Of course I get a lot of emails. I get emails from a multitude of folks from every state, every profession and demographic.
In fact I get some emails that range from the simple “Does it work?” to the sublime “THE ROOF TOP IS LATE ON THE SALAD!”
However, without question the one subject that is far and away the most popular is the “How Should I taper?” email. And I probably could have saved myself and others countless hours of typing if I had gotten a clue and just written a little primer on some of the tricks of the trade that I’ve learned from other people, doctors and various other sources. I’ll attempt to distill all of this learning into functional tactics that will hopefully be helpful to many of you.
First a disclaimer: There are a lot of you out there who are on all sorts of different drugs, potions and cocktails of every size and strength. This is one reason why I do not give personal recommendations to individuals about clinical matters. All that I mean to accomplish in this post is to relay some lessons that I’ve learned about general concepts of tapering that work. I will go through an exercise where I put together a “mock taper” schedule but that is by no means a schedule for everyone..or anyone for that matter. I am simply trying to illustrate how a taper program might play out. As always, if you have questions or concerns, ask your doctor. If possible always taper under the care of a licensed physician that knows your medications and your specific health issues. Again, these are just fundamental “guard rails” with which to taper by. Be safe and smart….
Ok, lets get started.
The general goal of tapering your medications is to lower the amount of opiates or medication in your bloodstream and more specifically the amount of occupied opiate receptors in your brain so that you can lessen the impact of your withdrawal symptoms when you finally quit all together. Furthermore, immediately stopping some drugs can be potentially harmful. As a general rule, it’s never wise to completely stop any medication abruptly unless you are advised to do so by a physician. If you reduce the amount of narcotics in your system; your withdrawal will hopefully be less severe and possibly shorter. That’s the goal..the hope. If you plan to detox, most physicians (and the data that I’ve read) suggest that tapering is an effective way to lower the acuity of your withdrawal symptoms. Like anything, sometimes this works and sometimes it doesn’t.
Note to Withdrawal-Ease Customers: If you are using Withdrawal-Ease, we have seen the best outcomes when our customers begin to take the Day Time and Night Time formulations approximately a 3-5 days before you begin your detox. This will allow the various ingredients in the system to get into your bloodstream and begin to work. Although it is not essential to follow this strategy, this is where we have seen the best results. Many people have started their Withdrawal-Ease upon detox (“Detox” in this case meaning the complete cessation of opiates) or even when they are in withdrawal and they have seen benefits. However, if possible we recommend starting Withdrawal-Ease prior to your withdrawal.
The strategy for a successful taper is one that depends largely on the “Half-Life” of the drug that you are taking and your own body’s reaction to reduced amounts of opiates/narcotics in your body. In general terms, the Half-Life is the amount of time it takes for the opiate/narcotic levels in your blood to reach 50% of their original blood concentration. The half-life of your drug can vary from a few hours in the case of a drug like Heroin to 5 days for a drug like Suboxone.
The half-life of a drug usually coincides with the onset of withdrawal. So if you are taking Heroin intravenously, one can reasonably presume that with a half life of say: 6 hours, that one will begin to feel withdrawal symptoms after 6 or 7 seven hours or thereabouts. For a person taking Suboxone, which has a very long half-life it can take up to a week to feel withdrawal symptoms. As I mentioned, this can all vary from person to person based on your physical make-up; but the half-life of a drug is a very good indication of how long it will take for withdrawals to start after stopping or significantly reducing the intake of your medication. Ok, so I’ve beaten that one to death. Back to the strategy.
In my judgment, a successful taper is like walking on a razor’s edge. You are literally trying to keep two opposing forces at bay. On one side, you are trying to reduce the amount of opiates (or narcotics) in your bloodstream and on the other side you are trying to keep withdrawal from setting in. I cannot tell you how many people email me and say, “I’ve been tapering and going down from this to that etc. etc. and I feel awful.” My response to that is “Why?” The goal of tapering is to eventually Reduce the symptoms of withdrawal. The reason why you are lowering your dose is to help you feel better, not worse. Clearly, these people in my mind are not tapering their dose correctly. Either they are waiting too long between doses or they have reduced their doses too much too soon. Some people may disagree with me (for reasons I know not) but if you are tapering and you are acutely symptomatic then you aren’t doing it correctly. Of course there may be some very slight symptoms but one shouldn’t be in full-blown, goose-flesh withdrawal while tapering. Why prolong the agony? You are going to go through some sort of withdrawal/detox regardless.
