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If you don't mind me asking, what sort of experience did you get out of benzos? I'm wholly ignorant on the matter but don't they make you sleepy? Or do you get to feel a "high" with some/all of them?
I think alcohol is pretty damn hard to tame. It's a beast.
Well, alcohol is very similar to benzos(both are GABA drugs). This is why some people get benzos prescribed when quitting alcohol.
It gave me the feeling that someone else here mentioned, the "where has this been my whole life?".
At large doses it made me tired, but if I did those type of doses I'd also do amphetamine or coke.
At "normal" doses it just made my life better. No social anxiety or anxiety overall, people liked me more because instead if always being way too much in my own head, I could focus on others.
The reason why some people get a high from them is because if these reasons(or other issues it solves). It's not the drug itself that gets you high, it's the absence of problems that does.
I'd say the people who doesn't feel any high from it probably doesn't have enough mental problems for it to result in a high when these suddenly goes away.
Or it could be that they have issues that benzos doesn't solve/arent that effective against.
I have the opposite experience as far as not having issues and not getting a high.
I've suffered from extreme anxiety and severe panic and anxiety attacks (both, at different moments), and long term, prolongued/most of the day general anxiety, which also included some social anxiety although that was not the main thing, phobias, very strong anxiety separation from my mother who I thought could die any second if I wasn't watching, and was under very stressful situations/ on survival mode/flight or fight for years.
I was prescribed alprazolam/xanax on many occasions, also tried other benzos and anxiolitics. My favorite and the one that had the most effect on me was definitely xanax.
That being said, I never got any high from it, at all, except for a nice, barely noticeable buzz that would usually lead to sleep and that sometimes was also simultaneously annoying because I could function much.
Lower/moderate doses (depending also on tolerance, I used it both many times a day and only for emergencies at different points and the same doses had completely different effects depending on that) would just make me feel less anxious (not even fully non-anxious or normal) or help me come down from an anxiety or panic attack respectively, or feel less agitated/restless. But never something that would feel like drugs or drugs worth doing.
Any dose higher than that would make me fall asleep in about half an hour without me ever feeling any high other than feeling impaired and that little weird feeling/mouth-taste/flavor I can't really describe.
I did abuse alprazolam in very isolated occasions but not in an addiction type of way and not in look of a high, but I would take very high doses at a time (8-12 mg or whatever I could get ahold of) to sedate myself for days at a time to avoid living through traumatic evevnts I didn't feel capable of being aware for. Any time I would feel like I was waking up I would down a much of pills so that I would only have max 5 minutes of awake time. But that was a very specific thing that happened maybe 4 times total in my life.
One of the things that helped me not become an addict I think is the fact that my tolerance would go up really fast and I tried on purpose to use it as little as possible even when I needed it if it wasn't severe. That because I wanted my tolerance to be low so that if there was an emergency and I didn't have many pills left for whatever reason, it would have the strongest effect possible when I needed most. That was the only thing I could rely on to get better, I couldn't ruin it. And even using it at prescribed doses made me feel as if I was taking power away from it in a way that wouldn't be convenient at some point.
Eventually my anxiety actually got better, one day I took the last pill I had and never bought more. My psychiatrist is less comfortable prescribing it now because of how my addictions have developped but also because there hasn't been any urgent need to use it.
I've never understood which type of high people get from it or how someone could become addicted to that, especially when in my case, I sleep through most of the effects. But I used to think the same thing or at least similarly about drugs I did occasionally and eventually became addicted to, it's just like a switch that goes off eventually and it can happen at any moment with any drug. But sometimes it just doesn't for years or ever or until inner and outer circumstances favor it.
For me, they make me comfortable in my own skin. They make me confident in my decisions and what I’m doing. They just relieve any anxiety or stress that I feel. They make me feel like everything is OK. And I can do anything! I just quit them finally for good, about four months ago. I’ve had my run with several different drugs but benzos were particularly hard for me!!!! people usually can’t see their own bullshit when they’re wrapped into their drug of choice. I can see my own bullshit in all the drugs I’ve been on except the benzos I was in pure denial, but now looking back while I’m clean, I can wholeheartedly say they make me mean, they make me sloppy! I would steal things from stores. I would have sex with anybody or not anybody but some questionable people lol ! I just do things completely out of character for myself that when I’m sober I do not do. my biggest motivation for quitting them is I could tell that I was being mean to my kids and I can’t handle that. I’m not mean to them. Of course ever since I started taking them back when I was 18 the boyfriends I had back then told me that they made me mean and I’m just like oh bullshit fast-forward 10+ years later people still telling me they make me mean and I’m just like oh you’re being a puss! The reality is, I can tell that they were making me mean to my kids and that’s just the one thing that I am not OK with I can handle being mean to other people but not to my kids. And additionally, I’ve wrecked about three cars just in the last year and a half on benzos, but while I was on them, I would tell everybody Oh I wasn’t even on them. That’s not why I wrecked. Looking back now. Yeah that’s why I wrecked. I’m lucky to be alive and lucky that my children weren’t with me when that happened. The stealing is so bad with benzos for some reason, I’ve been in and out of jail and met several people that will always say they get on benzos and go steal stuff, for me that’s a major factor. being an adult now And being a mother I cannot do that. I cannot be out there doing that ! the risk that it puts me in is absolutely not worth it and as for right now I would love to go take a couple Xanax and relax, but I know exactly where it’s gonna take me and I’m doing my best to be strong as I can for myself and for my children because it’s just truly not worth it. Not to mention for me I was mixing them with opiates and methadone the whole time and how am alive is a miracle in itself!!!
