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Not a High

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Here is one of the many reasons why the line about how Oxycodone is not addictive because it has a time-release mechanism that prevents the user from experiencing a high.

Oxy users aren’t looking for a high. A lack of one is reassuring to them, making them miss the signs of addiction. They know that drug addicts experience euphoria, so if there’s no euphoria, there’s no addiction. But that’s a trap.

What Oxy gives you isn’t euphoria or intense physical pleasure. It makes you numb. It makes you not care at all. I took it once without knowing what it was and, wow, it freaked me out completely. Because all of a sudden, I just didn’t give a fuck. My baby started crying and I felt nothing. I didn’t feel good. I just felt nothing. I can easily imagine a situation where that feeling is more precious than any high.

When it started happening to me, I had the mental acuity to understand that it wasn’t OK. I asked N to stay with the baby while I locked myself in the basement, hoping that the vile shit would leave my system soon enough. But again, I can see how for many people this effect would not even be recognizable as drug-induced. For people experiencing anxiety, this drug would be a godsend.

35 responses to “Not a High”

  1. AcademicLurker Avatar
    AcademicLurker

    Decades ago I was given some codeine pills while recovering from sinus surgery. It wasn’t what I was expecting. They’re called “pain killers”, but they didn’t actually make me stop feeling the pain: they made me stop caring that I felt it.

    It freaked me out so much that I stopped taking them after the first day or two. The painful headache was preferable to the weird blank feeling.

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    1. bluebird of bitterness Avatar
      bluebird of bitterness

      I used to get killer headaches every month right before my period, and codeine was the only thing that relieved them. The only side effect I had from the codeine was sleepiness, which was far superior to being in the kind of pain that made me want to end it all. I’m sorry you had a bad experience with codeine — everyone’s body responds differently to it — but don’t demonize the drug itself. For some people, it’s a godsend.

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      1. methylethyl Avatar
        methylethyl

        Heh. I was given codeine the first time I cracked a rib with bronchitis. I took one dose. It made me cry the rest of the day. Never again.

        Liked by 2 people

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        1. Clarissa Avatar
          Clarissa

          We have a terrible history with codeine in the USSR and the post-Soviet space. Today, they keep trying to ban it but there’s an oligarch in Russia who made billions off it and other similar drugs, so it’s impossible. He simply starts selling it under a different name.

          Those who are interested, Google “krokodil” and “drug.” It’s devastating Russia.

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          1. jmmatlock Avatar
            jmmatlock

            The medication is not the problem. Banning it is just going to drive abusers to other vices. The solution to an OxyContin crisis, a codeine crisis, a heroin crisis, or a crack crisis will never be found in cutting off a supply.

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        2. bluebird of bitterness Avatar
          bluebird of bitterness

          Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be any way to know how a given drug will affect you unless you try it. I have had bizarre reactions to common drugs (including OTC ones) that no one else seems to have any trouble with. Nowadays I avoid drugs of any kind and haven’t taken any in years. I’m about the only person my age that I know of who isn’t on any prescription (or non-prescription) drugs.

          Liked by 2 people

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          1. methylethyl Avatar
            methylethyl

            I hear you! I don’t take anything without a darn good reason, because results in the past have been so weird and unpredictable. NSAIDs tend to give me a severe temporary case of tinnitus, aspirin makes me have out-of-body experiences (like, I feel so disconnected from my body it takes a huge effort to talk— it’s like I’m standing beside myself), and alcohol just… makes me feel confused and disoriented. I have no idea why people drink that stuff recreationally. I have been known to drink four cups of coffee and go straight to bed. It helps me sleep. My last round of antibiotics (years ago) shut down my digestive tract so severely it took me months to rehab my guts into something functional.

            So, yeah. I’m extremely wary of drugs. All drugs.

            Liked by 2 people

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            1. Clarissa Avatar
              Clarissa

              I’ve also always been like this. So when people go all “but why are you against the COVID vaccines,” it’s like they haven’t noticed that I’m against all of it especially in cases of serious and obvious need. “Just take something” is the opposite of my life strategy. Why isn’t that ok? I’m not forcing anybody to live like I do. Just leave me and my kid alone, is all I want.

              I’m strongly convinced that medicalization is out of control and it would be best if we all rethought our mentality of “taking something” instead of trying to figure out what causes the symptoms.

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            2. bluebird of bitterness Avatar
              bluebird of bitterness

              I hate antibiotics! The cure is almost always worse than the disease. I will take them if it’s a matter of life and death, but not otherwise.

              I also hate doctors who are so stupid that they can’t understand that different people react differently to drugs. I once had an orthopedic surgeon insist that a drug could not possibly have affected me the way it had, because (according to him) there was nothing in it that could have caused that effect. He didn’t even have the tact to suggest that it was all in my head. He outright accused me of lying. What a schmuck.

              Liked by 2 people

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              1. Clarissa Avatar
                Clarissa

                What I don’t get is the American fashion of giving antibiotics over and over again. And not even following up with a probiotic regimen. Every little sniffle leads to antibiotics. And I’m talking about very little kids, under the age of 3, who have been on 5-6 antibiotic regimens over minor sniffles.

