I’m an ex heroin addict (25 years and I started at 16) and now a drug and alcohol recovery worker. I know heroin intimately both in a personal and professional sense. The withdrawals are sooooo bad but they won’t kill you. You wish they would at times and they can drive you to self termination, but the withdrawals themselves won’t. My colleagues with no lived experience of opiates say to clients it’s just flu symptoms. It’s not. Flu has never had me crawling around like a dog and not being able to sleep for days on end. You can’t eat, sleep or relax. I’ve done a lot of things in my life, good and terrible, but nothing comes close to heroin withdrawals. I’m British and we don’t really use the “chasing the dragon” term but I’m pretty sure that’s referring to the smoking of the gear on the foil. You chase it down the foil… You are correct in saying that the first time is the most euphoric thing ever though. I have never felt comfort like it. It’s like being wrapped in a big warm duvet as you’re falling asleep but with an internal buzz and an almost supernatural feeling of calm and peace. Nothing else compares to it so I can’t give a good analogy. It’s unbeatable but that’s the allure, that’s why people get addicted for decades afterwards
Fr! The flu my ass. I was violently puking and shitting at the same time until my body had nothing left inside. I then fainted off the toilet, still covered in shit and puke and laid there on the hard tile floor for the next 12 hours, struggling to breathe and in the worst pain i've ever experienced in my life. I eventually got someone to go buy me more drugs because I couldn't handle the pain anymore. It's so incredibly hard and extremely scary to get clean. Anyone who says it's just like a flu is ignorant. Glad to hear you're doing better now!
@@kevinh.a442 never thought i'd read that. Worth it? People die in suffering when living a miserable life because they cant leave the trap of addiction. I dont think a moment of extreme calmness and comfort is worth torturing yourself until you are dead. This is the most devastating drug today and we should stay away at all costs. Maybe try shrooms or acid instead if you really feel you need to experience something like that. Or just focus on having a healthy, balanced and under control life. Do some sports, focus on your career and relationships, go travel. Experience the outer world. Have a happy life. Make it worth. Or try at least, idk
@Ste_Brit Effing WELL DONE on your huge huge triumphant!! Am mega proud man. And you're absolutely right about the chasing dragon part. You chase it down the foil and blow it out like a dragon.... worst thing I ever did to myself.
I did heroin once, I loved it, and I knew if I ever did it again, I wouldn't stop. I never did it again, but I can definitely understand why people do.
I was a heroin addict for about 10 years. It takes everything from you, including your own sense of self, but the ever-present fear of withdrawal keeps you coming back long after you want out. I always explained it like this: at first it's so bad you're afraid it'll kill you, and then later you're afraid it won't. It's so bad you almost just want to die. I'm almost 8 years clean now, got clean when my first child was born. The pull of the drug is log gone, but the fear of withdrawal still pops up from time to time. Don't do drugs.
You’re lucky that your pills are gone opposite ways. Most addicts suffer because the pull is never gone by the fear of withdrawal is always forgotten. A horrible trick on the mind
Man, the first thing I noticed about getting clean was not waking up sick. Something I hope, God willing, I wont take for granted again. Anyone that is worried about getting clean, there is a bumpy road to get there but is 100000% worth it. Much love 🤞🏾❤
That is something so easy to take for granted. But once you think about it it’s really encouraging. For the rest of your life, you get to wake up feeling okay(barring like the flu and stuff but you get my meaning)
Minor correction: Naltrexone isn't an opioid, it's an opioid antagonist. It binds to opioid receptors, but doesn't activate them or get the patient high. The point of this is to make other opioids (heroin, morphine, fentanyl, etc) ineffective. It's used in a completely different way than Suboxone and methadone; those are used to stabilize a person pretty much immediately to ease the withdraw process while a person must wait 10 days to take naltrexone to avoid becoming really sick. It doesn't reduce cravings at all, it just makes it so if you do relapse you don't get high or addicted again.
@@Angela-ep1es That's actually a common misconception. The naloxone in Suboxone is basically inactive unless you do anything other than take it via the mouth (usually buccally, i.e absorbed through the cheek), such as shooting or snorting it. The thing that causes precipitated withdrawal and makes you sick is the buprenorphine itself. Bupe is a partial agonist, so it doesn't active the receptors as strongly as full agonists like oxycodone or heroin. Combine that with the fact that it's binding affinity is super high which makes it kick most other opiates off the receptors, and you get really sick because you're going 10/10 well to 2/10. That's why Subutex will also cause precipitated withdrawal if you take it too early despite having no naloxone.
As someone that has withdrawn from many different opiates, including heroin and fentanyl. I can tell you that no pain in my life has EVER matched the pure agony that withdrawal brings. Its absolutely impossible to really get across to someone how truly harrowing of an experience it is, because when you list the symptoms, it doesn't sound all that bad and you most likely won't die from it. But trust me, opiate withdrawal is one of the worst things you can ever go through, it's pure emotional, mental, and physical hell that I wouldn't wish on my very worst enemy. The fact that I've been sober for 2 years is an absolute miracle, the fact that I'm alive is insane to me, the amount of drugs that were going into my body on a daily basis could kill an entire city block of people. I was getting my drugs through illegal means, but if I calculated the street value of the drugs i was taking, I had a 15k a month drug habit. I've told other addicts my story and they usually think I'm full of shit, that's how bad I was.
Slight correction: The term "chasing the dragon" only applies to inhaling the vapor from melting heroin on foil - so as to not destroy it with overheating you tilt the foil at an angle and the heroin rolls down it which you then "chase" with the toot or similar device used to direct the vapor through into your mouth. Shooting heroin is not chasing.
That's true, but it can/has a few meanings. "Another way the phrase “chasing the dragon” has taken meaning is by trying to catch the high that a person got with their very first high with the “dragon” being the drugs." This one seems to be more commonly used in videos, news, media, etc.
It's not out maintaining a streak. It's about doing less than you did before until you stop completely. Furthermore, there's other aspects of your life that fuel your addiction, so be sure to fix those issues.
I used to be a crack addict, withdrawal was crazy, I used to have dreams of smoking crack which felt so real, then when I wake up and find out it was a dream I get highly disappointed
I hate it when people compare opioid withdrawals to a flu. Yeah, maybe if the flu also caused unbearable anxiety, complete inability to sleep or stay put, leg pains that to me felt like someone was smashing a sledgehammer at the bones, constant diarrhea and vomiting caused by stomach cramps that literally felt like being stabbed - I mean every 5 minutes - and the usual sweating, muscle pains, constant yawning and the inability to feel any pleasure. Oh, and extremely high blood pressure and severe heart arrythmias. It's difficult to even describe, you have to experience it to get it. It's akin to the worst torture you can think of. I've been through some painful things, but nothing else comes even close. The physical pain alone made broken bones and migraines seem like a walk in the park - for 4 weeks I was in such excruciating pain that it left me with PTSD. Imagine someone deliberately breaking your legs 24/7 while someone else is twisting a knife in your gut. I would've been more okay with the suffering had I been like a heroin addict and gotten some pleasure out of it before the withdrawal, but no. I guess the anxiety would've been even worse had that been the case though. I was actually surprised by the lack of the craving symptoms. Btw Naltrexone and Naloxone are NOT opioids. They are opioid antagonists - they block off opioids at the mu-opioid receptor, which is how they can reverse an opioid overdose. If taken by an opioid dependent person, they will cause precipitated withdrawal - a more severe withdrawal with a quicker onset, which is difficult to impossible to reverse, so you have no choice but to ride it out. Some opioids can also cause this, such as Buprenorphine, which is a partial mu-agonist but with very high affinity, so it blocks out most other mu-agonists such as heroin, morphine etc.
I was an addict for the better part of a decade. At my peak, I had a $200 a day habit. At the end, I ended up moving out of state. I bought a little bit, to get me through the 24+ hour bus ride, from my brother. My brother, also being an addict, ended up ripping me off. I have never been in so much pain in my entire life! Thankfully, that was in 2015, and I haven't touched it since. Never again!
