From: smisch Subject: Re: opiate tolerance question Date: 1996/08/02 newsgroups: alt.drugs,alt.drugs.hard,rec.drugs.misc (Jakub Buzdygan) wrote: > Given the scenario of a person who has used morphine/derivatives > for about 3 weeks streight, how long must they withdraw for to get rid > of all tolerance? In particular, say that they abstain for a week and > all the symptoms of withdrawal are gone. If they start using again > (after the 7 days) will they be able to go for another 3 weeks, or > will the tolerance return rapidly? If so, how rapidly? For me, after using a certain morphine derivative no more than once a month, my tolerance increased about 3-5-fold over a period of six months or so. (Once, after several weeks of abstinence, I took 300 mg codeine - not the opiate of record - with absolutely _no_ effect). In other words, after well over a month of abstinence, it is certainly humanly possible to experience no appreciable decrease in tolerance. I did find, however, that a three month period of abstinence subsequent to the aforementioned period of occasional use, that tolerance had decreased significantly. After yet another 6 weeks of abstinence, 30 mg oral hydrocodone was found to be sufficient for a fairly powerful, albeit short-lived nod. During the spate of opiate #1, 3 weeks abstinence rendered that quantity of hydrocodone pretty ineffectual. From my experience, I would say that (1) tolerance may be built even with infrequent use provided it is regular and sustained for a sufficient duration of time, (2) tolerance recedes slowly (over at least a month or two), (3) and it probably takes at least a few months to reacquire. Anecdotes i've heard suggest that (3) may not be true (ie, tolerance may be reacquired quickly) for people who have used opiates frequently over a long period of time. In other words, the aftermath of a 3 week binge will be different for someone who has a recent history of regular (however infrequent) use versus someone for whom this was binge #1. > Anything that can be done to solve this problem (if it exists)? Like abstaining for several months? Or taking more? These would seem the obvious solutions. Or you could try using stronger opiates. Codeine is for the birds. > Please indicate in > your answer if you know it first hand (personal experience, person u > know, accurate research/books, etc) or if its simply a guess, or > whatever. Thanks. My comments are all based on an unpublished longitudinal study of of one subject. ==================================================================== From: pez@manhattan.com (Gizmo) Subject: Re: opiate tolerance question Date: 1996/08/02 newsgroups: alt.drugs,alt.drugs.hard,rec.drugs.misc Okay, From personal experience. Yes, tolerance returns quicker with each new foray into opiate use. That's just the way it is. Let's say, it's cellular memory. There is a biochemical memory in your cells that never forgets the mechanisms of addiction, tolerence etc. Even if I abstain from using for a year, when I use again, if I keep using, my resistence will go up fairly rapidly. So the advice would be for you to never use opiates with any degree of frequency. Four times per year is plenty. Gizmo ==================================================================== From: (Hunter) Subject: Re: Tolerance Question Date: 1997/04/18. Newsgroups: alt.drugs.hard zharris@college.edu () wrote: >I've managed to develop a pretty decent tolerance to the effects of codine >just doing it recreationally every couple of weeks. I was wondering if that >was something that would stay with me or if it would fade after a couple of >weeks or months? Yes and yes. Once your tolerance increases significantly, it will always be a little higher than average. (Depending on what or how much you used.) However, it will also drop back down again.. I used to go on codeine binges taking Synalgos-DC or Fiorinal #3, 8 every 3 to 4 hours (as needed). I would be high on Friday and Saturday, but by Sunday afternoon I wasn't getting much of anything at all. Then, I would stay straight until I got a refill on the following Thursday, and my tolerance would have dropped back down to the point where 8 could get me off. After a year or so of this cycle, I went for 2 months with no drugs (rehab). One night, I was playing cards with these guys who lived in the adjoining halfway house and one said, "Hey, I've got some Loracets (a bit stronger than codeine, but not much). "Do you want some?" I said, "No thanks, I'm trying to quit." He passed them to me under the table, and, of course, I did take them, and learned, in rehab, that 3 Lorecets could actually still give me a buzz. But, a couple of days later, my tolerance shot straight back up. I read a book about a heroin user who stayed clean for a year and a half and then was able to get high off of 2 or 3 pain pills. However, as I understand it, although a person's tolerance can drop significantly over a period of months or years (Yes.), it shoots straight back up in a few days (yes). You'll never be a virgin again. If you're only doing it every couple of weeks, I'm wondering how much of a tolerance you could be building up. Are we talking about 1 or 2 tablets here? If that's the case, don't worry about your tolerance at all. Just take more. (Just kidding. Don't really do that.)