Best way to taper off IV dillies?

[Markov]

Hey folks. So... as SWIM wraps up this last kidney stone in a new town, rather than risk planting the seed of being a drug seeker, he's thinking about laying low for a while and letting the Rx dust settle, so to speak. But, until the pain mgt appt mid-july, that means I'll be opioid-free for a couple weeks. SWIM has a handful of 4mg dillies to use to taper, and some benzos, loperamide, etc, but the question is this: SWIM is expert at tapering off oral doses of meds like oxycodone - it's pretty straightforward. Lower, lower, farther apart, farther apart, etc. In the past it's taken 10 days to taper off 80 of oxycontin 3x a day... two weeks to taper off of 50mcg of duragesic, etc. But IV? :confused:

Should SWIM:
1) Switch to oral/nasal for the taper (versus continuing IV and dropping IV doses litlte by little)?
2) Lower IV doses down to 1mg and then space them out farther & farther?
3) Sub-q has a longer duration - maybe that'd be a good way to keep the w/d's at bay?

I know there's going to be some sort of withdrawal... SWIM is prepared for that. Just trying to avoid sitting in cubicle sweating like I'm on the center court at Wimbledon. And minimizing the "feel like shiiiiite" component.

To add insult to injury... the dillies I have for the taper are ethex :mad:. Oh well. Maybe that'll make it easier to say gooooodbye.

I know it'd be a setback, but there's definitely going to be a "Break Glass In Case Of Emergency" pill to use in the case of "I can't taaaake it anymore". And to give you an idea of where we're starting from... SWIM can do 20mg and feel groovy, and can only really feel 2mg if it's been at least 12 hours since the last dose or so. And even then, it's a pretty darned weak feeling.

Lastly, does anyone know how long this process should take? Obviously it depends on the taper... but does anyone have experience for example with how long you feel like shit after going cold turkey off of IV dilaudid? At what dose? Or has anyone successfully tapered? How?

Thanks in advance, you wonderful group of people. I already owe you all more than you will ever know.

-Markov

[chopstix]

I'd definitely recommend switching to oral and if possible, using a different drug, as dilaudid is so short acting it's gonna be hard to gradually decrease system levels. Kinda like trying to taper with IV heroin - good luck.. Possible but very difficult..

Sell the D's, dump the rigs and get some hydro or subs or something.

[Markov]

Phew. Saved by the bell. Dodged the bullet, so to speak. Got a month's worth of Opana. Yay! It's not like I won't eventually need to cross this bridge... but it's a little farther off in the distance now. Whoopee!

[moviebuff927]

I'd definitely recommend switching to oral and if possible, using a different drug, as dilaudid is so short acting it's gonna be hard to gradually decrease system levels. Kinda like trying to taper with IV heroin - good luck.. Possible but very difficult..

Sell the D's, dump the rigs and get some hydro or subs or something.

Amen to this...Dilaudid is too short acting to taper with just Dilaudid. Plus I myself have the tendency to overdue it...

But, Opana isn't that much better, which your above post said you just got saved by the bell by getting Opana. Sure, it'll keep the withdrawals away, but it you're honestly getting off or just lowering your dose, then Opana and Dilaudid are just about the worst opiates to use for that purpose.

But I guess your original post is now a moot point since you have Opana. I'm sure what you meant was a temporary fix until you got some more.

[Woowoo]

For purposes of comparison, here's the classic taper method:

Get a small vial or ampule of water, crush up a bunch of dilaudid and prep them for injection, put them in this ampule, measured with such a potency that 50 units (half a cc) is one really sweeet hit.

Then start to do hits out of your vial, with one important rule: every time you take a dose out of the vial, you replace what you took out with pure water. Shake well.

That way each hit gets less and less potent, but only slightly so. Limit your # of injections per day, e.g. always 3 per day, and never break that rule. Eventually you're shooting pure water, and you're 100% detoxed.

(This may sound like great advice but personally I've never been able to get it to work. Like all detox methods, some self-control is required which I sadly lack.)

[Markov]

Woo,

That is excellent advice. There was a time not that long ago that SWIM had access to all sorts of stuff, including sterile water in containers suited for drawing up in a syringe, etc... but that time is no longer. And you hit the nail on the head with the self-control issue. As it stands... we may be facing the same issue with the opana. Especially since as you said... self-control is an issue. Regarding self-control, I have more issues than the NY Times. I guess it's just a question of time. Time, time, time. And superhuman efforts at self-control. Hopefully keeping some small doses set aside so that when the W/Ds set in, they can be set at bay temporarily will work. Hopefully a few of those will eventually allow the w/d process to run its course with minimal discomfort. It just sucks though. W/D suuuuucks. Hate it. Hate it. Oh well.

[Nate]

I definetly have to agree with some of the other posts, the first step...if you can is to get off the needle and take your doses oral or snorting. I find when I taper is i take just enough DOC to minimize the majority of the w/d. But the key is self control, obviously you will not have a buzz or the feel good, but just enough to minimize the w/d. If you can keep to that, every day will get easier, and you will need less and less over time.

Good Luck!

[Azrael]

I did a successful bupe detox from 12-20mg of iv dilaudid a day but it was only a five week run, so there's that.

I tried to do a bupe detox after a year and a half daily heroin/oxy/morphine habit, it didn't go quite as well as the five week dilaudid run. wonder why? lol.

[Markov]

...I tried to do a bupe detox after a year and a half daily heroin/oxy/morphine habit, it didn't go quite as well as the five week dilaudid run. wonder why? lol.


I'm afraid to ask... but how long'd that take?