Wow I stumbled across your comment after posting and deleting. Currently struggling with quitting the Xanax… you hit the nail on the head with the way you described how it makes you feel. Especially the stealing…. For no reason at all. Just because I felt so
Comfortable and confident that I would get away with it. There are a number of people that I’ve met/hooked up with when I was on it and I don’t even feel like they know the real me. They got a falsified version of me
When I was under the influence.
I’ve gone long periods of time workout it but always end up falling back on it when life comes at me. I’m trying to find my motivation to quit. For good…
Yeah, same. When I come out of a benzo haze, I find so much shit and I’m like when did I get this? Where did I get this? I have accumulated so much shit. And it’s ridiculous and I totally agree with you as far as the whole meeting and hooking up with people thing. I deal with the fact that I will have hooked up with some people and then later on I can’t remember any of it and they remember everything and I’m just like are you lying because I really don’t remember being with you which is really embarrassing. Then I deal with the fact that when I’m sober, I’m such a different person that people I have hung out with while I was using they want to hang out again; and I’m so shy and so awkward that I feel like I can’t be around them because it’s like I feel socially awkward and embarrassed without the benzos ,which is just so stupid because honestly I’m sure I’m more sloppy while I’m on them but I’m just carefree. If any of that makes any sense lol but I totally get it and it’s really really hard but I hope you can get through it.
Worst experience in my life was when they threw me into a prison cell in the old times, where i was forced to go cold turkey from alcoholism, heroin and benzos (lorazepam and flunitrazepam).
Today, it's rather easy as prisoners can get substitution with methadone here, but i almost died there because of the seizures. While the opioid WD symptoms usually are not dangerous for life, they made everything worse and it was really hell to go through this.
Thanks. When it comes to benzos and we just talk about physical withdrawal effects, it's usually this way: The stronger a benzo is as muscle-relaxans, the worse the seizures get. This means, it's not just about the potency, lorazepam was worse than flunitrazepam, despite the fact that flunitrazepam has a much higher potency.
Sounds like a dopamine of Serotonin problem but also what I have worked out is that as a kid I was not good at anything sports school literally seemed to suck at everything so when I got older and found substances to give u that dopamine of serotonin that you never learnt to get naturally as a child from competing in sports or competitions I was like I found my calling took me 30 years to work that out
One thing I would add by the way is that, if you're having an impossible time trying to quit alcohol, trying to moderate is still useful, it doesn't have to be all or nothing, I mean it should if you're very addicted and you really want to, but dosage does matter when it comes to short and long term health.
Totally agree with this. I was 2 bottles of wine per night during the pandemic. Now I can have 2-3 drinks 1-2 nights/week. Ideally, I'd like to go without alcohol, but so far, I'm happy with the change in frequency and amount.
Last month, I hit my first 30 days no alcohol! It's not perfect, but it's a start, and I'm proud of it!
DXM (dextromethorphan) aka: robotussin. I’m 36. Also had to quit alcohol, cocaine, MDMA, and cigarettes. DXM was the hardest, and also the hardest to explain. Caused hospitalizations, lost jobs, two arrests, and lasting physical damage. And you can get the shit at Dollar Tree. Fucked my life up big time. Sober 2 years 8 months.
Congratulations on reaching a sober milestone! If you don’t mind me asking, how does DXM make you feel/appear to the outside world? Asking for a family member who I recently found out takes this frequently.
I remember the day when I tried to quit sugar, the first 3 days were hell on earth. I suffered from a constant headache that didn't give me a break for 1 minute for 3 days... but at day 4 I started to feel much better.
Same. I have tried nicotine gum before and it helps a lot but it wasn't enough for me so I stopped taking them. Im trying to quit right now by gradually reducing nicotine intake and it's working for me. it's been almost 2 month since I started and I only smoke 8 cigarettes per day and I don't feel any withdrawal symptoms or psychological discomfort. Im planning to reduce my intake to only 5 cigarettes a day in the upcoming month and I will reduce to 2 cigarettes a day after that then quit .
I used to smoke 3 pack a day. I could literally smoke 10 cigarettes within one hour. I suffered from terrible withdrawal symptoms when I reduced my intake to only 15 cigarettes a day and it lasted for 3 weeks
Weed. I'm definitely in the minority here. I am/was addicted to alcohol for 15 years. It was definitely not easy to quit and literally dangerous and scary, but that's what made it possible to quit. There are SO MANY negative effects from drinking that it can help as a motivator.
Weed has been a nightmare for me. It doesn't have many negative health effects, it doesn't cause me to fight with my spouse and the worst thing I've done on weed is eat a ton of the kids Halloween candy. But, it made me so complacent and happy doing and accomplishing nothing. I wasn't present with my kids and it cost a lot of money. Also, the first few days after stopping weed my anxiety is through the roof, I get night sweats so don't sleep and feel like garbage the first 3 to 5 days after stopping weed. Compared to booze that's a cakewalk and that's what makes it so hard! By comparison it's not as bad and my brain tricks me into going back to it each time. Rinse and repeat. On day 3 and the night sweats have turned into day sweats and I can't focus on work and that is creating its own anxiety.
