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Does Addiction Go Away

skylines7

skylines7

Bluelighter
Joined
Dec 8, 2010
Messages
151
I have been addicted to opiates since I was 17....I started using opiates when I was 13.


I have heard conflicting reports about returning to a normal life. Suboxone allows me to live a normal life, however if I stop taking suboxone or lower my dose, I crave opiates like none other.

I am considering staying on suboxone for life, I am 20 now and still crave shit. And since I started very early in life I think this is something that will stick with me.

Thoughts?
 
The party line will have you believe that addiction stays with you forever, but I have serious doubts about whether it's true, in part because it was not true for me. I am a skeptic at heart, though, and never buy the party line about anything. The institutions that have grown up around addiction have a somewhat vested interest in keeping those who have had addictions in treatment of some kind. In the US, the AA/NA influence is powerful, and the disease model which has been adopted by most insist that this "disease" will keep you "sick" and at risk for the rest of your life.

Will you have powerful cravings when you're getting off opiates, including suboxone? Sure. Yes, you will. Will they fade with time? Yes, they will, especially if you put other stress reducing and problem-solving/coping behaviors in place. Will they go away altogether? As a person with a serious alcohol addiction at one time, I can say I don't have any cravings at all now.

Very stressful situations may bring up brief urges to use, although that has not been the case for me. As far as I'm concerned, I'm no longer addicted. That does not, however, mean that I can go back to even moderate use of my drug of choice, nor do I risk using other CNS depressants of any kind without professional supervision. I have used morphine in the hospital and Vicodin at home after a serious staph infection. Addiction returns so quickly--and really with the same tolerance as before--that using alcohol or anything else of the same class is very, very risky and not at all recommended.

You won't know how you feel until you do a long, slow taper from suboxone and observe how the cravings diminish. Keep a journal so you can see your progress; it will help you see how you are changing. Moderate use followed by three years of addiction is not as bad as it sounds. Most people are addicted for far, far longer.

A more positive approach to addiction can be found at secular alternatives to AA/NA, and there are several worldwide to choose from.

-Eye, Registered Addiction Specialist
 
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No. I firmly believe that addiction is a lot more complicated than many people would like to think. Just because you're sober doesn't mean you are no longer an addict, at least in my opinion.

I will always refer to myself as an addict, even with nearly three years of sobriety under my belt at the moment. Why? Because I will always have the tendency to abuse substances. Addiction is something that people contend with their entire lives, even if they've been sober for decades.
 
As far as returning to normal goes, well, experiencing addiction will change you as a person and there's no way around it but if you think about it, people change over the years no matter what. No, you won't go back to the way you were exactly, but that's not a bad thing. Will you ever feel normal again? I did, but it took me a long, long time before that happened. It takes your brain quite some time to work itself out after expecting certain chemicals for so long; chemicals that are no longer around. It took me about a year before I started feeling "normal" again and I almost gave up so many times due to depression. Keep on marching and you'll feel better, I promise.
 
User Name Here also uses labels, which I don't like or use for myself or anyone else. It's a different approach, but every approach has value and is useful to someone. I'm more of a cherry picker when it comes to what tools and perspectives I employ.
 
it goes away. not always and not for everyone but its certainly possible to recover from addiction to the point where you are no more prone to addiction or influenced by it than a person who has never had an addiction (possibly even less so). so if youre just as good or better than someone who has never been addicted, i dont see it making sense to argue you are somehow still an addict.
 
Eye said:
The party line will have you believe that addiction stays with you forever, but I have serious doubts about whether it's true, in part because it was not true for me. I am a skeptic at heart, though, and never buy the party line about anything. The institutions that have grown up around addiction have a somewhat vested interest in keeping those who have had addictions in treatment of some kind. In the US, the AA/NA influence is powerful, and the disease model which has been adopted by most insist that this "disease" will keep you "sick" and at risk for the rest of your life.
Click to expand...

While you can argue whether or not addiction is a "disease", we all feel comfortable with the fact that the best remedy is to treat it as though it were a disease. It most certainly is a physical and mental health issue that typically continues to get worse when left untreated.

Eye said:
Will you have powerful cravings when you're getting off opiates, including suboxone? Sure. Yes, you will. Will they fade with time? Yes, they will, especially if you put other stress reducing and problem-solving/coping behaviors in place. Will they go away altogether? As a person with a serious alcohol addiction at one time, I can say I don't have any cravings at all now.
Click to expand...

And I don't have cravings for alcohol after abstaining for 7+ years. But I believe if I started drinking again, I would be right back to 20+ year low in very short time. In that sense, my mind and body is susceptible to resuming my addiction right where I left off. You don't want to mislead an addict that after a long period of sobriety, then can resume using their DOC as though they had never been an addict.

Eye said:
Very stressful situations may bring up brief urges to use, although that has not been the case for me. As far as I'm concerned, I'm no longer addicted. That does not, however, mean that I can go back to even moderate use of my drug of choice, nor do I risk using other CNS depressants of any kind without professional supervision. I have used morphine in the hospital and Vicodin at home after a serious staph infection. Addiction returns so quickly--and really with the same tolerance as before--that using alcohol or anything else of the same class is very, very risky and not at all recommended.
Click to expand...

well said.