The strategy should be to lower your dose as much as you can yet still remain reasonably comfortable so that your eventual withdrawal is as painless as possible. This may take some trial and error but the secret is patience and also a willingness to adjust your taper schedule if necessary. If you are sticking to a schedule and you feel sick then you may need to shorten the time between doses or possibly raise your individual dose just a bit so that you do not cause withdrawal symptoms. It’s a delicate balance for sure.
No one knows this more than a person trying to detox off of Suboxone. The difficult part of Suboxone is that is has a very long half life and people’s opiate receptors are not able to shed Suboxone very easily. For those people on suboxone, it can take months and months to taper properly and some people even get down to 1/4mg or less and still find it very difficult to stop. There’s a psychological aspect to the PAWS (Post Acute Withdrawal) phenomenon for sure but everyone that I talk to on Suboxone or trying to taper off Suboxone has the same story: it takes a long time to get off of Sub. BUT it can be done. I address suboxone detox in the Suboxone Information section on the website
So ultimately, tapering is a useful strategy to help reduce the discomfort of your detox/withdrawal but it has to be done correctly or it can make matters worse. A good analogy would be high-altitude mountaineering. All climbers have to acclimatize themselves to the altitude or they can get sick and possibly even die from pulmonary edema or other nasty things that happen suddenly and kill you. If you have ever read anything on climbing Everest or any tall mountains, you’ll recall that all climbers have base camps at several altitudes on the mountain. When they arrive at base camp #1, they may ascend up to Camp #2 and then come back down for a day or so. Then they gradually move up to each base camp going back and forth as needed so that their body and get used to the lack of oxygen at those higher altitudes. Tapering is essentially the same process. But mountain climbers don’t wait until they have a brain hemorrhage or pulmonary edema to go back down the mountain unless they have made a grave mistake and have acclimatized too fast. I think that this is a great example -albeit less grave- of what your strategy should be for tapering. Take it slowly and let your body get used to not being on as much medication; if you start to feel sick then maybe you need to slow down or maybe you’ve cut your dose by too much.
Lets say that you are currently taking 10 Vicodin per day (2 at 4-6 hour intervals). You and your doctor have decided that it’s time for you to get off the pain meds. So you both put a schedule together and it goes something like this:
Week 1: Lower your dose to 8 per day but instead of skipping an entire dose just take 1 pill at two of your scheduled intervals. This should always be the strategy; you want to make sure in the beginning of your taper that your body/brain get medication at the same times that they are accustomed to…just less of it.
8am: 2 pills
12: 1 pill
4: 2 pills
8: 1 pill:
Before Bed: 2 pills
Week 2: Lower Dose to 6 per day and keep a close eye on how you feel. Is your energy ok? Are you eating and sleeping well? Are you depressed? If you have any symptoms of withdrawal, you and your doc may consider raising your intake to 7 per day for the first half of the week. Remember, same intervals, reduce the dose.
Week 3: Lower your dose to 4-5 per day and cut out one interval. This will be a bit difficult but I have found that it easiest to take out one of the intervals in the middle of the day as opposed to the morning or night time doses. As always, inform your doctor if you are experiencing any acute symptoms.
8am: Take 2 pills
12am: Take 1 pill
4pm: Skip interval
8pm: Take 1 pill (If you are feeling ok at this point, you can try and quit this interval too)
Before Bed: 1 pill
Week 4: Cut Dose to 2-3 per day. This is the point where you take out another interval and begin to lengthen the time between doses. As always, if you feel sick or start to go into withdrawal, you will want to consider taking a pill as needed to relieve the withdrawal symptoms. Remember, the goal is to not feel withdrawals…but it’s not to get “high” either! Those days are gone.
8am: Take 1 pill
2pm: Take 1 pill
Before bed: Take 1 pill
Week 5: 2 pills per day.
For our Withdrawal-Ease customers, we would typically recommend that you start taking Withdrawal-Ease at this point.
Take one of your pills in the evening and one at night until the end of the week preferably Thursday. Thursday before bed should be your last dose. This is the time that we all dread but has to happen. It’s DETOX TIME! With any luck, your tapering program went very well, you stuck to your schedule by and large and your withdrawal symptoms will hopefully be mild. However, this will be the first time that your body and your brain will truly be without opiates. The vast majority of people who have been on pain medications for an extended period of time (more than 6-8 weeks) will go through some sort of withdrawal or detox. You will feel like you have the flu and you may have many of the symptoms that we describe on our symptoms page. Thursday is a good day to quit if you are on a regular work week, your acute detox process can be dealt with mostly on the weekend…or at least the worst part of it.