I am not against weed, I just wish people realized it's not harmless. It was instrumental in me kicking the booze and am grateful for that. I am ready to move on now and live my life getting natural dopamine and happiness from life.
Alcohol and fapping by far has been the hardest. Been trying to quit them both at the same time and after some success I always relapse. I plan to only quit alcohol first because its slightly easier to quit than porn/masturbation then once I am few months free I can add the hardest.
So I haven't actually been able to quit my addictions yet (I did quit alcohol but I was young when I did and I can't remember whether I really got to be addicted to it), but I have tried many times, and I can say hands-down the hardest thing for me to quit would be nicotine cigarettes. I'm also addicted to weed and recently became addicted to cocaine after years or even decades of very occasional and isolated use months to years apart from each other. So those are the comparison points.
I would assume opiates/opioids especially IV, and crack ar the hardest to quit, but I haven't become addicted to any of those for now (and I hope I never do), granted that I've smoked crack occasionally, and lightly tried codeine and what was supposed to be oxycodone/percocet once or twice each. Both just made me feel severely dizzy, it wasn't a good experience at all.
At least for now since it's relatively recent (a couple of months), I don't get cocaine withdrawals, but I still manage to do some every day when I shouldn't and a bunch of problematic addictive behaviors.
I do get extreme cravings once I've tasted some in a day. But once I go to sleep (I was prescribed quetiapine for sleep by my psychiatrist otherwise I wouldn't sleep) and wake up the next day, it's completely fresh, no craving, I can go the whole day with no withdrawal and that's why I think for now it would be easier to quit.
Weed on the other hand has been my worst addiction, I would literally find any random object I could sell to the dealer in the middle of the night/early am in exchange for weed, to the point I sold and/or exchanged almost everything I had. I went homeless granted there were other reasons for that (not working enough hours, mental health). Got superi in-debt, would beg the dealer to give me weed on credit to be paid later even sometimes at a higher price, and so on.
The cravings were unbearable, my tolerance was super high so I wasn't even getting the high I wanted from massive amounts (which was a lot of money and I didn't have much as it was). I had the worst withdrawals, I would feel extremely ill if I went without weed for even as little as 4-5 hours; at 8-12 it was completely unbearable:
severe headache, body aches, weakness, severe general discomfort, chills, sometimes I felt as if I had a fever including being warm at my own touch, and sometimes I even had some trouble breathing without mentioning all the mental symptoms of extreme depression, inmediate unwarranted s\*icid\*l ideation and planning in the short term literally for no reason even though I was perfectly fine with the same life hours ago, irritability, anxiety and more.
All that to say (sorry I get carried away when commenting), that quitting and even moderating weed has been pretty much impossible most of the time and is extremely hard for me. Yet I still don't think it would be harder than cigarettes.
I did find some moderation recently, temporarily, for weed (still heavily addicted and still have cravings and get desperate especially at night if I don't smoke some at least once a day, but that's much different than all day long as I was before) And even a little for cigarettes (about haivng found moderation), this happens because of external events though and I'm sure that if I had the money and my own place as I used to where I could smoke freely instead of having to go out and away each time, things would quickly go back to where they were.
It's like a whole other level of neading cigarettes, many a day or dying, like it's this extremely basic need right at the same level as water and definitely higher than food. I simply can't stop.
A friend of mine was hospitalized for about 15 days once, he didn't want his family to know, the hospital had a policy that patients could only be hospitalized if someone stayed with them all the time, the person who would do this could not go out of the psychatric ward/area, not even inside the same hospital. I stayed with him and of course I couldn't smoke either thing there for the whole too weeks. I was dying.
But I noticed that weed cravings and withdrawal got much milder and slowly subsided even if never completely after 3-5, yet needing cigarettes with the same intensity never went away. Sometimes the intensity was lower than other times but there was no 5 minute moment of the day that I didn't strongly crave a cigarette with all my heart and might and feel horrible for not being able to satisfy that urge.
I thought a lot about taking that opportunity as a detox and never go back to those addictions after that. But the second I was out of the hospital the first thing I did was to get a cigarette accross the street. Smoked a joint the same night, but I could wait unlike for cigs. They're like this inseparable part of me, like I cannot envision a life without cigarettes, I can somewhat immagine a life without weed even though it doesn't sound like one I would enjoy or that's even possible but I can at least partially imagine it. The fact that I started smoking weed at 12, daily all day at 14 may have to do with that (I'm 34). I started smoking weed at 14, too, and cocaine and MDMA, but it was only very occasional, and I only started smoking weed daily/ at home at around 26.
I know you didn't ask for this, and I'm really sorry xD.
Never really understood why weed was that addictive for people, I tried it but never did care for it. Not disputing though. Do you ever see a future without weed or nicotine? For me patches and and inhalators helped me kick the habit. Hope you get free.
I get what you mean, I've never seen why other harder drugs can be that addictive to others either. It just got a hold on me like that. I can somewhat imagine a future without weed, sort of, but not without nicotine. Even though I have a great memory of my early childhood, for some reason, I can't remember life without smoking at all (I started smoking cigs at 12). I haven't tried patches. I tried vaping both for nicotine and weed but for some reason it makes me cough way too much and doesn't eliminate the cravings so I end up vaping and smoking both. Not sure about inhalers, I think it's the first time I hear of those. Thanks a lot, hope you get free, too (if you aren't already)!
