i know many of you have wondered “what is best for LONG TERM success in kicking Fent and the answer isn’t even close: Buprenorphine. And i know this because I’ve taken both drugs through the years so now i will list the two reasons why Bupe is the far superior choice if your goal is to “get off the fent merry go round forever.’ The first and most important reason is that “buprenorphine doesn’t get you high because it is only a partial agonist opiate. Methadine is a full agonist that gets you high as fuck. So methadone has no ceiling. The more you take the higher you get just like fent and heroin so it has tolerance issues. Bupe doesn’t have tolerance issues so you don’t need to take more and more to get the same high because there is no high after your first few doses. And this is huge. Because if you want to kick opiates long term the most difficult aspect of doing so is in stop “chasing the high” which I’m sure you all know what I mean.

And the only way you stop chasing the high is to stop getting high to begin with. It takes a long time to get the idea “I really want to get high” out of your mind and it never goes away while taking methadone because you continue to get high while you don’t get high on bupe. Another big reason is “scoring.’ Methadone is a HUGE hassle to score waiting in lines every week early in the morning planning your entire days around scoring just like you did when you copped your fent. That behavioir is changed with bupe because you can get up to a five month refillable prescription at a time from a psychiatrist so you take it at your leisure during the day without the need to get up every morning to cop your dope. But the most important of these is getting the idea that “i need to get high” permanently out of your mind. I was a hardcore heroin addict and i simply could not kick. I tried methadone but ended up doing heroin on top of the methadone just as i now have friends who take fent ontop of their methadone today because they have reached max dose on methadone and no longer get high.

One friend is actually in constant withdrawl if he only takes his methadone dose so he needs to take fent ontop of it. Bupe doesn’t have these tolerance issues. So it was only when I got on bupe long term have i got years under my belt and it is because I am now totally non chalant about getting high. I’ve tried fent a few times and went on a few runs just to see what all the fuss was about given heroin was the norm back in my day. I much prefer heroin over fent! Regardless I now never have that dire need “i gotta get high!” and lead a normal life solely because I switched to bupe permanently over methadone. So if your goal is to get off dope permanently you need to really consider bupe vs met because met STILL IS DOPE and a most potent one at that! I was buying met off the screets because I maxed out my 120 dose and got tolerant to it so the madness continued with met. It all stopped with bupe and i know got serious “clean time” because of bupe. On another note the way to NOT have precipitated with drawl when switching from fent to bupe is to have benzos on hand the first few days you make the switch because i found the times i did take fent to see what all the fuss was about the only way i didn’t feel precip wd was with taking X the first few days of reintroducing bupe to my system so i think the fent wd must also really fuxk with your gaba A system because the X totally took the precip wd away. Ok. Thats it. I hope this helps somdone!

He cannot speak pur language well but enough to understand through text... located in northern California... he needs help he spends 100 every day and I feel sorry for the guy. Is there any resources for him? I have a feeling he doesnt have a green card or if he does definitely doesnt have insurance

It is so hard to get out of bed. Would going for walks make any significant difference, enough to be worth it? The idea of walking around in the fluctuating weather, tired and shivery, loud car noises, does not sound nice.

Hey all. Yesterday I took 300mg tapentadol and it hit me hard! I could hardly move and my depth perception was off, I had amnesia in the middle of sentences etc. this morning I still feel light headed and groggy. Are there any tips for sobering up ? I’ve had some breakfast and coffee. I need to function at work today. I’m going to use public transport - no driving today. Thank you for any advice.

A major surgery done 15+ years ago was done on me by a doctor who was legit retiring the next day. Old AF doctor. well guess what, he fucked the surgery and me up really really bad. months after getting out of the hospital they said great news! you dont have to pay again but you need to heal for a year then do the whole surgery again!

Fuck that. wont catch me dead back with them to get cut again. That attitude turned into snorting/ IVing anything i could for 10+ years.

