Does anybody have any longterm damages from abusing drugs?

[The Doc.]

I can fix that burning when you pee problem for ya,
Get a bottle of concentrated cranberry capsules & take one three times a day with a full glass of water. Your urinary tract infection will immediately improve. Inside of 3-4 days you will feel the cooling effect of the cranberry from the inside when you pee. Keep taking the capsules 3 times daily for a week and you should be done with your infection.

yea apparently I don't have an UTI lol I got tested doctors are baffled yet intermittently this burning sensation seems to come on while pisssing

 

[Estar]

I've been abusing drugs for 7 years, 4 years daily and pretty heavily. (Ice, GHB, Xanax)and Then went into a rehab for 9 months, and was clean until relapsing 4 weeks ago on Heroin... When clean for the 9 months, my brain was seriously cooked, paranoid, and felt like I was starting my life again from Primary school. No confidence, no personality, not even knowing how to start a conversation.. The depression is horrible and you fight for the tinniest bit of energy but feel like all your bones are stinging. (this only picked up with the energy after 6-8 month) I've been told this it generally takes two years for the neuro pathways to level out, but not always (especially with meth).. Of course depending on the drug you use, or if you use a combination as well. The dopamine and serotonin levels in the brain are so FUCKED UP from all the chemicals, your poor brain doesn't no whats going on... If you keep using in those 2 years, and so many people do because of the depression they already feel, it will take even longer.. I'm a good case scenario. I know people that have serve paranoia and schizophrenia from using which is permanent.. HepC is a big one... but the worst is using once you have had clean time and you have no tolerance and have a shot, no long term damage, but could lead to death. Mixing Meth, GHB, Xanax and Heroin is seriously a heart attack waiting to happen, and everynight when I knock myself out to sleep, my heart beats so slow and I pray that I will wake tomorrow... Its fucking scary. But personally, Mental health for addicts is a nightmare) Yes, it states It usually takes two years for the nuro-pathways to level out the dopamine and serotonin in your brain, if your lucky and quit using at a reasonable age. I guess the long term damage that stays with you forever is the shit you have to do to get money and the situations you put yourself in and all the horrible things that go along with it.. If you are an addict you usually cannot stop using without rehab or NA so therefore numerous relapses can be very damaging long term.

 

[phactor]

I have made my depression and anxiety issues much worse. Furthermore, I can really beat myself up hard (some of the shit I say to myself is downright diabolical). I am clean now and attend therapy and NA (including working the steps). I am doing better, but I know I would have been way better had I not abused drugs and alcohol for 15 years. Obviously, all these things combined set me back quite a bit in life. I am learning how to act like an adult in some ways at the age of 31.

 

[lcrlover]

yea apparently I don't have an UTI lol I got tested doctors are baffled yet intermittently this burning sensation seems to come on while pisssing

The cranberry pills will usually cause the pain to lessen and if it cost you $5 for a cure that wouldn't hurt either

 

[lcrlover]

I've been abusing drugs for 7 years, 4 years daily and pretty heavily. (Ice, GHB, Xanax)and Then went into a rehab for 9 months, and was clean until relapsing 4 weeks ago on Heroin... When clean for the 9 months, my brain was seriously cooked, paranoid, and felt like I was starting my life again from Primary school. No confidence, no personality, not even knowing how to start a conversation.. The depression is horrible and you fight for the tinniest bit of energy but feel like all your bones are stinging. (this only picked up with the energy after 6-8 month) I've been told this it generally takes two years for the neuro pathways to level out, but not always (especially with meth).. Of course depending on the drug you use, or if you use a combination as well. The dopamine and serotonin levels in the brain are so FUCKED UP from all the chemicals, your poor brain doesn't no whats going on... If you keep using in those 2 years, and so many people do because of the depression they already feel, it will take even longer.. I'm a good case scenario. I know people that have serve paranoia and schizophrenia from using which is permanent.. HepC is a big one... but the worst is using once you have had clean time and you have no tolerance and have a shot, no long term damage, but could lead to death. Mixing Meth, GHB, Xanax and Heroin is seriously a heart attack waiting to happen, and everynight when I knock myself out to sleep, my heart beats so slow and I pray that I will wake tomorrow... Its fucking scary. But personally, Mental health for addicts is a nightmare) Yes, it states It usually takes two years for the nuro-pathways to level out the dopamine and serotonin in your brain, if your lucky and quit using at a reasonable age. I guess the long term damage that stays with you forever is the shit you have to do to get money and the situations you put yourself in and all the horrible things that go along with it.. If you are an addict you usually cannot stop using without rehab or NA so therefore numerous relapses can be very damaging long term.

