Do you go back to ''normal''...?

You are very pathetic, I feel bad for you. Do some research on the substance before flaming it. You just making a fool of yourself by posting false information to make yourself feel better. I will put flowers on your grave when you die of an overdose.

 

RainbowChick66- This is a great post becasue this happens to tons of Addicts especially Hard users who get clean and quit drugs after using for a long period of time. I hear this complaint form so many people after they kick.And it was the same for me after I first got clean off of Herion and coke for real and stayed clean after using bolth every day steady for 7 years I found enjoyment and pleasure from nothing at all, I mean nothing life pretty much sucked I had no emotions what so ever, I was in a bad mood or depressed all the time, nothing interested me at all even things I always loved. I was in a horrible depression I guess you can call it for months and only wanted to use. I was so dam afraid that my life would feel like this forever , For real it scared the living shit out of me that I might really have damaged my brain so bad from Herion and coke that it could not feel any enjoyment,excitment or emotins if I was not high. But little buy little my emotions came back and I started finding enjoyment form life again. It proably took a good 2 years if not more before I think I was totaly normal again and my brain learned to go without the drugs in it.I stoped using herion daily at 27 and I think only the last year I have been feeling alright again so it was about 2 years that it took me to feel normal again. And becasue of that depression or whatever you want to call it was mostly the reason after I would stop using that I would go back to using and get strung out again. Shit I treid to get clean so many times over the years when I was strung out form the age of 17 on and 9/1o it was the depression and bordom that lead me back. I am just glad I waited it out this time. I wish you all the best Rainbowchick

 

It takes like 3 years. I used to be a benzo addict and now take a theraputic perscribed dose and am weaning myself off. It is very hard to know my brain will not be 'normal' again for a few years.
I know exercise helps a lot (I should take my own advice).

 

As for the LSD vs. opiates thing, I love both.. In fact, a high intensity acid trip (with some pure, potent liquid) was just the thing to keep me clean for a few months at least. For the first time in a long time I felt so fucking GOOD! I was happy, I felt in touch with my spirit and was overflowing with compassion. The intensity lasted for a few days, leaving me with an afterglow for a week at least. So that really helped, but eventually I started to feel the pain again, the helplessness and the urge to self-medicate with painkillers... methadone, lortabs and percocets (never tried H).

 

Wow! How I feel exactly. Been opiate free after 6 year addiction for 30 days and it has been the worst month of my life. Family has gone to shit, my house is an f'n mess don't want to wake up most days. Still won't get back on them, not now anyway. No can do.

 

Certain brain chemicals that reduce pain and lift the mood aren't made anymore when there is outside opiates. The brain is all about efficiency. No need to manufacture chemicals to deal with stress and create joy if they come from outside sources.

It takes from six months to three years before the chemicals are made again, and the brain is back to normal. And that starts from the last time you use. So if you have gone a year and celebrate with your drug of choice, instead of say, one year to go, you are back to two more years.

This phenomenon is called Post Acute Withdrawal Symptoms (PAWS).

So to answer your question, your brain DOES go back to normal, but it can take a lot of time, completely clean, no relapeses.

 

aren't there any kind of anti-depressants or anything like that to balance out those brain chemicals? Most people I know, including myself, certainly don't have the strength to try to go through years of this. Most will use again. I have never heard of such a thing. I am going to google PAWS.

 

I'm a Med student at Johns Hopkins and let me tell you, PAWS is such a generic and dumb way to clump drug addiction into one term


What it is guys, is that people feel better if they are "diagnosed" with something, rather than just living in depression/anxiety/cravings over lack of their drug and not having a specific "sickness". When there is a diagnosis and a timetable of how long symptoms will last, people cope with it better. It's human nature to want to know exactly what they're conquering. The term PAWS has no basis of reliability whatsoever and is actually just made up.

All drugs differ, and to have a term like that clumps everything together is really a shame.