I was a morphine addict for 17 years - done via a very different route. Long story short I had an industrial accident. Doctors and consultants tried all pain medications and all had terrible side-effects. I was reluctant to go near morphine despite it now being offered freely by my medical teams. Yes - doctors here in the UK encouraged me to take the drug. I was told "don't be a martyr and just take it. We know that you're in terrible pain so just accept it" they said. Reluctantly I agreed to try it for just 5 days and to report back. The drug was a revelation. I suffered absolutely no side-effects and it killed the pain. I chose to stay on it and gradually my medical teams ramped up the dosage.. After 12 years of prescribed morphine I was casually told one day that I was on the highest levels of the drug in my county. I was stunned. I knew of the problems coming down from it and here they were - shoving it under my nose and offering even higher levels of the stuff. I began to realise not just the dangers but also realised that I'd lost my life, my social life destroyed and I couldn't stay awake for any length of time. Doctors have been incredibly reluctant to lower my dosage. I got absolutely no help from them, no alternate medicines offered to lessen the addiction, no offers of drug counselling help, nothing. Criminals on heroin get offers of help and yet I got nothing. The only person who could change things was me. I kept quiet about my drug reduction plans and set to work. It hasn't been easy and has been an incredibly challenging time. Imagine two steps forward, one step back. I've been at this for years. As well as suffering terrible pain, the withdrawal symptoms have been horrific - not a simple one-off but a whole series of them one after the other as I cautiously came down from those terrifying high levels of the stuff. Today I am drug free. It has been all my own work and not a single bit helped by doctors. Here in the UK (I expect other countries too) doctors are all too happy to prescribe medicines that will cover problems that would make doctors do some actual work. Although I never did those street drugs, I can still relate to the horrors of their addictions. It does get easier, believe me.
You lost me when you started looking down your nose at FELLOW USERS !!! You say it was incredibly hard, well imagine if you was on a far stronger opiate and you wasn't being given it for free (or heavily subsidised).... your very quick to judge
Although I'm an opiate addict and not straight heroin, I still remember when it stopped being fun and became more like a job. Wake up and wonder where and how I'm going to get more pills, usually dopesick and strung out every two weeks between paychecks. Sleeping with a towel on the bed for the sweating. 12 years this past May and I don't even miss the high. It definitely wasn't good enough to suffer through the lows. Naltrexone was the key for me, although I did treatment, meetings, and a halfway house. It all would've been for naught without the naltrexone.
I could hear those Requiem for a Dream scenes in my head and I haven’t seen that movie in years (it’s one of my favorites though but always so so so hard to watch). If you’re currently addicted, in detox or recovery, please don’t have any shame. I believe in you, I am proud of you and I care. No joke.
Regarding the body getting used to Heroin: It's not just that you're getting more adenylyl cyclase in opioidergic neurons. The nervous system also undergoes a process calles "receptor internalization". When opioidergic signalling is higher than the physiological level for a prolonged time, the cells will reduce the amount of opioid receptors on their membranes by removing and dismantling them. This is the mechanism behind tolerance formation. Since it happens together with the increase in adenylyl cyclase, the the effects of these two changes get amplified. These processes are also key in dependence formation, but there are other processes involved in that too (i.e. deltaFOS-B increases in dopaminergic neurons).
@@user-mk2el1po2l Opioids kinda act as a sensitivity modifier for sensoric inputs. The higher the rate of opioidergic signalling, the less sensitive one becomes towards certain inputs and vice versa. When going cold turkey, the receptors are unoccupied, and stay that way for what feels like an eternity, as the body won't produce any endorphins, because it still expects to be given external opioids. Thus it becomes super sensitive to otherwise neutral stimuli. Just sitting there, or lying in bed, gentle touches, stretching a limb, etc. get interpreted as an extremely strong signal by the brain, and thus, as intense pain. An analogy would be living in a completely dark cellar for 3 weeks and then being extremely sensitive to daylight. Outside, it didn't get any brighter than before your stay in the cellar. It's your body having forgotten to handle such an intense signal, because it have to deal with one for a long timespan. On the mental level, opioids cause euphoria, calmness, feeling safe, and they have anti-anxiety and sleep promoting properties. The exact opposite is felt during withdrawls. Opioids slow the digestion, which does get reversed aswell. Basically, people roll around in their own vomit and stool, while being in excruciating pain and having the worst mental state imaginable. So no, "not just spasms" and definitely not a good time lol. What follows after a cold WD, is usually PAWS (post-acute withdrawl syndrome, this can happen with any drug of abuse), so depression, anxiety, sleeping issues and brain fog, will continue for up to a few months well after the withdrawl has completed.
I remember that diarrhea was one of the first symptoms with hot and cold flushes, yawning and sneezing, the cramps and nausea/vomiting came after 24 hours and I’ve never been in that state for over a day or two, it was unbearable… I have to thank the other medicines you mentioned for my recovery!
I went to jail for a week.. I was withdrawing from 125mg of methadone (they didn’t give me my dose in jail) and heroin. It was horrible. 4 years clean, and currently trying to kick methadone at home. It’s been a struggle for a few months but still going strong. I hope everyone doesn’t give up. Don’t let addiction take you. Life is beautiful without it. (In time)
So trust me I believe you regarding methadone withdrawals. I feel like nobody’s gonna believe me when I tell them after doing a stupid rapid two weeks detox from 100ml of Methadone and a heroin habit that they never gonna believe how someone could go months without even five minutes of sleep with eyes so wide at night you can’t even physically close them to relax. Keith Richards who took a very pure form of medical Heroin said that it took him three days to kick and had his life back. Nobody should ever judge who doesn’t know the horrors of a methadone withdrawal and seriously after being on it many years wether coming off a hundred ml or thirty ml it’s basically the same brutal time frame. Invented by a particular World War Two group in Germany so go figure
It was heartbreaking when I hopped on a darknet shopping site the other day and saw fentanyl being sold for pennies. Many people do not have, or are not in a position to have the self-control and future sight to avoid the trap of potent opioids. It's not fair to the public that we have such easy access to these things.
Im 36 years old. I have been in opiate addiction since i was in my early 20s and i have no idea how time went so fast. Im on day 2 with not taking anything and pray to god i will make it. Its a PAIN but i have dreamed about this for so long and feel stronger then ever, i managed to quit on my own 8-9 years ago and i WILL quit again and never touch drugs again, i do this for my 2 kids. Dont EVER give up
I’ve never tried heroin, but I’ve been through withdrawal from pain medication, and it’s pretty much the same. The worst part is not the physical symptoms but the mental anguish. It’s psychological torture that you can’t understand unless you’ve been through it. It’s like a screw in your brain that tightens and gets more painful every hour. I had the most blissful dreams during withdrawal of pills raining down on me only to wake up back in the hell.
If you were in actual full blown withdrawals like that of heroin, you wouldn’t even be sleeping. LOL 😂 at all. So I wouldn’t compare that to heroin. I was an active pill popper before ever trying heroin and it was NOT the same. Yes the mental anguish can really take a toll on a person and I don’t want it to seem like I’m invalidating your experience, because pain medication withdrawal is totally awful. I just can’t agree that they’re one of the same when it comes to detoxing/withdrawing
Well that’s the killer isn’t it from withdrawal because the very thing you want at night is to sleep it off and yet it becomes physically impossible to close the eyes together such is the crazy electrical shit going inside. I will say that both my heroin withdrawals in jail lasted exactly two weeks and both times on that 14th night I slept. The heroin substitute methadone is a brutal prolonged withdrawal that seriously doesn’t allow one to sleep for months and ended up with me seeing a shrink from hallucinations cause from lack of sleep. Why it’s compared to flu I’ll never know
I'm a recovered heroin addict. And i have been clean for 5 years now. I can tell you that going cold turkey to be clean is one of the toughest things a person can experience 😖. And it can be deadly if you don't get the right medical treatment. I was lucky that in Norway where I'm from. We have one of the best medical treatments to get clean from heroine addiction. And one of the best health care systems to stay clean 🥰. I do have to take one pill every day.
My ridiculous rapid detox from a 100ml of methadone a day and heroin habit followed by three terrible weeks down Cornwall where I got lucky with an old fashioned Dr prescribed me Valium, Mogadon and Clonadine during my stay. Then followed by my starting a six month rehab in Wales with the rehab thinking I must of only stopped using given how I was shaking, and too nervous to provide a urine sample. After two arduous months with my not even grasping an hours sleep I was eventually prescribed zopiclone a sleep aid in a rehab which is unheard of but such was my need to sleep. After the six months in rehab and after what I felt like was a mild virus I was released home and the same day had massive heart pain pins and needles and nausea which was found to be pericarditis and cardiomyopathy together and I’m positive that it was the brutal withdrawal that very nearly Did kill me
Just discovered your channel last night and I must say im hooked already. In a world where everything is done half ass now days it's refreshing to watch your videos being so we'll researched. No surprise your channel is thriving. Two thumbs up!