Hopefully, at this point you have been able to taper successfully and your symptoms will be mild. If you have been on opiates for a long time, the detox may still be very uncomfortable but at least you have done everything that you could to ease the symptoms. At this point you should also refer to our Withdrawal Survival Guide that will take you through the first 5 days of acute detox and give you tips on what to eat, what to wear and how to plan your first few days of withdrawal which are usually the worst.
I’ll be honest, a lot of people can’t make it through a taper process because it requires a lot of discipline. But it’s well worth the effort. You really need to concentrate on the end goal which is to get off of your medications and become symptom free, then you’ll be able to see the light at the end of the tunnel and start to feel better again.
For our Withdrawal-Ease customers, you should take the Withdrawal-Ease throughout the detox period as described above and then take it as long as you feel it is helping you. If you feel like it is no longer needed then it’s ok to stop. One order contains a month’s supply of the Day Time Formulation and 2 month’s supply of the Night Time formulation so that should be enough for the non-Suboxone customers out there. We’ve heard of a lot of people who take it until the supply is gone and then they’re done. Our Suboxone customers tend to take it longer due to the extended withdrawal periods that Suboxone causes.
I hope that this has helped some of you put together a strategy for getting off of opiates. Remember this is just a framework and not a prescription. I’m not a doctor. But together with your clinician preferably, maybe you can follow this same framework and hopefully reduce the discomfort of withdrawal. It’s one of the main hurdles that is keeping you from living a drug-free life and also gaining back the true “you”. Don’t let the fear of withdrawal keep you from gaining your life back; there’s a way to go through detox on YOUR terms and that’s makes a critical difference in how it impacts you and those that love you. As always, I will say that with a good taper program and by using Withdrawal-Ease you I believe that you will be FAR better off than simply going cold turkey. So it’s time to take control back from the pills and do something about it. I think if you follow some of these processes, you’ll feel better and have a greater chance for success. That’s all that anyone can hope for. Tapering works, Withdrawal-Ease works and quitting is worth it.
Thanks,
-George
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how do you taper off morifin patches safly
I can’t tell you how much hope you have given me…I have been on them a long time and have chronic pain I go to pain management Dr and watch try to stay close to the prescription but they really don’t work that much and now I just take themto keep from being so sick. I suffer from depression and mood swings and loss of interst inlife in general. I wish I would have never ever had these things even though they helped me initally. Im not a drug person I am ashamed even though I work full time hve recieved awards at work do everythig IM suppose to do but I don’t enjoy my life I just make it through the day. I can’t go to a rehab clinic I want to be private only my husband know about my use. He is diabled and I take care and work. Ive thought that I need to taper off and so glad you can do this while suing your product. I am going to plan this try to get a leave from work or use my vacation.I will admit I’m so afraid but so thankful to know about you!! BUt I can not go on. However what do you do for real pain?? I just want to be pain free I have amny medical issues like diabetes, heart stent, spinal stenosis, palpatations,disc buldging, sarcoidosis, hypo-thyroid.Thnks for your help!
Thank You George,
This has been extremely helpful. I have been tapering off for over a week now and not doing bad at all. I was on 90mg. of morphine 3 x d, percocet 4 x d, & soma 4 x d
I suffer from chronic pain but feel (like you said) the meds are just making me feel normal but I am still in pain WITH THE PAIN MEDS! so…. I thought I’d try and see how I do without them. I have been on these meds and at one time on oxycontin (too expensive) for 12 years so this is VERY SCARY for me but I’m down to 1 60 mg. morphine (I take 1/2 at a time) 2-3 percocets and 3-4 somas a day. so far so good, more depressed than any thing else. Thanks for sharing how to taper off! very helpful.
Searching for a better tomorrow, Lisa
Good going Lisa! I’m sorry everyone that I have not been replying to these comments but I have gotten absolutely assaulted by spam and had to purge the whole system. I would sometimes get up to 1,000 spam psosts a day and it was hard to sift through the wreckage. Luckily my man Kaush got me a great WordPress plug in that got rid of it so I’m able to respond a lot more now.
Lisa, please email me an update if you can and I’ll try and email you at the address posted…I want to hear how you’re doing!
