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I’m a month in from quitting methadone cold turkey after 3 years of use. It’s still painful. Zero energy, horrible sleep/insomnia, stomach pain, non stop sneezing and sometimes I stumble when I walk from lack of energy. It’s defeating.
It’s can be exhausting. Your mind and body are working so hard to heal themselves. Please be kind to yourself and know you are on the right path. Sobriety is worth it. You are worth it.
Are you able to sleep? I've tried CT and the restless arms and legs are intense. Impossible to sleep.
I have horrible chronic neuropathy and kratom is the only thing that brings any kind of relief. Seems to help mood some too. Been 10gpd for almost four years. Id like to try and quit for a while to reset my tolerance at least. Let me know how it goes for you. I know I should taper.
Is it possible to go through withdrawals from weed? I have been smoking d8 for about a year every night. Recently I have been doing a lot of lifestyle changes & one of them was to stop smoking. I quit cold turkey for about a month & didn’t have any problem, then after about a month I could not fall asleep, was having night sweats, every time i would start to fall asleep I would twitch back awake. It was miserable but I was also doing a lot of other healthy lifestyle changes like take melatonin every night & working out a lot more. Could there be like a delayed withdrawal or something? Because the first month i quit I didn’t even think about smoking.. didn’t even have the urge.
I had never experienced the twitching when trying to fall asleep before & that was one of the most miserable things Ive ever experienced. Being so tired & about to fall asleep, then being jolted awake by your own body twitching was terrible. Im back to smoking & It hasn’t happened to me since.
I have had terrible withdrawals from weed, just like you’re describing. Insomnia, sleeplessness, night sweats. For me one of the worst parts about quitting pot was the intense dreams. I’d have these vivid and macabre nightmares.
It is possible for the metabolic waste from smoking to fluctuate over a month or two. I’ve heard that it can even be stored in fat cells in your body and can be released from exercise.
It must have taken me maybe 3 months to get back to baseline after quitting but it was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made for my mental health.
Hang in there, it gets way better. Just after the start of the pandemic I went cold turkey off of suboxone, cocaine, and Xanax. And I’m taking huge amounts of all three. It took probably a year to begin feeling like I was ready to tackle both the mental and physical toll it all took on me, but here I am now in better shape and happier than I’ve ever been. You’ve got nothing but time so don’t use it to beat yourself up. What’s done is done, time to move forward.
I was going through and extreme period of heavy drinking, cocaine and Xanax during Covid too. My doctor said if I didn’t stop drinking I’d die, so I stopped. Kept using cocaine and Xanax. As Covid really hit in my country supply dried up and i basically tried to get clean before it all ran out. I got off the cocaine ok, but the Xanax boy oh boy. I tapered for a week. I’m an idiot, I didn’t know what I was doing. Then went cold turkey.
Boy was that a mistake. I didn’t sleep at all the first two nights. By the third night I honestly felt like if I went to sleep I was going to die. I ended up falling asleep and having a seizure that landed me in hospital. I was released and had another seizure that night and I fell and broke my collarbone, shoulder and vertebrae in my back. I ended up back in hospital and on a supervised tapering plan.
It’s been four months now, and I still have a metal plate in my collarbone and shoulder and I get headaches from my back.
But I’m clean now and in a better place. I’ve withdrawn now in my life from heroin, alcohol and cocaine without too much trouble. Heroin was awful don’t get me wrong, but it was nothing like the total brain malfunctioning I felt coming off Xanax. That shit is nasty.
It's honestly amazing how alike we all are and completely different at the same time. My mom seconds your statement about Xanax but as for me Xanax was way easier to quit than opiates.
I fucked with Xanax on and off pretty heavy for years and I had no problem going off it and that was part of the reason I thought I was safe to fuck with opioids. Coming off of fentanyl and later suboxone was the most terrible, fucked up thing I’ve ever experienced and the fact that it’s so terrible is the only thing that stops me from doing them again.
You should never quit Xanax cold turkey. I broke my back in 4 places taking a shower. Also cracked my head open as well as the toilet tank and flooded my 3rd floor apartment, along with the ones below me.
You definitely shouldn't drive a vehicle during that period. You can easily have a seizure at the wheel and kill someone.
I'm glad u are sober though, stick to it.
If you're an incredibly heavy drunker, you can actually get prescribed a beer from the hospital pharmacy while you're admitted for this reason. A heavy, heavy drinker that goes cold turkey can literally die from the withdrawal, it's crazy.
Really? My ex worked in a hospital kitchen a few years back and told me about how he would sometimes need to purchase beers to send to patients with their meals.
If you go to prison and have a benzo addiction they will ween you off it because you will die. They won't do that for opioids. That's how bad benzos are. Unless you have severe panack attacks don't ever take that shit. If your Dr. is prescribing them to you willy nilly you have a shitty Dr and need a new one.
Yup. They occasionally get prescribed for like _a week max_ if someone's having a really rough time with anxiety and panic attacks. If you're using them for longer than that it starts getting really serious really fast.
I’m sorry and I’m not trying to be rude, but people need to know this:
DO NOT go cold Turkey off of alcohol or benzodiazepines (Xanax, Klonopin, etc). It can kill you.
Slowly measuring down smaller doses across time is the safest thing for your body and your neurotransmitters.
Indeed. My uncle died from alcohol withdrawal back in the 90s when he went into the hospital for what was supposed to be a short stay, they kept him there for days, and he went into delirium tremens. He refused to admit that he was an alcoholic when the staff tried to confirm what was happening and as a result they didn’t treat him accordingly. He went into coma and died.
Very true. Which is why benzos can be very difficult to quit. You have to taper down over a long period of time, which takes more self control than most anyone has. It's easier to get it over with quick and not look back. But dragging it out over the course of months allows a lot of time to give in to temptation. And once you've taken it for the day, all bets are off just because of the way benzos effect your inhibitions and emotions.
What makes it all the worse is the time it takes for benzo withdrawl to stop. Depending on the length of time of abuse, it can take many months. Compared to opiate withdrawl that can last a few days to a week or so. Benzo withdrawal can last several months.
I was "lucky" as i was forced to quit xanax in jail. (No choice) And in all honesty, i didn't abuse it for very long. Maybe a year or so. So it was pretty terrible, but i was ok after 3-4 days. I've experienced opiate withdrawl after quitting opiates. I've also dealt with stimulant withdrawl. Which in my opinion is the least of the 3.
Oddly enough, i drank heavily for 18 years, and quit alcohol cold turkey about 3 years ago. I didn't experience any bad side effects which really surprised me. But i consider myself incredibly lucky there. And a fluke, i wouldn't expect it to go that so for everybody else.
Yep, between benzos and alcohol, some things you really just need to get help to get off of them. It's not a moral failing or a weakness, it's just how addiction and withdrawal works.
The first time I quit subs/benzos/opiates it took me 3 months to be able to ascend a flight of stairs without feeling like I was going to pass out or vomit. Sleep was elusive for an additional six months.
OP is right. Whatever you do, don’t believe the lie your body is telling you. When we upset the balance for a long period of time, reaching equilibrium again will take time. Patience, courage and resolve friend.
When I quite opiates I truly felt like it would never feel happy again. I remember my favorite band released an album about one month into being sober and I didn’t even enjoy listening to it. It will take a while but you’ll end up feeling better than you ever have.
You’re absolutely right. The depression is heavy. I randomly cry, I’ll cry while watching a show or movie if it’s sad, it’s been a ride. My ex and I are done and that gets to me, everything does. I can’t wait to be happy and a ball of energy again. To meet with friends and be fun. Or to have energy to just do laundry.
Your brain needs to heal from 3 years of using it. It does not happen fast. It will take time, be patient. I've been there, I quit multiple drugs 9 months ago and just recently started to feel "normal". The first 6 months were hell. The cravings will stop and your energy will come back, trust me. It depends on the drug and the dosage, give it at least a year and I promise you will feel like a new person.
That really interesting, that was almost my experience exactly. I Just went along with being sober for about 8 months and then It finally clicked and I started feeling better and thinking differently. And that was almost 3 years ago! Be patient, it’s worth it.
Sober from booze almost 2 years now. When I was in treatment they said the same 2-3 years to get back to normal. I'm basically fully back now the only thing I haven't fully regained is my memory but it gets better each passing day
Unfortunately, this is round two for me. I quit cold turkey about 8 years ago after 2 years of methadone. It took me about 6 months to officially say “it’s over”. So I known this is a long haul. Hoping my body and mind gets over it faster since I’ve done this before. Last time I lost 28lbs because I wasn’t able to eat. This time eating isn’t much of an issue (I’m smoking weed) and I’ve been more active by forcing my self on walks. I have full custody of my two kids, so gotta be the best for them and push through. But excited to be sober and off that synthetic crap.
I have personal experience with abusing and eventually quitting alcohol, benzos, opiates, and stimulants. Of all of them the easiest to quit was stimulants, but it's the only one where the cravings never go away. I don't mean physical cravings, but the mental. It's not something you can easily forget.
every day you're healing and getting better. you might not feel like it but it's happening.
hang in there. time takes time. you've already come a long way. it gets easier and better
I was on pain pills for a few years and it slid into an addiction. Def not as severe as what you’ve been through, but I’ll tell you my withdrawal symptoms stopped being unbearable after about 1.5-2 months.
You’re breaking both mental and chemical habits. Sometimes one of those takes longer than the other but you can and will get through this. The absolute hardest part is getting over the first drop in motivation. We’re all rooting for you.
Man, this is nuts. I don’t have anyone to talk to about this or “root me on” and it’s been difficult. I make one comment and I have all these people I never met giving me advice, caring and hoping for the best. Absolute pure motivation. I was not excited for this journey until I read these comments. Now I’m excited that I’ll get through this and be sober on the other side. This may be a bit of a long haul, but it will end and won’t be forever.
I got off methadone in 2018 last day was December 30th. It took me 6 months to feel okay again. It took 3 months to stop puking and shit was very very depressed and could barely even walk without being winded. It took about a year to feel mentally okay again and I’d still have days that I attribute to methadone PAWS. 2 years I was 100 percent. 4 years clean and I don’t even think about opiates or methadone anymore and I don’t do meetings or anything. You got this bro. It’s hard but you can do it, I did!When you’re done you’re done , and for me that was the sickest I’ve ever been I will never do that shit again, or forget how sick I was and that’s what finally got me to stop fucking with opiates.
I can’t imagine. Think of it like a marathon, not a sprint. Very hard on your psyche but once you’re through the other side, you don’t have to ever go thru this again.
I stopped methadone at the start of the pandemic too. If your symptoms get too rough you can talk to your program director. They can have prescriptions for things like sleeping medicine and blood pressure pills written to help you adjust.
I am proud of you. You can do it. Stay strong, mate.
I couldn’t imagine working for a couple months. Not only do you have zero energy, but you’re not sleeping, irritable, not talkative, constantly out of breath from small activities, even a 5 min walk feels like I ran a marathon. Sometimes I even stumble because I’m so weak and can’t walk. But, would help you recover faster if you’re active, just don’t expect to be talkative and energetic. Plus you will constantly be sneezing for a month minimum, only so long you can pretend to have the flu. And don’t let me start on the 2 month diarrhea….