I honestly think it is sad that I hear: "After you quit, it will take 6 months to 3 years before youre normal again." That's laughable. It depends on the person. I've known people who've quit Opiates, went through withdrawals, and have been totally fine within a week or so after quitting. After going through physical withdrawals, they key is finding another way to release endorphins, and keep yourself happy and entertained. There are physical changes because the brains production of endomorphin slows, however, but this can be reversed very quickly through exercise.

The issue with people who are depressed Post withdrawal is that people who were addicted to drugs are pre-disposed to this. Life is all about feeling good, and people who are non-drug addicts produce enough GABA, release enough endoprhins, that they don't really crave drugs. As weird as this is, it is their interests and excitement in other things that release endorphins and keep them away from drugs. People who are addicted to drugs don't have this. They need artificial production in order to feel good. And then, abusing drugs makes the condition even worse, where they need drugs even more.

But the real issue is finding excitement and releasing endorphins naturally, through exercise and human interests, such as love, or passion for anything really. If one quits their drug, and can find a way to do this, theyll be fine. PAWS doesn't exist, but helps patients see the "enemy", which makes it more conquerable. I've learned this in a Drug Habituation class at Hopkins.

 

my bf was hooked on them real bad.. (oxys) and now he's clean and feels sooooo much better, he's happier off them then on them..

 

Malkm-I don't want to scare other peole away from taking any mental health meds that might help them when they get clean But I know for me personaly antidepressants did not work at all. As a young kid in my middle and late teens every time I would get off of coke,Hallucinogetics,and stoped drinking and smoking weed every day I would go and get on them. And for me they did nothing at all.And If they did nothing for me back then and I was a even worse drug addcit now doing harder drugs like Herion and crack somehting I was not doing in my late teens there was no way they would work now.For me it took time for my brain to get back to normal and like I said its different for all people who stop using.There are so many factors that go into play on how you will feel after you get clean and stp using every day.Like how long you used and how much you used when you were using, How your brain chemistry is, How your brain reacts to not having drugs in it,etc. I mean there is proably is like 10,000 different factors that go into play for each person on how they will feel after. You just can't say that every one who gets clean off of hard drugs will be feel one way or another and fall into one category. Its so dam different from person to perosn. But alot of people like we talked about in this post do get depressed and feel blank inside ouce they stop using. I hear this from so many addicts I have talked to over the years.Manily hard drug users like opiate users and coke/crack users. From what I have read it happens also to meth addicts and bad alcoholics also after they stop.Some of the depression,bordom and blankness only last for a short time period and the effects are not that bad eather,others its the reverse. For me it was proably about 18 months to 2 years before I felt totaly normal again. The first 6 months were buy far the worst. I did nothing at all and was depressed all the time I just felt like a robot and blank insdie.When I did have emotions they wee only bad like felling sad or having regrets. I found enjoyment in nothing at all. I was always edgy and in a horrible mood, I had a short fuse and would get pissed off over nothing at all. People got on my nerves so fast. I hated talking to any one and being around people. At first when I got clean I know my girl was so happy but as time went on I was afraid that she liked me better when I was using. Don't get me wrong I was horrible to her when I was using,I did fucked up things to her like stealing from her,cheating on her multiple times, She would worry about me like crazy and not see me for days.I was a fucked up Junky thief but atleast when I was high and was around I liked doing things with her and found enjoyment when I was with her. Becasue now I did nothing with her and just really ignored her and gave her no attention what so ever and did nothing with her.Examples of things were like I did not want to go out shopping to movies or Yankee games with her. I did nothing with hear and did not want to eather.I mean even talking to her was a project half the time. I was interested in nothing at all but using drugs so there was nothing to talk about eather. I mean it was horrible I was a miserable Fuck and am lucky as all hell she did not leave my ass. I was her boyfrind the person she loved and I was sapose to do those things with her but I could give to shits at the time, anything that normal people find enjoyment out off I did not after I stopped using,As for myself I could care less about hobbies and doing things I use to love like collectinig baseball cards, my music, Watching my Beloved Yankees play. Riding my ATV in the woods and going hiking.and any other hobbies I ounce loved.Shit I could not even play video games.I mean All I wanted to do was get high and thats all I thought about was getting high other then that I was a misserable fuck. And I was scared I really thought my body needed opiates in it to feel enjoyment and be normal. But as time went on it got better like I said the dark period came to a end finally after six months it got so much easier and little buy little my feelings started coming back. After 1 year I was almost back to my old self probably 85% back.I was not depressed that much,I was doing things and finding enjoyment again form thins I loved. Me and my girl are happy, I don't think about sing 24/7 like I use to, Even though I still do get cravings, But like I said it was probably a good 2 years before I felt like normal again. Even though I still use every now and again now in my life its nothing like when I was strung out. I proably only do Herion ounce every 2 months on average and coke ounce every 3 months. I hope to GOD never to get strung out again becasue when you stop and get clean that is just the first step. In my opinion the best way to get help for people who are trying to get clean is to be around othewr people and to talk to other people who are going threw the same shit as you.antidepressants might also help out alot of addicts also.The best way I can explin it is its like a bady you have to learn shit all over again, like getting feelings and your life skills back.

