Hey
@Trpatten
We have a whole sub-forum dedicated to recovery, sobriety, clean-living or whatever other synonym you wish to use. It's about people whose relationship with drugs has turned from a help to a hindrance. My thing was Opiates, but Alcohol played a big role also. I've used every drug under the sun, but Opiates were my DOC. The effects of Methamphetamine or stimulants in general and Opioids is pretty extreme. However, for the addict who becomes addicted to this indescribable feeling, emotion or energy associated with using such powerful drugs, I feel the addiction is pretty similar. We're all just looking to get numb in the end and both Opiates and Amphetamines numb people, albeit in different ways.
I was a decade long user of Heroin and Morphine. I never thought I would stop. I didn't want to stop. The idea of a life without Opiates was both terrifying and completely not worth living even for a moment. I did everything. I've been to detox, rehab, sober houses, psychiatric wards (having licensed psychiatrists diagnose me as basically insane) and I've done all of this on different continents, so I have a little bit of experience.
The only thing that I feel truly makes sense is a daily program. The one that I do is 12-steps, but there are plenty of others out there with differing philosophies. There is a Buddhist recovery group here in Burlington that meets every Saturday. They bang a gong before the meeting, meditate and they all hug at the end. It's pretty cool actually. I digress. The biggest importance, I feel, is constant self-evaluation and a revealing of your inner ideas and machinations to others. I show up for an hour, five days a week and take a brief, basic look at my thoughts, actions and their results. I get to hear what other people are doing. We all share in our experiences and support each other.
I'm sure there is a lot of spiritual stuff behind the success of these groups that I don't full understand, but at the end of the day, I feel being honest, kind and evaluating yourself are the best foundation to a sober life.
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However, there are gonna be some phases to this process and it's not necessarily going to be a straight and steady line upward.
You've been using Methamphetamine, which I'm sure you know, is really powerful shit. It does a number on the mind and body that is often difficult to recover from. The biggest pitfalls in your early sobriety are likely to be impatience for improvement of your condition, leading to a "fuck it" move and a relapse, leading you back to square one. The first few days, or so I've heard, are often not so difficult, as they consist of a lot of sleeping. Once you get out this hibernation mode, you're likely going to run into some pretty serious depression and to a lesser extent, anxiety. You should start to see some improvement in these symptoms after about a week.
Methamphetamine is well-known for the Post-Acute Withdrawal Syndrome that tends to linger. It will likely be months before you are back to "normal". It is not an easy road, but it can be done. My advice would be to hunker down for the first week however you can. After 7-10 days, or whenvever you feel your psychological symptoms lifting and an increase in your physical energy, that is when you should start getting involved with your program. Essentially, as soon as you are able and not crazy, you should establish a solid program.
People complain a lot early on about the length of time required to get better and yes, it's a legitimate complaint, as it's a really shitty situation. My point is that the program that you use to get better needs to be as severe as the drug that got you into this place. Whatever you do, it requires a commitment.
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Moving this over to our recovery forums.