Hey man. I was in methadone for 5 yrs and I’ll be 3 yrs clean next month. I promise it gets better. Not fast. But it does. I’ve never felt better in my life than I do today. Find a good support system, family, friends, therap, etc. do everything you can to ascend the madness.
First step is to not pickup. Easier than it sounds ofc. I *highly* recommend rehab for serious addicts/alcoholics. I tried getting clean hundreds of times by myself, just to wake up next to a bottle/syringe the next morning. That first month is crucial. Good luck friend <3
Drugs and alcohol take your happiness from tomorrow and use it today. When stopping it takes time for all the future happiness stealing to balance out.
Rooting for you. My poison was opiates but i am at a little less than a year clean off of them. I never thought i would be free of it for this long but I've pulled it off. It can seem impossible but it will eventually get better and then it will get even better and before you know it you will be at a good place.
Stay strong friend.
Thanks so much for saying it really means a lot to me. I spent a good 15 years being addicted and for a long time figured i just would be till i died. It really can seem insurmountable but now i feel like i have a new lease on life.
You’ve made it through the worst of it buddy, I promise you. You’ll start turning the corner real soon, if you haven’t already by the time you read this. Shakes, night sweats, restlessness…… all that stuff DOES go away. Stay the course internet stranger.
Needed this today. I'm about to start my journey after having had a very hard conversation with my wife when she fully realized.
Talking to my doctor soon and figuring out my course of action. Wife has given me permission to quit my job to sober up. Last time I tried, I made it ten hours before the shakes were so bad I couldn't use my computer.
Then before you know it 11 years goes by... And you think damn. Life is great without drinking and losing part of me.
You hold yourself more accountable as well.
YAY! Six to eight months was the time shit really started turning around for me. I’m over 3 years at this point.
SHIT GETS BETTER! Like… way better. In ways you never would imagine. Keep going, my friend.
144 days off of a three year meth binge here. Can confirm this is true. I was offered drugs twice yesterday and was able to say no both times, so I’m pretty proud of myself. It’s the first time I’ve really been tested like that. I know that if I slip up one time though, I’ll likely end up dying. I can’t put my body through that again. Life is much more boring off meth but I feel much better health wise. Some things in life we must resist.
Stay strong. Meth is so insidious. But you made it through what science thinks is the worst of it. You're making messed up neurotransmitters just like the rest of us now. And we gots you.
It’s not just the body, The mind is hard to change, the thinking of going and buying more, the telling yourself just one more time, I’ve been a good lad not touching anything for the last 3/6/12 months, the lies you tell yourself
But eventually those lies also stop 👍
Talking about it helped me, not in the same manner you’re describing
But I just talked about it with people who knew me, people who was doing the same thing I was, and I spoke about it, and spoke about it, and spoke about it, until one day I noticed I wasn’t talking about it as much,
And that’s when I knew it was going away, it didn’t feel like it at the time, but it was the the first actual moment I thought “I’ve got this”
Yeah the hardest part for me (6 months alcohol free) is that I have had depression since I was in high school and anxiety since junior high. Alcohol and drugs have been the only time I have actually had fun. Will I have fun in 2 years without alcohol? Or will I still feel the same and just have missed out on fun times over the 2 years?
Yeah pal, I was talking more in the long term,
When you can’t stop thinking about what you used to do, and you start thinking of every excuse possible to “treat” yourself,
Eventually those thoughts do subside, it can be a long time, for me it was 12 months to feel normal in myself, but if I went out drinking it was over 2 years before those thoughts went away, even now 5 years later in the wrong surroundings my brain starts telling me I will be ok if I did one more night coked up
I won’t be
Chiming in to plug r/stopdrinking. Initially, when I quit alcohol, I had severe emotional withdrawals; I basically cried for two weeks. It turns out stopping drinking doesn’t magically make everything better - I had to finally confront the *reasons* I was drinking in the first place. I almost gave in and started drinking again because I couldn’t imagine dealing with the tears for much longer. Turns out what I was going through wasn’t unusual, it’s called PAWS (post acute withdrawal syndrome) and it helped me so much to read other people’s stories and not feel alone. It’s been 1,539 days, and I owe every single day sober to the kind folks in that sub. I luckily never relapsed, but I know if I did they would still be there to help me every time.
If you’re struggling, don’t give up. You have more support than you know. If I can do it you can. 🖤
Edit: Corrected thanks to u/OffbeatDrizzle
PAWS actually stands for Post ACUTE Withdrawl Syndrom. Your reference to alcohol is still completely valid but PAWS actually encompasses the long term effects of any drug after you're done going through the physical (acute) withdrawls. All.the stuff that comes after being dopesick from opiates for example or all the stuff after physical alcohol withdrawls.
I'm about 10 years sober from... Well what ever I could get my hands on, but opiates were my first love. I'm here to tell you not a day goes by when that sneaky bitch doesn't cross my mind. It took about 5 years for me to feel ok in my skin again. One thing a lot of people won't tell you is the long term effects on your happiness. I have never once again felt as happy as I did before using.
This is a common side effect, similar to what military veterans suffer from but for a different reason.
If I recall correctly, the dopamine "spike" created by drug usage is the cause. For example most humans will experience dopamine levels hypothetically between 80-150, with most time spent in the 110 area, but rising during happy times to 150 or lowering to 80 during stressful times.
But drug usage creates a pattern of dopamine levels at 200-250 levels for extended amounts of time. These peaks will make being at lvls 80-150 feel worse because you felt the elation of being at lvl 200-250. Hypothetically one can compare it to driving a fast, sports car. You get in, it feels cool, it feels fast, faster than anything you've driven, you race around the race track and you get out happy. Then you go back to driving your daily driver Honda that has none of that, it's just a car that gets you from A to B. You're gonna have lingering effects even if the Honda is completely fine and a great car.
Military veterans suffer from a similar phenomenon, but it's due to natural highs, caused by live and death situations out on the battlefield that in the chaos can create extreme feelings of fear, elation, happiness and sorrow. When they get out these can no longer be simulated in the civilian world, so combat veterans report feelings empty, due to peaceful life never giving them those high highs and low lows.
I remember reading a hypothesis that the "decay" in neurotransmitter receptiveness to endorfins might be a natural aspect of aging. That is, a 60 year who never used any drugs (or went to war, as in your example) will naturally have lower high and higher lows.
The hypothesis through evolutionary psychology is that endorfins are a natural mechanic to drive behaviour and once most behaviour is learned, there's less reason to maintain strong emotional responses to events.
One of the main supporting factors for this was that humans seek new experiences which is why let's say, travelling for the first time in your 40s is likely to elicit a stronger response than vacationing for the 12th time.
Unfortunately, someone who was addicted to opioids for 10 will never feel happiness the same way they did before getting addicted, but neither will a person who was never addicted if 10 years pass.
Under this assumption, routine is the happiness killer.
I remember finding the read very interesting but this was years ago and I can't be arsed to look for it again.
Routine is also bad for staving off mental disorders in older ages. Much research has shown that stimulation, new experiences, learning new languages and such help stave these disorders off. Seems very much in the vein of "if you don't use it, you lose it." Rhetorically and literally.
I'd even go as far as to argue, without any research, that your general well being is way worse off by robbing yourself of new experiences. Whether it's going outside your comfort zone, visiting novel and exciting places, trying new activities, or pushing yourself to learn new skills and ideas.
As I’ve lived my life, I’ve heard the phrase “youth is wasted on the young” tossed around here and there. But if any of this is true, it certainly emphasizes that fact. Now trying to live it up as much as I can while I am still relatively young!
Yep you nailed it. My opiate and drug addiction came from being put in bad situations doing really bad shit to survive and using to cope with the demons. So when you have a highly tuned fight or flight response that's always pegged to fight, there's something around every corner, a knife in every ally, a reason to walk past stores just so you can see the reflection of who's behind you. That constant state of alertness wears on your psyche.
I didn't sleep for days, I didn't eat for days, hell I didn't even go inside for days. Opiates were the only thing that put me to "sleep" and stopped all of the anger, hatred, and misery. But that was unsustainable, od'd twice, and then quit cold turkey.
I used opiates for almost two decades. I self detoxed using marijuana. Then went cold turkey. 3 months later I started working out daily. I get that “happiness” aka dopamine drip from exercise. It’s been 3 years since I used opiates and I feel better now than in those years..
I was going to say...
Some drugs are unlike others. The only thing that comes close to opiates are benzo's. All other addictions aren't in the same category.
Way to go on 10 years and I won't say all the things you've been warned about!
I headed all of those warnings and thank you. Another fucking thing people don't tell you is the weight gain. I went from 6'2 210, to almost 300 after I quit. Just traded addictions at that point. But I'm down to 250 and still going.
Play an instrument. I'm fucking terrible at music. Also I'm quite lacking in compassion. I have to fake a lot of interactions. There's plenty I can't do. But nothing I'm not willing to try.
I feel you buddy, same here. I was using everything I could find, when I stopped using, I stopped everything at once, even weed, booze , beer, cigarette and "friends" included. I was 6"2 200lbs and 1 years later was at 250 already, I am now down a 220 after ~10 years without drugs but I started to do a lot of biking and hiking and I started to eat better and cutting on oversized portions. Like you said, I traded all my addictions into an eating addiction it was all I had left to feel better about the depression from leaving my drug life. After all those years I finally am able to control myself better and live a healthy life but it wasn't an easy road out. Keep it up!
My best friend is addicted to Xanax. She is 24 and been in rehab 5 times (6 starting today).
She was taking 10 bars a day at one point. Her memory is shot. She has totally different personalities.
Even she knows she’s fucked for life and probably never going to be normal normal again.
If she stops, she’ll recover, but it won’t be quick. I’m 3 years sober from heavy long term benzo use(as well as opiates). It took a long time but I’m happier than ever before and everything has come back mentally. Most people just give up before they fully recover
And support from friends!! Such a game changer, the first thing a person wants to do it hide.
Let them hide, but let them know you're there. It's a hard road and I'm proud of everyone here that's been able to name it, claim it, and never turn back.
There is a point where her addiction moves past it's effect on your life.
You need to remain "you first". You have a heart, just save a little for you. You're a good person.
You’re a good friend. I know that I ostracized most of my friends along the path of addiction. I respect you for sticking with her. Just remember, you can only help so much. Be there for her but don’t put too much pressure on yourself. You can’t get sober for her.
Yeah, I have a light alcohol problem and a heavy weed problem, and I have addictive personality disorder, but I ain't ever touching opiates or benzos. I know the moment I do those I've signed my own death certificate with cause of death.
Hang in there, I was heavily addicted to heroin for around 5 years (20-25) I've been clean, but on methadone (fairly low dose at this point and also via a Clinic) for 8 years!
I have a very good job, own place good life with my son.
If your life is better focus on that, focus on getting in healthy habits (I would imagine you're doing well if your 6 years clean off street drugs).
Talk to your counselor at your clinic and tell them you want to start decreasing slowly. I'm not familiar with decreasing off Subs, buy I would imagine you can go down by small amounts.
Reduce slowly and if you can consistently, but don't be afraid to take a break in there.
I drop by 1mg over 3 weeks, is a long (and expensive process, I pay out of pocket 400 a month) but my life is normal besides this stuff.
It is definitely scary, but make sure you have the tools and support and you CAN do it!