Okay I’m gonna be honest… when I first clicked on this video I was thinking “here we go, another video on ‘heroin withdrawal’ by somebody who’s never experienced it and is just gonna use a bunch of recycled, generic information you’d find in an anti-drug pamphlet.” But then a minute and thirty seconds passed and as soon as you mentioned the locus coerleus I immediately knew that this wasn’t going to be like the others, and that you really do know your shit. Great job, and great video!
Thank you for this video. I’ve been in a cycle like this for a long time before I found my wife and got help. Understanding what’s happening inside your body while this is taking place is fascinating to me. Well done Sir!
It was a very crazy coincidence that this was uploaded and currently a friend of mine is trying to quit H. I have been trying to support and encourage him, but also have never used myself so don't have a full understanding. This was helpful for sure.
@@shroomyk Good luck to you and your friend. I don’t know anything about addiction. But prevention is my biggest thing. Can’t be addicted to anything you’ve never done. For example never drink any alcohol or take any type of drugs when you are sad or had a bad day. Do something you enjoy more like get yourself a small chocolate milkshake or something stupid like that it’s helped me a ton. But just make sure you don’t become food addicted lol. Because that leads to obesity. Which is another problem Anyways, I hope your friend is able to get through it at least make it to 30 days so the path is a little easier
I would love to see a video like this but on the inner workings of depression, dealing with that often feels like dealing with an addiction recovery that has no external agravants.
Currently a recovering opiate addict. I wasn't addicted terribly long, and it was hydromorphone, not heroin. But my god, I tell ya those withdrawals are hell. I couldn't keep food down for like 4 days, to the point of repeated projectile vomiting. Runny nose, sweats, sore everywhere, couldn't sleep, irritable as hell etc. But the absolute worst of all... the restlessness. Holy shit, you cannot get comfortable for a single second. Ever had restless leg syndrome? It's that but 10x worse and on every square inch of your body. I wanted to crawl out of my skin, my body became a prison. I'd take 2x the vomiting if it meant I didn't have to deal with the restlessness, that's actually what almost made me relapse. Currently around 4 weeks clean, on suboxone (buprenorphine) and feeling good. Great vid!
8 days. This sucks 😢 the rls syndrome except whole body didn't last long, but wow. Worse than just pain. You described it well. I had NO idea to expect that part. But I guess if I'd known the fear would have made it even worse. 😢 Never taking pain meds again.
@@cyrene7784 sorry to hear you’re currently going through this :( Glad you’re past the restlessness though, it truly is the worst. How are you gong through recovery? Cold turkey? I’m on my 3rd month of sublocade (I switched to injections shortly after this comment) and it’s been fantastic. 8 days is awesome, great job! Wishing you the best going forward!
I was a heroin and fentanyl addict, the way I can explain what wd is like to people is this: When you are hungry, you get relief when you put a tender morsel of filet mignon in your mouth. When you are exhausted, you get sweet relief when you sneak a nod and dose off. When you underwater and running out of oxygen, your relief is that first heavenly breath of air when you get your head above the waters surface. When you have been holding in a shit and/piss for so long you are about to bust, and get relief from that moment you let your bowels open and your waste comes out. Wd is like holding your breath, and your shit and piss, in, while being hungry, tired, sleep deprived, and depressed that your gf broke up with you, on a dreary day. No amount of air, food, rest, or music or any other pleasantries can quite make you feel better. Your body is in this impossibly dreary state. You body and mind “wants”, well “needs” something…. when you have crossed over the threshold from recreational user, to addicted, that “something” that your mind body and soul needs, is your heroin/fentanyl/other opioid. The first time I realized I was in withdrawal, my life literally changed. All my accomplishments, failures, ambitions, dreams, mistakes, friendships, and wishes ceased to hold any weight in my memory. My existence was reduced to life pre addiction, and life in addiction. The only thing that mattered was getting more to keep these withdrawals, that uneasy feeling of my body needing and missing something, away. My life was changed forever, and my battles would start for the next number of years. The withdrawals from opioids seemed to have been comparatively more devastating for me than my other peers. When I was in detoxes and rehabs it seemed the others seemed to be able to get through it, talking eating and carrying on, while I was pacing back and forth very depressed and feeling the wd effects. The fentanyl withdrawals were particularly debilitating! Like I would go from nodding out to fill on wd, talking to myself and shaking and icing, in less than an hour! That was a really dark time in my life. And I am lucky and truly blessed to be alive from the close calls and overdoses, etc. I have done a lot of good and bad, a lot of gruelingly stressful, physical, emotional things in my life and the opioid wd are the most debilitating and difficult thing I’ve had to deal with.
Thank you for this video, I was just recently looking for a good video that explained why Withdrawals are so bad because I always thought people should just quit cold turkey but this video really explains why that's so incredibly difficult.
@@Lemmon714_I go through withdrawal regularly but in 30 years I've not done longer than 23 days clean.. you don't need to force anyone to go through withdrawing, it will come to every addict at some point
Recovering addict here. Completely agree that that very first time doing heroin was the greatest feeling in the world. Nothing and I mean nothing not even sex comes close to that feeling. Withdrawals are brutal yes. Suboxone and clonidine combo greatly decrease withdrawal symptoms making it much more bearable
Nah fam when I had my first and only DMT breakthrough I felt a euphoria leagues above any opioids. I dont know, the high felt like actual pure happiness not just intense pleasure, theres a big difference
Great vid as always , your channel is one of the few channels that i get excited for when i see they released a new vid bc i know the content would be great no matter what the subject is. Pls do not get discouraged by low view count and again love your content ❤
I wouldn't even know where to get heroin. But these videos on the actual chemistry of HOW these drugs effect ones neurology and WHY have done more to educate the public than every single "DONT DO DRUGS" pep talk given to teenagers. People don't like being lied to and teachers blabbing about drugs and trying to "scare" students, especially when a teacher is unlikely to have any actual experience with the drug, leads to students tuning out.
Chasing the dragon is smoking heroin, not chasing a high. It comes from the way you move the smoking implement and foil around, chasing the smoke which moves like a serpent or dragon.
I quit smoking half a year ago at age 40 after having smoked 24 years. I found it very tough the first few months and can only imagine how hard staying of drugs must be
There's something relieving about hearing that we Do have things that addicts can take to help them quit without an exteme level of suffering. I wish people were more aware of and had better access to the things that can help them quit. I know there are definitely some people who just don't care about quitting, but I'm also fairly sure there are many more who would if they just had access and support.
I’m so glad I never experienced the the vommiting. I always shit my pants for about 3 weeks and can’t shit solid for over a month. Withdrawal is nothing like the flu. It’s torture! Takes a few months to get back to a happy state when you’re dealing with paws. It’s so worth the month of misery. If you can. Go somewhere safe. Like a detox then inpatient. Some crazy thoughts might run through your head when you’re kicking. Better to have someone look after you
That's so scary! I've never taken drugs (unless you count alcohol) and never plan to. Im suprised though, do these effects really start after only the first use?
not after using one time, no. you have to use often enough to develop dependency and tolerance. This can vary from person to person, but if someone is using daily depending on the amount they're using it can take anywhere from a couple weeks to a few months before you're at the point where stopping causes full-on withdrawals. The problem is that you do it the first time and it feels so good that you just keep doing it and many people don't realize that they are becoming physically addicted/dependent on the drug until it too late. And at that point it's either go forward and keep using the amount it takes to stave off withdrawal each day, or quit cold turkey and go through it to get back to normal, since in the beginning when somebody develops this addiction they almost never know about or consider going to a doctor for MAT (station assisted therapy, like methadone or Suboxone). withdrawals are bad enough in the beginning when you first become dependent, but it just gets worse as you go along. the longer you keep using the more you have to use, because eventually at some point the amount youve bewn using is no longer enough because your tolerance has increased. and the more the dose increases, the worse withdrawal symptoms are and the longer they last. Please keep NOT doing drugs! ❤
Thank you. That really helped a lot. Now that I have that knowledge and I know what’s happening in ones body. I feel like it’s a possible thing to get off the opioids.
Methadone and Buprenorphine are opioids, not opiates. The term opiate specifically refers to the psychoactive alkaloids that occur naturally in opium. Opiods do not occur naturally. Also, Naltrexone isn't an opioid, it's an opioid receptor antagonist. It competitively blocks the receptors without activating them, and thus is used an antidote in cases of overdose, and to prevent relapse after withdrawl (while having the antagonist in the body, taking opioids won't cause any effects). It can also be used to induce WDs and accelerate the physical withdrawl process, but without general anesthesia, that's excruciating for the patient.
