#like i'm withdrawing off my meds (by choice) and so i feel so shitty but all my energy went into that one-shot

[to-thelakes]

darlin, i definitely feel your bi panic about madani and frank cos SAME

as much as i can remember it was in season 2, madani was talking with a pretty woman who was working in the lab and all i thought during the scene was “BI PANIC BI PANIC, ladies why don’t you just start kissing”

jdsndlkfnwk sorry about the rambling i was just thinking about it since i’ve watched it and wanted to share 💘

never apologise for rambling!! i absolutely adore the rambles, i am a big rambler myself. it's honestly a problem

But FR, like dinah madani is bi, i don't make the rules, it's just fact. and her and frank?? the bi panic of the two of them on screen makes me lose my mind, like which one do i pick?? which one do i want?? (the answer is both) but they both just absolutely scramble my brain.

also, okay, the thought of those two like together has actually rotted my brain so badly recently. i don't think or it doesn't seem to be a popular like fanfic ship or like something that many people (at least from what i've seen) seem interested in but dinah x frank kind of just makes my brain melt a little.

obviously, i am a kastle girlie at heart. him and karen are just- 🫠🫠🫠 but i am nothing if not an incredibly self-indulgent woman and the thought of like frank x dinah x reader (bc i am whore) has literally rotted by brain. it's insane how bad it has been. like i've become actual feral for the thought of them. (feral to the point i have written a 13k smutty one-shot of frank x dinah x reader, whoopsie but we don't talk about that)

my brainrotting for those two aside, i am so glad i'm not alone in my bi panic over madani and frank because they make me absolutely FERAL and i just, i love my men and women emotionally damaged and slightly immoral <3

[trans-axolotl]

(opioid addiction, chronic pain)

Hey I think you're the best person to ask about this, if you're uncomfortable with any of this feel free to ignore this anon but. One of my loved ones has decided to quit their opioid based meds to manage chronic pain

Now I do have some experience with helping people through this kind of stuff and harm reduction in general so I kind of know what to expect, but I can't find any sources on what the symptoms are for people who're quitting gradually rather than all at once and I want to be able to support this person not only emotionally but also physically, so I was wondering if you have any reading or source on gradually quitting opioids; talking to a doctor is not an option so I really want to get this right and make sure they feel safe and that we can find ways to deal with those symptoms in a way that is as satisfying for them as possible

Totally cool if you can't help though, thanks either way :) also love your blog you do some amazing work and you're changing lives for the better, have a good day

Hey anon,

Thanks for reaching out! Before answering, I do want to give a disclaimer that this is a topic I'm newer to learning about, and that I am absolutely not an expert yet. Please feel free to check any info I give with your own research or advice from trusted sources. All info I'm sharing is info I have learned through experts at the harm reduction organization I volunteer with, and I'm drawing from the resources they've shared with me.

To my understanding, withdrawal symptoms can depend on factors like someone's drug of choice, dosage, frequency of use, tolerance, and other factors like if you are taking any other meds, have any other health conditions, things like that. It can be hard to predict exactly what withdrawal is going to look like, but we do know that in general, tapering helps minimize withdrawal symptoms, even if it doesn't entirely get rid of them. This guide through opioid withdrawal by NextDistro is a resource that I really like. It talks through what withdrawal symptoms might look like, gives suggestions for over the counter medications and supplements, and other practical suggestions for making withdrawal a little better. (Want to highlight that you shouldn't use all the medications listed on there at once--please check dosage information and drug interactions, and only use the OTC medications as needed!) This post also has some helpful tips: in general, hydration, electrolytes, and rest will be incredibly important.

Here's some resources that go through possible taper schedules for specific medications. Here's a patient guide to opioid tapering. As a general rule, physicians seem to suggest either fast tapering, which is a 25-50% reduction every few days, or slow tapering, which is a 10-30% reduction in dosage every few weeks. Fast tapering will cause more severe withdrawal symptoms that last a few weeks, while slow tapering will ideally minimize withdrawal symptoms. A lot of this will need to be individually adapted to your situation, depending on what medication your loved one is taking, whether or not you have continued access to that medication, and the ideal timeline your loved one is looking for. So get prepared to do a lot of math to make the best plan, and if they take pills, also consider buying a pill cutter so that they can make sure they're taking accurate doses. If they are on multiple medications, it's important that they only go off one med at at time.