Congrat to Lisa and good luck! I also go to pain management and I’m a cancer patient. I have been on 15mg oxycodone for several years and I’m sick of it. I take them more now to prevent WDs than to help with pain. I found this info today and I actually have some hope. I take about 5 15mg tablets per day but I only take 1/2 at a time (usually 1/2 every 3 hrs or so). If anyone has any suggestions on how to taper from that I would really appreciate the help. Good luck to everyone trying to quit!
thank you George for respondind so fast! just going to all posiblle ways of cures and thank God i found the only offorable “cure” YOURS!! i hope! well i think the way you have explain the taper down has made lots of sence fot me! i take oxy’s 100mg~3~day! oxycodone 30mg~4~day! as prescribe by my Doctor! my doc wants to start me on soboxone and that i did more resure AND i think NOT! So i have only 5days left of my meds i will tell my dotor to cancell my sobuxsone? so i can taper off with what i have left of meds or should i ask for another prescription? OF COURSE MUCH LESS MEDS THAN I AM TAKING, PLEASE LET ME KNOW ASAP! BECOUSE I HAVE AN OPPOITMENT NEXT WEEK!! I AM GOING TO ORDER YOUR PRODUCT TMRW AND DEPENDING IN WHAT YOU RECOMEND, WELL I WILL CONSIR-IT! I JUST HAVE LITTLE TIME TO DO ITHER OR! WELL THANKS FOR AVERY THING, I HAVE A FEELING WE WILL BE TALKING FOR A LONG TIME! GOD BLESS!!
Hi Eddie. I just got finished with my “opus” on how to Detox at home. It probably should be a 3 part series since it is so long but take a look at it. It basically put the whole plan together. I suggest that people start their plan 30 days out so you might want to taper a bit longer. I’m not a doctor and more importantly, I’m not your doctor so you should talk to him/her about your tapering schedule and how you plan to detox. A LOT of my customers are getting assistance with our plan from their GP’s and/or family practitioners because no one else will help them. To read the Blog just go to my blog page or you can click on the link below:
http://www.withdrawal-ease.com/how-to-detox-from-opiates-at-home/
What is your take on 280mg Oxycodone per day.
note; I would love to hear how you came up wit the taper schedule above. It sounds like you read it from a TEXT book and not common sense – real life, real humans – based. No offense. I depend on 280mg (a slow as 220 some days) due to legit pain. And am taking as follows; 80mg every 8hours + 30mg instant release as needed daily. How would you recommend I taper down. daily or Monthly? and by how much? I welcome your reply and dialogue. this may save someones life.
If my original taper process is “not common sense based” then why on Earth would you want me to recommend a taper schedule for you specifically? That does not make…sense.
Also if you have legit pain then why are you trying to stop your medication?
DOES THIS REGIMEN YOU ARE RECOMMENDING HELP WITH LACK OF ENERGY? I MEAN I HAVE 4 CHILDREN THAT DEPEND ON ME, WILL WITHDRAWAL-EASE HELP WITH IT? AND HOW LONG WILL THE NO ENERGY FEELING LAST? CONSIDERING I TAKE ABOUT 10. LORCET 10 MG DAILY. BUT I AM PRESCRIBED THEM DUE TO CHRONIC LOW BACK PAIN WITH BONE SPURS, AND SPONDLYSIS.
Hi Cheryl. Withdrawal-Ease has ingredients such as amino acids (L-Tyrosine being one of them) that are the building blocks for dopamine and norepinephrine; both of which give you energy and better moods. Having said that, it will not do all the work for you and you need to eat right, exercise and get quality sleep.
You sound as though you have some chronic pain and that is also something that needs to be addressed since that can cause lack of energy; pain that is. So you need to deal with the pain in some form or fashion. If you are taking the meds as prescribed, why are you stopping them?
-George
grateful to have found your website. i have been on morphine for chrons disease for 20yrs.
my use varies but no less than 60mg a day to avoid withdrawl.Prescribed 150 tablets of 15mg
mscontin(ER) and 120 tabs of 15mg morphine sulfate(fast acting)Again my use varies but I make sure I have minimum dose. I am going to do the taper(I will suceed)along with withdrawl ease and will look forward to corresponding with you during the process.Thanks Again! P.S. thru the years I have talked about tapering this is first time I had any info or support for this method
I starting taking hydrocodone after a serious injury. I did not have insurance at the time and I had to go to a pain management clinic, where i live they are everyehere. I have stopped the medication before, but I had another injury at work and became dependant on this medication again. I want to stop, I want my life back, I want to feel good without having to take anything. I have escelated to a dosage that I am embaressed to say right now, You know what I’m willing to trust anything that will work right now-It’s about 40 10mg. a day no less than 25. I need advice to get my life back, I can’t seem to do it alone.