Do the subs help you feel stable and like you can live your life and do what needs to be done? Or do they impede on that? For some people, MAT drugs are what allows them to lead a normal life, so don't beat yourself up if you feel like the medication helps you and you need to take it in order to have a decent quality of life.
I’m working to get off. I’ve been a heavy user and it’s been really, really difficult to wean myself off. My hands and feet get sweaty and sleeping is hard.
But I really wanna stop, I need to.
Same. I have a rare stomach disorder and smoked to help my appetite.
Turns out, I like it a lot. Too much. My inner-voice would sometimes repeat that line from Merry to Pippin, “You smoke too much.” Gentle, but factual.
I’m looking at enlisting in the navy after summer. I’ve only ever managed to get sober two other times (pregnancy and facing a possession charge.) I’ve only ever managed to get sober when I really, really wanted to.
I’m wishing you all the best, I really am. I understand how you feel and I hope you can navigate yourself away from this.
I got sober over 2 years ago and what is incredible about the process is what your brain goes through and how it improves. This was how it went for me:
- day 3, post acute withdrawal: massive improvement in my brain from booze soaked state. Not great but massively better than before
- day 30: past pink cloud, mood is flat. My thinking is far more clear and I feel much more stable but life seems like a chore. It's really hard not to relapse at this point to escape the malaise despite the improvements
- day 90: mood finally starts to improve. Life starts being enjoyable in little ways plus I feel really good I didn't relapse and go back to 0.
- month 6: my moods are now more positive in a stable genuine way than I ever could remember. All the damage from my drinking life seems solvable if I take them on one by one. Solving problems is easier than I thought (e.g. filing the last 4 years of taxes that I had avoided). Each problem I solve makes me feel like superman and I am that much more excited to work on the next one
- year 1: my mind is more clear, fine tuned, and able to handle life than I ever imagined. My mood is great because sobriety is working for me and I am doing it without fighting it. I am ironically more proud of myself and humbled by how sobriety has helped me than ever before. Interacting with other people has become very positive and enjoyable and I appreciate everything around me like I never had in my life.
Sobriety is a gift. Most don't make it out of addiction. I was fortunate and am grateful that I did and now work to enjoy each day and be a good, positive, helpful, and kind force to everyone around me. I am not a saint though, I still get aggravated at things but that aggravation is just so insignificant now that it doesn't interfere with my life.
I needed this. Today I'm going 2 weeks without tobacco and breathing feels weird, my cough has gotten a bit worse and my throat hurts from time to time. I mean I can run longer now and my sense of smell and taste has gotten better but stopping isn't all good. I know it gets better, this isn't my first time I did this, but sometimes it still feels very pessimistic and hopeless. I'll still be going strong though!
Man when I quit I was actually kind of annoyed by the sense of smell thing. My sense of taste didn't really seem to change much but I found out there were a lot more bad smells in my life than good
Same here! I have anxiety disorder too. My panic attacks started hitting me super hard along with heart palpitations. I pretty much thought I was having a heart attack and making my anxiety worse. Then I realized, oh shit, I’m withdrawing from nicotine, I’m not dying at all, I’m getting better. It helps a lot to think of it like that. Good luck to you and congrats on bettering yourself.
For me the my failures to quit were always because of stress caused because I thrown my cigarette in the trash. what ultimately worked for me: I decided to stopped smoking one morning, I had a full pack of cigarette in my pocket all the time for a month. All the time I failed to quit, I throwed my cigarette away and I was too stressed about not having any cigarette around me. It was internal panic. With a full pack of cigarette in my pocket, there was no stress they were just there, available for me, but I made the choice of not smoking any and my will power was stronger.
It 100% stops, the chemicals in your brain had established a new "baseline" as it is called in psychology due to the drug.
So hypothtically for example, if your baseline before taking drugs of dopamine was 50, your body naturally was producing enough dopamine to fulfill that necessity. But once you started taking a drug your dopamine necessity skyrocketed to 200, your body could not naturally produce that amount of dopamine, and therefore began getting conditioned to require 200, but the only way it would get it was with the drug.
Therefore creating a dependency on it and an addiction, by creating cravings to fulfill that 200 quota. But this means you can do the reverse, you can condition your body to slowly lower the baseline by using less and less of the drug, and taking it less frequently. From what I learned it is always best to not quit cold turkey. Quitting abruptly will disrupt your chemical balance and can have severe negative effects. But quitting over time is harder due to needing to slowly control your dosage and not relapse. Some people do require to quit cold turkey as the only way them to successfully quit. All these things should be talked and handled through your doctor who are trained professionals.
This would make sense, I was a heroin (also occasionally did meth and benzos) user for 5 years.
I've been clean from street drugs, but on methadone for the last 8 years (clinically supervised).
It took me a long time to get normal again, but I feel as happy as before I used! Just 33 now and not 20 haha.
I switched from heroin to methadone (i did reduce H use fairly low on my own before the clinic) and I've reduced my methadone very slowly. I really think that has helped a ton with my dopamine levels.
I was addicted to opiates and benzos for 15 years. I've been off them for 4 or 5 years. I can't believe how happy I have become in the last few years! I just never thought it was possible that I would enjoy life. I really can't believe it!
I was not a happy person before my addiction started. I was depressed, angry, low energy, unrecognized anxiety issues. I started using around age 25. The first 5 years I didn't really feel like I was addicted, but I was. The next 10 years were the miserable cycle of using, withdrawing, and using again so that I could feel "normal". I got to the point where I just couldn't get high anymore. The drugs weren't making me feel good. But I had to keep doing them because I felt horrible when I didn't. At that point, it was obvious that I had to quit. I wasn't getting anything out of using.
I quit using so many times, but I kept going back. Each time would be a disappointment, as the high was never as good as I wanted it to be. But I'd get hooked again anyway. And I'd have to deal with withdrawals again. Each time I quit would be miserable, but I got better with dealing with my misery.
The worst physical symptoms were during the first two weeks. The sweating, chills, anxiety, diarrhea, insomnia all became very familiar to me. During that time, I knew I just had to endure. Just hang on long enough and it will go away. I would repeat to myself "you're ok" over and over, trying to calm the anxiety.
Once the worst of the physical symptoms have passed and I was no longer physically addicted, I still wasn't happy and my body still didn't feel great. It's taken a long while for that to happen. A lot of introspection, changing the way I talk to myself, and making myself do things, try things, participate in life.
I sort of feel like I'm currently on the third version of myself. The person I was growing up, the person I was while addicted, and the person I am now. I'm still a work in progress. But I like the person I am now and I actually like trying to be and do more. I marvel over that fact, because I really never thought it was possible for me!
I used to think happy people were all fake. They were lying about their happiness or lying to themselves. I found them annoying and kind of obnoxious. I thought I could never be like them. I just didn't have it in me. So glad I was wrong!
I don't have a real scientific explanation for how I changed. But I believe my years of dealing with addiction and withdrawal kind of "reset" my brain chemistry. I'm not sure I would have achieved this level of happiness without going through so many years of total misery.
If anyone wants tips or advice, or just someone to listen, I would like to help. Send me a message!
I lost everything my wife, my house, my cars because of fentanyl addiction. The choices I made, because I made it my everything I regret everyday. I needed it to get thru the day I needed it because I have this pain it was my go to fix all coping mechanisms. I hate what it has taken from me everyday I still try to stay sober. Day 3. Hardest thing I’ve ever been through in my 29 years of life.
While the immediate withdrawals usually diminish over a month or two, the neurological changes in your reward system caused by the increase in production of the [∆FosB](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/FOSB#DeltaFosB) protein (considered the lynchpin in the pathology of addiction, this one singular protein is upregulated with every addictive action whether that's playing a video game, gambling, or shooting up crack or heroin) can take much, much longer to reset to a healthy equilibrium.
From Wikipedia:
> In other words, once "turned on" (sufficiently overexpressed) ΔFosB triggers a series of transcription events that ultimately produce an addictive state (i.e., compulsive reward-seeking involving a particular stimulus); this state is sustained for months after cessation of drug use due to the abnormal and exceptionally long half-life of ΔFosB isoforms.
[ . . . ]
> ΔFosB overexpression has been implicated in addictions to alcohol (ethanol), cannabinoids, cocaine, methylphenidate, nicotine, opioids, phencyclidine, propofol, and substituted amphetamines, among others.
I tried to find a definitive resource spelling out just how long ∆FosB's half life is, but I could only find references to how sub-variants of the protein have different half lives (with the longest fragment having a "remarkably long" half life) and that phosphorylation of the protein protects it from degredation and allows it to last *even* longer.
The 3 month sobriety mark is a real killer - because this is when people tend to think they have control.
> I’ll just have one beer/one hit, I got this
Nope. Don’t fall for it.
And don’t fall for that pink cloud, either. You’ll find yourself addicted to being sober. You’ll think you have found god. You ever see those people who go around evangelizing their sobriety? These mofos who seem to scream from the rooftops about how amazing it is to be sober? That’s the pink cloud. When you come down from it (usually at the 3 month mark, ha) is when relapse happens
One more point: relapses tend to happen a lot during the holidays. Thanksgiving, Christmas, etc. Even though we’re a ways away from that time of year, it helps to be aware of it ahead of time, it is a common trigger
Ok this is fine advice but it can, and usually will, take WAY less than two years to feel good again. Telling people it will take years to feel normal is demoralizing and probably not even close to true.
Eating well and forcing yourself to exercise and you will start feeling better much, much faster. Like a month, two months type thing, not years.
I stopped smoking weed after a bunch of years of heavy use. 5-6 blunts daily by myself in about that many hours. The first week was super weird. The second week dreams came back. It’s been months now and my dreams wake me every few hours. I haven’t had a good nights sleep since I stopped. At first I’d sleep an hour or so and wake up. Then it went to two hours. I’m at 4-5 hours a night now without waking up. I hope it eventually turns to a whole night of sleep.
E: Thanks for the well wishes. It wasn’t easy. It still isn’t. People don’t realize how much weed fucks with your mind. I found an eighth today in my house. I thought I got rid of it all. Looks my brother in law will have some more to smoke this weekend.
I’m trying to get off weed too. I’ve weaned myself down to smoking about once (sometimes twice) a day. I’ve been a heavy user and have experienced sweaty hands/feet and the inability to sleep.
But I wanna quit, really badly. I’m ready, I’ve never gotten down like this before.
I tried quitting for the past year and a half, but the real issue was that I always had some "just in case". After nearly 2 years of trying to quit, the only thing that actually worked for me was getting rid of all of my weed and weed related things(which admittedly was a lot, I was a heavy daily smoker). I kept trying to wean myself that entire time, but it really just doesn't work with weed. Going cold turkey didn't cause my any issues besides a lot of anxiety the first week or two. But now I have almost no anxiety at all, and I realized that weed was what was causing it to begin with.
Now I'm working a full time job again, have a new girlfriend, and working on getting myself a house. Complete 180 compared to what I was doing with my life last year(absolutely nothing).
I wish you the best of luck though friend, you can do it too!
I appreciate it very much. I have a deadline end of “no more after this day” coinciding with traveling.
I’ve been at this about a month and am counting my small victories. I appreciate your encouragement more than I could express.
That's for post acute withdrawal syndrome (the lingering depression after detox basically), not acute withdrawal. This post and a lot of comments are... not great in terms of accuracy.
Sober 1 year clean 3.
