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Addiction What can I do to rebuild a healthy relationship with substances after addiction? Is it even possible?

sadmachine

Bluelighter
Joined
Apr 14, 2022
Messages
87
Location
Australia
I've never really had a bad problem but about 2 years ago I started messing around with oxycodone and since then nothings been the same. I never dosed too too high or used for a prolonged period. I'd get a box of 20 x 20mg, eat 40-80mg a day until I run out and then get another in a couple weeks. But when I got that box, nothing in the world could make me take a day off from using, even if I told myself "i'll have a better high tomorrow". By the end I couldn't come close to nodding and I would get mild withdrawal symptoms even after just 3 days of using. As odd as it sounds, I didn't really enjoy them all that much. They would sometimes make me feel very dysphoric or give me severe anxiety and I'm quite ashamed because I dont really understand why I kept persisting thinking I was going to finally achieve that warm blanket euphoria if I just got the dose/timing/setting right. Of course there were good times too, but they weren't anything special and certainly not worth it. I never ever craved them like I would a cigarette and quitting for good was pretty simple. Glad to have them behind me, no love lost.

Not long after I gave up oxy I lost my job, financial stress and decided to finally give an SSRI a go. It helped somethings, made others worse, but worst of all made me crave drugs in a way ive never craved anything before. Smoking cannabis on it was heavenly. After a month it began to make me feel extremely depressed and hopeless so my doc took me off it and I got into the gym instead.

Since then I wake up every morning feeling compelled to take something. Doesn't really matter what it is or even if I like it or if its appropriate for the situation. It doesn't provide me any relief from stress/mental health and half the time it's just boring and a way to pass the time. I also abused ketamine for around a year, around 1g a fortnight I'd say. It was a miracle drug in the beginning that did everything and it did truly provide me a lot of insight into myself and even resolved some grudges I had internally with family members, but now it's lost its magic and feels cold and clinical so i've cut it out.

That left me with cannabis to abuse, which I only recently quit after a 3 month stint on it daily. I was very functional on it and it actually improved some aspects of my life, but I just had no control over my usage. Since 15 i've always had a great relationship with cannabis, never really was a daily smoker just here and there with friends, sometimes wouldnt touch it for years. One day I just told my partner "I'd love to keep a stash in the drawer and then when the mood strikes me, roll a nice joint, eat some good food and watch a great movie" but I just cant do that. I don't have the willpower. I will feel compelled to smoke at every chance I can get, with the intention of getting as high as possible as frequently as possible. I don't want to feel so powerless and if it means abstinence i'd rather go without. So that was a very recent farewell.

The only substance this doesnt seem to apply to is clonazepam, which i've always kept handy for when I need to fix my sleep pattern or visit parents/cure a comedown. Have never had any desire to misuse it and have never overused it either.

I've heard stories of men who used to drink a bottle of whiskey a night and were able to bring it down to 2-3 glasses on a weekend only. I've also heard that once you've got this it's for life. I'm not sure who to believe. I'm done with opioids for good but i'd like to be able to keep a little cannabis and ketamine in a drawer for when the time is right as I do really enjoy those drugs when im not feeling compelled to use them but I just don't know how. When I try I get this awful brooding feeling hanging over me like I must use it and get it done with.

I'm also hooked badly on nicotine which probably isn't helping anything, but that's next on the chopping board (when my current vape dies I'm planning to not buy another).

I'm also experimenting with dexamphetamine at the moment, some guys at work swear by them for when a big project comes up and I struggle greatly with focus and concentration as it is. Plus I figure once in a blue moon a nice tall dose could be fun too. A tool and a party favour. I thought maybe it has potential to be another tool that I an use responsibly like my clonazepam, but already I feel that same compulsion, i've already bought and used more than I set out to in the last week.

I know a lot of this is really just a man venting about his mild garden variety addiction but I really needed to get it off my chest and just hear what someone else has to say about it. I think i'm due for a long stint of abstinence and i've also made plans to get a referral to a psych and maybe they can help me.
 
TL;DR

Short answer: it's possible, but very difficult. Abstinence is the easier way.

Personally, I cannot safely drink any amount of alcohol. I am an alcoholic and I always will be. With me it's biological and it's like an allergy. But I've lost the desire to drink as well, so no big deal.

I can dabble in hard drugs but I've pretty much grown bored with them, too. There was a time when I couldn't be near them without consuming them to excess.

Now I stick mostly to weed, kratom, and occasional LSD or psilocybin. Hallucinogens have always been a spiritual thing for me; I never abused them.