Greetings, I’ve just discovered your site and am encouraged! I have tapered my use down to 20-30mg. of Methadone per day, but am worried about my Anxiety/panic syndrome increasing as I attempt to go lower on the Methadone. I take Xanex or Ativan when I feel my anxiety level skyrocketing, but sparingly, I’ve no desire to get addicted to benzo’s! Any advice to combat my anx/pan conditon w/out meds? Thanx, Drew
Im taking at least 10 lortabs daily, More if i have them to take & i have been taking them in these amounts for a year and a half and im sick of it..I work full time and i dont have any vacation days left only day i get off is sundays and i cant miss work because of all the sick days iv taken because of my addiction and not having the meds. My question is do you have energy while taking the at home detox? Or would suboxone be the best for me? because from what i have heard you dont have any withdrawls from suboxone and it evan gives you energy to get up and go to work. Im so confused and i want to start this process as soon as possible i cant keep living like this.
I think your doseage is way too high. I have gone down to less than a pill in one month and no pain no nothing. I did 20 mg for three weeks. then 16 mg one week. then 12 mg one week and plan to cut tomorrow. I was on opiates for forty years. The trick is a quick comfortable detox. if you do it like most say, you will really be in a state of heavy addiction. I have had NO discomfort and will cut down again soon. I have spoken to many doctors and other people and all agree, quickly and as soon as stable, cut… most say 3=6 weeks. I can’t do that but close. I hope the product works when and if I feel withdrawal. Thanks
Hi Sally. Thanks for the comment. Our time frames are similar and I’m not suggesting that the dose levels in the example are good for everyone. In fact, I really try and stress that this is a very subjective process that really depends on discipline and recognizing the signs of withdrawal in order to make adjustments as needed. Everybody is different so I have to disagree with the notion that “quick is best”. I suppose that I would agree that the goal is to get people off of their meds or opiates as quickly and as comfortably as possible though.
So the example that I gave may not work for you; it’s merely an example of how the process works and how one can design their own tapering program that suits their needs.
I have been using every abusable drug known and some that arent yet. In about 1990 I decided to destroy my life, business and alienate almost everyone ive ever known.So I know what im talking about. Ive been in residential programs as well as so many hospital detoxes I dont even know how many.
I had awesome insurance and would detox to retox. In 1998 I decided that opiates were too much to get off, so i went on Methadone maintenance. I got up to 120 mg a day. I cant say exactly when, but in the last 4-5 years, with some Narcotic Anonymous program that I guess I absorbed during those rehabs, I just lost the desire to get High anymore. As of now I am down to 25 mg of methadone a day. I went down 5mg a month, but due to a crushed vertabrae in my mid back september 0f2010 as a pain management thing recommended by my MD I stayed on it.
I read these comments from people and I guess theres a lot of clueless addicts out there still. Im telling this all in the hope that maybe someone may get something from it, I plan to completely be off the methadone by years end or sooner. I plan to buy your product when I get down to about 15 mg a day. I just hope I can afford it. I barely pay my $200 a month methadone clinic fee, and feed myself. Anyone planning to get off opiates of any kind should really not just try it alone, Narcotics Anonymous and associated programs can really help. People need to know that just attending meetings is a start, but Working steps, especially the 4th really helps get out your inner demons and stuff from life, so people I recomend this product and their helpful suggestions, but really ask for help, its out there if you want it. Just getting off the drugs is not enough, you see itsSTAYING OFF THEM thats tough!! haverelapsed enough for the Guiness book is nothing to be proud of, but kicking this crap is gonna be the hardest thing you do in your life. I hope my words help even one person to go all the way through and stay clean. Good luck all, and God bless us every one. SAM
I would like to thank you for giving me the tools & confidence to taper myself off Subutex/Suboxone. Sincerely,joe
Just wanted to know if you had heard from anyone who used poppy pod tea as their opiate of choice. I have been a chronic user for about fifteen years – about ten to fifteen pods per day. I have no idea how that equates to other opiates. Have tried to detox myself in the past and it is always a nightmare. I am tired of the wasted money and worry about whether or not I can obtain my supply of poppy pods. Sure hope the Withdrawal-ease helps
Hello,
I understand getting off of the drugs but the reality is that my mother still has severe pain in her neck and lower back. Scar tissue is so large it presses against nerves, the option is to have the nerve killed but then she will have no control of bodily functions. Not a good option. How is pain dealt with?