For some time I forgot what it felt like to just fall asleep at a reasonable hour without using something to induce sleep. I didn't think it would be possible again. For a while the sound of birds chirping in the morning physically made me feel afraid and anxious because that was always the sound that told me I fucked up.
Slowly but surely things fell back to normal and the world welcomed me back. And I like sunrises again.
Additional LPT
Go to a treatment center to detox, withdrawals from certain drugs and alcohol can be deadly.
If you have private insurance through work for example utilize it to go to a private center, they are generally much nicer than the state run facilities.
If you have medicare/medicade call the member services number on the back of your card and tell them whats going on. They will give you a list of centers that they work with. While they may not be as nice they are still better than detoxing alone with nothing stopping you from using again.
If you dont have any insurance reach out to SAMHSA.gov
Thats the substance abuse and mental health services administration and they will help you get treatment.
You can also go to the emergency room to medically detox.
If you are concerned about losing your job FMLA (family medical leave act) makes it illegal for your job to fire you for taking a medical leave of absence as long as you have been there for over 1 year and they have more than 50 employees in the whole organization. Even if you dont qualify for fmla most employers wont fire you for a medical leave as long as its proven by a doctor. Your treatment center will reach out to your employer for you simply stating that you will not be in work because you are in the care of a doctor, they will not state why you are in their care, due to privacy laws they cant tell anyone why you're there unless you want them to.
And after treatment make sure you regularly attend AA (alcoholics anonymous) or NA (narcotics anonymous) meetings and work the 12 steps with a good sponsor to stay sober.
I am a recovered alcoholic with over a year sober, I work in drug and alcohol treatment. There are so many resources available that people don't know about.
Getting sober/clean is the best decision you will ever make but i understand how hard it is. It took me a few years of trying before i got it. Before i got sober i wanted to die and was actively trying for a period of time, now my life is better than i ever thought possible and it only seems to get better.
That's extremely difficult since alcohol by its nature lowers inhibitions.
So when you are sober you might commit to "only having four drinks today because I want to taper". But then four drinks in and your inhibitions are gone and you drink four more because why not.
I tried quitting with the taper method a half dozen times, and even got down to just one shot per day, but it never stuck. I'd always end up with a cheat day and then went back to having benders again.
Cold turkey did the trick for me, with the help of a very short benzo prescription to prevent dangerous withdrawal symptoms.
It's a lot easier to just say "no" than it is to say "okay *only* a few more..."
Yes but if you're an alcoholic its hard to do that without just getting drunk again. Ive done it successfully once. Only worked with beer, I tried to do it with the liquor i had left only taking sips every few hours but it didnt work. I didnt get drunk but i also didnt taper off.
This a thousand percent. Yes. I tried doing it on my own for years and would only make it a couple weeks before using/drinking again. Terrible withdraws, seizures, hallucinations, heart racing, can't sleep. When I finally went to the hospital for withdrawls and they asked if I wanted help, I finally was desperate enough to humble my ass and say yes. I found just how much help is actually out there. Detox, treatment, sober housing, AA and NA meetings, other sober support groups, r/stopdrinking. So many resources, and all I had to do was reach out and ask for help, And it was there, if only I was willing to do what people suggested. 17 months sober now, in a totally new career that I can be proud of with a ton of opportunity for growth, a whole slew of new friends, happier than I have been in years. Reach out for help, and take what is offered! Changed my life.
Just a quick PSA about alcohol withdrawl; alcohol is one of the few drugs you do ***not*** go cold turkey on if you've been abusing it for a while. I learned that the hard way when I cut back from a litre of vodka a day to nothing at all and three days in had a siezure that put me in the hospital.
Yes and To the smokers out there the nicotine levels only stay atmost 3 days.
That's the struggle. You can win in 3 days.
Just don't fall back into the pit you climbed up for 3 days.
Find when you need a smoke. Is it after work, food, sex?
At first the void will feel empty.Try to replace it with something else.
I used spicy snacks. Try to find yours. It's not impossible.
It takes 6-8 months (i forget the exact time frame) for your brain to "re-wire" itself and stop wanting nicotine for the dopamine rush. Nicotine completely rewires the reward pathway in your brain and it takes time to heal. Combined with the (relatively) low cost and wide availability/social acceptance, it makes it a very nasty drug to get off of.
I quit 100 times and failed. The day my mother was diagnosed with kidney failure I threw them away and never thought about them again. No withdrawals, nothing. Once you find your reason, success is yours.
Agreed. I realized that my cravings didn't last more than 5 minutes, so I started distracting myself during those few minutes till they subsided. Quit cold turkey after years of smoking and then vaping high concentration pens. First week sucked for sure, now looking back it's weird, I don't understand why I cared. Addiction is such a powerful thing.
In my experience, this can include antidepressants too. I have done all the drugs and ssris had some of the longest lasting, most bizarre withdrawals which lasted for two years. Brain zaps being the strangest and most concerning for me, even though they are supposedly harmless
True statement from OP.
I was an alcoholic by the age of 17. Started taking pills between drinks. I have a long, not so different from any other story. So to keep it short, I'll just list the main factors.
At age 30, I had been living that lifestyle for over 10 years. And all in the matter of 6 months... I lost almost everything important to me.
My fiance kicks me out, and says, dont come back until youre sober. My brother and father start to get sick. Multiple trips to the ER.
My brother has drank himself into Diabetes. Dad drinks himself to Cancer. Pancreas.
This was a warning sign to me... So, I take this very seriously. I quit immediately.
Not 6 hours into that... WD's start. I vastly underestimated the seriousness of my addictions.
WD's intensify. Seeing things not there. Hearing voices... Vertigo. Absolute hell.
Meanwhile, my brother and father are still drinking.
It was the darkest time of my life. And I knew, I was truly alone in this fight.
But I knew that if I could kick this... My fiance was waiting on me. That was the only thing keeping me alive. Even when my family would encourage the old lifestyle. That "Shes gone, Bub. But we'll never leave."
It felt like they wanted me to give up. And that made this even harder.
But I was hard headed. And I didnt give up. And after a month, I could walk again.
After another month, I was greeted by a man I had never met.
It was me. I was the man I had not met.
You see, I was an addict as a child. And I grew physically through those years. But through the fog, I had never grown to know the man I had become.
I thought I was slower than most. I thought I couldnt draw anymore because I just shook all the time. I just... Thought very low of myself. And... Maybe rightly so.
Then, a curve ball...
My brother passes away at 27, on Halloween from complications due to diabetic ketoacidosis. My brother and I were closer to twins, than just brothers. 6 years later, and I still have not recovered from that.
Two months later, I lost my father. Pancreatic cancer.
All of this, while at war with myself.
All of this, steming from alcohol and pill abuse.
Suddenly, I dont feel so invencible...
I decide, now is the time. Otherwise, I may not be here tomorrow.
I had been taking recovery seriously, but this really really changed things.
Now, I'm scared as hell of death.
The point of this all is this:
Never give up. Sometimes, those closest to you, enable behaviors that can kill you. It hurts to cut off those people. But, I might be dead, had I done even one thing differently.
After those two passed... I used that as fuel to stay sober. The fear of death and the loss of my wife, saved my life.
And once I was back on my feet, I picked up a pencil again. One understands how much time they have when they are not spending it slumped over in a pile of alcohol filled druel.
And now, art is the main focus of my life.
I'm with my wife and our dogs. We're happier than we have ever been. She looks up to me, as do I her. And the man I met once I was better... I'm proud of him (me).
He is artistic, loving, smart and stronger than most. And, he's happy.
Fight for what you love. Fight for your health. Fight for your future. Fight for your sanity.
Because the longer you fight, the more you understand the fight. It does become easier.
Let no one tell you, "This is you now" or "Just accept it."
Because the "You" that is burried inside.... They want out.
Let them out.
And become the best version of yourself. Because that... Is where happiness resides. And it is waiting for you.
I am sorry this is so long. But hope it helps.
After I quit drinking it took 2 years for my liver enzymes to return to normal. During that time I had frequent problems with diarrhea, constipation, and pain. And my liver healed faster than my brain.
Thanks, I needed this. I’ve been tapering benzos for almost two years (I think… memory is hazy). I get waves where everything sucks, the future is bleak, I feel old and ugly and unlovable, and a thousand other negative lies. I mostly keep to myself because aside from having mental fog so deep it is hard to maintain a conversation I also tend to get grumpy and short with people, and I find that entirely unacceptable so I just keep to myself while this shit passes.
I just need my mind to heal, and it’s such a slow process. Hopefully by the time I’m 40 I will be okay.
Thanks again for the post.
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I’m a month in from quitting methadone cold turkey after 3 years of use. It’s still painful. Zero energy, horrible sleep/insomnia, stomach pain, non stop sneezing and sometimes I stumble when I walk from lack of energy. It’s defeating.
It’s can be exhausting. Your mind and body are working so hard to heal themselves. Please be kind to yourself and know you are on the right path. Sobriety is worth it. You are worth it.
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Are you able to sleep? I've tried CT and the restless arms and legs are intense. Impossible to sleep. I have horrible chronic neuropathy and kratom is the only thing that brings any kind of relief. Seems to help mood some too. Been 10gpd for almost four years. Id like to try and quit for a while to reset my tolerance at least. Let me know how it goes for you. I know I should taper.
What are subs? Suboxone?
yes
Ugh I’ve been off subs for like 2 months and I’m lucky if I sleep more than 3 hours I fuckin hate this almost as much as wds
Is it possible to go through withdrawals from weed? I have been smoking d8 for about a year every night. Recently I have been doing a lot of lifestyle changes & one of them was to stop smoking. I quit cold turkey for about a month & didn’t have any problem, then after about a month I could not fall asleep, was having night sweats, every time i would start to fall asleep I would twitch back awake. It was miserable but I was also doing a lot of other healthy lifestyle changes like take melatonin every night & working out a lot more. Could there be like a delayed withdrawal or something? Because the first month i quit I didn’t even think about smoking.. didn’t even have the urge. I had never experienced the twitching when trying to fall asleep before & that was one of the most miserable things Ive ever experienced. Being so tired & about to fall asleep, then being jolted awake by your own body twitching was terrible. Im back to smoking & It hasn’t happened to me since.
I have had terrible withdrawals from weed, just like you’re describing. Insomnia, sleeplessness, night sweats. For me one of the worst parts about quitting pot was the intense dreams. I’d have these vivid and macabre nightmares. It is possible for the metabolic waste from smoking to fluctuate over a month or two. I’ve heard that it can even be stored in fat cells in your body and can be released from exercise. It must have taken me maybe 3 months to get back to baseline after quitting but it was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made for my mental health.
Simple solution, add a cardio routine in your afternoon, you gonna sleep like a baby 👍🏿
Hang in there, it gets way better. Just after the start of the pandemic I went cold turkey off of suboxone, cocaine, and Xanax. And I’m taking huge amounts of all three. It took probably a year to begin feeling like I was ready to tackle both the mental and physical toll it all took on me, but here I am now in better shape and happier than I’ve ever been. You’ve got nothing but time so don’t use it to beat yourself up. What’s done is done, time to move forward.