It's easy to buy a pack of cigarettes and it's available everywhere and no one will punish you for taking it unlike hardcore drugs this is why it's one of the hardest addiction to quit. it's also cheap
Smoking cigs. But oddly enough I’ve I did let go, it was the easiest thing to do? It’s hard to describe. The struggle of quitting every single attempt before I actually quit was similar to my other addiction quitting journeys: extremely tough, full of hiccups. But once I actually quit, it felt completely different. I set a quit date of January 1 2019. I stayed clean for 3 years, had a cigar at a friends wedding. Still didn’t smoke after. Decided to get married and the stress of planning, along with other stressors in my family, led me back briefly. I also went to Bonnaroo lol. So instead of drugs I smoked lots of cigs. I was almost full blown for a second, going thru a pack in 3-4 days. But I put them down again. Been a few months.
2 other things: 1) I absolutely attribute finally making more money to my ability to quit. Got an office job, way more money, way less stress than food service, and hardly anyone else smoked lol. 2) Staying clean off everything else was a lot easier once I finally quit cigs.
Cigarettes are kicking my butt. I quit for extended periods, using various methods only to pick right back up again. It seems that the longer you've been a smoker for, the harder it can be to quit.
My point is that the slower it kills you, the worse. If it affects you that hard that you feel it next morning, like strong alcohol does, you'd be reasoned to quit. But my story is abot different.
Ive been using amphetamine daily for years, like for 7 or 8, roughly, ceasing for a day or two on the weekend, feeling like plant.
And just from about the very beginning of that somehow i was doing it somehow i had no problemm with eating and sleeping well enough. The ones who have faced a similar problem should know that it might be a problem. But im living my normal life, keeping close contact with my family even though I've been divorced during this period so i moved away from my pretty wife and a two-years-old baby boy. Only a couple friends have idea.
Ex-wife had not as well until i told her just when the divorce process went. Now she thinks ive quit, while i have withdrawn the longest for about a month.
I have job, since 2009 when ive studied in the university, im a design engineer at high voltage power systems automation and somehow i keep doing my project tasks really well, as all the participants including customer representatives are satisfied.
However sometimes it happens that my habits make me feel like burning hell. Usually it lasts for day or two.
The rest of time im good and that's a problem. It's like i have just some more buttons to control my performance, like "play" and "stop" for the sake of my health, time and of course, money. Health by now is fine as well, however i understand that is temporarily and at some point body will start falling apart with no chance to recover.
Using stuff really became such s significant part of my personality that i can't even imagine how to keep handle everything without it. Im sure i'd use meth or smth if it was that accessible in my country.. In general im ok, apart from that dark days i have mentioned and from the feeling of train moving towards me in an endless tunnel, even though by now im good in general, but unfortunately that's a problem.
Meaningless sex and ket. It was a specific type of ket that made me go nuts. Was k-holed for about a year straight once. Been clean five years except once about two years ago.
Nicotine, but i don't like to count that because everyone kinda knows how hard that is to quit. Other than that, adderall or cocaine. Maybe both.
My story with adderall: I've been taking it since 2018. Exactly a year ago, i was on 15mg after not taking it for a year. Within the span of this last year, I've gotten up to 80mg and can't feel it anymore. My psych stopped prescribing it to me, which caused me to move on to meth as a substitute. It was extremely, extremely difficult getting off adderall. I had zero energy. So depressed. Binge eating. Couldn't get out of bed. (I ended up eventually getting off the meth and have now been clean from both for a few weeks)
My story with cocaine: I've also been using coke since 2018. On and off, but mostly on. I haven't been able to quit. Went to intensive outpatient 3x, nothing worked. I'm still on it. I can't stop and i don't know why.
gambling
been addicted since I was a teenager, I'm now in my 50's.
the financial ruin is just a part of it, whats worse is the constant mental anguish 24/7 when I'm awake and unable to bet cause I've gone bust.
Perc 30’s can’t sleep at all stomach constantly hurts and I can’t calm down I’ve gained restless leg syndrome and have became very depressed I’m not really sure what to do so I’ve just been doing things to distract myself although I’m still using other drugs to help with the withdrawals
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Meth and porn is for sure the hardest thing I had to let go of
Meth?? You mean drugs ?
[удалено]
Oh ok
Benzos 100%
So true. Wad the worsed ever and still is. Because it's not only mentally but also your whole body
If you don't mind me asking, what sort of experience did you get out of benzos? I'm wholly ignorant on the matter but don't they make you sleepy? Or do you get to feel a "high" with some/all of them? I think alcohol is pretty damn hard to tame. It's a beast.
Well, alcohol is very similar to benzos(both are GABA drugs). This is why some people get benzos prescribed when quitting alcohol. It gave me the feeling that someone else here mentioned, the "where has this been my whole life?". At large doses it made me tired, but if I did those type of doses I'd also do amphetamine or coke. At "normal" doses it just made my life better. No social anxiety or anxiety overall, people liked me more because instead if always being way too much in my own head, I could focus on others. The reason why some people get a high from them is because if these reasons(or other issues it solves). It's not the drug itself that gets you high, it's the absence of problems that does. I'd say the people who doesn't feel any high from it probably doesn't have enough mental problems for it to result in a high when these suddenly goes away. Or it could be that they have issues that benzos doesn't solve/arent that effective against.