                Then we wonder about childhood obesity. I’m not saying this is the only cause but it’s a contributor to creating unhealthy gut flora.

                My grandfather was a pediatrician who was constantly getting fired from Soviet clinics for doing non-traditional medicine, exploring non&medicalized options. His greatest sin in the eyes of the Soviet system was letting women give birth outside of the heavily policed hospital wards. He promoted water births, fathers being present at birth. This was all considered nearly criminal back then. But I learned from him to question the medical establishment when needed.

                Liked by 2 people

              2. bluebird of bitterness Avatar
                bluebird of bitterness

                Replying below because this thread is getting too narrow…

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  2. Maria Avatar
    Maria

    The opioids target the same receptors as endorphins and both stop the pain signal from being passed on from neuron to neuron. At some point into a killer work out you start pumping endorphins. I experienced a real high a couple of times and it was a really great feeling. It would be very time consuming if I wanted to make it an addiction though. Doesn’t happen too often. I think if you dosage opioid drugs right, you could probably experience euphoria as well.

    I’ve only took opioids once after a surgery and I didn’t feel any different than when I took Tylenol. So I stopped the day after the surgery because they constipated me like hell. I still have some 30 pills of oxycodone. I could experiment, lol.

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    1. methylethyl Avatar
      methylethyl

      The constipation is an extremely common effect. For that reason alone, I’d stay far, far away…

      Liked by 1 person

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      1. Clarissa Avatar
        Clarissa

        I knew a guy who decided to kick a heroin addiction because of the constipation. Said it was so bad that the high didn’t matter anymore.

        Liked by 1 person

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        1. methylethyl Avatar
          methylethyl

          I believe it!

          Liked by 1 person

          Reply
  3. Izgad Avatar
    Izgad

    Years ago, when I broke my collar bone, I was given a prescription for Oxycotin. I had heard of the medication because Rush Limbaugh had gotten himself in trouble with it. I got some of the pills but I refrained from using them. I knew that they were dangerous and not simply extra strong Advil so I made the decision to only use them if I was in truly unbearable pain. Thank God, they managed to stay unused in my bathroom. In retrospect, it is shocking that the doctor never indicated to me that I needed to be careful with the stuff. I had to simply rely on my knowledge of pop culture.

    Liked by 2 people

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    1. Clarissa Avatar
      Clarissa

      Exactly. And it’s not over even today. On my journey to get a root canal, I received numerous offers of “a prescription.” I never asked for one. It was offered and offered, completely unasked.

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      1. jmmatlock Avatar
        jmmatlock

        Did you accept it? If not, were these doctors/dentists explicitly offering to write you a prescription for opioids?

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  4. jmmatlock Avatar
    jmmatlock

    OxyContin never should have been prescribed for/given to anyone who was not experiencing long-term/chronic pain conditions. It was not meant for short-term issues (like broken bones), and is explicitly contraindicated in ALL opioid-naïve patients. That does not just mean “never taking opioids now” but also includes anyone who has not been using short-acting opioids regularly (every 4-6 hours, every day) for at least several weeks and who will need to continue taking them for a long period of time. Giving OxyContin to a naïve patient is terrible malpractice and your doctors should be fired!
    I would urge you to do your own informal poll of friends/relatives who have ever been prescribed (and taken) a short-acting opioid (hydrocodone, Oxycodone, codein – they could be called Vicodin, Percocet, Norco, percodan, roxicet, lorded, etc). Two questions: 1 – Did you take the medication? 2 – If yes, how did it make you feel? I think you will find a lot of people who DEEPLY DISLIKED the way they felt after taking any opioid. I’ve heard everything from “out of control” and “out of it” to “uncaring” and “zombie-ish.”
    Do you understand the difference between dependence and addiction? You’ve conflated the two several times.

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    1. Clarissa Avatar
      Clarissa

      There’s absolutely no difference between dependence and addiction.

      As for the poll, what is it meant to accomplish? Prove that not 100% of people who takes it gets addicted? That’s obvious. But so what? Enough people did get addicted to create a national catastrophe.

      As for naïve patients, my friend, please look around. We have millions upon millions who got injected with mRNAs without having the slightest idea what they are even supposed to do. This is a whole country of very naïve, trusting patients. And that’s what they do when they are healthy. Imagine how they are when they are in pain. They lose their marbles completely.

      Liked by 1 person

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      1. jmmatlock Avatar
        jmmatlock

        False. You clearly don’t understand addiction at all.

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        1. Clarissa Avatar
          Clarissa

          Do, too!

          You so don’t!

          Do, too!

          You so don’t!

          Do, too!

          :-)))

          I have history of addiction. It was cured in a few weeks non-medically by a specialist who has 3 decades of experience in curing addiction including to heroin. I knew how to find him because I never downloaded the American narratives about chemical depressions, lifelong addictions and chronic pain conditions onto my brain.

