but 2 months of not dosing is wiped away by one dose... Well anyway im rambling, so i'll stop.

Any insight would be appreciated.

Peace
Buddha

[CUBErt]

I think that just happens to some people, I dunno. My friend is in a drug program, and his Probation Officer told him that lets say you had a half gram a day heroin habit and you stopped for 6 months. When you picked back up, supposedly your habit is right where you left off. My friend has started to believe this theory and some other things his P.O. says.

I dunno though, I stop for a week or two and at least the first couple uses after are magnificent.

Maybe someone could site some medical info or something to support or discredit my friend's theory

[orangejuice]

Well im not speaking for everyone but every time ive been to rehab (4 times) id get out and maybe after a week, id use, after a few days or a couple week depending on how much im using when i get out, my tolerance has always went right back to where it was before i went to rehab...but thats just my experience

[kat1lifeleft]

Speaking for myself... My tolerance doesn't seen to lower at all for at least the first 6 wks. Since that's about the longest i've been clean before, EVER- that's all i can say. But i have been told the same thing about you pick up where you left off. But I do know that even though you get over w/d's, your body wont begin to produce natural serotonin for 1year to 18 months. Thats why you feel like utter shit, depressed, no motivation, lethargy, blah blah blah after kicking. And that's the major reason most of us relapse because we feel so bad and it's so damn easy to make it all go away. Count backwards from ten...:cool:

[shaunclo]

I quit for 2 years without any opiates at all after a good 3 and 1/2 year run. It only took 3 days to get back to taking exactly what I was 2 years prior. Once your tolerance starts to rise, it will never go back down to zero. I mean you could enjoy a couple days of taking tiny shots or whatever your method was, but within a week of constant using again, you will be right back to where you left of.

[candy]

There has been quite a bit of research done on how opiates affect the brain. Since the discovery of opiate receptors in the early 70's, researchers found that changes occurred in the brains of people addicted to opiates or those who developed a tolerance to opiates, which could be said is one and the same by some.

With long term use, it is thought that the brain adapts to the use of opiates and the amount of endorphins is decreased as it is replaced by opiates that attach to the same receptors. Tolerance develops and the need for more opiates increases to achieve the same effects.
Even after a period of abstinence, it does not take long to start using the same amount of opiates before one has stopped. Maybe those receptors have a memory of sorts.

You do hear of someone overdosing this way when they use the same amount before they stopped. Most I would imagine go right back to whatever they were using in just a few days.

I don't know if this explains it as well as I hoped it would, but I do know that once these changes occur and our bodies adapt to the changes caused by opiates it seems much harder to get back to those pre-opiate days. Even with years of abstinence, I still did not get the same effect one might without ever using opiates. I know many others who have experienced the same thing.

[RobOC]

Every rehab I have ever been to has told me that no matter how long you stop useing your addiction stays in the same place, so that when you start again you start where you left off. Everytime I was told this I said that it did not make much sense, but it seems to be somewhat true.

[BuddhaLife]

Well thanks all for replying... At least I know now that other people feel the same way about this topic. It really sucks to think that no matter how long i quit, my tolerance wont go down. What about the chemical detox thing... You know, where they put you out and give you drugs that strip your receptors... Could that possibly help? (not that im going to, or even WANT to do that) Thanks again everyone...

Peace
Buddha

[superman]

buddha, i think that this question would be better answered with a bit more information of your dosage.

for example, when i was new, 20mg insufflated oxycodone was so motherfucking euphoric i can't even describe it.

then i got hooked. after that 20mg was just ok, even when i hadn't used for weeks.

Now when i have zero tolerance, if i was going to do some oxy, just a moderate dose, something i'd take after rolling out of bed, i'd do 30mg IV, enough to send me over the top when i was new

[PRIZEFIGHTERINFERNO]

its just never the same as when you started. I used to think that i could stop for a week and then be back to a low tolerance and it only lasts for a few days and then its right back up eventually even more than the last time...thats how it goes for me anyways. higher and higher dosage progressivelly for the past 6 or more years.

[lukilu]

When counselors and Recvery sorts talk about ending up" write where you left off ", mostly I think they are talking in terms of "Acts Of Addiction "and not Tolerance ,Kinda like a scare tactic . Not nescasarily untrue but mostly a cliche IMO .
Also, You may want to check out Proglumide or "Very Low Dose Naltrexone Procedure" There may be a link on this Site, if not type it in Google and it should come up, same with Proglumide .

Lukilu