5 days? That's it? I can do 5. Thanks for this info. I had accepted the fact that this was my life. That it was the only way that I could have any quality of life for a few minutes of time once in a while. I had given up/given in to not even trying because I thought the agony (and I know it well!) would go on for weeks and weeks; and, therefor was undoable. But you say 5 days is all I need to do and I can get back to a normal life that I haven't had since 2019? I'd love to hear from anyone who can confirm or refute this claim.
4:15 Norepi is part of the sympathetic NS, so it does not not have a stimulat effect on the digestive tract, rather an inhibitor one. Norepi in large quantities actually inhibits diarheea.
I was on morphine for over 5 years for a severe chronic pain condition. I found something better for my pain. But coming off of the morphine was hell!! I tried to get help at my dr's and was offered more morphine... I didn't take it and had to just deal with it cold turkey.
"Chasing the Dragon" actually refers to the opium smoking dens & days. They chase the white smoke shaped like a white flying dragon with their straw/pipe, & the smoke moves & dances through the air hense the chasing.
It was dilaudid for me. I decided that I was done and stayed in bed for four and a half days. Cold turkey withdrawals are unimaginable hell that can't be described to anyone. Sweating, pain, cramps, the shits, puking, zero sleep. The worse for me was the full body "shudders" every 10-15 seconds. Those will drive you to insanity. Then one day, it just goes away.
Oh yes the shivers are absolutely terrible. It's like that weird feeling running up your spine when you get goosebumps but it doesn't go away for days on end. That was by far the worst feeling and I couldn't stop "kicking" or moving my feet to alleviate the discomfort.
Oh boi opiates.. i had been taking tramadol for about 12 years maybe and got off about 1000-2000 mg of tramadol a day, and about 15 mg - 25 mg of alprazolam/benzo a day on top of that for just stopped cold turkey because of the suppliers were just out. literally every waking second is just agony, but you can't sleep, i started having weird twitching after 3 days and eventually i had a 10 minute grand mal/tonic-clonic seizure and woke up in the ambulance with absolutely no clue what was going on, i had told them i had taken drugs instead of going off them in my confused post-ictal state, my mom had called ambulance because she thought i had a stroke ( she had never seen what a seizure is like ) so they just did an MRI and i was hooked up to a heart monitor/ECG and it just kept going off due to my high heart rate. they turned the sound OFF it because i said i was just anxious.. the doc that evening just did some simple neuro tests to follow his fingers with my eyes and after like 8 hours they just let me go, they just assumed i had been high guess? because the next day my primary physician called me absolutely horrified and enraged, because the heart monitor had picked up i believe it was QT prolongation. after about a week i started having delirium from time to time being completely out of it and had two more shorter seizures. I was pretty much stuck in bed for 2 months and it's absolutely the worst experience i have ever had.. i got back on the drugs again for a while of course,.. I do not take tramadol anymore now though, i would love to since it really made life a lot easier by just making me numb and it helped me with my pretty debilitating social anxiety, but i guess it's better this way.
I've been trying to get off Suboxone for over 10 effing years !! 10 years ! I was able to kick heroin in 2010 and Oxycontin as well. Hell on earth ! So been on Suboxone since 2013 and I cannot kick it. Been to over 10 rehabs to get off of Suboxone maintenance but the withdrawals are so effing bad !!! The problem with Suboxone withdrawal is it takes so friggin long !!! Its not a 4 day or even a 2 week kick - it's like a year ! I actually went 4 months without Suboxone in 2021. During that time I tried killing myself twice and had to go to 3 psych units cause my anxiety even after 4 months was out of control ! I literally couldn't breath everyday my anxiety was so bad ! I couldn't work etc.. So now I'm on the sublocade injection. They say the withdrawals from getting off sublocade isn't that bad. I say BS. It's gonna be hell regardless
I was on the dark for over 20 years been clean along time now.chasing the dragon means smoking the brown on the foil.and the best thing about getting clean was not being tied and supervised everyday to get my meth.and take it infront of the staff at the chemist.meaning i could go places holidays etc.dont get me wrong that hit sorted everything and was amazing.but also took everything and everyone.
I had a physical dependency on opioids after becoming disabled with chronic pain. This is right on the nose, though I really only had the physical side rather than the cluster that makes up true addiction. I'm saving this.
Been through opiate withdrawal a couple of times and can say it has nothing on my Sever Alchool Withdrawal cycles. I've had 6 grand mal seizures, sever hallucinations, all the basic symptoms you get with herion x2 of 3. I finally got clean for a year but it took like 6 or 8 months to stop shaking, I still can't drink coffee. I lost my sense of smell from one seizure. If my blood Alchool levels feel to .8 I would be withdrawing. It took 16milgrams of valium and liquid Ativan to stabilize me one time. If you don't do heroin you will feel a little sick, if I don't drink I will go mad or die, we are not the same lol.
One problem of stop taking heroin is that you will permanently have problems of experiencing excitement when doing things that made you happy before you started using heroin 😢
Could you do one about meth, i was once severe addicted to it (almost every day injection) and I really would like to know what exactly happens when it kicks in, just why was I so addicted to it.
I'm Indian and I'm an heroin recovering addict.I'm using heroin for 15 yrs. Our heroin mostly comes from Burma. One week detox with tramadol and xenax. Another week without any medication real and raw withdrawal. Another week i can eat little food...and so on..
My ass, took me over 3 months to even begin to feel somewhat normal, overall it was 2 years before all symptoms stopped, the last for me was the sneezing. (11 years clean)
I’m an ex heroin addict (25 years and I started at 16) and now a drug and alcohol recovery worker. I know heroin intimately both in a personal and professional sense. The withdrawals are sooooo bad but they won’t kill you. You wish they would at times and they can drive you to self termination, but the withdrawals themselves won’t. My colleagues with no lived experience of opiates say to clients it’s just flu symptoms. It’s not. Flu has never had me crawling around like a dog and not being able to sleep for days on end. You can’t eat, sleep or relax. I’ve done a lot of things in my life, good and terrible, but nothing comes close to heroin withdrawals. I’m British and we don’t really use the “chasing the dragon” term but I’m pretty sure that’s referring to the smoking of the gear on the foil. You chase it down the foil… You are correct in saying that the first time is the most euphoric thing ever though. I have never felt comfort like it. It’s like being wrapped in a big warm duvet as you’re falling asleep but with an internal buzz and an almost supernatural feeling of calm and peace. Nothing else compares to it so I can’t give a good analogy. It’s unbeatable but that’s the allure, that’s why people get addicted for decades afterwards
Would you say it was worth feeling that and in return knowing that you wont ever feel that good ever again without using it?
Fr! The flu my ass. I was violently puking and shitting at the same time until my body had nothing left inside. I then fainted off the toilet, still covered in shit and puke and laid there on the hard tile floor for the next 12 hours, struggling to breathe and in the worst pain i've ever experienced in my life. I eventually got someone to go buy me more drugs because I couldn't handle the pain anymore. It's so incredibly hard and extremely scary to get clean. Anyone who says it's just like a flu is ignorant. Glad to hear you're doing better now!
@@kevinh.a442 never thought i'd read that. Worth it? People die in suffering when living a miserable life because they cant leave the trap of addiction. I dont think a moment of extreme calmness and comfort is worth torturing yourself until you are dead. This is the most devastating drug today and we should stay away at all costs. Maybe try shrooms or acid instead if you really feel you need to experience something like that. Or just focus on having a healthy, balanced and under control life. Do some sports, focus on your career and relationships, go travel. Experience the outer world. Have a happy life. Make it worth. Or try at least, idk
@Ste_Brit Effing WELL DONE on your huge huge triumphant!! Am mega proud man. And you're absolutely right about the chasing dragon part. You chase it down the foil and blow it out like a dragon.... worst thing I ever did to myself.
I did heroin once, I loved it, and I knew if I ever did it again, I wouldn't stop. I never did it again, but I can definitely understand why people do.
I was a heroin addict for about 10 years. It takes everything from you, including your own sense of self, but the ever-present fear of withdrawal keeps you coming back long after you want out.
I always explained it like this: at first it's so bad you're afraid it'll kill you, and then later you're afraid it won't. It's so bad you almost just want to die.
I'm almost 8 years clean now, got clean when my first child was born. The pull of the drug is log gone, but the fear of withdrawal still pops up from time to time. Don't do drugs.