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          1. jmmatlock Avatar
            jmmatlock

            “I have history of addiction. It was cured in a few weeks…because I never downloaded the American narratives about chemical depressions, lifelong addictions and chronic pain conditions onto my brain.”

            I’d be interested in a much more comprehensive explanation here. Given your former statement about “addiction is the same thing as dependence” what evidence do you have that this guy didn’t simply help you out of a dependence?

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            1. Clarissa Avatar
              Clarissa

              If a person is a blackout drunk, is that an addiction or dependence? How about a two-packs-a-day smoker? How about someone who snorts heroin? Let’s assume that these are conditions that have existed for years. Addiction or “dependence”?

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      2. jmmatlock Avatar
        jmmatlock

        I’m not talking about “naïve” patients, as in “uninformed.” I am specifically referring to “OPIOID-naïve” patients – those who have not already had their brain exposed to short-acting opioids for a significant length of time. I would really urge you to dig into this topic and find the facts if you’re interested. Otherwise, stop perpetuating a false narrative.

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      3. cliff arroyo Avatar
        cliff arroyo

        “no difference between dependence and addiction”

        My preferred metaphor is that addiction is a relationship. An addiction prone person is more like “Oh my god, he smiled at me…. we’re practically married! What should we name our kids?!”

        A non-addiction prone person is “I know we’ve been dating for three years, but this chance to spend two years in Greenland doesn’t come along every day, oops there’s my ride to the airport. No need to write or anything, I’ll look you up when I get back.”

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        1. el Avatar
          el

          Both those strategies sound not particularly worthy of adopting or even conductable to a happy, healthy life.

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          1. cliff arroyo Avatar
            cliff arroyo

            “Both those strategies sound not particularly worthy of adopting ”

            Of course not, they’re terrible life strategies. They’re exaggerated extremes… meant to illustrate the point.
            Most people are closer to the middle but on one side of the 50/50 mark. I’m a bit closer to the second pole and realize that.
            Having some idea which side of the divide you’re on (and how far away from the center) is crucial to avoiding the real drawbacks that the extremes lead to.

            Liked by 1 person

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            1. Clarissa Avatar
              Clarissa

              We are talking about substance abuse, so of course, it’s not particularly healthy. 🙂

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  5. Dreidel Avatar
    Dreidel

    “Do your own informal poll of individuals who have been prescribed a short-acting opioids…1 – Did you take the medication? 2 – If yes, how did it make you feel?”

    Here’s a poll of one person (me):
    I’ve been prescribed a very small number of short-acting opioids several times after I had significant dental work, and in my case the medication worked exactly as advertised: One tablet about every 6 hours got rid of the transient pain when Tylenol or Motrin wouldn’t do the trick, and that’s ALL the medication did.

    It didn’t affect my mentation or mood at all (except that I was glad the pain was gone), and I only needed to take it for about 1 day, so left most of the pills in the bottle in my cabinet — and ultimately threw them out after their efficacy period had expired.

    I don’t see a reason to tolerate significant transient pain when it can be safely treated.

    Liked by 1 person

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    1. Clarissa Avatar
      Clarissa

      That’s the thinking of every alcoholic in existence. Why tolerate xxx discomfort if it can be safely “treated” with 6-7 drinks? Not calling you an alcoholic but you’ve got to see how many people (not you) can be led to some very bad places with this thinking.

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      1. Dreidel Avatar
        Dreidel

        Yes, I know that some people can’t responsibly handle opioid medication or legal beverages like alcohol. But other people can, and short-term opioids are appropriate medication in certain circumstances.

        Liked by 1 person

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        1. Clarissa Avatar
          Clarissa

          Very short-term, like 2-3 pills at most u don’t mind. It’s months-long supplies that were handed out left and right for no reason that we are discussing.

          Obviously, when I had my C-sections opioids were fantastic. It’s when I was prescribed a month’s supply after the surgery that things got ridiculous.

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  6. Demotrash Avatar
    Demotrash

    I’m lucky, all opioids make me do is fall asleep. For the brief period I was taking them (after surgery) that was great, but not something that’s appealing on a day to day basis.

    Liked by 1 person

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  7. bluebird of bitterness Avatar
    bluebird of bitterness

    (continued from the discussion above)

    Antibiotics are definitely over prescribed in the U.S. It’s a huge problem, for many reasons, but some doctors seem to consider them a panacea or something. And there’s no question their overuse leads to more obesity. I learned only recently that one reason cattle are injected with antibiotics is that it fattens them up faster. Another reason why I avoid antibiotics at all costs.

    As for your grandfather’s heterodox notions about childbirth, he was definitely ahead of his time. Forty-plus years ago, I would have given anything for a doctor who would attend a home birth, but there were none anywhere near where I live. When I was pregnant for the first time, I talked to an R.N. who recommended a certain local M.D. because he was so amazing progressive — he actually allowed women to be awake for the birth if they wanted to be, and allowed husbands in the delivery room!!! Can you believe it???

    Liked by 1 person

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A conservative literary critic and college professor

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