How can I manage H withdrawals and an 8hr plane flight?

December 23, 2011 7:11 PM

How can I manage H withdrawals and an 8hr plane flight? I know theres other posts up about this on here but nobody has quite the same situation I'm in. I have a plane flight that leaves 6:30am on monday morning, its an 8hr plane flight and I just took my last shot 4 hrs ago today; lately I've been going through anywhere from .2-.5 of black tar everyday, I've never gone over that and I've only been using daily since last thursday (IV'ing since wednesday, smoking before that). I have half of a suboxone and a shit ton of vitamins (L-tyrosine, N-P-K mineral supplement, B-6/12, melatonin, and a multi). My first question: will I be over the worst of it by the time I get on that plane monday morning? Second question: what do you guys think is the best way to stagger all this out to minimize my hurt?
posted by anonymous to Health & Fitness (12 answers total)

Get some oxy if you can roxycodone 30mg blue pills. I'd budget a few a day, you won't have any problem flying with them.
posted by ill3 at 7:38 PM on December 23, 2011

Actually, a weeks use you might not withdrawal at all....I'd still grab a few oxys or ops just in case.
posted by ill3 at 7:40 PM on December 23, 2011

Find a clinic in your area that might be sympathetic to your plight. Search for harm reduction or needle exchange. They will know a helluva lot more about detox than us. Go tomorrow. If you need help finding one, email the mods your (general) location, maybe someone here can help with that.

Second question: what do you guys think is the best way to stagger all this out to minimize my hurt?

Once detoxed, don't touch that shit again.
posted by bobobox at 7:43 PM on December 23, 2011 [23 favorites]

I feel for you- but at some point you have to get off the shit. I have an employee that is in your boat. At first, I felt he was an outcast but now, after a year of getting to know him, I can see the other side; a person trying desperately to rip off a mask tightly tied on to his body.

He piles on the meds before he has to run a long string without any support. Believe it or not, he found a bunch of sleeping pills and movies he wanted to watch helped him. Not sure if that will work for you.

Try to focus on the end of the ride instead of the journey and see if you can literally knock yourself out before the flight. It was rough for him, in fact, one of the hardest things he had to do. Once he made it to Cali from Atlanta he figured he could do just about anything and has been "pretty" clean since.

You'll make it since you have a desire that so many would of just avoided and kept using. That is a plus in your corner. This might be the corner you were looking to turn. Maybe you'll get around it and see the other side. Drugs are like a vacation- use them at points but, like vacation, you can't do it all the time. Good luck to you.
posted by bkeene12 at 8:54 PM on December 23, 2011 [1 favorite]

This sounds insane, but I had a friend in very similar situation to yours- long flight, short term IV use, but having been smoking for awhile- and he took a bunch of Benadryl, and slept through the flight.

Then he got off his flight and walked straight into rehab. Please, please consider this.
posted by Leta at 9:27 PM on December 23, 2011 [9 favorites]

I thought oxy first but then I think it's pretty realistic to get a few Vs and take a couple n do a nip and you'll sleep hard. Split the oxy if you're super freaked and wake up. Good luck bro
posted by femmme at 9:44 PM on December 23, 2011

A friend of mine read your question and wanted to respond, but he doesn't have a mefi account so I'm posting the following for him:

My withdrawal cocktail was NyQuil and Benadryl (though that never worked more than once in a row), and when I finally went through rehab, Xanax was the primary ingredient (though another benzodiazapene would likely help as well). You might also want to get some over-the-counter loperamide tablets (Immodium) to handle the inevitable intestinal distress.

Bring lots of Kleenex and tell people you have the flu, which should have the side effect of creating a little bubble of personal space at the airport. For me the "worst" part was from 48 to 72 hours after my last dose, but your mileage may vary.

As for what advice I would give you, it would be to take this as an opportunity to stop doing heroin. You've not been using regularly for very long; quitting now would be comparatively easy. The longer you continue to do it, the more severe the withdrawal will become, until eventually it'll be so bad that you won't be able to stop just because you want to.

You seem like a smart guy; you probably think that it won't happen to you. It will. I truly hope you are not one of the sort of people who must find out for themselves :(

If you want more info or advice, from either me or my friend, please do feel free to memail me... I promise to not preach.
posted by teatime at 11:04 PM on December 23, 2011 [1 favorite]

Seconding benadryl. Antihistamines act synergistically with opioids; they undoubtedly cause sedation; there's good evidence they may help with anxiety.

Many recovering addicts end up picking up a cigarette habit. Over the long-term, nicotine will provide no help, only an additional crutch. But over the short-term, it may help you survive the withdrawals. Obviously you can't smoke on a flight, but chewing tobacco may help. I would recommend Snus as one of the least-objectionable forms of tobacco.

Get into a program. You won't get off the H on your own. The sooner the better. The more you wait, the worse it will be. This problem is bigger than you, and the longer you wait, the more of you it will consume.
posted by dephlogisticated at 1:15 AM on December 24, 2011 [1 favorite]

Also, the Immodium suggested above is pretty clever advice. Lopermide is basically an opiate that doesn't cross the blood-brain barrier (and gets kicked out when it does). In other words, it won't make you high, but it will have a similar effect to H on your GI system. An 8 hour flight is not the place you want to be when your GI system goes into meltdown.
posted by dephlogisticated at 1:19 AM on December 24, 2011

Perhaps a throwaway email account could help some people give you advice that they would prefer to keep separate from their accounts.
posted by kamikazegopher at 7:11 PM on December 24, 2011 [1 favorite]

If anyone has advice for the OP but doesn't want to have it associated with their account, you can email a mod. You can also email or memail me; I will promptly forget who you are, as will the mods. Good luck, OP.
posted by rtha at 8:26 AM on December 25, 2011 [1 favorite]

Mod note: From the OP:

Please send private advice to [e-mail]

posted by restless_nomad (staff) at 4:35 PM on December 25, 2011