Thread: Getting From Xanax to Heroin?

I need to write a character as a drug addict. I would like for it to have started innocently when his Dr. legally prescribes Xanax (or another fitting drug) for anxiety and to help him sleep when his grieving over the death of a loved one has him so distraught that he is unable to participate normally in life. I'm looking for a long term (over the course of about 8 years) progression from that to something more dangerous, such as heroin.

The character is a professional (tentatively an architect), and is characterized in the story as being withdrawn with his remaining family, quiet, and seemingly "numb" to life. He retreats to bed early most nights, and is not seen or heard from until he gets home from work the next day. He seems to either not hear or not care what his family is up to once his bedroom door is closed (even compared to the seemingly small amount of concern he has for them normally). I am looking for some sort of drug use that would explain that, while leaving I'm just lucid enough to maintain adequate performance at work during the day.

So does this seem like a believable path?

Xanax (legally prescribed at first, but eventually obtained illegally and in larger doses as the character slips into addiction.)

Alcohol (character starts as a normal recreational drinker, but develops a problem as time goes on and his grief over the death does not subside.)

Heroin or ? (as the character builds a tolerance to the pills and alcohol, he looks for something stronger. This drug, or a combo of it and the Xanax and/or alcohol, need to eventually lead to a half-accidental overdose, and the possibility of death. I'm unsure of what drug would be appropriate for this, but also be believable as something used long term that allows the character to remain able to work a 9-5.)

If anyone has medical and/or real-life experience that might help me out, please feel free to PM me. I would greatly appreciate it!

While heroin or some other illegal drug could certainly work for you, consider the mushrooming epidemic of prescription drug abuse. It might be a more relavent or timely topic for you and an opportunity to do something that hasn't been done as often as illegal drug abuse.

Yeah, in the little bit of Googling I was able to do this morning on the subject, Valium + alcohol was my first idea, but then I wondered if I needed something bigger and more dangerous behind the plot climax of the overdose.

So might something like Valium and/or OxyContin fit with where I need for the path that I am envisioning for this character?

I feel lost on this subject, and I'm terrified that I'm not going to do it the justice it would get from someone who has lived this type of thing. I was too much of a goody-goody growing up

(my original post disappeared - retry)

Methadone prescribed for heroin or other opioid addicts is strictly controlled because it is basically synthetic heroin, but slightly less controlled if prescribed for strong pain relief when other strong pain relief medications prove insufficient or unsuitable. The only prescribable alternative is morphine.
Methadone Addiction, Detox, Treatment and Withdrawal

A potential path from prescribed anti-depressant (or insomnia treatment) to prescribed methadone (or morphine) for pain relief might come from the side effects after buying a bootleg batch of:

Lexapro compares favorably
to other antidepressants such as Zoloft or Effexor.

Most people start with 10mg per day, and the doctor can go up to
20mg per day as needed. It's also available as a 5mg tablet or a
tasty peppermint flavored liquid for people who have a hard time
swallowing a pill...

There is no such thing as generic Lexapro, so if you see an advertisement
to buy generic Lexapro, stay away from it. This so-called generic Lexapro
is a bootlegged copy made in some lab in Mexico or Cambodia or some
other undeveloped country.

-Antidepressants Drug Database: Lexapro, Effexor, Cymbalta, Zoloft, Paxil, Prozac

Ohh, another idea to look into. Thank you!

"Legal" drug abuse is running the complete gambit. From simple addiction to cold blooded murder to get the drug(oxicontin). Look up Pharmacy slayings and most will be for legal drugs by addicts.

Illegal drug abuse tends to follow the same story, but pharmacy drug abuse could differ. They don't have to face a gang banger assistant to get the fix. Simply farm Doctors. Warning to people considering it, and to authors writing in modern day, narcotics are quickly being put into a data base. So if one person gets a bottle of drug A at pharmacy A, when they get the same medicine at Pharm B, it will flag the authorities.

Also there are Dr's out there that hand out strong meds like candy, for profit or to make the patient happy (ie to avoid conflict).

Good point about the databases. I wonder when that practice started? My story is obviously pretty contemporary, so the timing could be assumed to be up to maybe 5 years or so in the past...

I'm not finding definative proof of existence now that I look.
I thought it was already in place.
So I'd say maybe make it recent history, and you would be safe.

My mother and my ex-wife's cousin farmed Drs for prescriptions(both are deceased now), so I support narcotics data bases. (many years ago for both, and not directly caused by legal drugs. [cancer and illegal drugs])

Some of the most ruthless killers recently have been desperate for "legal" drugs.