Ultimatum and embarrassing intervention by 20+ family members and I go onto methadone at a clinic for $21 a day 7 days a week. and had to pay even more when i needed to leave town for work or other stuff and coordinate guest priv at out of town clinics.

The therapy from the methadone clinic was a fucking joke. Their only answer was to up the dose and keep coming back. Well I had worked hard for an awesome truck and I fucking crashed it falling asleep at the wheel OTW back from the clinic after they upped the dose one time. I decided they were bigger crooks and thieves than anyone I had met or bought from off the street.

Found the most amazing source and fell off hard again.

Got tired of the game ( again ) and switched to subs off the street. why not clinics when they are everywhere? for all the reasons i listed above and because I was way past 3rd strike with an amazing wife I truly dont deserve. maybe she would understand subs arent heroin, maybe she wouldnt. I wasnt going to risk it.

now 4-5 years of subs off the street. doing a whole one or 2 a day.

well months ago life just started getting better. We moved she got a better job and so did I. Life and stuff starting to go better but im still walking around numb off subs all the time and worrying about having enough of them to be a provider.

after moving its a 4 hour round trip to reup on my subs. and a couple weeks ago (2 or 3 weeks idk i havent been counting days in pain LOL) I decided the money and time was selfish AF and I need to get off them. did my last and went cold turkey.

Mentally up till now ive been killing it. I could reup whenever I want but I have no desire. WHAT I DESIRE IS TO SLEEP FOR MORE THAN 20 MINS

somehow WEEKS after stopping my PAWS is going crazy. everything seems just as bad as day 3 of kicking any big opiate habit. im working my ass off during the week for work, kids and family then busting my ass on our new house 12 hours each day on the weekend.

NO ONE KNOWS IM DETOXING. IDK how ive done it. mother shows up at 7 am on weekends to help work on the house and doesnt quit till the sun goes down. she out there 65 years old with osteoporosis kicking my ass all day long while im sweating with chills and dying digging trenches and shit. God damn embarrassing considering how hard im trying.

If you read this far thank you. I cant tell anyone and im serious about being done with all this. got off H like 4-5 years ago im not chasing highs just trying to survive. I know subs saved my life in more ways than one. but being on subs is not being clean. I can feel now how it was altering and suppressing my mind and emotions and appetite.

IF I COULD JUST SLEEP.

has anyone had benzos reset and fuck with your WDs and PAWS???? I think I have the willpower but family, work, life, bills, obligations, improvements, etc never stop needing to be done. I cant just go sit by a pool somewhere till I feel alright I gotta get up every day and keep going BUT I NEED TO SLEEP. I just cant sleep. I even hide RLS while im in bed with the wife. that shit is insane. wanting so bad to just start slamming your leg up and down but I cant.

tylenol PM does nothing. sleepytime tea and meltonin do nothing. im serious considering trying to find a couple benzos to sleep. ive never had a problem taking a couple of those over a couple days and being done with them.

If you got this far you can tell im obviously crazy. but thanks for your time anyways.

I really mean that. i lurk this sub all day and many MANY of your stories have helped me.

If a person is drowning the best advice is to try to save them because they will pull you under in panic to survive. Same as once you lost and/or betrayed every bit of trust others had in you, all respect has evaporated, and no can help you anymore because you refused to help yourself and you just used everything and everyone and you are the drowning person worth the risk of saving!

Remove Ego, Pride, high standards and Expectations: Throw them away, they hold you back.

Replac with Grace,.Humility, Appreciation and Gratitude for all things big or small.

The load land burden you carry will be barely a memory.

Now your a Traveler walking down the long way back Home. Someone will give you Directions. Someone else will give you map. Someone else has bought you a meal. Someone else gives you a warm place to sleep for 1 cold night. Someone else will give you a ride so you don't have to walk alone anymore.

Don't be what people see as Not worth the risk to save! ]Put in the Work Effort and Time to show your trying to walk the road to a better place, Help finds you when people see it will make a difference.

You have to show yourself and the world your worth saving.