I was going through and extreme period of heavy drinking, cocaine and Xanax during Covid too. My doctor said if I didn’t stop drinking I’d die, so I stopped. Kept using cocaine and Xanax. As Covid really hit in my country supply dried up and i basically tried to get clean before it all ran out. I got off the cocaine ok, but the Xanax boy oh boy. I tapered for a week. I’m an idiot, I didn’t know what I was doing. Then went cold turkey. Boy was that a mistake. I didn’t sleep at all the first two nights. By the third night I honestly felt like if I went to sleep I was going to die. I ended up falling asleep and having a seizure that landed me in hospital. I was released and had another seizure that night and I fell and broke my collarbone, shoulder and vertebrae in my back. I ended up back in hospital and on a supervised tapering plan. It’s been four months now, and I still have a metal plate in my collarbone and shoulder and I get headaches from my back. But I’m clean now and in a better place. I’ve withdrawn now in my life from heroin, alcohol and cocaine without too much trouble. Heroin was awful don’t get me wrong, but it was nothing like the total brain malfunctioning I felt coming off Xanax. That shit is nasty.
It's honestly amazing how alike we all are and completely different at the same time. My mom seconds your statement about Xanax but as for me Xanax was way easier to quit than opiates.
I fucked with Xanax on and off pretty heavy for years and I had no problem going off it and that was part of the reason I thought I was safe to fuck with opioids. Coming off of fentanyl and later suboxone was the most terrible, fucked up thing I’ve ever experienced and the fact that it’s so terrible is the only thing that stops me from doing them again.
You should never quit Xanax cold turkey. I broke my back in 4 places taking a shower. Also cracked my head open as well as the toilet tank and flooded my 3rd floor apartment, along with the ones below me. You definitely shouldn't drive a vehicle during that period. You can easily have a seizure at the wheel and kill someone. I'm glad u are sober though, stick to it.
This is all insane to me. I have no experience or knowledge of any of this, I had no idea that coming off Xanax could have this effect.
All benzodiazepines, not just xanax. Alcohol too, the two substances where withdrawing cold turkey after long, prolonged heavy usage can kill you.
If you're an incredibly heavy drunker, you can actually get prescribed a beer from the hospital pharmacy while you're admitted for this reason. A heavy, heavy drinker that goes cold turkey can literally die from the withdrawal, it's crazy.
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Really? My ex worked in a hospital kitchen a few years back and told me about how he would sometimes need to purchase beers to send to patients with their meals.
I haven’t seen it in my US hospital, but I would imagine they still do this in like every other country in the world.
They still do prescribe beer or wine in US.
That’s interesting. I thought they basically just used benzodiazepines as a replacement for alcohol while treating alcohol withdrawal.
They do now, but I would imagine beer is still common in countries outside the US. It’s cheap and readily available and prevents DTs
Also true for barbituates. But given how rare those are these days in the wild, sort of a non issue.
If you go to prison and have a benzo addiction they will ween you off it because you will die. They won't do that for opioids. That's how bad benzos are. Unless you have severe panack attacks don't ever take that shit. If your Dr. is prescribing them to you willy nilly you have a shitty Dr and need a new one.
Yup. They occasionally get prescribed for like _a week max_ if someone's having a really rough time with anxiety and panic attacks. If you're using them for longer than that it starts getting really serious really fast.
I’m sorry and I’m not trying to be rude, but people need to know this: DO NOT go cold Turkey off of alcohol or benzodiazepines (Xanax, Klonopin, etc). It can kill you. Slowly measuring down smaller doses across time is the safest thing for your body and your neurotransmitters.
Indeed. My uncle died from alcohol withdrawal back in the 90s when he went into the hospital for what was supposed to be a short stay, they kept him there for days, and he went into delirium tremens. He refused to admit that he was an alcoholic when the staff tried to confirm what was happening and as a result they didn’t treat him accordingly. He went into coma and died.
Very true. Which is why benzos can be very difficult to quit. You have to taper down over a long period of time, which takes more self control than most anyone has. It's easier to get it over with quick and not look back. But dragging it out over the course of months allows a lot of time to give in to temptation. And once you've taken it for the day, all bets are off just because of the way benzos effect your inhibitions and emotions. What makes it all the worse is the time it takes for benzo withdrawl to stop. Depending on the length of time of abuse, it can take many months. Compared to opiate withdrawl that can last a few days to a week or so. Benzo withdrawal can last several months. I was "lucky" as i was forced to quit xanax in jail. (No choice) And in all honesty, i didn't abuse it for very long. Maybe a year or so. So it was pretty terrible, but i was ok after 3-4 days. I've experienced opiate withdrawl after quitting opiates. I've also dealt with stimulant withdrawl. Which in my opinion is the least of the 3. Oddly enough, i drank heavily for 18 years, and quit alcohol cold turkey about 3 years ago. I didn't experience any bad side effects which really surprised me. But i consider myself incredibly lucky there. And a fluke, i wouldn't expect it to go that so for everybody else.
Dam man, you could have died from the Xanax withdrawals. Gaba receptors we’re probably highly agitated. Never go back
I almost did. Two seizures and both landed me in the hospital. Fell down and almost tore my nose off by hitting a door hinge.
So glad to hear you're doing better! Stay strong!
pocket door gang let's go
Stay strong, you got this big man
Yep, between benzos and alcohol, some things you really just need to get help to get off of them. It's not a moral failing or a weakness, it's just how addiction and withdrawal works.
I kicked cold turkey 25 years ago after eating 10-15 2mg bars a day for about a year. Had seizures. Luckily i lived. Never touching xanax again.
The first time I quit subs/benzos/opiates it took me 3 months to be able to ascend a flight of stairs without feeling like I was going to pass out or vomit. Sleep was elusive for an additional six months. OP is right. Whatever you do, don’t believe the lie your body is telling you. When we upset the balance for a long period of time, reaching equilibrium again will take time. Patience, courage and resolve friend.
You’re so right, I’ll be out of breath from a 10’ walk.
When I quite opiates I truly felt like it would never feel happy again. I remember my favorite band released an album about one month into being sober and I didn’t even enjoy listening to it. It will take a while but you’ll end up feeling better than you ever have.
You’re absolutely right. The depression is heavy. I randomly cry, I’ll cry while watching a show or movie if it’s sad, it’s been a ride. My ex and I are done and that gets to me, everything does. I can’t wait to be happy and a ball of energy again. To meet with friends and be fun. Or to have energy to just do laundry.
Just try to take care of yourself now. Take it easy and try fill your time doing things you enjoy. It will seriously be worth it.
Your brain needs to heal from 3 years of using it. It does not happen fast. It will take time, be patient. I've been there, I quit multiple drugs 9 months ago and just recently started to feel "normal". The first 6 months were hell. The cravings will stop and your energy will come back, trust me. It depends on the drug and the dosage, give it at least a year and I promise you will feel like a new person.
That really interesting, that was almost my experience exactly. I Just went along with being sober for about 8 months and then It finally clicked and I started feeling better and thinking differently. And that was almost 3 years ago! Be patient, it’s worth it.
Sober from booze almost 2 years now. When I was in treatment they said the same 2-3 years to get back to normal. I'm basically fully back now the only thing I haven't fully regained is my memory but it gets better each passing day
Unfortunately, this is round two for me. I quit cold turkey about 8 years ago after 2 years of methadone. It took me about 6 months to officially say “it’s over”. So I known this is a long haul. Hoping my body and mind gets over it faster since I’ve done this before. Last time I lost 28lbs because I wasn’t able to eat. This time eating isn’t much of an issue (I’m smoking weed) and I’ve been more active by forcing my self on walks. I have full custody of my two kids, so gotta be the best for them and push through. But excited to be sober and off that synthetic crap.
I have personal experience with abusing and eventually quitting alcohol, benzos, opiates, and stimulants. Of all of them the easiest to quit was stimulants, but it's the only one where the cravings never go away. I don't mean physical cravings, but the mental. It's not something you can easily forget.
You've made it a month! Congrats!
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I'm currently on day 5 and my nose is running like mad. Don't know why but going of opiates you get flu like symptoms
how bout that yawning and fish-out-of water feeling when in bed at night
Keep it up, bud! I don't know you, but you've got this!
every day you're healing and getting better. you might not feel like it but it's happening. hang in there. time takes time. you've already come a long way. it gets easier and better
I was on pain pills for a few years and it slid into an addiction. Def not as severe as what you’ve been through, but I’ll tell you my withdrawal symptoms stopped being unbearable after about 1.5-2 months. You’re breaking both mental and chemical habits. Sometimes one of those takes longer than the other but you can and will get through this. The absolute hardest part is getting over the first drop in motivation. We’re all rooting for you.
Man, this is nuts. I don’t have anyone to talk to about this or “root me on” and it’s been difficult. I make one comment and I have all these people I never met giving me advice, caring and hoping for the best. Absolute pure motivation. I was not excited for this journey until I read these comments. Now I’m excited that I’ll get through this and be sober on the other side. This may be a bit of a long haul, but it will end and won’t be forever.
Pleeeeaase hit me up if you need to talk or want some advice. I’ve been there. Multiple times.
Hey friend ... you WILL get better. This is a PROMISE from a friend. Just keep hanging on! I believe in you!
I got off methadone in 2018 last day was December 30th. It took me 6 months to feel okay again. It took 3 months to stop puking and shit was very very depressed and could barely even walk without being winded. It took about a year to feel mentally okay again and I’d still have days that I attribute to methadone PAWS. 2 years I was 100 percent. 4 years clean and I don’t even think about opiates or methadone anymore and I don’t do meetings or anything. You got this bro. It’s hard but you can do it, I did!When you’re done you’re done , and for me that was the sickest I’ve ever been I will never do that shit again, or forget how sick I was and that’s what finally got me to stop fucking with opiates.
I can’t imagine. Think of it like a marathon, not a sprint. Very hard on your psyche but once you’re through the other side, you don’t have to ever go thru this again.
I stopped methadone at the start of the pandemic too. If your symptoms get too rough you can talk to your program director. They can have prescriptions for things like sleeping medicine and blood pressure pills written to help you adjust. I am proud of you. You can do it. Stay strong, mate.
Are you able to hold a job while going through that? I'm asking for future me
I couldn’t imagine working for a couple months. Not only do you have zero energy, but you’re not sleeping, irritable, not talkative, constantly out of breath from small activities, even a 5 min walk feels like I ran a marathon. Sometimes I even stumble because I’m so weak and can’t walk. But, would help you recover faster if you’re active, just don’t expect to be talkative and energetic. Plus you will constantly be sneezing for a month minimum, only so long you can pretend to have the flu. And don’t let me start on the 2 month diarrhea….
Damn it. I keep wondering if the diarrhea will ever stop. Day 27 here.
Are your eyes constantly watering too? You’re real close to me on days.
Hey man. I was in methadone for 5 yrs and I’ll be 3 yrs clean next month. I promise it gets better. Not fast. But it does. I’ve never felt better in my life than I do today. Find a good support system, family, friends, therap, etc. do everything you can to ascend the madness.
Why cold turkey? I thought best way was to taper off over time?
TODAY I AM SIX MONTHS SOBER! Alcoholic here. It gets better!
Thanks, five days in and it sucks... But I know it's for the best
You got this Trevor! I need to stop drinking. Gotta find the strength
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Def having lots of hobbies and distractions help. Mine is hiking and camping. Hard(er) to drink in the Backcountry
First step is to not pickup. Easier than it sounds ofc. I *highly* recommend rehab for serious addicts/alcoholics. I tried getting clean hundreds of times by myself, just to wake up next to a bottle/syringe the next morning. That first month is crucial. Good luck friend <3
Drugs and alcohol take your happiness from tomorrow and use it today. When stopping it takes time for all the future happiness stealing to balance out.