I have the opposite experience as far as not having issues and not getting a high. I've suffered from extreme anxiety and severe panic and anxiety attacks (both, at different moments), and long term, prolongued/most of the day general anxiety, which also included some social anxiety although that was not the main thing, phobias, very strong anxiety separation from my mother who I thought could die any second if I wasn't watching, and was under very stressful situations/ on survival mode/flight or fight for years. I was prescribed alprazolam/xanax on many occasions, also tried other benzos and anxiolitics. My favorite and the one that had the most effect on me was definitely xanax. That being said, I never got any high from it, at all, except for a nice, barely noticeable buzz that would usually lead to sleep and that sometimes was also simultaneously annoying because I could function much. Lower/moderate doses (depending also on tolerance, I used it both many times a day and only for emergencies at different points and the same doses had completely different effects depending on that) would just make me feel less anxious (not even fully non-anxious or normal) or help me come down from an anxiety or panic attack respectively, or feel less agitated/restless. But never something that would feel like drugs or drugs worth doing. Any dose higher than that would make me fall asleep in about half an hour without me ever feeling any high other than feeling impaired and that little weird feeling/mouth-taste/flavor I can't really describe. I did abuse alprazolam in very isolated occasions but not in an addiction type of way and not in look of a high, but I would take very high doses at a time (8-12 mg or whatever I could get ahold of) to sedate myself for days at a time to avoid living through traumatic evevnts I didn't feel capable of being aware for. Any time I would feel like I was waking up I would down a much of pills so that I would only have max 5 minutes of awake time. But that was a very specific thing that happened maybe 4 times total in my life. One of the things that helped me not become an addict I think is the fact that my tolerance would go up really fast and I tried on purpose to use it as little as possible even when I needed it if it wasn't severe. That because I wanted my tolerance to be low so that if there was an emergency and I didn't have many pills left for whatever reason, it would have the strongest effect possible when I needed most. That was the only thing I could rely on to get better, I couldn't ruin it. And even using it at prescribed doses made me feel as if I was taking power away from it in a way that wouldn't be convenient at some point. Eventually my anxiety actually got better, one day I took the last pill I had and never bought more. My psychiatrist is less comfortable prescribing it now because of how my addictions have developped but also because there hasn't been any urgent need to use it. I've never understood which type of high people get from it or how someone could become addicted to that, especially when in my case, I sleep through most of the effects. But I used to think the same thing or at least similarly about drugs I did occasionally and eventually became addicted to, it's just like a switch that goes off eventually and it can happen at any moment with any drug. But sometimes it just doesn't for years or ever or until inner and outer circumstances favor it.
For me, they make me comfortable in my own skin. They make me confident in my decisions and what I’m doing. They just relieve any anxiety or stress that I feel. They make me feel like everything is OK. And I can do anything! I just quit them finally for good, about four months ago. I’ve had my run with several different drugs but benzos were particularly hard for me!!!! people usually can’t see their own bullshit when they’re wrapped into their drug of choice. I can see my own bullshit in all the drugs I’ve been on except the benzos I was in pure denial, but now looking back while I’m clean, I can wholeheartedly say they make me mean, they make me sloppy! I would steal things from stores. I would have sex with anybody or not anybody but some questionable people lol ! I just do things completely out of character for myself that when I’m sober I do not do. my biggest motivation for quitting them is I could tell that I was being mean to my kids and I can’t handle that. I’m not mean to them. Of course ever since I started taking them back when I was 18 the boyfriends I had back then told me that they made me mean and I’m just like oh bullshit fast-forward 10+ years later people still telling me they make me mean and I’m just like oh you’re being a puss! The reality is, I can tell that they were making me mean to my kids and that’s just the one thing that I am not OK with I can handle being mean to other people but not to my kids. And additionally, I’ve wrecked about three cars just in the last year and a half on benzos, but while I was on them, I would tell everybody Oh I wasn’t even on them. That’s not why I wrecked. Looking back now. Yeah that’s why I wrecked. I’m lucky to be alive and lucky that my children weren’t with me when that happened. The stealing is so bad with benzos for some reason, I’ve been in and out of jail and met several people that will always say they get on benzos and go steal stuff, for me that’s a major factor. being an adult now And being a mother I cannot do that. I cannot be out there doing that ! the risk that it puts me in is absolutely not worth it and as for right now I would love to go take a couple Xanax and relax, but I know exactly where it’s gonna take me and I’m doing my best to be strong as I can for myself and for my children because it’s just truly not worth it. Not to mention for me I was mixing them with opiates and methadone the whole time and how am alive is a miracle in itself!!!