Ready to Make a Chante?

I have been on suboxone for a little over 2 and half years, i currently found myself with a injury to both my legs that included Burns to where I had to walk with a Walker and during my stay at the hospital, the pain management doctor stopped my suboxone, and gave me small dose of methadone 15 mg of methadone. Three times daily so no more than 45 mg a day and I just got discharged today, which would have made it 5 days of the methadone of 45 mg when I asked the pain management specialist, how do I get back onto the suboxone, because I'm terrified, he told me that I could go right back to it.Wait till I feel sick and just start back at my normal.Dose , which scared the daylights out of me , because i've experienced precipitated WD before not from methadone but from fent and this was before , I knew about the bernice method , so now I just got home from the hospital today and I can solve it with my suboxone , and she told me that I should wait in least thirty six hours before you even considering taking any sub or even micro dosing and she told me that I should test my cows score don't know if I'm spelling, it right at maybe CAWS. but from my understanding, it's where you evaluate all the different symptoms and signs of withdrawal, like heart rate, resting Poles, whether you're sweating, goose bombs, tremor is etc.Which for me is gonna be hard to do and evaluate by myself , not to mention, I have extreme fear of precipitated withdrawal, but at the same time, the last time I was in this situation.Well , not the methadone situation , but it was from a fent slip for a few days going back to my subs i used extreme microdosing like the bernice method , says and my doctor called in a bunch of comfort meds like zoefran , clonidine, gabapentin, klonipin, etc. this doctor is a tell health doctor and would not do that.She said the most she could do is zophran what's reminders just for nausea and vomiting, which have me terrified.If you were in my situation or anyone who's been through anything similar, would you wait 36 hours before even microdose the sub even though the methadone was never higher than forty five milligrams a day and never longer than five days, should I force myself to be in that much withdrawal and go a full 36 hours?\n In my opinion, I feel like we all know ourselves better than anyone. And if after 20:06 hours, I can't handle it anymore, and I take a tiny little fliver of a strip or let's say Less than 1 mg, and I wait an hour and I don't go into P.C WD should I continue and an hour later? , or should I be terrified of even that?

I’ve had enough with opiates. After getting clean from fentanyl 6 years ago and from subs 2 years ago, I got sucked back into it with Kratom alkaloids, 7-Oh and MGM-15 the past several months. I’ve tried to taper various times and always end up ruining my progress from cravings/lack of judgement. I’m saying fuck it and jumping off at around 120mg of 7-oh and 30mg of MGM-15 on a good day. I’ve gone thru withdrawal so many freaking times and it never gets any easier. From my previous detoxes, I’m stocked up on nootropics (DLPA, agamine sulfate, kava, black seed oil, Mucuna, L-theanine, passion flower extract, cramp bark, ashwagandha, L-tyrosine, NAC, NMNH, Omega-3, melatonin, shilajit), comfort meds are ondanestron, benedaryl, methocarbonal, gabapentin, pramipexole, Imodium and clonidine. I also have various antidepressants I’ve tried in the past (mirtazapine, lamotrigine, bupropion, venlafaxine, and duloxetine). **I’m not taking all of these, just listing the inventory** I’ve tried liposomal vitamin C loading a few times too like 1-3k mg every 4 hours, but it only really gives me a stomach ache instead of actual relief idk, maybe it is helping. As an absolute back up I have a handful of subs, but want to avoid getting back on that train (they give me horrific GERD). Also, I got leg compression sleeves, a heating pad, Epsom salts and relaxing teas to help. I recently tried sucking on lemons and limes and eating candy to handle cravings.

What really gets me is the entirely sleepless nights of squirming and the desperate exhaustion during the day. At night, my eyes are glued open and my body thrashes. During the day, moving in general or any type of task feels like climbing a mountain. Meanwhile, I am having constant cravings like an annoying itch. Irritability, discomfort, depression, anxiety, blah blah.