Hi Tom, yes, I have heard a lot about poppy tea and the detox period is similar to some of the faster acting opiates like Vicodin and Percocet. Please let me know how you do; if you use the product correctly and follow the Survival Guide, it will be a lot easier than going cold turkey.
Very good question Tanja. I’m writing an article on that very subject right now but I’ll give you the Cliff Notes version of what I say: “If you have acute chronic pain then you probably need opiates for your pain”
If one were to give me the choice of a lifetime of opiate addiction or chronic nerve pain, I’m pretty sure I’d pick the opiates. I know its more complicated than that but opiates are the top selling class of drugs for a reason; they work great for pain.
I noticed there are no comments from tramadol users. I have been taking Ultram for almost 7 years now, and regularly taking 4-7 pills for the last 4 years. I was given them by my dr. when I developed gallbladder problems. He assured me they were non-narcotic and safe…like ibuprofen. I recognized they gave me energy and made me feel great, so I kept getting prescriptions for them. I had genuine lower back pain, but I don’t think that I needed painkillers on a regular basis for the pain. But I liked the way they made me feel. When I realized within the past year or so that they were now having adverse effects on me…weight gain, acne breakouts, moodiness, short term memory issues, etc. I decided I didn’t want to take them anymore. I didn’t want to worry about whether I left them at home, whether the pharmacist shorted me, whether I had enough to make it to my next refill, whether or not the dr would give me another prescription. I hated the control they had over my life. But then I tried to stop taking them and felt the effects of withdrawal for the 1st time in my life. I chickened out and continued taking them, though my parenting, job, and graduate schoolwork was suffering. A year and some change later I am determined to kick it. But honestly it is the hardest thing I’ve ever tried to do. It’s horrible. I have felt such a mix of emotions and horrible physical discomforts, and every now and then I will just want to take 3 just to feel better. But I am doing this for my daughter…and for me. I don’t like anything or anyone…except God to control me or who I am. This will be my 3rd try within the past 6 months. I have once again weened myself down to one a day and then to none a day. I broke down and took one yesterday, which was the 1st in 4 days. I had used xanax for the anxiety feeling the 1s time but even at a low dose it makes me so sleepy I can’t function. I am a mother to a very active 9 yr old, work full-time, and I am a full time graduate student. I don’t have time to be sleepy. But the effects of the withdraws…anxiety, crawling/sensitive skin, etc. is too much to handle. I am ordering your product. And I pray that it helps me. I am desperate this time. Before I found your product I was thinking of making an appt with my dr. to refill my prescription. I know your product is not a cure all but I pray it gives me the support to get my life back.
Hey Heather…whatever you do don’t give up! It’s too late to turn back now and you are through the worst of it by now. If you just took one Ultram after 4 days of nothing then I don’t think that’s a deal breaker at all. I do espouse the use of “Rescue doses” if they are taken within the scope of a tapering plan. You seem like you’ve got better self control than I do so I think you’ll be fine. Please feel free to email me at Georgec@withdrawal-Ease.com and let me know how you are doing ok? Hang in there…the worst part is pretty much over with.
Today I said to myself, “Enough is enough”. I went online to look for some kind of help regarding detox from opiates and the “Withdrawal-Ease” website, popped up! It actually gave me some hope after reading your blogs and how the system works. Unfortunately I am trying to get off Heroin and I’m not sure how to “taper” that. I don’t use it to get high, only enough to go to work without being sick, and to TRY and function normally. This is my dirty little secret that I can’t live with anymore and I want my life back! I started with pills after a very bad car accident with a bus, but heroin was cheaper for the pain. I don’t use it intravenously, just snort it, but it’s been going on for 5 years. I’m buying the product, but all I keep hearing about is pills….does the product and system work for heroin? I wanna start tapering ASAP, but I need a little help; a guideline possibly…. I do at the most a 1/2 a gram of day….and I can go for about 4 hours, or 6 top, without using when I am busy… Thanks George, glad to know that you are trying to help others with WD’s and it’s especially nice to know that you are helping based on your own experience!!