Review Erowid at GreatNonprofits.org
Help us be a "Top Rated Nonprofit" again this year and spread
honest info (good or bad) about psychedelics & other psychoactive drugs.
("Share Your Story" link. Needs quick login creation but no verification of contact info)
Climbing the Drugs Ladder
Heroin & Buprenorphine
Citation:   n00bian. "Climbing the Drugs Ladder: An Experience with Heroin & Buprenorphine (exp24623)". Erowid.org. May 11, 2006. erowid.org/exp/24623

 
DOSE:
    Heroin  
      Pharms - Buprenorphine (pill / tablet)
BODY WEIGHT: 140 lb
This isn’t so much an account of an individual experience rather a short story about how drugs have affected my life.

I am a 25 year old male who grew & lives in the suburbs of London, England. I grew up within a stable family life in a quite well-off area, the perfect 2.4 children family. I smoked my first spliff (reefer) at 15 years of age & graduated up through my teens trying all the mainstream drugs in the following order: Alcohol, Cannabis, Speed, LSD, Ecstasy, Cocaine, Ketamine, Crack & finally the big ‘H’, yes heroin! I had already discovered that I leaned towards the depressant drugs (except alcohol) & when I first ‘Chased the Dragon’ (I have never injected & I never intend to) I had reached the pinnacle of pleasure. I have always loved cannabis & when I took the two together I would drift for hours, the feeling is virtually indescribable but the saying ‘wrapped up in cotton wool’ sums it up. Any pain I have, be it physical or mental just disappears, time doesn’t seem to exist & every so often I would realise just how detached from the ‘real’ world I would be.

The first relationship with heroin was very pleasurable (apart from the nausea) & as I was getting it through an unreliable source, I would go quite a few days without & hence I never became addicted. My source was a work colleague who happened to be the boss's son. I finally left that job & never stayed in contact with him.

The second time I used heroin was to drown the mental pain of losing a girlfriend I loved (in other words she dumped me). I would use it in the morning, during the day at work & long into the early hours. Needless to say, I lost my job because I was so wasted that I couldn’t even write properly. I got in debt, lost loads of weight (I was skinny to begin with) & after 7 months of hell I finally went through detox with a case worker & 2 weeks worth of drugs to counter the withdrawal symptoms but not enough Valium, I can never have enough Valium. I finally got myself together but only after a stint in a psychiatric ward because after withdrawal depression & boredom sets in.

It is now 2 years after I went through withdrawal and I am now on another detox programme. The worrying thing is I had no reason to use again but without a shadow of a doubt I know I cannot handle heroin. The drug I am using to come off this time is Subutex (Buprenorphine) & I must admit it is quite remarkable apart from the first day I took it. It puts me into withdrawal as the Subutex takes over the opiate receptor & gets rid of any other opiate already attached to it. The next day I felt totally fine, no cravings & no sickness. I take 8mg a day but can easily get by on 4mg, especially as when it is used as a painkiller at only 0.4mg. I don’t get any real buzz from taking it but then I am opiate dependant. It isn’t absorbed into the bloodstream very well so I have to let the tablets dissolve under your tongue which takes about 15 minutes. Of course I have crushed them up & used them intranasally which gives me a mild euphoric high a bit like a small dose of a benzo.

I have an addictive personality. Moderation & variety is the key I will try and live by those words for the rest of my life.

Peace to you all.

Exp Year: 2003ExpID: 24623
Gender: Male 
Age at time of experience: Not Given
Published: May 11, 2006Views: 23,260
[ View PDF (to print) ] [ View LaTeX (for geeks) ] [ Swap Dark/Light ]
Pharms - Buprenorphine (265), Heroin (27) : Not Applicable (38), Addiction & Habituation (10)

COPYRIGHTS: All reports copyright Erowid.
No AI Training use allowed without written permission.
TERMS OF USE: By accessing this page, you agree not to download, analyze, distill, reuse, digest, or feed into any AI-type system the report data without first contacting Erowid Center and receiving written permission.

Experience Reports are the writings and opinions of the authors who submit them. Some of the activities described are dangerous and/or illegal and none are recommended by Erowid Center.


Experience Vaults Index Full List of Substances Search Submit Report User Settings About Main Psychoactive Vaults