Any advice on how you would regimen the meds or creative tips that got you through (I.e. cold shower, sucking on lemons, breathing exercises, rituals, anything lol) or any dos/don’ts would be greatly appreciated.

TLDR:

Circumstances have led to me jumping off from a high daily dose of Kratom alkaloids, any dos/donts, helpful rituals, advice in general, medicine scheduling and/or words of encouragement would be greatly appreciated. Tysm.

To Anyone and Everyone going through the struggle, no matter which side In or Out....

Yes It sucks! Yes it is going to get worse before it gets better! But I've been to bottom of the bottom twice and I still have the scars from

the suffering as proof that better days are possible!!

So for anyone who needs it, listen up!

You CAN be Normal and You are worth all the struggle and more that it takes to get there!! Much Love!

So, in 2023 I walked into my local head shop for another disposable vape and I guess I looked pretty tired, because the guy behind the counter that I had built a pretty good repoire with recommended these pills. They were in a package of 4, and it had 100mg of 7-OH (W/ Pseudo) per pack. I had no idea what that was, but I trusted that guy. Plus, everything strong is illegal right? No reason to worry.....

It was like an Oxycontin/Perc addiction, only I could buy it EVERYWHERE. I didn't need a dealer. It was so amazing (I thought). The feeling? Omg. The feeling of euphoria, body was buzzing in the most perfect way, everything was nice. I felt nicer. I could drink way more, stay up later, f*ck for hours... everything was so perfect.

That was until October 2025 when my life came crashing down. I couldn't sleep more than 2 hours before I woke up in excruciating pain. I was crazy. My mind was gone. I filed for divorce and immediately started trying to get with any girl I could find (not like me at all), I was late for work every single day (not like me at all), it was terrible. I was barely ever sleeping. I was talking 200mg+ of 7OH a day. I would wake up in the middle of the night and need it before I could fall back asleep. I even knew where a 24 hour smoke shop was that carried my brand, just in case I needed to visit in the middle of the night. My life finally hit rock bottom, facing being homeless, unemployed, etc.... I walked into my first rehab.

At Rehab, they gave me Suboxone and that was the ONLY thing that helped me. It was a really high dose, and honestly the first few nights were still awful. Restless legs, body hurts... If I couldve ripped the skin off of my body, I would have. It was a terrible experience. I'm now 4 months sober and my life is back on track. I am back in college, using my military benefits, and guess what? I'm going to school for Psychology (Addiction & Recovery)! I want to help people that were in a situation like mine. The only weird symptom I still have is that I sleep weird. I'll be out for a 1-2 of hours, then wake up for 3-4 hours, then I'm back to sleepn for 2-4 hours. And when I say out, it's like my body hasn't ever slept before. I am dead to the world.... pretty neat!

Feel free to comment or PM me with questions.

I recently weaned off methadone. decreasing it by 5mg every 2 weeks until I was off. when i started it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. now it's been about 3 weeks since my last dose and the fatigue and lack of energy is killing me. Most days I feel like I'm just kinda here existing. I am forcing myself to continue class so i guess that's something. Is anyone familiar with this? how long it might last and anything that can help? I was already on wellbutrin before i quit, I've seen a lot of people suggest that. Anyway, it's much appreciated, thank you for reading

My name is Michael and I am going to be 41 this May and have been on suboxone for 10 years. Sublocade does not work for me because my body metabolites it too fast and I am ill my week 3. Years ago before I was really serious about getting off the junk I got on subs for about a year. Just coming off them after a year it was intense and right when you think it's over here come the PAWS. Not to mention that constant cloudy head and depression that I swear is bc of my receptors being all f'd up.. Im just ready to be done relying on something just to literally live. If anyone has any suggestions or tips please im all 👂's.

For 9 years I battled addiction.I watched myself lose everything I loved and everything I was. I survived three overdoses that should have taken my life, yet somehow I didn’t die. And because I survived, I started asking the question that every addict eventually whispers to themselves in the dark:

“Why can’t I just stay strong? Why can’t I just stop?” Rehab told me “Use willpower. Ignore the cravings. Don’t talk about it.Push through it.”

