Opioid Use Disorder (OUD) is the other pandemic that is sweeping our country. It breaches all economic, social, racial and ethnic boundaries. It is rampant in urban, suburban and rural areas. OUD is difficult to treat even if treatment is available. Current treatment is labor and/or medicine intensive and therefore expensive to administer. Many treatments involve replacing opioids with other less addictive opioids or opiates. Withdrawal symptoms can be constant and severe.
Which brings me to a treatment I recently read about which is the exact opposite of current treatment: it is inexpensive, readily available, and reduces or possibly eliminates withdrawal symptoms. This treatment is simply Vitamin C. Or rather buffered Vitamin C, also known as sodium ascorbate. The dose is typically 2grams (2000mg) of sodium ascorbate every 2 waking hours, though that may vary from person to person. Stopping opioid use does not happen immediately with this treatment but it significantly cuts the cravings. The patients are able to drastically reduce their intake and usually are able to be off all opioids, including treatment meds, within a few months. Over the years there have been a few studies that have shown this positive effect of Vitamin C on opioid use and withdrawal symptoms. There have been no recent studies to verify the results. The probable reason for this (and this is a common problem for research about natural treatments) is that there is no profit incentive for doing the research. A week's worth of Vitamin C for this treatment can cost around $15 and is available at almost any pharmacy, supermarket or health food store.
I have never treated anyone for OUD. I expect that I may never. I can not guarantee that this treatment will work for everyone who tries it. However, OUD is widespread. It is possible that some of your friends or family members have OUD. I am forwarding this information to you in case it is useful. Hopefully it will save some lives of our loved ones in the future.