Endure the Pain of Opiate Withdrawal

I'm not a doctor, nurse or any sort of trained physician in the field of medicine. I am however, a drug addict. An addict currently coming off a four year addiction to a large range of opiate drugs. This article is to help those who have made the hard decision to kick the opiate habit and want tips on making withdrawal a little less painful.

Steps

 * 1) Depending on how long you've been using, how much and the type of drugs taken, withdrawal can differ from person to person. However, much of the withdrawal symptoms are the same and can be treated as such.
 * 2)  1.Ibuprofen and naproxen helped give me an edge to recovery. Ibuprofen for headache, joint/muscle pain and naproxen(prescribed by my doctor) for back pain. Remember these drugs won't take the pain completely away but they DO HELP even if you can't realize it. Trust me and stay on a steady dose.
 * 3)  2.Hot baths, jacuzzi or sauna access. Wow this is a big one. I've been soaking in a hot bath three times a day or whenever the pain is intolerable. Its amazing, for an hour or so you get a glimpse into the future, realizing that if you stay the course you'll feel this great always! Hot baths cut the pain by a good 70 to 90 percent and I highly recommend them! In addition, soak in a hot bath before bedtime. It really helps calm your muscles and the pain helping you get through another restless night.
 * 4)  3.How to break insomnia! Withdrawal as we all know is probably at its worst during nighttime. Awake half the night with extreme pain/discomfort or not sleeping at all. Here's some advice for getting some well deserved sleep. Trazodone 50mg or benedryl at least 60mg. Trazodone helped me out a lot. Within an hour your head gets heavy and you have to lay down. Benedryl has also been helpful to many people. It contains a histamine-blocker diphenhydramine which makes you groggy but also helps with runny nose, watery eyes and an itchy throat. As I said before take a hot bath before bedtime along with ONE of these drugs and your almost there! THE BEST THING EVER FOR HELPING ME SLEEP is a heat pad or pack. This is a godsend. If you haven't tried this yet you have too. Apply heat to areas that are keeping you awake at night such as your legs(restless leg syndrome) and or your back. With all these tools together I promise sleep is possible.
 * 5)  4.Activity. I find that the pain is at its greatest when your cooped up in bed watching the tube. Somehow your brain just keeps focusing on the pain at hand and you cant get comfortable. I know how hard it is to move around during withdrawal especially in the first four to five days. Most of the time you literally can't move or gamble with extreme pain in doing so. Find an activity or many that you enjoy to keep your mind off the agony and to pass the time. Here are some examples: Reading, playing a musical instrument,(i play guitar and this truly took the edge off) going on a walk, playing a video game or what I find the most pleasing hanging out with a good friend. Nothing is better for withdrawal than having an amazing person at your side supporting you through it all. I was hesitant during the first several days about having my friend Mark come by because I figured I would be absolutely NO FUN in my current state. However, he was coming over for me and to shine the light of support. Often just talking to him and shuffling out some laughs and giggles made me completely forget about the pain. This is highly recommended.
 * 6)  5. Alcohol. I know many people will scrutinize me for adding this to the list but you know what it helps. I will start with a disclaimer as to cut down the criticism. If you are reading this you are probably an addict and many physicians will tell you you have an addictive personality. However, I feel that many TRUE addicts have found their drug of choice by now and disregard the rest. Its hard for me to believe that a person addicted to opiates can switch addictions. However, the use of alcohol during the withdrawal period IS detrimental for these reasons: It further depletes serotonin/dopamine's from your system making the mental battle through possible depression/anxiety harder and could lead to alcoholism(switching addictions). I rest my case here. Opiate addicts know what I'm talking about. MOVING ON! Alcohol really helped me with the pain. Its no surprise that alcohol is drug with pain relieving agents. It soothes muscles and gives you a positive sense of being(releasing serotonin/dopamines as said). I found this to help me a great deal but many will tell you to steer clean of alcohol. Its completely your choice but this is what helped me a GREAT DEAL through withdrawal along with all the other techniques explained previously. If you know your susceptible to alcoholism, have a history of switching addictions or have had trouble with alcohol in the past DO NOT attempted to relieve pain this way.
 * 7)  6. Visit with a physician, attend NA groups and anything else offered for at least a year before/after withdrawal. At first I thought I could withdrawal on my own and I DID! However, relapse was inevitable because I hadn't built a support system. YOU NEED THIS. I don't care what anyone says. YOU NEED IT. I visited with doctors once a week, attended two engagments groups a week, NA once a week and had CBT(cognitive behavior therapy) sessions one a week as well. These groups and visits help without you even realizing it. I felt so awkward attending NA meetings for the first three months but I kept up with it and you what...I haven't relapsed yet. Building a support system means you have the encouragement, respect, understanding and perseverance to fight your addiction even harder. I PROMISE you will RELAPSE if your support system is not build. I relapsed around five times until I knew I needed more help.

Tips

 * BIGGEST TIP: Keep this in mind. Withdrawal is not meant to be pleasant. No one in the world can go through what your going through WITHOUT pain. Realize that you will have to go through some sort of hell to get through this. Its just the way it is. In the long run, a week to two weeks of pure pain is nothing compared to a life of it. Remember we all have the strength inside to withdrawal. TRUST ME YOU DO! Dig deep. See it as the biggest challenge of your life as it truly is. Prove to yourself that you can do it and keep positive thoughts throughout the pain. Learn to bring the pain and challenge it! As funny as it is this is what I did. I would talk to myself saying bring it the fuck on! I got you!
 * Double your dose of non-addictive pain medicines such as Ibuprofen and Naproxen and take them every 5 to 6 hours.
 * If you've tried every method in order to get even an hours worth of sleep remember its ok to get up. If you can't sleep you can't sleep. Remember that OK. Keep busy and don't further agonize yourself.
 * TAKE TIME OFF WORK/SCHOOL! No one can withdrawal and endure the pain while keeping to your daily school/work regiment. Tell your employer and teachers you are sick. Get at least a week off. When I decided to quit the last time I realized that work and school didn't matter compared to my withdrawal. I was ready to get fired and drop out of school just to break my habit because I couldn't maintain a healthy life style if I was still on drugs.

Warnings

 * Read my alcohol step again as it can be detrimental to your health and recovery.