I used meth for 5 years, and gradually built to a 1/4 oz every ten days before I got mad enough at it to quit. I thought about killing myself every day, all day long, unless I kept busy at work. Joy was entirely lost from my life for a year, after that my endorphins began working again. For the next 6 years I drove myself crazy thinking about how stupid I had been to allow myself to do all that meth. My life felt like black and white, there were only brief glances of color, to me. It was 1997 when I began to hate meth with all my soul, enough hate to keep it gone. Life is what it is, but those days were the hardest, for me.

It seems that most folks who wind up liking meth were already depressed before trying meth, I have half a lifetime of experience (50 y/o) in being depressed, and for me, things have only gotten easier as I have aged. Remember You are the most important person You know, so take care of yourself. Respect Yourself enough to care, nobody else can or will do it for you. Brush and floss your teeth, clean your body, learn to cook & eat good food. You know something? Many times in my life I have been forced to begin again, taking baby steps. I have damaged myself badly enough to be out of work for 1/2 a year, at least 3 times I can remember. It is hard when ya put everything down and one day you decide you'll hafta pick it all back up again. I mean like having a job, having a place to live, and all the little things like paying bills, and walking the dog and talking to neighbors. I find if you try, it gets easier. Everything is really just a habit, for me. Once I get into the habit of drinking grape juice instead of cokes for lunch, it gets easier every day. Same goes for Not smoking, drinking and doing meth. I guess I just can't respect myself and cheat at anything, I never could.

 

[motiv311]

WOW^ thats super inspirational man! I'm a musician/songwriter at about the same dosage you were at, and I'm 27, actually this is gonna take to long.... I'll PM you, I totally relate though. I've been doing adderall/meth for ten years now pretty solid, and I think your experience and philosophy on life, aging, and respecting yourself and your body, are all 100 percent right on the fucking money, and a lot of people around here could use that true life experience/wisdom from someone of your age!

Thank you!

 

[lcrlover]

That's cool motiv311, I can see it being tougher in your position, I bet using is an occupational hazard in your line of work. I like a little green and finally, I learned that a little bit can go a long way, and I really feel I get more out of not using excessively as I had most of the time, in the past.
I know a dude, goes to aa&na and it almost seems to enable him to constantly fall off the wagon & into meth again. Years ago I was telling him how I make a list of reasons why I hate that thing, when I want to quit something. He wanted me to help him, so I'm thinking why doesn't Dave like meth? How the hell would I know, I'm not Dave. So I tried to prompt him, thing is Dave didn't have any reasons why he wanted to quit. He still uses, and it's been 25 years. I can't wrong the guy, he seems happy, just not the same person as my friend Dave.

 

[TheCuriousOne]

Not me personally, but I have a very close friend that abused psychedelics for about 4 years straight. Tripped every 2nd weekend on high doses of various tryptamines, phenethylamines and research chemicles. Appearantly he has also been on MDMA binges, one time he took 20 pills in one weekend at a festival where I was with him and other friends. We all took maybe 3-4 pills in 3 days but he had to go over the top as always.

Now he is suffering from paranoid schizophrenia, various psychosis (mostly induced from PCP and Psilocybin) and is in a dream-state 24/7 basically. He told me he had severe HPPD and derealization. On top of that I think he lost about 20 IQ points over the course of 4 years. He has no cognitive or social abilities. Me and my friends have mostly avoided him, because he is behaving very creepy on any kind of drug lately.
The worst thing is even when he's suffering from all this, he does not stop at this and continues abusing psychedelics

 

[motiv311]

My spinal cord leaks fluid im pretty sure, and my heart is enlarged more or less around the area where the top of the left lung nearly makes contact with heart, My joints creak and moan and my memory is spotty where it used to be super sharp... its still ok , just during the periods where i was / am using a lot of poly substance abuse / marijuana ; its sad cause I literally can't remember entire months of my life.. : (

 

[TitzNBeer]

Yeah man I myself are having huge problems associated with the abuse of MDMA. It was to the point I was rolling everyday taking at least a gram and a half a day and weekends up to three grams a night for almost a year, stupid I know, probably fried my brain but hey you learn from your mistakes. I get horrible headaches, short/long term memory is completely messed, depression/mood swings are also really hard to deal with but with time these things some what solve them selves.