 

shoc, that's seriously respectable. I bet it's easier for you to not get strung out BECAUSE you use every now and then. I would imagine that if I swore it off for life, it would only result in an eventual binge that might get me hooked again. But taking some every now and then sorta reminds you that it's not an end-all wonder drug, just a chemical that has its place, then you move on.

That's how I am with oc's. I never had an addiction, but after about 18 months of not having any they were all I could think about for a while. Now I have modest access to it, and I don't worship it. I have some, share some, and then it's gone and I have maybe a one-day downer, then I'm back to normal and get a refill three weeks later. And I look at it just like it's an ordinary chemical, no better or worse than others. It's enjoyable and has a place, but it's not what I'm about. Of course, when I don't get access to it anymore, I'll think it's god's gift again after about a year.

 

Some of the stuff I read here creeps me out in a serious way cause I have a real tendency to avoid pain. I got Rxed Norco's 5/325 about6 months ago for some serious shoulder/joint pain. The pain was so intense it kept me up nights. I did a bunch of rehab stuff and quit some of the work I had been doing. The pain lessened but I still have a lot a generalized pain from old motorcycle wrecks and other physical trauma. I take 1or 2 of the 5/325's a day. Compared to what some of you describe thats nothing. BUT, my question is, is a small amount like that adictive? Is withdrawal an issue at all on such a small amount? It sure feels good not to hurt, not to have to favor a gimped shoulder....not to have those old fractures singing to me...Damn tough questions about this stuff.

TooCrisp, Thank you for a voice of reason
shocbomb, thanks for the thoughts you shared

 

It's worth it getting back to normal... Hell... I was sober and normal for six months once, and I felt fine. It took a while to get there, yes. But, if you listen to a smoker after they quit sucking cancer sticks, it's like that. Hell yes it's worth it. I'm using again, but I know I'll be fine when I quit and it'll be worth it. I occasionally need some "therapy" if you know what I mean, and that's why I'm using pharms. Uppers (methylphenidate) and opies (hydrocodone and oxycodone, but never any of them together) and I'm doing fine. I only wound up almost addicted to opies once, and that was physical.

My risk of getting addicted? Feeling. I love the feeling as that powdered methylphenidate hits my nose. I love the feeling as the uncrushed methylphenidate first peaks. I love the taste of whiskey, I love the smell of things... Yeah, I'm odd.

 

What methods are better than narcs to treat pain? A person who thinks this way is either a dr sold on the theory that you can treat cronic pain with antidepressants or gabapentin or a pothead who thinks all the troubles of the world could be solved if weed were legal. I got nothing against weed or most drs but lets face the facts that when you are in pain you need something fucking works now not in 2 fucking weeks!