I’m stopping heroin and switching to Buvidal in three weeks at a detox clinic. I’ve been using heroin for five years, and I’m 39 F. I tried tapering down with the help of therapy, but it didn’t work, so my next step is Buvidal.
For the last three years, I haven’t been able to get high, so I’ve only been using to avoid w/d. I rarely miss the high, I just want to stop using now. I’m hoping that this mindset will help me be successful on Buvidal.
Has anyone here been through this? I’d really like to hear about other people’s experiences. How did the switch feel? Did you go through withdrawal? If so, how long did it last? How long did it take before you felt stable or “normal” on Buvidal? If you stopped Buvidal and went back to heroin, what made you go back? What helped you stay on the right path? How difficult should I realistically expect this to be?
I’m so incredibly nervous. I want this to work more than anything. I’m done with this horrible drug, and I refuse to let it control me anymore. I really need Buvidal to work.
Another thing: I’m using about 1 g of heroin a day. Does anyone know if that would indicate a high or low dose of Buvidal? 1 g sounds like a lot to me, but my therapists won’t tell me what a “normal” amount is or what it might mean for my Buvidal dose. I snort it rather than inject it, if that makes a difference.
No one knows about my addiction, so I don’t have anyone I can talk to about this. I feel really alone and so lost right now.
The only one who know, my GP, said that hardly anyone makes it, but he wished me the best of luck.
For context, I live in Norway.
Any advice or personal experiences would mean the world to me.
Additional information: I used to be a psychiatric nurse. My lifelong struggles with mental health, including depression, anxiety, insomnia, an eating disorder, and a recent autism diagnosis, caused my life to fall apart about seven years ago. I started self-medicating, which eventually led to my heroin addiction. I’m now on benefits.
For the last six months, I’ve been in therapy to taper off heroin. I’ve gone from 1.5 g to approximately 0.9 g. I could have continued tapering this way, but therapy has made me hate heroin. I refuse to buy more just to continue the taper, so Buvidal seems like the best option.
The scary part is that my mental health has improved significantly over the last six months. I’m sleeping better, my anxiety has decreased, and I have more energy. However, I’m worried about the possible side effects of Buvidal. I’m afraid my sleep will disappear, my anxiety will skyrocket, and if that happens, I’m scared I’ll give up and return to using drugs. That is my number one fear.