 

[izzy66]

Idk if this will be "long term" or resolve after awhile but it got my attention.

I've been on methadone for 7-8 years for chronic pain from rheumatoid arthritis and multiple spinal fractures. In many ways, methadone gave me my life back but a few weeks ago it almost killed me. I have medication related long QT syndrome, a heart rhythm problem which can cause sudden death with no warning.
The QT interval is basically the time it takes your heart to refill with blood. There are over 50 medications which can elongate the QT interval as well as congenital causes.

The day all this happened was totally average. My bf and i were doing some stuff in the yard, nothing difficult. I felt a little dizzy so sat down for a few and drank some water. Maybe 5-10 minutes later i got up and walked over to where i'd been pulling weeds. All of a sudden, dizziness washed over me, i turned to the left and everything stopped.
My bf said i yelled "oh no!", stood up straight then fell flat on my back. By the time he got to me, i had started to seize, foam at the mouth, and turn blue. This went on for 2-3 minutes, then ambulance came, off to the hospital, and i have less than zero memory of any of this stuff for more than 1 hour. On the EKG, the long QT interval showed up and was implicated as the cause since i have no history of seizures and my CAT scan was unremarkable.

Absolutely was the most frightening medical event i have ever experienced as a patient. I've been a nurse for many years and have seen plenty but i don't like being the patient at all. My short term memory is really fk'd up although it seems to be improving a bit over the past week. I'm not right yet and struggling but am hopeful i'll get my airhead back in order again.
For awhile now i have wanted the pharmaceutical handcuffs aka methadone off and had decreased my dose from 80-90mg/day to 40mg/day. After this fun little event, i decreased my dose to 30mg/day but pain relief didn't cure what ails me so i'm gonna have to figure some alternative out so i can be free of methadone and continue a productive life.

There was nothing... No sound, no light, no sensations of any kind. Scariest, most freaky thing that has ever happened to me.

Please be aware of long QT syndrome, educate yourself cuz you never know, information is power.
-izzy

 

[mastersofine]

I have a deviated septum from snorting drugs and scars on my arms from injecting myself. Also I have depression and anxiety from using cocaine and opiates.

 

[phactor]

Another thing, I started using when my brain was very much still forming. Who knows how I impacted its development but it could not have been positive.

There are all types of damage, some are obvious, some are not. Like I have friends who I wouldn't call addicts, but are very much stuck in life because they want to drink and smoke all the time. Is it preventing them from functioning? No, but its getting in the way that is for sure. I didn't do them any favors because I am sure I was always the "at least I am not Phactor" guy. They don't have that excuse anymore.

 

[weekend addiction]

I don't think my periods of poly-drug abuse and binges were good for my bipolar disorder. But I was developing the disorder regardless. So maybe it just made the transition more bearable? What am I saying of course it made it more bearable! That's why I did drugs in the first place. But in the end I think I have been avoiding my problems with hedonism and escapism. I still have a lot of growing up to do.

 

[Maya]

^I can definitely relate to hedonism and escapism, I did drugs and alcohol to escape my problems but it gave me more problems in the end.

 

[Lightning-Nl]

Technically? No. I haven't had any physical damage (that I know of) due to drug use. However...

With that being said, I'm starting to notice (big time) the side-effects of long-term Benzodiazepine use. Keep in mind, I'm currently prescribe 2 milligrams of Xanax - .5 in the morning .5 in the afternoon, and 1 milligram at night for sleep. On top of that, I also take 30 milligrams of Temazepam for RLS. I'm on a fuck ton of Benzo's, purely because nothing else has worked for me. Nothing AT ALL! I've tried literally all psychotropic drugs (again all prescribed) in order to control my horrible sleep issues - but nothing worked.