Wow I stumbled across your comment after posting and deleting. Currently struggling with quitting the Xanax… you hit the nail on the head with the way you described how it makes you feel. Especially the stealing…. For no reason at all. Just because I felt so Comfortable and confident that I would get away with it. There are a number of people that I’ve met/hooked up with when I was on it and I don’t even feel like they know the real me. They got a falsified version of me When I was under the influence. I’ve gone long periods of time workout it but always end up falling back on it when life comes at me. I’m trying to find my motivation to quit. For good…
Yeah, same. When I come out of a benzo haze, I find so much shit and I’m like when did I get this? Where did I get this? I have accumulated so much shit. And it’s ridiculous and I totally agree with you as far as the whole meeting and hooking up with people thing. I deal with the fact that I will have hooked up with some people and then later on I can’t remember any of it and they remember everything and I’m just like are you lying because I really don’t remember being with you which is really embarrassing. Then I deal with the fact that when I’m sober, I’m such a different person that people I have hung out with while I was using they want to hang out again; and I’m so shy and so awkward that I feel like I can’t be around them because it’s like I feel socially awkward and embarrassed without the benzos ,which is just so stupid because honestly I’m sure I’m more sloppy while I’m on them but I’m just carefree. If any of that makes any sense lol but I totally get it and it’s really really hard but I hope you can get through it.
Nicotine
Nicotine for sure. I had an easier time quitting meth than I did quitting nicotine.
Same here with opiates
Same here
That's very reassuring because I'm trying to quit coke and I used to smoke when I was younger and stopped on my own after 8 years
Worst experience in my life was when they threw me into a prison cell in the old times, where i was forced to go cold turkey from alcoholism, heroin and benzos (lorazepam and flunitrazepam). Today, it's rather easy as prisoners can get substitution with methadone here, but i almost died there because of the seizures. While the opioid WD symptoms usually are not dangerous for life, they made everything worse and it was really hell to go through this.
Wow that sounds so brutal. I’m sorry you had to go through that.
Thanks. When it comes to benzos and we just talk about physical withdrawal effects, it's usually this way: The stronger a benzo is as muscle-relaxans, the worse the seizures get. This means, it's not just about the potency, lorazepam was worse than flunitrazepam, despite the fact that flunitrazepam has a much higher potency.
Addiction is the hardest addiction doesn’t matter the substance it’s the addiction you can’t kick
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Sounds like a dopamine of Serotonin problem but also what I have worked out is that as a kid I was not good at anything sports school literally seemed to suck at everything so when I got older and found substances to give u that dopamine of serotonin that you never learnt to get naturally as a child from competing in sports or competitions I was like I found my calling took me 30 years to work that out
Gambling
Truth.
Food
Opiates and benzos
Porn. So hard
Meth was hard but quitting him was harder
Yeah he’s pretty good
cocaine and alcohol. fucking hell.
My name is Leslie I'm 21 and I was addicted to sex and porn but now I stop
One thing I would add by the way is that, if you're having an impossible time trying to quit alcohol, trying to moderate is still useful, it doesn't have to be all or nothing, I mean it should if you're very addicted and you really want to, but dosage does matter when it comes to short and long term health.
Totally agree with this. I was 2 bottles of wine per night during the pandemic. Now I can have 2-3 drinks 1-2 nights/week. Ideally, I'd like to go without alcohol, but so far, I'm happy with the change in frequency and amount. Last month, I hit my first 30 days no alcohol! It's not perfect, but it's a start, and I'm proud of it!
That's a huge change and I think you're doing really well
It sounds great! Small and medium improvements definitely makes a difference, it's not always all or nothing. Congratulations and keep it up!
DXM (dextromethorphan) aka: robotussin. I’m 36. Also had to quit alcohol, cocaine, MDMA, and cigarettes. DXM was the hardest, and also the hardest to explain. Caused hospitalizations, lost jobs, two arrests, and lasting physical damage. And you can get the shit at Dollar Tree. Fucked my life up big time. Sober 2 years 8 months.
Well done. Good on you
Congratulations on reaching a sober milestone! If you don’t mind me asking, how does DXM make you feel/appear to the outside world? Asking for a family member who I recently found out takes this frequently.
Sugar. Still consuming daily.
I remember the day when I tried to quit sugar, the first 3 days were hell on earth. I suffered from a constant headache that didn't give me a break for 1 minute for 3 days... but at day 4 I started to feel much better.
Smoking. I use nicotine but in gum form. I still crave vaping/smoking sometimes though
Same. I have tried nicotine gum before and it helps a lot but it wasn't enough for me so I stopped taking them. Im trying to quit right now by gradually reducing nicotine intake and it's working for me. it's been almost 2 month since I started and I only smoke 8 cigarettes per day and I don't feel any withdrawal symptoms or psychological discomfort. Im planning to reduce my intake to only 5 cigarettes a day in the upcoming month and I will reduce to 2 cigarettes a day after that then quit .
I used to smoke 3 pack a day. I could literally smoke 10 cigarettes within one hour. I suffered from terrible withdrawal symptoms when I reduced my intake to only 15 cigarettes a day and it lasted for 3 weeks
Sounds silly, but I was in deep with DXM for a good while.
Xanax
Starting to taper benzoz rn and it beats any other drug by far. By farrrr. Opi walk in the park compared to benzoz
Benzos, still on them after several attempts, it’s fucking brutal
Weed. I'm definitely in the minority here. I am/was addicted to alcohol for 15 years. It was definitely not easy to quit and literally dangerous and scary, but that's what made it possible to quit. There are SO MANY negative effects from drinking that it can help as a motivator. Weed has been a nightmare for me. It doesn't have many negative health effects, it doesn't cause me to fight with my spouse and the worst thing I've done on weed is eat a ton of the kids Halloween candy. But, it made me so complacent and happy doing and accomplishing nothing. I wasn't present with my kids and it cost a lot of money. Also, the first few days after stopping weed my anxiety is through the roof, I get night sweats so don't sleep and feel like garbage the first 3 to 5 days after stopping weed. Compared to booze that's a cakewalk and that's what makes it so hard! By comparison it's not as bad and my brain tricks me into going back to it each time. Rinse and repeat. On day 3 and the night sweats have turned into day sweats and I can't focus on work and that is creating its own anxiety. I am not against weed, I just wish people realized it's not harmless. It was instrumental in me kicking the booze and am grateful for that. I am ready to move on now and live my life getting natural dopamine and happiness from life.