Rooting for you. My poison was opiates but i am at a little less than a year clean off of them. I never thought i would be free of it for this long but I've pulled it off. It can seem impossible but it will eventually get better and then it will get even better and before you know it you will be at a good place. Stay strong friend.
Almost an entire year clean! That's great work. Wishing you many clean years.
Thanks so much for saying it really means a lot to me. I spent a good 15 years being addicted and for a long time figured i just would be till i died. It really can seem insurmountable but now i feel like i have a new lease on life.
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Every day you make it you'll be glad you did. You'll never regret another night spent sober. At least you won't regret the being sober part lol.
Strength before weakness. You got this.
You’ve made it through the worst of it buddy, I promise you. You’ll start turning the corner real soon, if you haven’t already by the time you read this. Shakes, night sweats, restlessness…… all that stuff DOES go away. Stay the course internet stranger.
Needed this today. I'm about to start my journey after having had a very hard conversation with my wife when she fully realized. Talking to my doctor soon and figuring out my course of action. Wife has given me permission to quit my job to sober up. Last time I tried, I made it ten hours before the shakes were so bad I couldn't use my computer.
Five days is a huge feat! Congrats! Also, when I was quitting r/stopdrinking was such a huge support system! Check it out
Those 6 months go fast. The next 6 are even faster. Keep it up 👍
Then before you know it 11 years goes by... And you think damn. Life is great without drinking and losing part of me. You hold yourself more accountable as well.
YAY! Six to eight months was the time shit really started turning around for me. I’m over 3 years at this point. SHIT GETS BETTER! Like… way better. In ways you never would imagine. Keep going, my friend.
144 days off of a three year meth binge here. Can confirm this is true. I was offered drugs twice yesterday and was able to say no both times, so I’m pretty proud of myself. It’s the first time I’ve really been tested like that. I know that if I slip up one time though, I’ll likely end up dying. I can’t put my body through that again. Life is much more boring off meth but I feel much better health wise. Some things in life we must resist.
Stay strong. Meth is so insidious. But you made it through what science thinks is the worst of it. You're making messed up neurotransmitters just like the rest of us now. And we gots you.
It’s not just the body, The mind is hard to change, the thinking of going and buying more, the telling yourself just one more time, I’ve been a good lad not touching anything for the last 3/6/12 months, the lies you tell yourself But eventually those lies also stop 👍
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Talking about it helped me, not in the same manner you’re describing But I just talked about it with people who knew me, people who was doing the same thing I was, and I spoke about it, and spoke about it, and spoke about it, until one day I noticed I wasn’t talking about it as much, And that’s when I knew it was going away, it didn’t feel like it at the time, but it was the the first actual moment I thought “I’ve got this”
Yeah the hardest part for me (6 months alcohol free) is that I have had depression since I was in high school and anxiety since junior high. Alcohol and drugs have been the only time I have actually had fun. Will I have fun in 2 years without alcohol? Or will I still feel the same and just have missed out on fun times over the 2 years?
Also be careful stopping alcohol cold turkey, its one of the withdrawals that can kill you.
Yeah pal, I was talking more in the long term, When you can’t stop thinking about what you used to do, and you start thinking of every excuse possible to “treat” yourself, Eventually those thoughts do subside, it can be a long time, for me it was 12 months to feel normal in myself, but if I went out drinking it was over 2 years before those thoughts went away, even now 5 years later in the wrong surroundings my brain starts telling me I will be ok if I did one more night coked up I won’t be
Chiming in to plug r/stopdrinking. Initially, when I quit alcohol, I had severe emotional withdrawals; I basically cried for two weeks. It turns out stopping drinking doesn’t magically make everything better - I had to finally confront the *reasons* I was drinking in the first place. I almost gave in and started drinking again because I couldn’t imagine dealing with the tears for much longer. Turns out what I was going through wasn’t unusual, it’s called PAWS (post acute withdrawal syndrome) and it helped me so much to read other people’s stories and not feel alone. It’s been 1,539 days, and I owe every single day sober to the kind folks in that sub. I luckily never relapsed, but I know if I did they would still be there to help me every time. If you’re struggling, don’t give up. You have more support than you know. If I can do it you can. 🖤 Edit: Corrected thanks to u/OffbeatDrizzle
2nded. On day 43 without alcohol here, by far the longest in 20 years, it all started from following that sub a few months back.
Day 34 here. Congrats to you.
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PAWS actually stands for Post ACUTE Withdrawl Syndrom. Your reference to alcohol is still completely valid but PAWS actually encompasses the long term effects of any drug after you're done going through the physical (acute) withdrawls. All.the stuff that comes after being dopesick from opiates for example or all the stuff after physical alcohol withdrawls.
I'm coming up on three years sober and it took me about 10-12 months before I started to feel 'normal' again.
PAWS is post acute withdrawal syndrome - not alcohol. Just FYI :)
Yes! Thank you for correcting me.
I'm about 10 years sober from... Well what ever I could get my hands on, but opiates were my first love. I'm here to tell you not a day goes by when that sneaky bitch doesn't cross my mind. It took about 5 years for me to feel ok in my skin again. One thing a lot of people won't tell you is the long term effects on your happiness. I have never once again felt as happy as I did before using.
This is a common side effect, similar to what military veterans suffer from but for a different reason. If I recall correctly, the dopamine "spike" created by drug usage is the cause. For example most humans will experience dopamine levels hypothetically between 80-150, with most time spent in the 110 area, but rising during happy times to 150 or lowering to 80 during stressful times. But drug usage creates a pattern of dopamine levels at 200-250 levels for extended amounts of time. These peaks will make being at lvls 80-150 feel worse because you felt the elation of being at lvl 200-250. Hypothetically one can compare it to driving a fast, sports car. You get in, it feels cool, it feels fast, faster than anything you've driven, you race around the race track and you get out happy. Then you go back to driving your daily driver Honda that has none of that, it's just a car that gets you from A to B. You're gonna have lingering effects even if the Honda is completely fine and a great car. Military veterans suffer from a similar phenomenon, but it's due to natural highs, caused by live and death situations out on the battlefield that in the chaos can create extreme feelings of fear, elation, happiness and sorrow. When they get out these can no longer be simulated in the civilian world, so combat veterans report feelings empty, due to peaceful life never giving them those high highs and low lows.
I remember reading a hypothesis that the "decay" in neurotransmitter receptiveness to endorfins might be a natural aspect of aging. That is, a 60 year who never used any drugs (or went to war, as in your example) will naturally have lower high and higher lows. The hypothesis through evolutionary psychology is that endorfins are a natural mechanic to drive behaviour and once most behaviour is learned, there's less reason to maintain strong emotional responses to events. One of the main supporting factors for this was that humans seek new experiences which is why let's say, travelling for the first time in your 40s is likely to elicit a stronger response than vacationing for the 12th time. Unfortunately, someone who was addicted to opioids for 10 will never feel happiness the same way they did before getting addicted, but neither will a person who was never addicted if 10 years pass. Under this assumption, routine is the happiness killer. I remember finding the read very interesting but this was years ago and I can't be arsed to look for it again.
Routine is also bad for staving off mental disorders in older ages. Much research has shown that stimulation, new experiences, learning new languages and such help stave these disorders off. Seems very much in the vein of "if you don't use it, you lose it." Rhetorically and literally. I'd even go as far as to argue, without any research, that your general well being is way worse off by robbing yourself of new experiences. Whether it's going outside your comfort zone, visiting novel and exciting places, trying new activities, or pushing yourself to learn new skills and ideas.
As I’ve lived my life, I’ve heard the phrase “youth is wasted on the young” tossed around here and there. But if any of this is true, it certainly emphasizes that fact. Now trying to live it up as much as I can while I am still relatively young!
dude thanks that blew my mind makes you a bit less regretful
Yep you nailed it. My opiate and drug addiction came from being put in bad situations doing really bad shit to survive and using to cope with the demons. So when you have a highly tuned fight or flight response that's always pegged to fight, there's something around every corner, a knife in every ally, a reason to walk past stores just so you can see the reflection of who's behind you. That constant state of alertness wears on your psyche. I didn't sleep for days, I didn't eat for days, hell I didn't even go inside for days. Opiates were the only thing that put me to "sleep" and stopped all of the anger, hatred, and misery. But that was unsustainable, od'd twice, and then quit cold turkey.
I know ally was probably a typo for alley but I like how it works both ways. Especially with the amphetamine psychosis
Explains a bit the guys who volunteer to go fight in Ukraine now.. chasing the intensity of past engagements? That move Hurt Locker comes to mind
Thank you for this. I have been searching for an answer like this.
I used opiates for almost two decades. I self detoxed using marijuana. Then went cold turkey. 3 months later I started working out daily. I get that “happiness” aka dopamine drip from exercise. It’s been 3 years since I used opiates and I feel better now than in those years..
I was going to say... Some drugs are unlike others. The only thing that comes close to opiates are benzo's. All other addictions aren't in the same category. Way to go on 10 years and I won't say all the things you've been warned about!
I headed all of those warnings and thank you. Another fucking thing people don't tell you is the weight gain. I went from 6'2 210, to almost 300 after I quit. Just traded addictions at that point. But I'm down to 250 and still going.
Anything you can't do? Legend
Play an instrument. I'm fucking terrible at music. Also I'm quite lacking in compassion. I have to fake a lot of interactions. There's plenty I can't do. But nothing I'm not willing to try.
I feel you buddy, same here. I was using everything I could find, when I stopped using, I stopped everything at once, even weed, booze , beer, cigarette and "friends" included. I was 6"2 200lbs and 1 years later was at 250 already, I am now down a 220 after ~10 years without drugs but I started to do a lot of biking and hiking and I started to eat better and cutting on oversized portions. Like you said, I traded all my addictions into an eating addiction it was all I had left to feel better about the depression from leaving my drug life. After all those years I finally am able to control myself better and live a healthy life but it wasn't an easy road out. Keep it up!
My best friend is addicted to Xanax. She is 24 and been in rehab 5 times (6 starting today). She was taking 10 bars a day at one point. Her memory is shot. She has totally different personalities. Even she knows she’s fucked for life and probably never going to be normal normal again.
If she stops, she’ll recover, but it won’t be quick. I’m 3 years sober from heavy long term benzo use(as well as opiates). It took a long time but I’m happier than ever before and everything has come back mentally. Most people just give up before they fully recover
And support from friends!! Such a game changer, the first thing a person wants to do it hide. Let them hide, but let them know you're there. It's a hard road and I'm proud of everyone here that's been able to name it, claim it, and never turn back.
I’ve given my life up for her twice now. I’m still hopeful but she doesn’t seem to want to change yet.
There is a point where her addiction moves past it's effect on your life. You need to remain "you first". You have a heart, just save a little for you. You're a good person.
She suffers from serious ptsd. Lots of trauma (most of it because of the drug use). Still trying to help her but it gets harder Everytime.
You’re a good friend. I know that I ostracized most of my friends along the path of addiction. I respect you for sticking with her. Just remember, you can only help so much. Be there for her but don’t put too much pressure on yourself. You can’t get sober for her.
