The only times I had to do that I.... converted the whole heap of C++ to C and used that instead. You rarely see libraries using all the most complex constructs of C++, and quite frankly, if they do, I'd rather stay clear of that pile of bloatware :-)

I wrote and shipped C++ as a job for many years -millions of lines I'm sure- and I've 'reverted' to plain C around 2007 or so, and I couldn't be happier.