Your words are as if taken straight from my head
You’re lucky that your pills are gone opposite ways. Most addicts suffer because the pull is never gone by the fear of withdrawal is always forgotten. A horrible trick on the mind
I’ve never heard a better description. Congratulations on your 8 years! I’ll have my 8 this September
Isn't that the truth.. the cravings and urges subside, but the memories and fear of being back in that place will never leave.
haha cope
Man, the first thing I noticed about getting clean was not waking up sick. Something I hope, God willing, I wont take for granted again. Anyone that is worried about getting clean, there is a bumpy road to get there but is 100000% worth it. Much love 🤞🏾❤
That is something so easy to take for granted. But once you think about it it’s really encouraging. For the rest of your life, you get to wake up feeling okay(barring like the flu and stuff but you get my meaning)
Minor correction: Naltrexone isn't an opioid, it's an opioid antagonist. It binds to opioid receptors, but doesn't activate them or get the patient high. The point of this is to make other opioids (heroin, morphine, fentanyl, etc) ineffective.
It's used in a completely different way than Suboxone and methadone; those are used to stabilize a person pretty much immediately to ease the withdraw process while a person must wait 10 days to take naltrexone to avoid becoming really sick. It doesn't reduce cravings at all, it just makes it so if you do relapse you don't get high or addicted again.
Suboxone has naltrexone in it which is why you have to be in withdrawal when you start taking it or at least 24 hours after your last use!
@@Angela-ep1es That's actually a common misconception. The naloxone in Suboxone is basically inactive unless you do anything other than take it via the mouth (usually buccally, i.e absorbed through the cheek), such as shooting or snorting it.
The thing that causes precipitated withdrawal and makes you sick is the buprenorphine itself. Bupe is a partial agonist, so it doesn't active the receptors as strongly as full agonists like oxycodone or heroin. Combine that with the fact that it's binding affinity is super high which makes it kick most other opiates off the receptors, and you get really sick because you're going 10/10 well to 2/10.
That's why Subutex will also cause precipitated withdrawal if you take it too early despite having no naloxone.
@@Angela-ep1esthe naltrexone in suboxone is mainly there in the event someone tries to inject it, very little of the naltrexone gets absorbed orally
@@ItsgonnabemayyAn integral ingredient of suboxone nonetheless
Naltrexone is not nalaxone
As someone that has withdrawn from many different opiates, including heroin and fentanyl. I can tell you that no pain in my life has EVER matched the pure agony that withdrawal brings. Its absolutely impossible to really get across to someone how truly harrowing of an experience it is, because when you list the symptoms, it doesn't sound all that bad and you most likely won't die from it. But trust me, opiate withdrawal is one of the worst things you can ever go through, it's pure emotional, mental, and physical hell that I wouldn't wish on my very worst enemy. The fact that I've been sober for 2 years is an absolute miracle, the fact that I'm alive is insane to me, the amount of drugs that were going into my body on a daily basis could kill an entire city block of people. I was getting my drugs through illegal means, but if I calculated the street value of the drugs i was taking, I had a 15k a month drug habit. I've told other addicts my story and they usually think I'm full of shit, that's how bad I was.
proud of you. keep going
I'm glad you are alive.
@@sarak6860 me too, it's kinda crazy I survived
@@DodgaOfficial Keep up the great work!
Thank for this horrifying but deeply encouraging story.
Slight correction: The term "chasing the dragon" only applies to inhaling the vapor from melting heroin on foil - so as to not destroy it with overheating you tilt the foil at an angle and the heroin rolls down it which you then "chase" with the toot or similar device used to direct the vapor through into your mouth. Shooting heroin is not chasing.
That's true, but it can/has a few meanings.
"Another way the phrase “chasing the dragon” has taken meaning is by trying to catch the high that a person got with their very first high with the “dragon” being the drugs."
This one seems to be more commonly used in videos, news, media, etc.
@@thedivine5897 I've never heard it used this way, only as a euphemism for smoking.
Yes, people misunderstood the original meaning and it caught on.
Alright doctor heroin
@@thedivine5897 not true
Currently on day 4. I've been an addict for 26 years, and i know I'll probably fail again. Don't do it
That’s awesome, stick with it, you deserve to live a happier life ❤
Regardless of relapsing, hope you stay clean for good.
It's not out maintaining a streak. It's about doing less than you did before until you stop completely.
Furthermore, there's other aspects of your life that fuel your addiction, so be sure to fix those issues.
Don’t give up! I believe in you
God Bless you brother ! we believe in you
I used to be a crack addict, withdrawal was crazy, I used to have dreams of smoking crack which felt so real, then when I wake up and find out it was a dream I get highly disappointed
I hate it when people compare opioid withdrawals to a flu. Yeah, maybe if the flu also caused unbearable anxiety, complete inability to sleep or stay put, leg pains that to me felt like someone was smashing a sledgehammer at the bones, constant diarrhea and vomiting caused by stomach cramps that literally felt like being stabbed - I mean every 5 minutes - and the usual sweating, muscle pains, constant yawning and the inability to feel any pleasure. Oh, and extremely high blood pressure and severe heart arrythmias.
It's difficult to even describe, you have to experience it to get it. It's akin to the worst torture you can think of. I've been through some painful things, but nothing else comes even close. The physical pain alone made broken bones and migraines seem like a walk in the park - for 4 weeks I was in such excruciating pain that it left me with PTSD. Imagine someone deliberately breaking your legs 24/7 while someone else is twisting a knife in your gut.
I would've been more okay with the suffering had I been like a heroin addict and gotten some pleasure out of it before the withdrawal, but no. I guess the anxiety would've been even worse had that been the case though. I was actually surprised by the lack of the craving symptoms.
Btw Naltrexone and Naloxone are NOT opioids. They are opioid antagonists - they block off opioids at the mu-opioid receptor, which is how they can reverse an opioid overdose. If taken by an opioid dependent person, they will cause precipitated withdrawal - a more severe withdrawal with a quicker onset, which is difficult to impossible to reverse, so you have no choice but to ride it out. Some opioids can also cause this, such as Buprenorphine, which is a partial mu-agonist but with very high affinity, so it blocks out most other mu-agonists such as heroin, morphine etc.
It takes more than 5 days to feel better. It's something so terrible that you can't explain it to someone who hasn't been there.
I am 18 years clean this year
I was an addict for the better part of a decade. At my peak, I had a $200 a day habit. At the end, I ended up moving out of state. I bought a little bit, to get me through the 24+ hour bus ride, from my brother. My brother, also being an addict, ended up ripping me off. I have never been in so much pain in my entire life! Thankfully, that was in 2015, and I haven't touched it since. Never again!
I was a morphine addict for 17 years - done via a very different route. Long story short I had an industrial accident. Doctors and consultants tried all pain medications and all had terrible side-effects. I was reluctant to go near morphine despite it now being offered freely by my medical teams. Yes - doctors here in the UK encouraged me to take the drug. I was told "don't be a martyr and just take it. We know that you're in terrible pain so just accept it" they said. Reluctantly I agreed to try it for just 5 days and to report back.
The drug was a revelation. I suffered absolutely no side-effects and it killed the pain. I chose to stay on it and gradually my medical teams ramped up the dosage..
After 12 years of prescribed morphine I was casually told one day that I was on the highest levels of the drug in my county. I was stunned. I knew of the problems coming down from it and here they were - shoving it under my nose and offering even higher levels of the stuff. I began to realise not just the dangers but also realised that I'd lost my life, my social life destroyed and I couldn't stay awake for any length of time.
Doctors have been incredibly reluctant to lower my dosage. I got absolutely no help from them, no alternate medicines offered to lessen the addiction, no offers of drug counselling help, nothing. Criminals on heroin get offers of help and yet I got nothing.
The only person who could change things was me. I kept quiet about my drug reduction plans and set to work. It hasn't been easy and has been an incredibly challenging time. Imagine two steps forward, one step back. I've been at this for years. As well as suffering terrible pain, the withdrawal symptoms have been horrific - not a simple one-off but a whole series of them one after the other as I cautiously came down from those terrifying high levels of the stuff.
Today I am drug free. It has been all my own work and not a single bit helped by doctors. Here in the UK (I expect other countries too) doctors are all too happy to prescribe medicines that will cover problems that would make doctors do some actual work.
Although I never did those street drugs, I can still relate to the horrors of their addictions. It does get easier, believe me.