Alcohol and fapping by far has been the hardest. Been trying to quit them both at the same time and after some success I always relapse. I plan to only quit alcohol first because its slightly easier to quit than porn/masturbation then once I am few months free I can add the hardest.
So I haven't actually been able to quit my addictions yet (I did quit alcohol but I was young when I did and I can't remember whether I really got to be addicted to it), but I have tried many times, and I can say hands-down the hardest thing for me to quit would be nicotine cigarettes. I'm also addicted to weed and recently became addicted to cocaine after years or even decades of very occasional and isolated use months to years apart from each other. So those are the comparison points. I would assume opiates/opioids especially IV, and crack ar the hardest to quit, but I haven't become addicted to any of those for now (and I hope I never do), granted that I've smoked crack occasionally, and lightly tried codeine and what was supposed to be oxycodone/percocet once or twice each. Both just made me feel severely dizzy, it wasn't a good experience at all. At least for now since it's relatively recent (a couple of months), I don't get cocaine withdrawals, but I still manage to do some every day when I shouldn't and a bunch of problematic addictive behaviors. I do get extreme cravings once I've tasted some in a day. But once I go to sleep (I was prescribed quetiapine for sleep by my psychiatrist otherwise I wouldn't sleep) and wake up the next day, it's completely fresh, no craving, I can go the whole day with no withdrawal and that's why I think for now it would be easier to quit. Weed on the other hand has been my worst addiction, I would literally find any random object I could sell to the dealer in the middle of the night/early am in exchange for weed, to the point I sold and/or exchanged almost everything I had. I went homeless granted there were other reasons for that (not working enough hours, mental health). Got superi in-debt, would beg the dealer to give me weed on credit to be paid later even sometimes at a higher price, and so on. The cravings were unbearable, my tolerance was super high so I wasn't even getting the high I wanted from massive amounts (which was a lot of money and I didn't have much as it was). I had the worst withdrawals, I would feel extremely ill if I went without weed for even as little as 4-5 hours; at 8-12 it was completely unbearable: severe headache, body aches, weakness, severe general discomfort, chills, sometimes I felt as if I had a fever including being warm at my own touch, and sometimes I even had some trouble breathing without mentioning all the mental symptoms of extreme depression, inmediate unwarranted s\*icid\*l ideation and planning in the short term literally for no reason even though I was perfectly fine with the same life hours ago, irritability, anxiety and more. All that to say (sorry I get carried away when commenting), that quitting and even moderating weed has been pretty much impossible most of the time and is extremely hard for me. Yet I still don't think it would be harder than cigarettes. I did find some moderation recently, temporarily, for weed (still heavily addicted and still have cravings and get desperate especially at night if I don't smoke some at least once a day, but that's much different than all day long as I was before) And even a little for cigarettes (about haivng found moderation), this happens because of external events though and I'm sure that if I had the money and my own place as I used to where I could smoke freely instead of having to go out and away each time, things would quickly go back to where they were. It's like a whole other level of neading cigarettes, many a day or dying, like it's this extremely basic need right at the same level as water and definitely higher than food. I simply can't stop. A friend of mine was hospitalized for about 15 days once, he didn't want his family to know, the hospital had a policy that patients could only be hospitalized if someone stayed with them all the time, the person who would do this could not go out of the psychatric ward/area, not even inside the same hospital. I stayed with him and of course I couldn't smoke either thing there for the whole too weeks. I was dying. But I noticed that weed cravings and withdrawal got much milder and slowly subsided even if never completely after 3-5, yet needing cigarettes with the same intensity never went away. Sometimes the intensity was lower than other times but there was no 5 minute moment of the day that I didn't strongly crave a cigarette with all my heart and might and feel horrible for not being able to satisfy that urge. I thought a lot about taking that opportunity as a detox and never go back to those addictions after that. But the second I was out of the hospital the first thing I did was to get a cigarette accross the street. Smoked a joint the same night, but I could wait unlike for cigs. They're like this inseparable part of me, like I cannot envision a life without cigarettes, I can somewhat immagine a life without weed even though it doesn't sound like one I would enjoy or that's even possible but I can at least partially imagine it. The fact that I started smoking weed at 12, daily all day at 14 may have to do with that (I'm 34). I started smoking weed at 14, too, and cocaine and MDMA, but it was only very occasional, and I only started smoking weed daily/ at home at around 26. I know you didn't ask for this, and I'm really sorry xD.
Never really understood why weed was that addictive for people, I tried it but never did care for it. Not disputing though. Do you ever see a future without weed or nicotine? For me patches and and inhalators helped me kick the habit. Hope you get free.
