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Tapering Hydroxyzine for opium tapering?

KS78

KS78

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Apr 9, 2008
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I got cocky and I relapsed about a month and a half ago. Before I was an IV heroin and cocaine addict. I had been drug free for about 9 years but I started using (oral) opium.
I'm not using a big amount but the problem is that I can't stop using with the family around. I'm thinking of tapering with the help of Atarax (Hydroxyzine). My question for you knowledgable folks is; if you took 50mgs-100 mgs of Hydroxyzine, how much opium (or another opiate) would you take in order to get a similar effect with your normal dose.
I know that everybody is different and it's impossible to know the dosage exactly. Please try to ballpark for me. What percent of the current dose would you take?
Thank you very much.
 
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I know this isn't what you want to hear but I wouldn't consider any answer to this question credible, potentiating opiates with antihistamines is just too hit and miss. Like it might make me sleepy and thus withdrawal might be more bearable but it probably won't feel the same as the higher dose of opiates. And some people might get no benefit from it.

As a comfort med to make withdrawal easier it might work for you. What I would suggest is deciding on a small amount of opioid to reduce by every week (faster if you can cope with it) and take the hydroxyzine as symptomatic relief from the symptoms you experience. Another medication that would be helpful would be loperamide for gastrointestinal discomfort (only at recommended dosage) and ibuprofen/paracetamol (acetominophen).

I hope this helps you
 
Like at least for me no amount of antihistamines is gonna make a lower dose of opioid feel like a higher dose and I'm still gonna experience withdrawal but perhaps the sedative effect might improve some specific symptoms of withdrawal.

If you ask more specific questions about relieving the symptoms you find hardest to deal with while in withdrawal then I might be able to help more.

But 20 mg morphine plus 100mg hydroxyzine is never going to equal 40 mg morphine if you know what I mean. And your body knows this and will still be in withdrawal
 
The problem is that it's hard to get the medicines that I know will help. If I had Clonidine, Gabapentin, there would be nearly no problem for me with tapering or going cold turkey. I'm in Istanbul and they don't even have Clonidine at the pharmacies. I can get Immodium and benzos but really don't want to use benzos. I had a big problem with benzos when my relations with the family were ruined for a while much worse than when I was using heroin.
I thought that possibly the extra sedation could help me with dosing less often and smaller amount. I read that the potentiation was around 50% so I just wanted to ask about it here where there are definetely much smarter answers than anywhere else.
 
KS78 said:
The problem is that it's hard to get the medicines that I know will help. If I had Clonidine, Gabapentin, there would be nearly no problem for me with tapering or going cold turkey. I'm in Istanbul and they don't even have Clonidine at the pharmacies. I can get Immodium and benzos but really don't want to use benzos. I had a big problem with benzos when my relations with the family were ruined for a while much worse than when I was using heroin.
I thought that possibly the extra sedation could help me with dosing less often and smaller amount. I read that the potentiation was around 50% so I just wanted to ask about it here where there are definetely much smarter answers than anywhere else.
Click to expand...
Yeah avoiding benzo's definitely sounds like a good idea.

Have you used hydroxyzine with opioids before?

Even if it was 50% I doubt you could take 50% less opioids and be okay if ya know what I mean.
 
That's basically what I'm trying at the moment. I took 100mgs of it yesterday and ~ 60% the amount of opium that I usually use. I don't weigh it before using so It's a ballpark amount. Today I took ~50% of my normal daily dose and again 100mgs of Hydroxyzine.
I don't feel much discomfort other than some leg tightness and low energy to do much. The hard part is not getting cocky again and keep the doses diminishing regularly.
I never got dependent on any other opiates than heroin (used various others though) so the only parameter of withdrawal symptoms are from heavy, high dose heroin withdrawals. I also use quite a low dose in comparison (maybe 150-200 mgs of opium a day) to my junk days. When I went to a treatment center in Essex, UK in 2009 they put me on 220 mgs of methadone the first night to stop my withdrawals and it was barely ediquate.
Since those are my parameters, the thought of withdrawal even from 200mg opium is scary.
I've used Hydroxyzine with heroin before but I have no recollection of it.
 
KS78 said:
That's basically what I'm trying at the moment. I took 100mgs of it yesterday and ~ 60% the amount of opium that I usually use. I don't weigh it before using so It's a ballpark amount. Today I took ~50% of my normal daily dose and again 100mgs of Hydroxyzine.
I don't feel much discomfort other than some leg tightness and low energy to do much. The hard part is not getting cocky again and keep the doses diminishing regularly.
I never got dependent on any other opiates than heroin (used various others though) so the only parameter of withdrawal symptoms are from heavy, high dose heroin withdrawals. I also use quite a low dose in comparison (maybe 150-200 mgs of opium a day) to my junk days. When I went to a treatment center in Essex, UK in 2009 they put me on 220 mgs of methadone the first night to stop my withdrawals and it was barely ediquate.
Since those are my parameters, the thought of withdrawal even from 200mg opium is scary.
I've used Hydroxyzine with heroin before but I have no recollection of it.
Click to expand...
That's great to hear that you didn't feel too bad from so the dose reduction. Yeah just gotta keep reducing slowly and do what you can to treat the symptoms.
 
I know this is oldish but as far as I know antihistamines aren't good for withdrawal... They worsen the restless legs syndrome.
I would avoid using them if you're tapering fast.
 
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