You lost me when you started looking down your nose at FELLOW USERS !!! You say it was incredibly hard, well imagine if you was on a far stronger opiate and you wasn't being given it for free (or heavily subsidised).... your very quick to judge
Criminals on Heroin ??? Oh right sir , all bow down aye …..
Although I'm an opiate addict and not straight heroin, I still remember when it stopped being fun and became more like a job. Wake up and wonder where and how I'm going to get more pills, usually dopesick and strung out every two weeks between paychecks. Sleeping with a towel on the bed for the sweating.
12 years this past May and I don't even miss the high. It definitely wasn't good enough to suffer through the lows. Naltrexone was the key for me, although I did treatment, meetings, and a halfway house. It all would've been for naught without the naltrexone.
I could hear those Requiem for a Dream scenes in my head and I haven’t seen that movie in years (it’s one of my favorites though but always so so so hard to watch).
If you’re currently addicted, in detox or recovery, please don’t have any shame. I believe in you, I am proud of you and I care.
No joke.
I had that movie replaying in my head during fentanyl withdrawal one time. It was torture
Regarding the body getting used to Heroin: It's not just that you're getting more adenylyl cyclase in opioidergic neurons. The nervous system also undergoes a process calles "receptor internalization". When opioidergic signalling is higher than the physiological level for a prolonged time, the cells will reduce the amount of opioid receptors on their membranes by removing and dismantling them. This is the mechanism behind tolerance formation. Since it happens together with the increase in adenylyl cyclase, the the effects of these two changes get amplified. These processes are also key in dependence formation, but there are other processes involved in that too (i.e. deltaFOS-B increases in dopaminergic neurons).
What is the cause of that amount of pain? Is it just spasms all over?
@@user-mk2el1po2l Opioids kinda act as a sensitivity modifier for sensoric inputs. The higher the rate of opioidergic signalling, the less sensitive one becomes towards certain inputs and vice versa.
When going cold turkey, the receptors are unoccupied, and stay that way for what feels like an eternity, as the body won't produce any endorphins, because it still expects to be given external opioids.
Thus it becomes super sensitive to otherwise neutral stimuli. Just sitting there, or lying in bed, gentle touches, stretching a limb, etc. get interpreted as an extremely strong signal by the brain, and thus, as intense pain.
An analogy would be living in a completely dark cellar for 3 weeks and then being extremely sensitive to daylight.
Outside, it didn't get any brighter than before your stay in the cellar. It's your body having forgotten to handle such an intense signal, because it have to deal with one for a long timespan.
On the mental level, opioids cause euphoria, calmness, feeling safe, and they have anti-anxiety and sleep promoting properties. The exact opposite is felt during withdrawls.
Opioids slow the digestion, which does get reversed aswell. Basically, people roll around in their own vomit and stool, while being in excruciating pain and having the worst mental state imaginable. So no, "not just spasms" and definitely not a good time lol.
What follows after a cold WD, is usually PAWS (post-acute withdrawl syndrome, this can happen with any drug of abuse), so depression, anxiety, sleeping issues and brain fog, will continue for up to a few months well after the withdrawl has completed.
I remember that diarrhea was one of the first symptoms with hot and cold flushes, yawning and sneezing, the cramps and nausea/vomiting came after 24 hours and I’ve never been in that state for over a day or two, it was unbearable… I have to thank the other medicines you mentioned for my recovery!
Why do these things symptoms happen thou, I don't know much about these things
I went to jail for a week.. I was withdrawing from 125mg of methadone (they didn’t give me my dose in jail) and heroin. It was horrible.
4 years clean, and currently trying to kick methadone at home. It’s been a struggle for a few months but still going strong.
I hope everyone doesn’t give up. Don’t let addiction take you. Life is beautiful without it. (In time)
So trust me I believe you regarding methadone withdrawals. I feel like nobody’s gonna believe me when I tell them after doing a stupid rapid two weeks detox from 100ml of Methadone and a heroin habit that they never gonna believe how someone could go months without even five minutes of sleep with eyes so wide at night you can’t even physically close them to relax. Keith Richards who took a very pure form of medical Heroin said that it took him three days to kick and had his life back. Nobody should ever judge who doesn’t know the horrors of a methadone withdrawal and seriously after being on it many years wether coming off a hundred ml or thirty ml it’s basically the same brutal time frame. Invented by a particular World War Two group in Germany so go figure
Best of luck on kicking the methadone. Much love and respect ❤🤞🏾
You should do one on Ricin poisoning. Was featured pretty heavily in Breaking Bad and always wanted to know more about it. Thanks for these videos!
i second this
It was heartbreaking when I hopped on a darknet shopping site the other day and saw fentanyl being sold for pennies. Many people do not have, or are not in a position to have the self-control and future sight to avoid the trap of potent opioids. It's not fair to the public that we have such easy access to these things.
Im 36 years old. I have been in opiate addiction since i was in my early 20s and i have no idea how time went so fast. Im on day 2 with not taking anything and pray to god i will make it. Its a PAIN but i have dreamed about this for so long and feel stronger then ever, i managed to quit on my own 8-9 years ago and i WILL quit again and never touch drugs again, i do this for my 2 kids. Dont EVER give up
I’ve never tried heroin, but I’ve been through withdrawal from pain medication, and it’s pretty much the same. The worst part is not the physical symptoms but the mental anguish. It’s psychological torture that you can’t understand unless you’ve been through it. It’s like a screw in your brain that tightens and gets more painful every hour. I had the most blissful dreams during withdrawal of pills raining down on me only to wake up back in the hell.
If you were in actual full blown withdrawals like that of heroin, you wouldn’t even be sleeping. LOL 😂 at all. So I wouldn’t compare that to heroin. I was an active pill popper before ever trying heroin and it was NOT the same. Yes the mental anguish can really take a toll on a person and I don’t want it to seem like I’m invalidating your experience, because pain medication withdrawal is totally awful. I just can’t agree that they’re one of the same when it comes to detoxing/withdrawing
You were very lucky to have any sleep actually
Well that’s the killer isn’t it from withdrawal because the very thing you want at night is to sleep it off and yet it becomes physically impossible to close the eyes together such is the crazy electrical shit going inside. I will say that both my heroin withdrawals in jail lasted exactly two weeks and both times on that 14th night I slept. The heroin substitute methadone is a brutal prolonged withdrawal that seriously doesn’t allow one to sleep for months and ended up with me seeing a shrink from hallucinations cause from lack of sleep. Why it’s compared to flu I’ll never know
I'm a recovered heroin addict. And i have been clean for 5 years now.
I can tell you that going cold turkey to be clean is one of the toughest things a person can experience 😖. And it can be deadly if you don't get the right medical treatment. I was lucky that in Norway where I'm from. We have one of the best medical treatments to get clean from heroine addiction. And one of the best health care systems to stay clean 🥰. I do have to take one pill every day.
Dont try heroin. One dose can be enough to make you addicted to it.
My ridiculous rapid detox from a 100ml of methadone a day and heroin habit followed by three terrible weeks down Cornwall where I got lucky with an old fashioned Dr prescribed me Valium, Mogadon and Clonadine during my stay. Then followed by my starting a six month rehab in Wales with the rehab thinking I must of only stopped using given how I was shaking, and too nervous to provide a urine sample. After two arduous months with my not even grasping an hours sleep I was eventually prescribed zopiclone a sleep aid in a rehab which is unheard of but such was my need to sleep. After the six months in rehab and after what I felt like was a mild virus I was released home and the same day had massive heart pain pins and needles and nausea which was found to be pericarditis and cardiomyopathy together and I’m positive that it was the brutal withdrawal that very nearly Did kill me
quit heroin after 7 years and still to this day I suffer trauma and anxiety from withdrawals. anyone else the same?
Just discovered your channel last night and I must say im hooked already. In a world where everything is done half ass now days it's refreshing to watch your videos being so we'll researched. No surprise your channel is thriving. Two thumbs up!
Once again, a video that packs detailed scientific descriptions in a thrilling and entertaining format. You rock!
Yes some brilliant science in there but he got a few things wrong because he diddnt speak to Anyone with personal experience!!
Okay I’m gonna be honest… when I first clicked on this video I was thinking “here we go, another video on ‘heroin withdrawal’ by somebody who’s never experienced it and is just gonna use a bunch of recycled, generic information you’d find in an anti-drug pamphlet.”
But then a minute and thirty seconds passed and as soon as you mentioned the locus coerleus I immediately knew that this wasn’t going to be like the others, and that you really do know your shit.