YMMV
 
I've never really had a bad problem but about 2 years ago I started messing around with oxycodone and since then nothings been the same. I never dosed too too high or used for a prolonged period. I'd get a box of 20 x 20mg, eat 40-80mg a day until I run out and then get another in a couple weeks. But when I got that box, nothing in the world could make me take a day off from using, even if I told myself "i'll have a better high tomorrow". By the end I couldn't come close to nodding and I would get mild withdrawal symptoms even after just 3 days of using. As odd as it sounds, I didn't really enjoy them all that much. They would sometimes make me feel very dysphoric or give me severe anxiety and I'm quite ashamed because I dont really understand why I kept persisting thinking I was going to finally achieve that warm blanket euphoria if I just got the dose/timing/setting right. Of course there were good times too, but they weren't anything special and certainly not worth it. I never ever craved them like I would a cigarette and quitting for good was pretty simple. Glad to have them behind me, no love lost.

Not long after I gave up oxy I lost my job, financial stress and decided to finally give an SSRI a go. It helped somethings, made others worse, but worst of all made me crave drugs in a way ive never craved anything before. Smoking cannabis on it was heavenly. After a month it began to make me feel extremely depressed and hopeless so my doc took me off it and I got into the gym instead.

Since then I wake up every morning feeling compelled to take something. Doesn't really matter what it is or even if I like it or if its appropriate for the situation. It doesn't provide me any relief from stress/mental health and half the time it's just boring and a way to pass the time. I also abused ketamine for around a year, around 1g a fortnight I'd say. It was a miracle drug in the beginning that did everything and it did truly provide me a lot of insight into myself and even resolved some grudges I had internally with family members, but now it's lost its magic and feels cold and clinical so i've cut it out.

That left me with cannabis to abuse, which I only recently quit after a 3 month stint on it daily. I was very functional on it and it actually improved some aspects of my life, but I just had no control over my usage. Since 15 i've always had a great relationship with cannabis, never really was a daily smoker just here and there with friends, sometimes wouldnt touch it for years. One day I just told my partner "I'd love to keep a stash in the drawer and then when the mood strikes me, roll a nice joint, eat some good food and watch a great movie" but I just cant do that. I don't have the willpower. I will feel compelled to smoke at every chance I can get, with the intention of getting as high as possible as frequently as possible. I don't want to feel so powerless and if it means abstinence i'd rather go without. So that was a very recent farewell.

The only substance this doesnt seem to apply to is clonazepam, which i've always kept handy for when I need to fix my sleep pattern or visit parents/cure a comedown. Have never had any desire to misuse it and have never overused it either.

I've heard stories of men who used to drink a bottle of whiskey a night and were able to bring it down to 2-3 glasses on a weekend only. I've also heard that once you've got this it's for life. I'm not sure who to believe. I'm done with opioids for good but i'd like to be able to keep a little cannabis and ketamine in a drawer for when the time is right as I do really enjoy those drugs when im not feeling compelled to use them but I just don't know how. When I try I get this awful brooding feeling hanging over me like I must use it and get it done with.

I'm also hooked badly on nicotine which probably isn't helping anything, but that's next on the chopping board (when my current vape dies I'm planning to not buy another).

I'm also experimenting with dexamphetamine at the moment, some guys at work swear by them for when a big project comes up and I struggle greatly with focus and concentration as it is. Plus I figure once in a blue moon a nice tall dose could be fun too. A tool and a party favour. I thought maybe it has potential to be another tool that I an use responsibly like my clonazepam, but already I feel that same compulsion, i've already bought and used more than I set out to in the last week.

I know a lot of this is really just a man venting about his mild garden variety addiction but I really needed to get it off my chest and just hear what someone else has to say about it. I think i'm due for a long stint of abstinence and i've also made plans to get a referral to a psych and maybe they can help me.
Therapy or support groups can help a lot too. Just go slow, be real with yourself, and don’t be afraid to reach out when things get tough. Healing isn’t linear, but it can happen.
 
Therapy or support groups can help a lot too. Just go slow, be real with yourself, and don’t be afraid to reach out when things get tough. Healing isn’t linear, but it can happen.
Stumbled onto one through the bluelight disc last night and signed up for an online meeting. Couldn't be more appreciative that services like this exist.
 
I've never really had a bad problem but about 2 years ago I started messing around with oxycodone and since then nothings been the same. I never dosed too too high or used for a prolonged period. I'd get a box of 20 x 20mg, eat 40-80mg a day until I run out and then get another in a couple weeks. But when I got that box, nothing in the world could make me take a day off from using, even if I told myself "i'll have a better high tomorrow". By the end I couldn't come close to nodding and I would get mild withdrawal symptoms even after just 3 days of using. As odd as it sounds, I didn't really enjoy them all that much. They would sometimes make me feel very dysphoric or give me severe anxiety and I'm quite ashamed because I dont really understand why I kept persisting thinking I was going to finally achieve that warm blanket euphoria if I just got the dose/timing/setting right. Of course there were good times too, but they weren't anything special and certainly not worth it. I never ever craved them like I would a cigarette and quitting for good was pretty simple. Glad to have them behind me, no love lost.