It can be really helpful to think through ahead of time what sort of social support they're going to need, how to cope with possible increased pain, if they will be able to take time off work or other obligations if needed, and make a plan based on what feels achievable and capable. Withdrawal can feel really, really shitty to go through, and your loved one will likely be overwhelmed both physically and emotionally throughout the process. Planning ahead as much as possible to ensure they have the coping strategies and care they need through the process will be crucial. Even little things, like making sure you have comfortable blankets in bed or having foods on hand that don't need to be prepared can be so helpful--I can think of so many little things that made withdrawal slightly less terrible when I was going through my own withdrawal.

Some important things to know about opioid withdrawal is that it is not life-threatening in the same way that withdrawal from alcohol or benzos can be deadly, because opiates interact with the body in a different way than alcohol or benzos. So although tapering is important for minimizing the withdrawal symptoms from opioid withdrawal, there is more flexibility with the taper schedule than there would be for benzo withdrawal, for example. One important possible opiate withdrawal symptom to avoid is severe dehydration caused by vomiting and diarrhea. That would be a point where it would be important to access medical care. The other important risk to be aware of is that when going through withdrawal, your loved one's tolerance will change. If at any point through the process, they decide to go back to a higher dose, the risk of overdose is higher. It's super crucial that you have Narcan on hand and are familiar with how to reverse overdoses. Check out these resources for more information on how to use Narcan and where to get it for free.

These are definitely not complete guides to how to withdraw from opioids, so if reaching out to a harm reduction organization in your area is an option, that might be a really helpful resource. Many harm reduction centers have clinical professionals who might be able to give specific advice to your loved one based on their specific situation, although I completely understand if that's just not an option for you all at the time.

Wishing you and your loved one the best of luck through this process 💜💜💜

Followers, if anyone else who's familiar with harm reduction, opioid use, or withdrawal wants to add on, please feel free!

[mayurisleftnut]

Tfw u decide to Clean Up and u throw all yr paraphernalia in yr apartment complex's nasty dumpster but then the next day u remember that quitting things cold turkey (or at all really cuz who are we kidding) comes with Jonesing The Fuck Out even if there aren't physical withdrawals, at least at the very low level of use I'm at. And u find yrself digging thru the dumpster in broad daylight until finally you realize it's a hopeless feat. Cuz there's flies and it fucking ugggh whoah it stinks what are u ppl PUTTING in there (its just food but that is a loaded statement in summer)

Anyway I still have dudes number and now it's this fun game of not. calling it. Cuz I do need the number in case of emergency (I am on an actual chemically addictive script that I NEED to stay on lest I relapse for reals, and he's the only cushion I have between my shitty clinic failing to call in the refills and complete collapse of all I know and love in this life. But he also deals uhhh other things that I do to stay awake thru my shifts and Did You Know that Mt phones shitty autocorrect changes my to Mt every fucking time??? EVERY SINGLE TIME!!!!! What the actual FUCK!!!!!!! But yah I have to do a piss test in a week which means no staying awake and the stuff makes me feel like shit anyway so maybe I'll just stay off it even though it's not like.. very intense or life altering due to the fact that it's the opposite, the Exact Fucking Opposite of my drug of choice therefor I don't take it to get high. But I do take it enough to dislike its absence just as much as I dislike being on it, maybe even more)

Btw my partner is also Getting Clean and not to downplay it - they're trying to do weed and nicotine both at once and they smoke a LOT of weed - so I'm sure it's shitty. But it does really suck not being able to tell them about Mt thing bc anything other than weed shrooms and idk idfk.. what other stupid fucking hippy drugs are morally acceptable these days.. it's just not smth I'm willing to share cuz they're gonna fuckin judge me I just know it

Anyway I hate being on drugs and I hate being off them too, that's the moral of this story. Well the true moral of this story is that maybe doctors should just give ppl fucking. relatively safe scripts rather than sitting around complaining about drug epidemics. We are self medicating bc that's the only option we have, I asked nicely I did all the stupid fucking tests, I did everything and you fucks won't give me more than a fucking. zoloft. So eat shit (im specifically yelling at my rehab clinics doctor cuz she's the one who said the DUMBEST shit as reason not to give me the meds I need)