Great job, and great video!
I pray that anyone struggling with this gets through the first five days as peacefully as posdoble🙏
After a few months its not about partying anymore and its just trying to avoid getting sick
I love your videos 🧡 Your way of explaining things is unmatch!
Thank you for this video. I’ve been in a cycle like this for a long time before I found my wife and got help. Understanding what’s happening inside your body while this is taking place is fascinating to me. Well done Sir!
Such a great direction with the channel I love it
I really think this video could help a lot of friends and family help understand the stages to help the people they love get off of heroin
It was a very crazy coincidence that this was uploaded and currently a friend of mine is trying to quit H. I have been trying to support and encourage him, but also have never used myself so don't have a full understanding. This was helpful for sure.
@@shroomyk Good luck to you and your friend. I don’t know anything about addiction. But prevention is my biggest thing. Can’t be addicted to anything you’ve never done. For example never drink any alcohol or take any type of drugs when you are sad or had a bad day. Do something you enjoy more like get yourself a small chocolate milkshake or something stupid like that it’s helped me a ton. But just make sure you don’t become food addicted lol. Because that leads to obesity.
Which is another problem
Anyways, I hope your friend is able to get through it at least make it to 30 days so the path is a little easier
Just found your page… thank you for this amazing channel. I love what your doing here.
I would love to see a video like this but on the inner workings of depression, dealing with that often feels like dealing with an addiction recovery that has no external agravants.
Look for Robert Sapolsky's lecture on here about that topic. Pretty interesting. Cheers!
Currently a recovering opiate addict. I wasn't addicted terribly long, and it was hydromorphone, not heroin. But my god, I tell ya those withdrawals are hell. I couldn't keep food down for like 4 days, to the point of repeated projectile vomiting. Runny nose, sweats, sore everywhere, couldn't sleep, irritable as hell etc. But the absolute worst of all... the restlessness. Holy shit, you cannot get comfortable for a single second. Ever had restless leg syndrome? It's that but 10x worse and on every square inch of your body. I wanted to crawl out of my skin, my body became a prison. I'd take 2x the vomiting if it meant I didn't have to deal with the restlessness, that's actually what almost made me relapse. Currently around 4 weeks clean, on suboxone (buprenorphine) and feeling good. Great vid!
8 days. This sucks 😢 the rls syndrome except whole body didn't last long, but wow. Worse than just pain. You described it well. I had NO idea to expect that part. But I guess if I'd known the fear would have made it even worse. 😢 Never taking pain meds again.
@@cyrene7784 sorry to hear you’re currently going through this :( Glad you’re past the restlessness though, it truly is the worst. How are you gong through recovery? Cold turkey? I’m on my 3rd month of sublocade (I switched to injections shortly after this comment) and it’s been fantastic. 8 days is awesome, great job! Wishing you the best going forward!
Bro Thanks man this is the best clip i have seen about heroin withdrawl.
Ive been a heroine addict 15 years and never ever seen it explained like this im going to get these things from gnc
I've been studying pharmacology recently. It's so nice and fun to see stuff that I'm currently studying. Great video
I was a heroin and fentanyl addict, the way I can explain what wd is like to people is this:
When you are hungry, you get relief when you put a tender morsel of filet mignon in your mouth. When you are exhausted, you get sweet relief when you sneak a nod and dose off. When you underwater and running out of oxygen, your relief is that first heavenly breath of air when you get your head above the waters surface.
When you have been holding in a shit and/piss for so long you are about to bust, and get relief from that moment you let your bowels open and your waste comes out.
Wd is like holding your breath, and your shit and piss, in, while being hungry, tired, sleep deprived, and depressed that your gf broke up with you, on a dreary day. No amount of air, food, rest, or music or any other pleasantries can quite make you feel better. Your body is in this impossibly dreary state. You body and mind “wants”, well “needs” something…. when you have crossed over the threshold from recreational user, to addicted, that “something” that your mind body and soul needs, is your heroin/fentanyl/other opioid.
The first time I realized I was in withdrawal, my life literally changed. All my accomplishments, failures, ambitions, dreams, mistakes, friendships, and wishes ceased to hold any weight in my memory. My existence was reduced to life pre addiction, and life in addiction. The only thing that mattered was getting more to keep these withdrawals, that uneasy feeling of my body needing and missing something, away. My life was changed forever, and my battles would start for the next number of years.
The withdrawals from opioids seemed to have been comparatively more devastating for me than my other peers. When I was in detoxes and rehabs it seemed the others seemed to be able to get through it, talking eating and carrying on, while I was pacing back and forth very depressed and feeling the wd effects.
The fentanyl withdrawals were particularly debilitating! Like I would go from nodding out to fill on wd, talking to myself and shaking and icing, in less than an hour! That was a really dark time in my life. And I am lucky and truly blessed to be alive from the close calls and overdoses, etc.
I have done a lot of good and bad, a lot of gruelingly stressful, physical, emotional things in my life and the opioid wd are the most debilitating and difficult thing I’ve had to deal with.
Finally, this question was answered. Thanks!
Thank you for this video, I was just recently looking for a good video that explained why Withdrawals are so bad because I always thought people should just quit cold turkey but this video really explains why that's so incredibly difficult.
Every addict should be forced to go through withdrawals. It would keep some of them clean. It keeps me clean .
@@Lemmon714_I go through withdrawal regularly but in 30 years I've not done longer than 23 days clean.. you don't need to force anyone to go through withdrawing, it will come to every addict at some point
Rest in Peace to the people who are no longer with us
Almost 2yrs clean. It's still a struggle every single day.
your videos are so informative love it
Recovering addict here. Completely agree that that very first time doing heroin was the greatest feeling in the world. Nothing and I mean nothing not even sex comes close to that feeling. Withdrawals are brutal yes. Suboxone and clonidine combo greatly decrease withdrawal symptoms making it much more bearable
Glad to hear you're on the road to recovery!
Nah fam when I had my first and only DMT breakthrough I felt a euphoria leagues above any opioids. I dont know, the high felt like actual pure happiness not just intense pleasure, theres a big difference
Great vid as always , your channel is one of the few channels that i get excited for when i see they released a new vid bc i know the content would be great no matter what the subject is. Pls do not get discouraged by low view count and again love your content ❤
great vid as always, thanks
I wouldn't even know where to get heroin. But these videos on the actual chemistry of HOW these drugs effect ones neurology and WHY have done more to educate the public than every single "DONT DO DRUGS" pep talk given to teenagers. People don't like being lied to and teachers blabbing about drugs and trying to "scare" students, especially when a teacher is unlikely to have any actual experience with the drug, leads to students tuning out.
That was such a good explanation I m one of them and day 2-3 it is hardest and that’s why we failing every time
I love this channel
Brilliant video, i’ve always wondered wtf is up with heroin
I love this as a pharma student 😅
All different parts of pharmacology come together
I wouldn’t wish addiction on anyone >_
Cold turkey withdrawals are unimaginable hell. The memory of them keeps me clean
just dont do it then
Chasing the dragon is smoking heroin, not chasing a high. It comes from the way you move the smoking implement and foil around, chasing the smoke which moves like a serpent or dragon.
I'm glad I have never used opioids in my life
Keep it that way trust me
I quit smoking half a year ago at age 40 after having smoked 24 years. I found it very tough the first few months and can only imagine how hard staying of drugs must be
Ur doing great. Don’t let curiosity or depression gets the best of you
you're missing out bud
@@User-qj4tvget off the internet
Currently day 5 of morphine withdrawal, not as bad as i thought, wish me luck
There's something relieving about hearing that we Do have things that addicts can take to help them quit without an exteme level of suffering. I wish people were more aware of and had better access to the things that can help them quit. I know there are definitely some people who just don't care about quitting, but I'm also fairly sure there are many more who would if they just had access and support.
Not sure what to comment other then great video, and I'm commenting for the algorithm.
You are an incredible interesting youtube creator.
Awesome video, now I’d like to know the withdraw affects of alcohol.
make a video about weed i want to share it to my family and friends to get them to stop, your videos are very informational.
I’m so glad I never experienced the the vommiting. I always shit my pants for about 3 weeks and can’t shit solid for over a month. Withdrawal is nothing like the flu. It’s torture! Takes a few months to get back to a happy state when you’re dealing with paws. It’s so worth the month of misery. If you can. Go somewhere safe. Like a detox then inpatient. Some crazy thoughts might run through your head when you’re kicking. Better to have someone look after you
This was very good.