Hi,
I am a professional male 47 years old from Ireland. I am a heroin addict and have in the past also been addicted to zanax and alcohol. I have been addicted to heroin for almost 6 years now. Zanax is a very powerful drug, it numbs one and creates a sort of disconnect between the user and the cycle of everyday living. On Zanax one is not really emotionally plugged into reality, normal reactions are skewed in very subtle but serious ways and if used in conjunction with alcohol the uses will become fuzzy out of it and be unaware just how much you are 'out of it'.
Heroin is the God of all drugs and will enslave your whole thought process from the moment you wake until you mercifully fall asleep when maybe then you can forget for a while just how pathetic, sad and bad your existence has become. None of this would be a reality if the drug was legal of course, it is the illegality of the drug/medicine heroin and the stress and cost of obtaining it that makes anyone addicted to it cursed, dammed, criminalized and eventually impoverished and possibly insane.`!!
It will make you withdrawn, it is not a social drug and users prefer peace and privacy whilst in the cycle. I am tired and it is late. If you wish to talk to me more and I would be willing to share my experience with you them please contact me. I wish you good luck and great progress with your writing.

Thanks derricko your description is very well written, and the od of the ex's cousin was from Heroin, and your description fits him perfectly.

it is the illegality of the drug/medicine heroin and the stress and cost of obtaining it that makes anyone addicted to it cursed, dammed, criminalized and eventually impoverished and possibly insane.`!!

So, if it was legal the user would be alot better off? (I will admit, probably safer in a legal producer) In your oppinion, wouldn't legalization make alot more addicts? If the user could get heroin cheap, would they even leave their home other then to get the drug? Wouldn't they work to get the next fix, until they can't be bothered to take time away from the addiction? How much time between use and withdrawl symptoms?
What job would be good for a heroin addict? You say it is not a social drug, between uses are users social?
The god of drugs makes me wonder if it is not the god of addictions too.

Comparison if you can, I have heard LSD was the king of trips.
I have never used any illegal drugs, so all I have is anecdotal. Personally I would never trust my life to a drug producer that is not trained in quality control.
As my ex's cousin died from a bad batch, my fears seem to be substantiated. I might try marijuana if it was legal, but nothing else. (as I said, my mom was a legal drug addict, so powerful meds should be used responsibly or not at all.)

derricko, thank you so much for your description and honesty. It helps me quite a bit!

The more I've written, the more I realize that the character in question is also a long time alcoholic (as in, years longer than the drug issues), so I think I'm going to explore the Xanax/alcohol route. Would it be realistic for one to drink steadily throughout the day, having built enough of a tolerance over the course of 10-15 years that they could still successfully hold down a professional job, and then dose the Xanax on a 20 minute drive home, rendering them completely detached from the family for the duration of the evening, ending the day with an early bedtime after which they are effectively "dead to the world"?

Originally Posted by justbishop

Would it be realistic for one to drink steadily throughout the day, having built enough of a tolerance over the course of 10-15 years that they could still successfully hold down a professional job, ...?

No,
I think they would have to be a nighttime drinker, and even that would, at some point, "shorten" their career.
I also don't think they build up a tolerance, I think they go the other way. People start noticing things, mistakes, and eventually they lose their jobs. 10-15 years is also enough time to die from it. jmo

Originally Posted by justbishop

...
The more I've written, the more I realize that the character in question is also a long time alcoholic (as in, years longer than the drug issues), so I think I'm going to explore the Xanax/alcohol route. Would it be realistic for one to drink steadily throughout the day, having built enough of a tolerance over the course of 10-15 years that they could still successfully hold down a professional job ...

Drink steadily*? No, but secret bottles or alcohol hidden in other containers for a quiet slug to "calm the nerves" - yes, it happens among professionals; these days more so than among blue collar workers who often have to submit to drug and alcohol testing at work. The business administrator at a newspaper where I used to work had two bottles of spirits hidden in the filing cabinet; he would add some to his morning coffee.

Professional actors (and musicians) over the past ten decades include some very competent alcoholics. As with drug addiction, alcoholism usually reaches the point where a minimum amount of alcohol is required in order to feel and act "like normal"; without it, withdrawal symptoms begin to show (shakes, irrational behaviour or emotional outbursts).

Tolerance to the effects of alcohol can be built up over time, but often much less than a decade of steady drinking. Much less common are veteran alcoholics with clean driving licences; most will have lost them due to random testing or "incidents". Long term alcoholics are more likely to be passengers.

*Drink unsteadily, if constantly.

Ok, I was actually imaging him more like a pour-a-bit-in-the-morning-coffee and take a swig from a bottle hidden in his desk type who really hits it hard and adds the prescription drug once he gets home, rendering him able to be just good enough at work not to be noticed much, and virtually comatose at home.

Does that sound as if I'm zeroing in on a realistic scenario?

Yes.