Eye said:
You won't know how you feel until you do a long, slow taper from suboxone and observe how the cravings diminish. Keep a journal so you can see your progress; it will help you see how you are changing. Moderate use followed by three years of addiction is not as bad as it sounds. Most people are addicted for far, far longer.

A more positive approach to addiction can be found at secular alternatives to AA/NA, and there are several worldwide to choose from.

-Eye, Registered Addiction Specialist
Click to expand...

I think we agree on more than we disagree on. To me, it's just a matter of semantics whether I'm still an addict or not. Perhaps it would be better to always ask if you are an ACTIVE addict or not. But once you have been an addict, with VERY FEW exceptions, you cannot safely use your DOC unsupervised or for recreation. As far as I'm concerned, that makes you an addict forever.
 
IMO, no, addiction does not go away. addictions can change though. that does not mean you have to take drugs the rest of your life. it does mean however, that it's something you will need to work on for the rest of your life.
 
addictions fade away after one is through with caving into the desire for instant gratification and the associated waste of one's life by doing so.
maturity has much to be said for it. that's not to say that the memories are not revisited, now and again once, one has been straight for decades.
 
Technically it all goes away including cravings, although the memory of instant grattification will always remain.

You will always remember the high, and how to get that high, in which somebody without those experiences would not.
 
There is also the matter of the brain rewiring to only acheive pleasure through substances, which takes quite a few years to return to normal.

If you give it say, 10 years, you will be able to completley conquer it and acheive a happy sober life.
 
Yeah, I'm not a fan of AA or NA but it works for some people and that's all that really matters. It's a great way to garner a support system as well.
 
It depends on many factors. Given the fact that you did heroin for four years when you were a teen, I'd say no. After a while it just sticks with you. Sobriety is no cure for urges.
 
I think that it would be best for you to bring this issue up with a qualified addiction counselor or a psychotherapist specializing in addiction; no one here is really qualified to answer this apart from volunteering their opinion.
 
My posts are based on my own personal experience and the experience of many addicts I know personally. While I may not be a professional counselor or doctor, I believe I am qualified to offer an "expert" opinion.
 
everyones different, but for me i've got to take my mind of drugs one way or another, i find exercise and music great help as well as mixing with other sober people who you find interesting
 
Obsessions with chemicals may change over time.

But i think what stays with us is that you just can't unlearn all you have filled your mind with. What i mean by that is, how do you forget how amazing the right dose of morphine is IV? How do you forget the solitude and apathy, the euphoria the escape.

It could be 25 years down the line, and you would still remember that if you just did this this and this, you can feel so nice for 5 hours...

And at vulnerable times in our lifes it's impossible not to instinctively think back to old coping mechanisms, or just things we were very fond of, opiates in general. Whether this is through lack of replacement coping skills, or purely through the minds association with feeling bad and fixing with opiates.

You will never forget how much you love that feeling.
 
Relapse?

I was taking about 90 mgs a day of roxicodone through pain management for 2 herniated discs in my lower spine (CHRONIC pain). I recently quit taking the opiates all together, cold turkey. Went through the worst week of my life, though I was lucky enough not to be vomitting. I could eat - which I forced myself to do.... I'd say day 2 and 3 were the absolute worst. I has been a full 14 days since my last roxi. I left my pain management dr and went to my original primary doctor whom I have been with since I was 16. I told him everything truthfully. He said we had to manage my pain SOMEHOW because they don't want to do surgery (I'm 27), and I have to take 1,000mgs of Ibuprophen 4x a day to just take most of the enge off my pain (not good for the stomach or the kidneys). I take a lot of vitamins, B complex and Valerian Root especially. I do take melatonin to help me sleep, Restoril was the only thing that worked during the withdrawl. As of the last few days I feel absolutely NO withdrawl symptoms, the only exception being the chronic fatigue. I tried to fill the tramadol the dr gave me (who said it would have been safe to take after only 5 days clean since it's such a low dose). When I went to fill the tramadol at the pharmacy to give my stomach a brief reprieve from all the IB (I plan to only take the tramadol if the pain is SEVERE, not regiment), I could not fill the tramadol because apparently it will interact with the zoloft I'm taking (this helps with the depression of course, but I was starting to get very depressed before quitting cold turkey - perhaps an effect of the roxi's - they ARE a downer). SO, being in extreme pain, there have been a few 20mg Oxy's in my house for WEEKS that I've been to fearful to touch because I never want to feel the way I felt again with the withdrawl. But the pain was so severe I could barely walk, I gave in to the pain and swallowed ONE oxy 20. They ARE time released, so I'm hoping that helps.... I'm just wondering if I really just screwed myself BIG TIME and am going to go through the withdrawl again when this wears off. I have no cravings for the stuff - just the pain gets unbearable. Relapse is defined as actually starting the cycle again = taking pills multiple times a day for an extended period. Is it relapse if I just took this ONE? Will I really go through the withdrawls all over again???? Someone please help!!!
 
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