Eventually I was prescribed Ambien which actually fucking worked! But the effects lasted too short and after 4 hours, I'd instantly wake back up. So I had to move on to Zopiclone - which I didn't even feel at all (and I went up to 3 milligrams) so the only things left to try... were the Benzodiazepines... and ever since November of 2013 - I've been taking Benzo's everyday 24/7 - again all legitimately prescribed and approved by my Psychiatrist. He's told me before that he's very uncomfortable giving me such a high dose of Benzodiazepines, but at least he's realistic. To quote him "What works, works. Nothing can change the fact that Benzodiazepines are the only med's that have really improved your life and that's the only reason I prescribe you the amount I do - but keep in mind that, if I suspect any sort of abuse I will immediately start you on a Valium taper."

Anyways, I actually take LESS than what I'm prescribed of the Xanax. I only take .25 in the morning, .25 in the afternoon, and 1 milligram at night. I keep those extra .5 milligrams in an old Altoids tin - just on the off chance that I happen to have a sudden, severe onset of anxiety. I told my doctor about this - and he said that he's absolutely fine with me doing that - just as long as I never take more than what I'm prescribed - and I to my pledge word have been true. I've never taken more Xanax or Temazepam since he's been my Psychiatrist.

But I'm getting off topic here. I was going to say that I've started noticing that I've become very clumsy. My motor coordination is totally fucked, and there's no doubt in my mind that this is due to the Benzodiazepines.

 

[CaveBear]

Hep C, fatty liver, was strangely diagnosed with juvenile diabetes at age 26, (now 43) Dr. said me being an alcoholic "could" have attributed to the diabetes, no one really knows.

 

[Cliffy78]

Tbh I really don't know what specific drugs caused any specific issues I have but they certainly exacerbated them. My mother had severe schitzophenia and depression so I think I was already predisposed to mental illness .I started with the weed and vodka(1/2gal a day) in the midst of that those E pills showed up in the northeast(u.s) and I took those waaay to far, I'm talkin about way too far lol. Started with 1 and kept multiplying everyday, I didn't want to stop so fuck it I didn't. It got to around 20 pills a day, no exaggeration!! Every day! That's on top of the weed and booze(didn't need as much booze on e's) probably a pint or two. Finally I quit the E's after close to a year of taking them daily, from the time I woke up til (if I went to bed) I passed out. Just couldn't find anymore so I had to quit. Fast forward about 2-3 yrs, back to my full compliment of vodka. I woke up one morning frozen in intractable pain. Called ambulance, stayed in hospital ten days. It took the drs 3-4 days to dx me with acute pancreatitis. Left hospital against dr advice, no pain management so I started self medicating, taking whatever I could find in pill and patch(fentanyl, unscripted). After a few yrs of that started hopping from er to er to find a gp that would treat a chronic pain patient. Finally did and been on Oxys since then. Now I have most of the mental illness my mother had, with some extras that I noticed reading this thread aren't all that uncommon amongst us blers. Maj. Depressive d/o, social anxiety,agoraphobia , panic, schitzo affective, body dysmorphia, ADHD, anti social personality d/o, on and on and on. I think the weed and the constant drinking when I was young mixed with thousands of e pills in a relatively short period of time made all these mental issues much more pronounced. I can't deal with people, I always see the worst in them. Family, well there aren't many but most are extremely judgemental of my oxy usage even though it's prescribed for an extremely painful condition. Fuck it!! It is what it is. When people make their judgements it just makes me want to pop a few pills right in front of them. I just don't give a shit anymore, I know drugs did that for sure...
If you've just started using and you've stumbled across this thread then read the whole thing then decide if you want to continue using drugs...

 

[lcrlover]

My daily use of spice caused my blood pressure to Double. I have been taking three dif blood pressure meds to keep it normal for over a year.

 

[Cliffy78]

My daily use of spice caused my blood pressure to Double. I have been taking three dif blood pressure meds to keep it normal for over a year.

The spice is waay underestimated IMO, I go flush and feel palpitations after using the new formulation. Shit is really strong now