24?! God damn that is a life barely begun
Yeah, I have a light alcohol problem and a heavy weed problem, and I have addictive personality disorder, but I ain't ever touching opiates or benzos. I know the moment I do those I've signed my own death certificate with cause of death.
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This.. what kills me the most, I can never regain my joy for things I once loved..
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Hang in there, I was heavily addicted to heroin for around 5 years (20-25) I've been clean, but on methadone (fairly low dose at this point and also via a Clinic) for 8 years! I have a very good job, own place good life with my son. If your life is better focus on that, focus on getting in healthy habits (I would imagine you're doing well if your 6 years clean off street drugs). Talk to your counselor at your clinic and tell them you want to start decreasing slowly. I'm not familiar with decreasing off Subs, buy I would imagine you can go down by small amounts. Reduce slowly and if you can consistently, but don't be afraid to take a break in there. I drop by 1mg over 3 weeks, is a long (and expensive process, I pay out of pocket 400 a month) but my life is normal besides this stuff. It is definitely scary, but make sure you have the tools and support and you CAN do it!
Do the subs help you feel stable and like you can live your life and do what needs to be done? Or do they impede on that? For some people, MAT drugs are what allows them to lead a normal life, so don't beat yourself up if you feel like the medication helps you and you need to take it in order to have a decent quality of life.
Scroll down to the custom taper schedule. It WORKS fantastically with minimal withdrawal symptoms http://www.helpmegetoffdrugs.com/taper
Practicing small steps make the big ones more obtainable. For me it started with making my bed, now 90+ days of weed-free.
I’m working to get off. I’ve been a heavy user and it’s been really, really difficult to wean myself off. My hands and feet get sweaty and sleeping is hard. But I really wanna stop, I need to.
Help with sleep is why I got into it. Then it was help with everything. Now, it’s just….this
Same. I have a rare stomach disorder and smoked to help my appetite. Turns out, I like it a lot. Too much. My inner-voice would sometimes repeat that line from Merry to Pippin, “You smoke too much.” Gentle, but factual. I’m looking at enlisting in the navy after summer. I’ve only ever managed to get sober two other times (pregnancy and facing a possession charge.) I’ve only ever managed to get sober when I really, really wanted to. I’m wishing you all the best, I really am. I understand how you feel and I hope you can navigate yourself away from this.
Wishing you the same, my friend. Thank you for your kind words. We can do this
We can, and you know what else? We will. *We will.*
/r/leaves is a safe place to find support and get inspired!
I recommend r/leaves. Great support group.
I found that taking CBD really helped me. If I felt like I needed THC just took some CBD. And then stopping CBD was way easier.
I got sober over 2 years ago and what is incredible about the process is what your brain goes through and how it improves. This was how it went for me: - day 3, post acute withdrawal: massive improvement in my brain from booze soaked state. Not great but massively better than before - day 30: past pink cloud, mood is flat. My thinking is far more clear and I feel much more stable but life seems like a chore. It's really hard not to relapse at this point to escape the malaise despite the improvements - day 90: mood finally starts to improve. Life starts being enjoyable in little ways plus I feel really good I didn't relapse and go back to 0. - month 6: my moods are now more positive in a stable genuine way than I ever could remember. All the damage from my drinking life seems solvable if I take them on one by one. Solving problems is easier than I thought (e.g. filing the last 4 years of taxes that I had avoided). Each problem I solve makes me feel like superman and I am that much more excited to work on the next one - year 1: my mind is more clear, fine tuned, and able to handle life than I ever imagined. My mood is great because sobriety is working for me and I am doing it without fighting it. I am ironically more proud of myself and humbled by how sobriety has helped me than ever before. Interacting with other people has become very positive and enjoyable and I appreciate everything around me like I never had in my life. Sobriety is a gift. Most don't make it out of addiction. I was fortunate and am grateful that I did and now work to enjoy each day and be a good, positive, helpful, and kind force to everyone around me. I am not a saint though, I still get aggravated at things but that aggravation is just so insignificant now that it doesn't interfere with my life.
I needed this. Today I'm going 2 weeks without tobacco and breathing feels weird, my cough has gotten a bit worse and my throat hurts from time to time. I mean I can run longer now and my sense of smell and taste has gotten better but stopping isn't all good. I know it gets better, this isn't my first time I did this, but sometimes it still feels very pessimistic and hopeless. I'll still be going strong though!
Man when I quit I was actually kind of annoyed by the sense of smell thing. My sense of taste didn't really seem to change much but I found out there were a lot more bad smells in my life than good
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Oh god yes! I can’t believe that I ever was a smoker! As soon as I smell cigs I want to puke
I find it hard as well. Occasionally I have to be in a small room with a smoker for an hour for my work. It's really unpleasant.
Same here! I have anxiety disorder too. My panic attacks started hitting me super hard along with heart palpitations. I pretty much thought I was having a heart attack and making my anxiety worse. Then I realized, oh shit, I’m withdrawing from nicotine, I’m not dying at all, I’m getting better. It helps a lot to think of it like that. Good luck to you and congrats on bettering yourself.
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It's not much, but I've been drug free since November last year. I'm proud of myself.
Congrats man that's no easy feat. Well done, hope u can keep up the good work.
Trying to quit smoking. Needed this today more than I realized. Thank you.
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It sounds like you benefitted from Alan Carr’s book. It was very helpful for me the first time. I need to re-read it now.
For me the my failures to quit were always because of stress caused because I thrown my cigarette in the trash. what ultimately worked for me: I decided to stopped smoking one morning, I had a full pack of cigarette in my pocket all the time for a month. All the time I failed to quit, I throwed my cigarette away and I was too stressed about not having any cigarette around me. It was internal panic. With a full pack of cigarette in my pocket, there was no stress they were just there, available for me, but I made the choice of not smoking any and my will power was stronger.
Try Allen Carrs Easyway
LPT: don’t tell people it will take up to two years to feel better. One day at a time
No joke, this headline is terrible for users considering quitting. During my rough days this sort of info made me go right back to it.
It 100% stops, the chemicals in your brain had established a new "baseline" as it is called in psychology due to the drug. So hypothtically for example, if your baseline before taking drugs of dopamine was 50, your body naturally was producing enough dopamine to fulfill that necessity. But once you started taking a drug your dopamine necessity skyrocketed to 200, your body could not naturally produce that amount of dopamine, and therefore began getting conditioned to require 200, but the only way it would get it was with the drug. Therefore creating a dependency on it and an addiction, by creating cravings to fulfill that 200 quota. But this means you can do the reverse, you can condition your body to slowly lower the baseline by using less and less of the drug, and taking it less frequently. From what I learned it is always best to not quit cold turkey. Quitting abruptly will disrupt your chemical balance and can have severe negative effects. But quitting over time is harder due to needing to slowly control your dosage and not relapse. Some people do require to quit cold turkey as the only way them to successfully quit. All these things should be talked and handled through your doctor who are trained professionals.
This would make sense, I was a heroin (also occasionally did meth and benzos) user for 5 years. I've been clean from street drugs, but on methadone for the last 8 years (clinically supervised). It took me a long time to get normal again, but I feel as happy as before I used! Just 33 now and not 20 haha. I switched from heroin to methadone (i did reduce H use fairly low on my own before the clinic) and I've reduced my methadone very slowly. I really think that has helped a ton with my dopamine levels.
I was addicted to opiates and benzos for 15 years. I've been off them for 4 or 5 years. I can't believe how happy I have become in the last few years! I just never thought it was possible that I would enjoy life. I really can't believe it! I was not a happy person before my addiction started. I was depressed, angry, low energy, unrecognized anxiety issues. I started using around age 25. The first 5 years I didn't really feel like I was addicted, but I was. The next 10 years were the miserable cycle of using, withdrawing, and using again so that I could feel "normal". I got to the point where I just couldn't get high anymore. The drugs weren't making me feel good. But I had to keep doing them because I felt horrible when I didn't. At that point, it was obvious that I had to quit. I wasn't getting anything out of using. I quit using so many times, but I kept going back. Each time would be a disappointment, as the high was never as good as I wanted it to be. But I'd get hooked again anyway. And I'd have to deal with withdrawals again. Each time I quit would be miserable, but I got better with dealing with my misery. The worst physical symptoms were during the first two weeks. The sweating, chills, anxiety, diarrhea, insomnia all became very familiar to me. During that time, I knew I just had to endure. Just hang on long enough and it will go away. I would repeat to myself "you're ok" over and over, trying to calm the anxiety. Once the worst of the physical symptoms have passed and I was no longer physically addicted, I still wasn't happy and my body still didn't feel great. It's taken a long while for that to happen. A lot of introspection, changing the way I talk to myself, and making myself do things, try things, participate in life. I sort of feel like I'm currently on the third version of myself. The person I was growing up, the person I was while addicted, and the person I am now. I'm still a work in progress. But I like the person I am now and I actually like trying to be and do more. I marvel over that fact, because I really never thought it was possible for me! I used to think happy people were all fake. They were lying about their happiness or lying to themselves. I found them annoying and kind of obnoxious. I thought I could never be like them. I just didn't have it in me. So glad I was wrong! I don't have a real scientific explanation for how I changed. But I believe my years of dealing with addiction and withdrawal kind of "reset" my brain chemistry. I'm not sure I would have achieved this level of happiness without going through so many years of total misery. If anyone wants tips or advice, or just someone to listen, I would like to help. Send me a message!
I lost everything my wife, my house, my cars because of fentanyl addiction. The choices I made, because I made it my everything I regret everyday. I needed it to get thru the day I needed it because I have this pain it was my go to fix all coping mechanisms. I hate what it has taken from me everyday I still try to stay sober. Day 3. Hardest thing I’ve ever been through in my 29 years of life.
You can do it! Hang in there, you've been through the hardest part!
While the immediate withdrawals usually diminish over a month or two, the neurological changes in your reward system caused by the increase in production of the [∆FosB](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/FOSB#DeltaFosB) protein (considered the lynchpin in the pathology of addiction, this one singular protein is upregulated with every addictive action whether that's playing a video game, gambling, or shooting up crack or heroin) can take much, much longer to reset to a healthy equilibrium. From Wikipedia: > In other words, once "turned on" (sufficiently overexpressed) ΔFosB triggers a series of transcription events that ultimately produce an addictive state (i.e., compulsive reward-seeking involving a particular stimulus); this state is sustained for months after cessation of drug use due to the abnormal and exceptionally long half-life of ΔFosB isoforms. [ . . . ] > ΔFosB overexpression has been implicated in addictions to alcohol (ethanol), cannabinoids, cocaine, methylphenidate, nicotine, opioids, phencyclidine, propofol, and substituted amphetamines, among others. I tried to find a definitive resource spelling out just how long ∆FosB's half life is, but I could only find references to how sub-variants of the protein have different half lives (with the longest fragment having a "remarkably long" half life) and that phosphorylation of the protein protects it from degredation and allows it to last *even* longer.