Not long after I gave up oxy I lost my job, financial stress and decided to finally give an SSRI a go. It helped somethings, made others worse, but worst of all made me crave drugs in a way ive never craved anything before. Smoking cannabis on it was heavenly. After a month it began to make me feel extremely depressed and hopeless so my doc took me off it and I got into the gym instead.

Since then I wake up every morning feeling compelled to take something. Doesn't really matter what it is or even if I like it or if its appropriate for the situation. It doesn't provide me any relief from stress/mental health and half the time it's just boring and a way to pass the time. I also abused ketamine for around a year, around 1g a fortnight I'd say. It was a miracle drug in the beginning that did everything and it did truly provide me a lot of insight into myself and even resolved some grudges I had internally with family members, but now it's lost its magic and feels cold and clinical so i've cut it out.

That left me with cannabis to abuse, which I only recently quit after a 3 month stint on it daily. I was very functional on it and it actually improved some aspects of my life, but I just had no control over my usage. Since 15 i've always had a great relationship with cannabis, never really was a daily smoker just here and there with friends, sometimes wouldnt touch it for years. One day I just told my partner "I'd love to keep a stash in the drawer and then when the mood strikes me, roll a nice joint, eat some good food and watch a great movie" but I just cant do that. I don't have the willpower. I will feel compelled to smoke at every chance I can get, with the intention of getting as high as possible as frequently as possible. I don't want to feel so powerless and if it means abstinence i'd rather go without. So that was a very recent farewell.

The only substance this doesnt seem to apply to is clonazepam, which i've always kept handy for when I need to fix my sleep pattern or visit parents/cure a comedown. Have never had any desire to misuse it and have never overused it either.

I've heard stories of men who used to drink a bottle of whiskey a night and were able to bring it down to 2-3 glasses on a weekend only. I've also heard that once you've got this it's for life. I'm not sure who to believe. I'm done with opioids for good but i'd like to be able to keep a little cannabis and ketamine in a drawer for when the time is right as I do really enjoy those drugs when im not feeling compelled to use them but I just don't know how. When I try I get this awful brooding feeling hanging over me like I must use it and get it done with.

I'm also hooked badly on nicotine which probably isn't helping anything, but that's next on the chopping board (when my current vape dies I'm planning to not buy another).

I'm also experimenting with dexamphetamine at the moment, some guys at work swear by them for when a big project comes up and I struggle greatly with focus and concentration as it is. Plus I figure once in a blue moon a nice tall dose could be fun too. A tool and a party favour. I thought maybe it has potential to be another tool that I an use responsibly like my clonazepam, but already I feel that same compulsion, i've already bought and used more than I set out to in the last week.

I know a lot of this is really just a man venting about his mild garden variety addiction but I really needed to get it off my chest and just hear what someone else has to say about it. I think i'm due for a long stint of abstinence and i've also made plans to get a referral to a psych and maybe they can help me.
One thing, I would say is that it seems like you are very good at recognizing when a given drug is bad for your state of happiness and then giving it up. Congratulations! At the same time you are continually searching for something that will flip a switch for your mood.
It sounds like maybe you should try zero drugs for awhile, just to properly test that out? Go strong with the sorts of things a psych will recommend. And although I am not saying SSRIs will help, I do think it is possible that getting high may have interfered with their ability to work properly. That judgement is all up to you, but it sounds like you are entertaining the thought.
I'm kind of in a similar place, and though my levels of usage of things is much lower, I really feel getting high is not helping me, and in fact may be making me worse. It's tough, though, when you really want that little boost for your mood.
Good luck!
 
I am an alcoholic and I always will be. With me it's biological and it's like an allergy. But I've lost the desire to drink as well, so no big deal.
What made you lose the desire to drink? Asking out of curiosity because I can relate, I've used all sorts of drugs (including drugs that would be considered hard drugs) but the only two I've used regularly, long term, liked to use and don't enjoy going a long time without are alcohol and nicotine
 
What made you lose the desire to drink?
I don't know. Somehow I'd finally just had enough-- but honestly the booze had stopped working for me a long time ago.

Nicotine was my first addiction & I'm still on it, although I did manage to quit cigarettes after a 50-year habit. I chronicle this in my Quitting Cigarettes thread.

Alcohol was my second addiction & caused me more harm than all the others combined-- I've also been hooked on cocaine, meth, & opioids, but alcoholism was always my primary affliction.

i guess it just got to the point where drinking was all negatives & zero positives, so why bother?
 
For me for instance . I don’t think I could have a healthy relationship with my DOC which is oxy. I know I could never really have a health relationship with it. I know I will abuse whatever I can get ahold of. Now when it comes to alcohol I only drink it every now and then. I have no desire to drink really.
 
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