That's so scary! I've never taken drugs (unless you count alcohol) and never plan to. Im suprised though, do these effects really start after only the first use?
not after using one time, no. you have to use often enough to develop dependency and tolerance. This can vary from person to person, but if someone is using daily depending on the amount they're using it can take anywhere from a couple weeks to a few months before you're at the point where stopping causes full-on withdrawals. The problem is that you do it the first time and it feels so good that you just keep doing it and many people don't realize that they are becoming physically addicted/dependent on the drug until it too late. And at that point it's either go forward and keep using the amount it takes to stave off withdrawal each day, or quit cold turkey and go through it to get back to normal, since in the beginning when somebody develops this addiction they almost never know about or consider going to a doctor for MAT (station assisted therapy, like methadone or Suboxone).
withdrawals are bad enough in the beginning when you first become dependent, but it just gets worse as you go along. the longer you keep using the more you have to use, because eventually at some point the amount youve bewn using is no longer enough because your tolerance has increased. and the more the dose increases, the worse withdrawal symptoms are and the longer they last.
Please keep NOT doing drugs! ❤
@sam.tastic thank you for clarifying! It makes sense!!
Thank you. That really helped a lot. Now that I have that knowledge and I know what’s happening in ones body. I feel like it’s a possible thing to get off the opioids.
Methadone and Buprenorphine are opioids, not opiates. The term opiate specifically refers to the psychoactive alkaloids that occur naturally in opium. Opiods do not occur naturally. Also, Naltrexone isn't an opioid, it's an opioid receptor antagonist. It competitively blocks the receptors without activating them, and thus is used an antidote in cases of overdose, and to prevent relapse after withdrawl (while having the antagonist in the body, taking opioids won't cause any effects). It can also be used to induce WDs and accelerate the physical withdrawl process, but without general anesthesia, that's excruciating for the patient.
5 days? That's it? I can do 5. Thanks for this info. I had accepted the fact that this was my life. That it was the only way that I could have any quality of life for a few minutes of time once in a while. I had given up/given in to not even trying because I thought the agony (and I know it well!) would go on for weeks and weeks; and, therefor was undoable. But you say 5 days is all I need to do and I can get back to a normal life that I haven't had since 2019? I'd love to hear from anyone who can confirm or refute this claim.
How you doing now bro? U clean ??
Hello, i found this account and i think im lucky, but i dont have english very well can you put translate for turkish? btw i love your contents❤
I would love to see a video on what happens when you get heat stroke.
"Chasing the dragon" is running heroin on foil
It's the worse feeling ever 🥴 and it sucks how long it takes for the brain to completely heal ..
4:15 Norepi is part of the sympathetic NS, so it does not not have a stimulat effect on the digestive tract, rather an inhibitor one. Norepi in large quantities actually inhibits diarheea.
I was on morphine for over 5 years for a severe chronic pain condition. I found something better for my pain. But coming off of the morphine was hell!! I tried to get help at my dr's and was offered more morphine... I didn't take it and had to just deal with it cold turkey.
"Chasing the Dragon" actually refers to the opium smoking dens & days. They chase the white smoke shaped like a white flying dragon with their straw/pipe, & the smoke moves & dances through the air hense the chasing.
It was dilaudid for me. I decided that I was done and stayed in bed for four and a half days. Cold turkey withdrawals are unimaginable hell that can't be described to anyone. Sweating, pain, cramps, the shits, puking, zero sleep. The worse for me was the full body "shudders" every 10-15 seconds. Those will drive you to insanity. Then one day, it just goes away.
Oh yes the shivers are absolutely terrible. It's like that weird feeling running up your spine when you get goosebumps but it doesn't go away for days on end. That was by far the worst feeling and I couldn't stop "kicking" or moving my feet to alleviate the discomfort.
Yeah I don’t miss that one bit. Withdrawal will forever be nightmare fuel. RIP all my ppl ❤️
Oh boi opiates.. i had been taking tramadol for about 12 years maybe and got off about 1000-2000 mg of tramadol a day, and about 15 mg - 25 mg of alprazolam/benzo a day on top of that for just stopped cold turkey because of the suppliers were just out. literally every waking second is just agony, but you can't sleep, i started having weird twitching after 3 days and eventually i had a 10 minute grand mal/tonic-clonic seizure and woke up in the ambulance with absolutely no clue what was going on,
i had told them i had taken drugs instead of going off them in my confused post-ictal state, my mom had called ambulance because she thought i had a stroke ( she had never seen what a seizure is like ) so they just did an MRI and i was hooked up to a heart monitor/ECG and it just kept going off due to my high heart rate. they turned the sound OFF it because i said i was just anxious.. the doc that evening just did some simple neuro tests to follow his fingers with my eyes and after like 8 hours they just let me go, they just assumed i had been high guess? because the next day my primary physician called me absolutely horrified and enraged, because the heart monitor had picked up i believe it was QT prolongation. after about a week i started having delirium from time to time being completely out of it and had two more shorter seizures. I was pretty much stuck in bed for 2 months and it's absolutely the worst experience i have ever had..
i got back on the drugs again for a while of course,.. I do not take tramadol anymore now though, i would love to since it really made life a lot easier by just making me numb and it helped me with my pretty debilitating social anxiety, but i guess it's better this way.
I've been trying to get off Suboxone for over 10 effing years !! 10 years ! I was able to kick heroin in 2010 and Oxycontin as well. Hell on earth ! So been on Suboxone since 2013 and I cannot kick it. Been to over 10 rehabs to get off of Suboxone maintenance but the withdrawals are so effing bad !!! The problem with Suboxone withdrawal is it takes so friggin long !!! Its not a 4 day or even a 2 week kick - it's like a year ! I actually went 4 months without Suboxone in 2021. During that time I tried killing myself twice and had to go to 3 psych units cause my anxiety even after 4 months was out of control ! I literally couldn't breath everyday my anxiety was so bad ! I couldn't work etc.. So now I'm on the sublocade injection. They say the withdrawals from getting off sublocade isn't that bad. I say BS. It's gonna be hell regardless
i feel like im gonna get put on a list for watching this
I was on the dark for over 20 years been clean along time now.chasing the dragon means smoking the brown on the foil.and the best thing about getting clean was not being tied and supervised everyday to get my meth.and take it infront of the staff at the chemist.meaning i could go places holidays etc.dont get me wrong that hit sorted everything and was amazing.but also took everything and everyone.
Locus Coerleus, sounds like the the perfect match against Maximus Decimus Meridius
That sounds like a nightmare
been there about 10 times but I'm finally on a methadone script now and doing well
now i know what my dad's body was doing right before he died. thanks!
😢
I had a physical dependency on opioids after becoming disabled with chronic pain. This is right on the nose, though I really only had the physical side rather than the cluster that makes up true addiction. I'm saving this.
More videos please
Been through opiate withdrawal a couple of times and can say it has nothing on my Sever Alchool Withdrawal cycles. I've had 6 grand mal seizures, sever hallucinations, all the basic symptoms you get with herion x2 of 3. I finally got clean for a year but it took like 6 or 8 months to stop shaking, I still can't drink coffee. I lost my sense of smell from one seizure. If my blood Alchool levels feel to .8 I would be withdrawing. It took 16milgrams of valium and liquid Ativan to stabilize me one time. If you don't do heroin you will feel a little sick, if I don't drink I will go mad or die, we are not the same lol.
One problem of stop taking heroin is that you will permanently have problems of experiencing excitement when doing things that made you happy before you started using heroin 😢
good vid
This is hurting my brain. 😢
is the worst feeling you can imagine times 10x for days, just horrible
I tried to cold turkey it about 50 times and it never works.
You have to get onto methadone or suboxone first, then taper down.
Could you do one about meth, i was once severe addicted to it (almost every day injection) and I really would like to know what exactly happens when it kicks in, just why was I so addicted to it.
I'm Indian and I'm an heroin recovering addict.I'm using heroin for 15 yrs. Our heroin mostly comes from Burma. One week detox with tramadol and xenax. Another week without any medication real and raw withdrawal. Another week i can eat little food...and so on..
I am Indian too I am trying to do it one day that is a few hours from now . How you doing now ?
Chasing the dragon actually is a term used for smoking heroin not the actual chace of the drug!
Ps.. I love your video's anyway.
Suggestion: The Dark science of Benadryl
My ass, took me over 3 months to even begin to feel somewhat normal, overall it was 2 years before all symptoms stopped, the last for me was the sneezing. (11 years clean)
I can’t let it go…