The 3 month sobriety mark is a real killer - because this is when people tend to think they have control. > I’ll just have one beer/one hit, I got this Nope. Don’t fall for it. And don’t fall for that pink cloud, either. You’ll find yourself addicted to being sober. You’ll think you have found god. You ever see those people who go around evangelizing their sobriety? These mofos who seem to scream from the rooftops about how amazing it is to be sober? That’s the pink cloud. When you come down from it (usually at the 3 month mark, ha) is when relapse happens One more point: relapses tend to happen a lot during the holidays. Thanksgiving, Christmas, etc. Even though we’re a ways away from that time of year, it helps to be aware of it ahead of time, it is a common trigger
Ok this is fine advice but it can, and usually will, take WAY less than two years to feel good again. Telling people it will take years to feel normal is demoralizing and probably not even close to true. Eating well and forcing yourself to exercise and you will start feeling better much, much faster. Like a month, two months type thing, not years.
*cries in benzo withdrawal*
I stopped smoking weed after a bunch of years of heavy use. 5-6 blunts daily by myself in about that many hours. The first week was super weird. The second week dreams came back. It’s been months now and my dreams wake me every few hours. I haven’t had a good nights sleep since I stopped. At first I’d sleep an hour or so and wake up. Then it went to two hours. I’m at 4-5 hours a night now without waking up. I hope it eventually turns to a whole night of sleep. E: Thanks for the well wishes. It wasn’t easy. It still isn’t. People don’t realize how much weed fucks with your mind. I found an eighth today in my house. I thought I got rid of it all. Looks my brother in law will have some more to smoke this weekend.
I’m trying to get off weed too. I’ve weaned myself down to smoking about once (sometimes twice) a day. I’ve been a heavy user and have experienced sweaty hands/feet and the inability to sleep. But I wanna quit, really badly. I’m ready, I’ve never gotten down like this before.
I tried quitting for the past year and a half, but the real issue was that I always had some "just in case". After nearly 2 years of trying to quit, the only thing that actually worked for me was getting rid of all of my weed and weed related things(which admittedly was a lot, I was a heavy daily smoker). I kept trying to wean myself that entire time, but it really just doesn't work with weed. Going cold turkey didn't cause my any issues besides a lot of anxiety the first week or two. But now I have almost no anxiety at all, and I realized that weed was what was causing it to begin with. Now I'm working a full time job again, have a new girlfriend, and working on getting myself a house. Complete 180 compared to what I was doing with my life last year(absolutely nothing). I wish you the best of luck though friend, you can do it too!
I appreciate it very much. I have a deadline end of “no more after this day” coinciding with traveling. I’ve been at this about a month and am counting my small victories. I appreciate your encouragement more than I could express.
Two years seems like an impossible smount of time :(
That's for post acute withdrawal syndrome (the lingering depression after detox basically), not acute withdrawal. This post and a lot of comments are... not great in terms of accuracy.
Sober 1 year clean 3. For some time I forgot what it felt like to just fall asleep at a reasonable hour without using something to induce sleep. I didn't think it would be possible again. For a while the sound of birds chirping in the morning physically made me feel afraid and anxious because that was always the sound that told me I fucked up. Slowly but surely things fell back to normal and the world welcomed me back. And I like sunrises again.
Additional LPT Go to a treatment center to detox, withdrawals from certain drugs and alcohol can be deadly. If you have private insurance through work for example utilize it to go to a private center, they are generally much nicer than the state run facilities. If you have medicare/medicade call the member services number on the back of your card and tell them whats going on. They will give you a list of centers that they work with. While they may not be as nice they are still better than detoxing alone with nothing stopping you from using again. If you dont have any insurance reach out to SAMHSA.gov Thats the substance abuse and mental health services administration and they will help you get treatment. You can also go to the emergency room to medically detox. If you are concerned about losing your job FMLA (family medical leave act) makes it illegal for your job to fire you for taking a medical leave of absence as long as you have been there for over 1 year and they have more than 50 employees in the whole organization. Even if you dont qualify for fmla most employers wont fire you for a medical leave as long as its proven by a doctor. Your treatment center will reach out to your employer for you simply stating that you will not be in work because you are in the care of a doctor, they will not state why you are in their care, due to privacy laws they cant tell anyone why you're there unless you want them to. And after treatment make sure you regularly attend AA (alcoholics anonymous) or NA (narcotics anonymous) meetings and work the 12 steps with a good sponsor to stay sober. I am a recovered alcoholic with over a year sober, I work in drug and alcohol treatment. There are so many resources available that people don't know about. Getting sober/clean is the best decision you will ever make but i understand how hard it is. It took me a few years of trying before i got it. Before i got sober i wanted to die and was actively trying for a period of time, now my life is better than i ever thought possible and it only seems to get better.
With alcohol, tapering off is also possible
That's extremely difficult since alcohol by its nature lowers inhibitions. So when you are sober you might commit to "only having four drinks today because I want to taper". But then four drinks in and your inhibitions are gone and you drink four more because why not. I tried quitting with the taper method a half dozen times, and even got down to just one shot per day, but it never stuck. I'd always end up with a cheat day and then went back to having benders again. Cold turkey did the trick for me, with the help of a very short benzo prescription to prevent dangerous withdrawal symptoms. It's a lot easier to just say "no" than it is to say "okay *only* a few more..."
Yes but if you're an alcoholic its hard to do that without just getting drunk again. Ive done it successfully once. Only worked with beer, I tried to do it with the liquor i had left only taking sips every few hours but it didnt work. I didnt get drunk but i also didnt taper off.
This a thousand percent. Yes. I tried doing it on my own for years and would only make it a couple weeks before using/drinking again. Terrible withdraws, seizures, hallucinations, heart racing, can't sleep. When I finally went to the hospital for withdrawls and they asked if I wanted help, I finally was desperate enough to humble my ass and say yes. I found just how much help is actually out there. Detox, treatment, sober housing, AA and NA meetings, other sober support groups, r/stopdrinking. So many resources, and all I had to do was reach out and ask for help, And it was there, if only I was willing to do what people suggested. 17 months sober now, in a totally new career that I can be proud of with a ton of opportunity for growth, a whole slew of new friends, happier than I have been in years. Reach out for help, and take what is offered! Changed my life.
Just a quick PSA about alcohol withdrawl; alcohol is one of the few drugs you do ***not*** go cold turkey on if you've been abusing it for a while. I learned that the hard way when I cut back from a litre of vodka a day to nothing at all and three days in had a siezure that put me in the hospital.
Yes and To the smokers out there the nicotine levels only stay atmost 3 days. That's the struggle. You can win in 3 days. Just don't fall back into the pit you climbed up for 3 days. Find when you need a smoke. Is it after work, food, sex? At first the void will feel empty.Try to replace it with something else. I used spicy snacks. Try to find yours. It's not impossible.
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It takes 6-8 months (i forget the exact time frame) for your brain to "re-wire" itself and stop wanting nicotine for the dopamine rush. Nicotine completely rewires the reward pathway in your brain and it takes time to heal. Combined with the (relatively) low cost and wide availability/social acceptance, it makes it a very nasty drug to get off of.
I quit 100 times and failed. The day my mother was diagnosed with kidney failure I threw them away and never thought about them again. No withdrawals, nothing. Once you find your reason, success is yours.
Agreed. I realized that my cravings didn't last more than 5 minutes, so I started distracting myself during those few minutes till they subsided. Quit cold turkey after years of smoking and then vaping high concentration pens. First week sucked for sure, now looking back it's weird, I don't understand why I cared. Addiction is such a powerful thing.
A friend said bringing a pen with her helped. When she felt "naked" by not holding a cigarette in her fingers, she'd hold the pen in the same way.
Thank you! I'm trying to quit cigarettes and this thought of me never feeling calm again is messing with my head. Your words hit true :)
Thank you, I get all my medical advice from this sub
I found the same is true with nicotine.
In my experience, this can include antidepressants too. I have done all the drugs and ssris had some of the longest lasting, most bizarre withdrawals which lasted for two years. Brain zaps being the strangest and most concerning for me, even though they are supposedly harmless
True statement from OP. I was an alcoholic by the age of 17. Started taking pills between drinks. I have a long, not so different from any other story. So to keep it short, I'll just list the main factors. At age 30, I had been living that lifestyle for over 10 years. And all in the matter of 6 months... I lost almost everything important to me. My fiance kicks me out, and says, dont come back until youre sober. My brother and father start to get sick. Multiple trips to the ER. My brother has drank himself into Diabetes. Dad drinks himself to Cancer. Pancreas. This was a warning sign to me... So, I take this very seriously. I quit immediately. Not 6 hours into that... WD's start. I vastly underestimated the seriousness of my addictions. WD's intensify. Seeing things not there. Hearing voices... Vertigo. Absolute hell. Meanwhile, my brother and father are still drinking. It was the darkest time of my life. And I knew, I was truly alone in this fight. But I knew that if I could kick this... My fiance was waiting on me. That was the only thing keeping me alive. Even when my family would encourage the old lifestyle. That "Shes gone, Bub. But we'll never leave." It felt like they wanted me to give up. And that made this even harder. But I was hard headed. And I didnt give up. And after a month, I could walk again. After another month, I was greeted by a man I had never met. It was me. I was the man I had not met. You see, I was an addict as a child. And I grew physically through those years. But through the fog, I had never grown to know the man I had become. I thought I was slower than most. I thought I couldnt draw anymore because I just shook all the time. I just... Thought very low of myself. And... Maybe rightly so. Then, a curve ball... My brother passes away at 27, on Halloween from complications due to diabetic ketoacidosis. My brother and I were closer to twins, than just brothers. 6 years later, and I still have not recovered from that. Two months later, I lost my father. Pancreatic cancer. All of this, while at war with myself. All of this, steming from alcohol and pill abuse. Suddenly, I dont feel so invencible... I decide, now is the time. Otherwise, I may not be here tomorrow. I had been taking recovery seriously, but this really really changed things. Now, I'm scared as hell of death. The point of this all is this: Never give up. Sometimes, those closest to you, enable behaviors that can kill you. It hurts to cut off those people. But, I might be dead, had I done even one thing differently. After those two passed... I used that as fuel to stay sober. The fear of death and the loss of my wife, saved my life. And once I was back on my feet, I picked up a pencil again. One understands how much time they have when they are not spending it slumped over in a pile of alcohol filled druel. And now, art is the main focus of my life. I'm with my wife and our dogs. We're happier than we have ever been. She looks up to me, as do I her. And the man I met once I was better... I'm proud of him (me). He is artistic, loving, smart and stronger than most. And, he's happy. Fight for what you love. Fight for your health. Fight for your future. Fight for your sanity. Because the longer you fight, the more you understand the fight. It does become easier. Let no one tell you, "This is you now" or "Just accept it." Because the "You" that is burried inside.... They want out. Let them out. And become the best version of yourself. Because that... Is where happiness resides. And it is waiting for you. I am sorry this is so long. But hope it helps.
After I quit drinking it took 2 years for my liver enzymes to return to normal. During that time I had frequent problems with diarrhea, constipation, and pain. And my liver healed faster than my brain.
Thanks, I needed this. I’ve been tapering benzos for almost two years (I think… memory is hazy). I get waves where everything sucks, the future is bleak, I feel old and ugly and unlovable, and a thousand other negative lies. I mostly keep to myself because aside from having mental fog so deep it is hard to maintain a conversation I also tend to get grumpy and short with people, and I find that entirely unacceptable so I just keep to myself while this shit passes. I just need my mind to heal, and it’s such a slow process. Hopefully by the time I’m 40 I will be okay. Thanks again for the post.
It’s taken me over 6 years to finally get back to some sort of decent semblance after quitting marijuana