Opiates and the Immune System
I’m always reluctant to write about medically related topics, because I don’t want to represent anything incorrectly. Since I’m not a Doctor, I try not to give any medical advice so I don’t steer anybody in the wrong direction. With this post I’m just going to give you my experience and what little I know about how opiates like vicodin affect the immune system.
One thing that I noticed after all my years of opiate abuse was that, without fail, everytime I would try and detox from the drug, I would get sick about 7 days after my withdrawals. And I’m not talking about dope sick, I mean literally, I would come down with a cold or flu every single time. It was like clockwork. After going through that cycle a few times, I started wondering if the opiates were having some sort of negative effect on my immune system, so I started doing some research.
I learned about something called “immunosuppression”…long ass word huh? 
Anyway, for those of you that don’t know, our immune system works as a defense mechanism for our body. In the case of the cold and flu it acts to protect us from foreign viruses and bacteria that cause those God awful symptoms we all hate. When our immune system is suppressed, it fails to protect us from those foreign parasites, so we end up getting sick.
In recent years, immunologists have found a link between our own natural endogenous opioids (endorphins), and our immune system function. In a nutshell, our internal opiates help our immune system function better. But, what happens when we replace our own endorphins with artificial ones like vicodin? Our body lowers its own production, and uses the drug as a replacement.
For me, it seemed that as long as I was on the pills, I would never get sick. It was weird and great all at the same time. But, what I didn’t realize was that the vicodins were actually suppressing my own natural ability to fight off colds, and replacing it with an artificial imposter. All was well until I decided to quit. That’s when my internal opioids, which had been reduced to next to nothing, were all of a sudden expected to save me from all the bacteria and viruses floating around. Well, you know the rest of the story.
If you didn’t have a reason to quit before, I hope I’ve given you yet another incentive to work on getting and staying clean. You see, we have our own internal vicodin, our own morphine, heroin, oxycontin, etc… etc… that protects us and makes us happy. And guess what? It doesn’t cause withdrawal, it doesn’t make us lose our jobs or our families, it doesn’t land us in jail and best of all, it doesn’t cost a dime.
Stay healthy everyone!
*Note: Monitor your physical health closely. Try and find correlations between your opiate use and other physical conditions that you were never prone to before. One thing I’ve noticed is that if/when I would use large quantities of opiates in one sitting, the next day I would end up with a canker sore in my mouth directly above my cervical lymph node in my jaw. The lymph node would also be swollen. It would only happen to me during those high does sessions. Lymph nodes play a part in the immune system as well, so I’m assuming that the two are related. Has that ever happened to you? Do you have a story that you can share with us?
11 comments
I am currently undergoing Detox for Vicodin Addiction. As for your last question in this blog entry, Yes.. I would get Canker Sores in the same general areas after high dosage days. If i would cut back for 2-3 days on the quantity I was taking, they would clear up, but the minute i pushed it back up or took 2 doses too close together, Id get one or 2 overnight! I am on my 3rd day of Detox (through my health provider) and am using Ultram. So far so good. I highly recommend talking to your health insurance provider (Kaiser, etc) and get the number for the Chemical Dependency dept.
I too have noticed the effects on the immune system from vicodin. I have taken them for 2 years for chronic pain. When i quit taking them i get sick. (flu / common cold sick) depending on how many days i go without and other things.
You website seem spot on with the info.
I know lots of users….
I am the wife of an opiate addict. We have been together for 5 years and have a 4 year old son. He has been addicted to opiates for 41/2 years. He has tried to quit more times than I can count, but never succeeds. I dont think he has ever made it passed a couple of hours. It is distroying our lives. We almost got a divorce, but I dont want to leave. I want to make it through this and be stronger for it. I just dont know what to do. I HATE opiates. Is there any advice ANYONE can give me. I know it is hard to quit. but if your going to loose your family or your life over it, come on!