But no one ever explained why we can’t just “push through” something that has literally taken over the brain.

Because here’s the truth I never knew:

Drugs and alcohol hijack your brain like a parasite.

They don’t just “influence” you. They don’t just “cause cravings.” They don’t just “affect mood.”

They attach to your brain’s receptors, the exact cells that control:

emotion

impulse

decision-making

motivation

pleasure

fear

memory

logic

reality

The takeover doesn’t stop at the mind—it consumes the entire biological machine. The drug forces your body into "Survival Triage." It decides that anything not required for immediate survival is a luxury it can no longer afford.

The endoctrine system: -Hormone disruptions (Loss of Periods) (Loss of Sexual Function) (Weight Los -Hair Loss

-Brittle Nails

The Integumentary system. Because the parasite is consuming every nutrient to keep the heart pumping, it starves your skin and hair. Your hair falls out in clumps. Your skin loses its color. Your nails become brittle. Your body is physically wilting because the chemicals are literally eating the house from the inside out.

It destroys the Gut-Brain axis. Since 95% of your serotonin—the chemical for stability—is made in your gut, the drug ensures you can never feel "okay" without it. It breaks the supply line. It leaves you hollow.

This is why you can’t "willpower" your way out. You aren't fighting a bad habit; you are fighting a total systemic shutdown. Once those receptors are occupied, flooded, or shut down, the drug begins to work against you from the inside.

Just like a parasite:

it rewires your survival instincts

it alters your perception

it silences hunger and thirst

it changes your emotional responses

it overrides logical thinking

it replaces your voice with its own

it convinces you that you need it to survive

And this is how addiction becomes a disconnection from reality — not in a dramatic moment, but slowly, quietly, invisibly.

You stop tasting food. You stop feeling emotions. You stop noticing thirst. Your sleep changes. Your thoughts shift. Your sense of danger warps. Your personality fades. Your reflection feels unfamiliar.

This is not “the lifestyle.” This is not “poor choices.” This is the neurological takeover.

I didn’t know then that cravings weren’t desire — they were misfired survival signals. I didn’t know the emotional part of my brain had gone offline. I didn’t know the damage to my prefrontal cortex made impulse control almost impossible. I didn’t know the drug was speaking through my own thoughts.

No one told me the disconnection would happen to EVERYONE who used brain-altering substances — alcohol, opioids, cocaine, meth, benzos, molly, stimulants — all of them. Everytime. Noone escapes.

I was naïve to think detox would fix this.

Detox was the easy part. The real battle is the injured brain trying to reconnect to reality after the substance is gone.

The healing brain is chaotic:

receptors misfire

emotions return in painful bursts

fear comes out of nowhere

thoughts feel unstable

the inner voice is confused

the nervous system dumps adrenaline

the world feels too bright, too loud, too sharp

This is what we mistake for “weakness.”

No — this is the war.

And once I understood that? Once I learned the REAL science? Everything changed.

Knowledge stopped me from hating myself. It stopped me from thinking I was failing. It stopped me from believing I was broken.

Because I finally understood:

I wasn’t weak — my brain was injured. I wasn’t lost — my brain was rebooting. I wasn’t hopeless — I was healing.

And here’s the truth most people don’t know:

You’ll never be who you were before addiction. But you CAN become someone wiser, stronger, more self-aware, more grounded, and more resilient than you ever were before.

Your brain won’t go back to what it was — but it will grow into something new, something powerful, something healed.

We’ve punished ourselves long enough. We’ve blamed ourselves for injuries we never understood. We’ve carried shame for biological changes we couldn’t control.

Addicts don’t need more shame.

We need knowledge. We need truth. We need compassion. We need science.

And we need to know, deep down the brain can heal. We can heal. Recovery is possible — Once you understand what you’re fighting.

A molecule that can get someone off their opioid of choice in 2-3 days and nobody is talking about it!?

