Do drug/alcohol cravings ever go away...?

[m00nlight]

alright, so, I'm 18 now and I started using drugs and alcohol every day in high school due to mental illness, I was trying to cope and self medicate, and well, it spiraled into crippling dependancy. I would drink every day, abused benzos (all of them), stimulants, a lot of pills. I dabbled with mt too but was sent to a shelter home soon after and couldn't do it again when I got out. I did psychedelics too but I never had a problem with those. Over the summer I had a bad accident with drinking on xanax and was sent to a shelter home (the one previously mentioned) and, later, a psyh hospital. I've been sober since then except a couple slips with alcohol. I do have ritalin prescribed but I hate it and dont take it. Anyway, I have cravings every day. It's only been about 3 months of sobriety but still. I feel like I can't be happy or function normally without substances to fill the gap in my life. Even though I didn't abuse drugs for THAT long, they were still my crutch, my only escape from reality, the only thing to get me out of bed in the morning, the only thing that made me feel normal. Mental illness and addiction runs in my family so I assume that has a lot to do with it. But right now, i don't fucking know how to cope. I have no friends, I've lost interest in all activities...nothing seems to fill the void. I need advice, encouragement, something, from someone who knows what this is like and has lived through it. thanks.

 

[herbavore]

I am sorry that you are struggling right now. I never had my drug use go into addiction but I do have familiarity with craving simply to be high--to escape the reality you are living in. I spent a good part of my own adolescence that way. What changed things for me was dealing with my anxiety (and a host of other problems) sober. If you have been staying high for all the years of your adolescence then it is that much harder to have faith that indeed things can change; but they can. How are things with your family now? Do you have anyone that feels like an ally in your family, anyone that you can talk to about this?

 

[Captain.Heroin]

You're really young. Don't expect cravings to go away overnight. It can take years.

 

[ambalams]

Started taking various drugs when I was 17. I'm 28. For me, opiates always come back. But I've had two clean years (drank a few times during) that were great. Got clean when I got pregnant at 20 after a 5 mo long crack binge. Yep. Good times ? Depressed for a year. But maybe it was hormones idk.

When my son was small, I was great. I lost weight, I loved him, I had an ok job. I was ok being sober. Didn't miss pills or anything. Fell in love. It was great.

But then someone gave me two Vicodin and I've been fucked up for 5 years.

So yes, it goes away. But you have to find things that make you happy. And don't go back. Two Vicodin 5 or so yrs ago lead me to stealing a bottle of liquid morphine a month ago. And my mind is fucked. God, I miss those 2 1/2 sober years.

 

[Moreaux]

Cravings will lessen and diminish in time, but may crop up unexpectedly and strongly during times of extreme stress (have a plan in place to deal with this). If you really want sobriety and are fine with a little frustration consider getting the Vivitrol shot or the naltrexone pill (shot is stronger than the pill and lasts for a month). They diminish and sometimes completely eliminate cravings. Years ago I started on opiates and transitioned to booze and then fought for seven years to get sober and was a chronic relapser. I had to get my mental health under control before I could achieve lasting sobriety so I strongly recommend this being your priority. I got to a good place mentally and then went back to rehab. I scheduled the Vivitrol shot on my last day inpatient, and stayed on the shot for 8 months. I got very lucky and it completely removed cravings for alcohol. It works for both opiates and booze. Some studies suggest that if it is taken long term that it will "reset" the brain to preaddiction. It was a god send for me and I recommend. However, it is a commitment and if you are not totally ready to quit can be the worst decision of your life as you won't be able to get high or drunk on it and some people OD and die trying. Feel free to message me with questions or if you need moral support - get sober is difficult but not impossible. If you don't mind me asking what mental health disorder(s) do you suffer from?

 

[cj]

I can relate OP. I started drugs at 15 and was poly drug dependent by 18 or even sooner. Your asking what may be the ultimate question when it comes to drug addiction. I guess taking a step back the question is are you really a drug addict or just self medicating a phych issue that can be treated. Theoretically once the issue is treated your need for substances should diminish taking the cravings with it. From what you wrote I am not convinced your phych issue has been treated properly or completely. I urge you to seek out further professional help on that front. If you don't then I fear your need to self medicate will stick around and turn into a real live addiction to whatever substance you find that fits your needs. That was my experience anyway.

Your young enough to plot a new course but you must do it quickly. You also must realize that 3 months is too short a time for any real change to occur. If the cravings persist past a year then I would be inclined to say they are permanent. Either way they will diminish with time off the substance you are craving. The inverse is also true in that they will increase in both frequency and intensity the more often you use substances.

 

[ShroomySatori]

I can relate, at least a bit I think. I suppose the desire to use might go away, if you can somehow find a sense of inner peace or something to live for. Do you experience crushing loneliness like me? I have long list of mental illness including borderline disorder and panic disorder that keeps me going back whenever I get sober, and realize I don't actually want to be as the suffering is too great. I'm still looking for acceptance and I am 10 years older than you. My habits have only gotten worse, as at your age I was binge drinking and smoking weed constantly to try and escape. Now it is heavy benzo use (klonopin is the only one that really works for me anymore), and oxy's and heroin. I have a masters in engineering and a bachelor of education but I sit at home all day wasting my life and making no money, not even trying to find work, as it has gotten that bad. I have no confidence or faith in myself. I wish you luck but I don't really know what to say when I have been feeling suicidal lately and very serious about it. You are not alone in this. Maybe you can find more friends through some sort of common interest, for instance I play the guitar and it brings me and my brother closer together.

 

[simco]

I don't know if cravings go away; I'm still too early in recovery for that. But what I tell myself... Even if the cravings do stick around, humans are extremely adaptable, and I imagine that, with some luck, we get better at dealing with them. So that's what I'm working on these days, concrete plans for how to handle the compulsion to use when it--inevitably--hits me.

To me, one of the hardest things about recovery is that we get tested by our addictions often, and it isn't enough simply to win once...we have to win over and over.

 

[GenericMind]

One of the best tools I learned was to 'play the tape through." Anytime I got urges or cravings I'd simply play the scenario out in my head. So I give into the craving then what? I get high, enjoy it until it wears off, then what? The comedown sucks. Then I start to feel shitty because I screwed up my clean time. I have to tell people I care about that I relapsed and they're all disappointed in me. I get depressed about it, then I have to start with day 1 again.

Once I started doing that exercise I stopped getting urges because all the bad shit it would cause far outweighs the short enjoyable high I would get