Dear Frustrated/Confused wife…I hate to tell you this, but you leaving may be what it takes for him to realize that the vikes gotta GO!!! I just lost my sucessful business over My 2nd round with this crap. I quit once last Sept. & never felt BETTER…then, like it says above, I got the wosrt cold in the world! Took some HEAVY anti-biotics to get over it. Then, for the same reson I got hooked in the 1st place, I had another tooth blow up on me & back to the dealer I went, telling myself I’d just buy 10 or so to “get over” my toothace. ….Well…here I am 4 months later & my addiction got worse to the tune of spending $100-150 a DAY for my habit ….I KNEW the lights would get shut off, but as long as I was on my opiate high, NOTHING mattered! NOW…let me tell you…I have weaned down to 1/3 a norco every 5 hours now & the DT’s are starting to kick in. If you never had em…let me tell you what your hubby goes thru when he stops taking the pills…you feel like you are LITERALLY going to die! Your skin crwls SOO bad,,, you are FREEZING 1 second, BURNIN up the next, you feel like you are going to barf every second, you get SEVERE diahrria, and LOTS more!…it’s enuff to make you not care about ANTHING or ANYBODY other than gettin sum more pills in ya asap do you can feel “normal” again! NOW…THERE IS LIGHT @ THE END OF THE TUNNEL! The key is TAPERING…tell him to take his normal dose for a week, then, reduce it by 1/4 a pill for the next week, then 1/2 a pill the next week, etc….He WILL still start to feel the Withdrawal kickin in around 1/2 a norco or less, but, if you can support him & help him remain strong & do “The Thomas Recipe” vitamins, etc exactly as layed out on this site, it will help tremendously. Just realize how HORRIBLE he is feeling through all this & try to be understanding & supportive. He WILL need some QUIT & Relaxation time with no screamin kids, etc. It Is the HARDEST thing he will ever do, but once your down to a crump of a pill for a dose & finally free, he won’t belive how much BETTER he will feel! He’ll be more emotional, …be prepared, because his sex drive will increase BIGTIME, Senses of taste, feel, hearing, etc. will all go back to mormal & he’ll have TONS of energy! I was there last Sept! I’m almost there again, but it’s not easy to do, I can assure you. Keep in touch on this blog, too! …hope this helps! God bless
Im a business owner who is at the near of collapse. My business has gone from 22 employees to 4 . My wife has left and i have joint physical custody. i was taking 22o miil. of codeine(22 x 10s) a day . i have weened myself down to 10 7.5s a day . I am at the sick part and cant go no lower without being sick. It is getting harder and harder to find a supply and have started to find percocet to replace. i want off!!! I have the will power but i have to slowly do it because of my daughter. If I enter into a detox i will be labeled and can lose my daughter. Im 45 and my daughter is everything to me. How do i get compleely weened off. Advancing to higher drugs will only lead to my doom!!! All over a toothache 2 years ago. UNBELIEVABLE!!!
I’ve been taking between 6-10 vicodin a day(500 mg.) for about 2years now – after a car accident ruined my neck (and the surgery that seemed to make me worse!) I’ve decided to stop taking the prescription pain pills because they aren’t working anymore and I REFUSE to go on something stronger. It’s been about 36 hours since my last dose and my skin is crawling!! I cannot hold still either… Nighttime is horrible! How bad is this going to get??? Is the worst of it still ahead of me? Someone please write….
Anonymous…all I can say is “read the Thomas Recipe” !! If you’ve come this far, you can find that also on this website. It works. Hang in there.
bless you for caring enough, the physical pain will get better for you at this point. Hang in there!:) my opinion, one of the Most difficult aspects of detoxing yourself is the complete lack of understanding others have.Just like ANY other affliction-it’s easy to say ” I UNDERSTAND” but only those who have actually experienced some of the same difficulties your putting yourself through can say “yeah, i know what you feel” . Have faith, there will come a moment, or day or night when you WILL be pleasantly surprised to notice the pain fading and Your ABILITY to endure is gaining ground. best wishes& remember your NOT ALONE
You guys should look into using Subutex or Suboxone for either tapering off of opiates or as maintanence therapy. It is a mixed agonist/antagonist that, combined with naloxone in the Suboxone formula, or just buprenorphine in Subutex, that is approved for opiate addiction. One simply waits until the withdrawals kick in (about 24 hours after last dose) to take it and all of the symptoms start to fade away. Chills, sweats, cramping, pain and worst of all, cravings are all taken care of. It has a long half-life so one sublingal dose lasts for the entire day. Best of all, it has practically no addiction liability (but some, it is a partial opiate agonist/antagonist) and none when combined with naloxone. Also, it is known that buprenorphine boosts immunity. Hope this helps some folks out.
How long does this withdrawal last, it is 6days I am nausious and weak, trying to drink a lot of liquids. Diarrhea.my fore arms ache worse at night cant eat, feel depressed. i AM WORKING WITH kIASER but I am a wreck, even with the drugs they gave zanzflex, valuim , visteril. robaxin. every thing is worse at night. thanks if you can encourage me.
Im 32, 9 months preg, preparing to deliver what we pray is a healthy baby girl in less then 3 weeks. Ive been on vikes for 6 years, do to a slipped disk in my back and fibro. Ive gotten up to 10 a day, after 5 yrs my tolerance has grown. The dr. tells me I dont have to stop, juts get down to 4 or 5 befor the baby comes and they will ween her off instead of me. My primal instint to do it my self so she does not suffer kicked in long ago, so my dr finaly agreed to let me kick the pills, and took my off work. IM STARTEN TO THINK SHE WAS RIGHT ~ & MAYBE I CANT DO THIS. Last week I dropped to 5 a day, with no real Dt’s I was amazed. Now that I have run out & gone cold turkey ~ the Dt’s are here already. My last dose was less then 24 hrs ago. I worste night of my life. I jerked and shook of the crawling skin and my legs oh god, my legs… Now I notice every muscle in my body hurts.. No diarrhea yet or vomiting but Im sure its coming. This morning I feel OK… Not great.. Cold one min, hot the next and man what a bitch I am….There is nothing on the market to take to help that wont harm the baby.. So Im stuck doing this alone… And this is just day 1.. Im thinking Im headed right back to the Dr. in the moring for some help. ood luck to those of you doing this on ur own, I feel your pain..
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