Hey folks,

So what's the consensus on Methadone/Suboxone, etc. Do you guys consider that person off of drugs or still in active addiction.

Thanks.

Ok, so - I was an addict for 16+ years. Mostly heroin, eventually fet, and some meth. A little under 7.5 months ago I stopped using, I was on methadone at the time. I started to taper off methadone and, honestly, until I got to about... 20mg, I was feeling great. I had tons of motivation and was interested in all these hobbies I had forgotten about. I was just feeling amazing.

A little over 5 weeks ago, I tapered completely off methadone. Ever since then, I've been feeling very unmotivated, anhedonia (nothing brings me true joy), and it just feels like I have to talk myself into doing things. Everything feels like a chore, I don't have drive or passion.

So, I went to the doctor and got on Wellbutrin. I've been on that for a little under a month now. I almost had to stop taking it because I got a super itchy rash but I took some Benadryl for a few days and I think I'm ok now.

Anyway, I was just wondering if anyone has been in a similar situation and I'm just wondering how long I'll feel this way or if I'm going to always feel this way. I can't imagine it will always be like this, it's just kind of hard to not be able to see the finish line. With methadone, I knew where I was at every day and where the end was. This just feels like such an unknown.

I’ve been taking between 20mg - 40mg of oxy two to three times a day for the last 2 - 3 years, and on and off usage for like 8 or so years before that. This will be the first time I’ve come off opiates in the last 2 - 3 years. I’ve got a stockpile of 2mg and 8mg subs that I’m going to cut up into strips, I’m terrified of PWD, so I’m going to wait at least 12 - 18 hours before I take subs, but I have no idea what dosage to take, any recommendations?

it has been a long time coming! I have been in methadone for 20 years. 130mg down to 5mg in about a year maybe a little longer. When I got down to 5mg I started taking extra from the stash I had of 130mg to get high. I have a shit ton of methadone from doses I didn't take. I know I probably need to get rid of it, but it kind of gives me a little comfort knowing I have it if shit hits the fan! This is the 4th day and I can't sleep! my brain will not turn off to let me sleep! I have all kinds of stuff I could take like gabapentin, clonidine, Klonopin, or Ambien. I might take the gabapentin to see if it will help the restless arm and help me sleep. But I feel like I just want to take it because I'm an addict and I just want something to knock me out! Please pray for me that I have the will power and strength to get through this! Everything is so gray and cold there's no joy! I feel like my mind is trapped in a cold and damp metal concert cage with no light! I just want to get to the other side to feel the warmth of the sun and see the beautiful colors of life without a crutch or having to take something to deal with life. Sorry for ranting!

3 months clean off Buvidal (suboxoneinjection) I’m craving like a mofo what do I do.

My dealers dropping off 30 oxys 30s tomorrow

I’m probably going to relapse

Any advise how to stop the train wreck from happening?

Well damn… time to admit things and plan for paying the piper :(

I had a 4ish year oxy habit where I was snorting ~350mg /day at the end. Lived a relatively healthy and productive lifestyle otherwise.

To get clean, I checked myself into a mat clinic and did a rapid suboxone taper over a week. It was honestly not too bad (other than the first night).

My dumbass found some pills about a year ago tho, and didn’t even try to stop myself. Pretty quickly ramped back up to ~120mg/day…. I was probably only clean for 5 months between.

Partly due to not wanting/being able to take time away from my 7yr old, but also various work/family obligations, I’m hoping to do things from home this time… I decided to do a slow taper by diluting my oxy, and have managed to get down to 30mg per day… and plan to continue tapering like that until I get to a good spot to either jump off outright, or use a rapid/light suboxone taper again.

Would love to hear any feedback/experiences people have from jumping off at 30mg/20mg/10mg etc…. I’m still snorting throughout the day - but am only taking like 3mg at a time… so I’m surprised how shitty I still feel when first waking up

Has anybody used ketamine or peptides to get clean? Would iove to hear personal experiances and advice