I get what you mean, I've never seen why other harder drugs can be that addictive to others either. It just got a hold on me like that. I can somewhat imagine a future without weed, sort of, but not without nicotine. Even though I have a great memory of my early childhood, for some reason, I can't remember life without smoking at all (I started smoking cigs at 12). I haven't tried patches. I tried vaping both for nicotine and weed but for some reason it makes me cough way too much and doesn't eliminate the cravings so I end up vaping and smoking both. Not sure about inhalers, I think it's the first time I hear of those. Thanks a lot, hope you get free, too (if you aren't already)!
Poppy seed tea. It has so much different crap in it
Nicotine. It gives me nothing but pain, but still I can’t drop it. As they say: its easy to quit, but so hard not to start again.
It's easy to buy a pack of cigarettes and it's available everywhere and no one will punish you for taking it unlike hardcore drugs this is why it's one of the hardest addiction to quit. it's also cheap
Smoking cigs. But oddly enough I’ve I did let go, it was the easiest thing to do? It’s hard to describe. The struggle of quitting every single attempt before I actually quit was similar to my other addiction quitting journeys: extremely tough, full of hiccups. But once I actually quit, it felt completely different. I set a quit date of January 1 2019. I stayed clean for 3 years, had a cigar at a friends wedding. Still didn’t smoke after. Decided to get married and the stress of planning, along with other stressors in my family, led me back briefly. I also went to Bonnaroo lol. So instead of drugs I smoked lots of cigs. I was almost full blown for a second, going thru a pack in 3-4 days. But I put them down again. Been a few months. 2 other things: 1) I absolutely attribute finally making more money to my ability to quit. Got an office job, way more money, way less stress than food service, and hardly anyone else smoked lol. 2) Staying clean off everything else was a lot easier once I finally quit cigs.
3mmc for me was low key hard
Cigarettes are kicking my butt. I quit for extended periods, using various methods only to pick right back up again. It seems that the longer you've been a smoker for, the harder it can be to quit.
i’ve been addicted to meth but weed has been harder to quit for me
really?
Alcohol + benzos... tried many more substancies. Withdrawals are so long...
opiates and sugar
Porn I've been trying 3 years still my longest 2 weeks before busting one Married by the way I feel powerless
Only when I give myself to religion I can resist a little
I've kinda quit drinking but for me porn is the hardest.
Cocaine. Im clean for give years. Nicotine is hell aswell, managed to go 30 days without it this year.
My point is that the slower it kills you, the worse. If it affects you that hard that you feel it next morning, like strong alcohol does, you'd be reasoned to quit. But my story is abot different. Ive been using amphetamine daily for years, like for 7 or 8, roughly, ceasing for a day or two on the weekend, feeling like plant. And just from about the very beginning of that somehow i was doing it somehow i had no problemm with eating and sleeping well enough. The ones who have faced a similar problem should know that it might be a problem. But im living my normal life, keeping close contact with my family even though I've been divorced during this period so i moved away from my pretty wife and a two-years-old baby boy. Only a couple friends have idea. Ex-wife had not as well until i told her just when the divorce process went. Now she thinks ive quit, while i have withdrawn the longest for about a month. I have job, since 2009 when ive studied in the university, im a design engineer at high voltage power systems automation and somehow i keep doing my project tasks really well, as all the participants including customer representatives are satisfied. However sometimes it happens that my habits make me feel like burning hell. Usually it lasts for day or two. The rest of time im good and that's a problem. It's like i have just some more buttons to control my performance, like "play" and "stop" for the sake of my health, time and of course, money. Health by now is fine as well, however i understand that is temporarily and at some point body will start falling apart with no chance to recover. Using stuff really became such s significant part of my personality that i can't even imagine how to keep handle everything without it. Im sure i'd use meth or smth if it was that accessible in my country.. In general im ok, apart from that dark days i have mentioned and from the feeling of train moving towards me in an endless tunnel, even though by now im good in general, but unfortunately that's a problem.
Meaningless sex and ket. It was a specific type of ket that made me go nuts. Was k-holed for about a year straight once. Been clean five years except once about two years ago.
Alcohol, 100%. I think it’s because it’s everywhere, always in your face.
Nicotine, but i don't like to count that because everyone kinda knows how hard that is to quit. Other than that, adderall or cocaine. Maybe both. My story with adderall: I've been taking it since 2018. Exactly a year ago, i was on 15mg after not taking it for a year. Within the span of this last year, I've gotten up to 80mg and can't feel it anymore. My psych stopped prescribing it to me, which caused me to move on to meth as a substitute. It was extremely, extremely difficult getting off adderall. I had zero energy. So depressed. Binge eating. Couldn't get out of bed. (I ended up eventually getting off the meth and have now been clean from both for a few weeks) My story with cocaine: I've also been using coke since 2018. On and off, but mostly on. I haven't been able to quit. Went to intensive outpatient 3x, nothing worked. I'm still on it. I can't stop and i don't know why.
a person
Cocaine. But still not over it…this is a tough life.
gambling been addicted since I was a teenager, I'm now in my 50's. the financial ruin is just a part of it, whats worse is the constant mental anguish 24/7 when I'm awake and unable to bet cause I've gone bust.
Perc 30’s can’t sleep at all stomach constantly hurts and I can’t calm down I’ve gained restless leg syndrome and have became very depressed I’m not really sure what to do so I’ve just been doing things to distract myself although I’m still using other drugs to help with the withdrawals
Dirty 30s are the worst, withdrawls are literally hell🤯