Ligaturd
Bluelighter
Ahh yes....the restless legs, that always pushed me over the edge when going through withdrawal. I can empathize with your position, I never had to think of being healthy enough to still take care of parental duties while going through withdrawal and I can completely understand your concerns, I just took as many non-recreational drugs to cope with the symptoms as I could, they never did take all the symptoms away but they definitely helped alot. In your case, a slow taper is definitely the way to go, but try to get some kind of support, like a psychologist perhaps or an addiction specialist, it really helps to have a trained medical professional to consult while going through this process, somebody that you can talk to about any concerns that you might have during this transitional period in your life. I haven't been able to find anything that takes the restless legs completely away, maybe you can talk to your doctor and get something specifically for restless legs.
The body, after doing dopaminergic drugs goes into a sort of "shock" period. Using these drugs and boosting dopamine in the brain; your brain will down regulate, and that means it will stop producing as much dopamine to create a sort of balance. Dopamine is needed for many bodily functions, after the receptors are downregulated and you stop using the drugs you go into withdrawal, this is your body freaking out because it doesn't have the dopamine that it needs to work. There is an adjustment period, and it varies depending on the drugs used and also the amount of time that you have been using them. I used opiates almost everyday for 2 years and it took a few months after stopping to feel mostly normal.
After the physical withdrawals you will go through what is called Post Acute Withdrawal Syndrome or PAWS. You will feel apathetic and depressed for a short amount of time or a long amount of time and the amount of time that you will be affected by it depends on what I mentioned above and also how you supplement your brain to help it start creating dopamine on its own again. Things like exercise, eating healthy and making sure you are taking enough protein and vitamins will make the recovery period substantially shorter. Protein is very important, your body uses it to make neurotransmitters such as dopamine. You can also supplement with L-Tryptophan, this turns into Dopamine and Nor Epenephrine (adrenalin kinda). I found it very useful to curb the apathy associated with PAWS, as well as helping give me energy to start working out and get things done but it is only wise to take it after the physical withdrawal is over with because it increases your heart rate and may make the physical withdrawal worse. I would only take it for a couple weeks to get things going because over use may interrupt the recovery of the functionality of your dopamine receptors, only use it to give you a push in the beginning and use exercise to bring you the rest of the way to optimal mental health.
Your Dopamine receptors will recover to where they were before but make sure that you don't jeopardize your recovery by using again, and also don't be extremely hard on yourself if you do relapse, beating yourself up too much could just lead to way to much guilt which is a big trigger in relapses. Don't be afraid to try support groups such as NA, it could be of great help to you but you never know until you try. I decided that it wasn't right for me but I tried atleast. I have been mostly clean since last december, i've had a few relapses but I don't let them get me down. I just remind myself of all the progress that I have made and that encourages me to keep going for my goal of becoming strong enough to not even think of drugs when things get tough, to feel comfortable with all the hurt and bad feelings that life is bound to throw at you; because i know that if I can learn deal with that sober, I can finally start being the person I want to be....someday, baby steps.....
I hope this helps you, sorry if I went too far off topic there
I wish you all the best.
The body, after doing dopaminergic drugs goes into a sort of "shock" period. Using these drugs and boosting dopamine in the brain; your brain will down regulate, and that means it will stop producing as much dopamine to create a sort of balance. Dopamine is needed for many bodily functions, after the receptors are downregulated and you stop using the drugs you go into withdrawal, this is your body freaking out because it doesn't have the dopamine that it needs to work. There is an adjustment period, and it varies depending on the drugs used and also the amount of time that you have been using them. I used opiates almost everyday for 2 years and it took a few months after stopping to feel mostly normal.
After the physical withdrawals you will go through what is called Post Acute Withdrawal Syndrome or PAWS. You will feel apathetic and depressed for a short amount of time or a long amount of time and the amount of time that you will be affected by it depends on what I mentioned above and also how you supplement your brain to help it start creating dopamine on its own again. Things like exercise, eating healthy and making sure you are taking enough protein and vitamins will make the recovery period substantially shorter. Protein is very important, your body uses it to make neurotransmitters such as dopamine. You can also supplement with L-Tryptophan, this turns into Dopamine and Nor Epenephrine (adrenalin kinda). I found it very useful to curb the apathy associated with PAWS, as well as helping give me energy to start working out and get things done but it is only wise to take it after the physical withdrawal is over with because it increases your heart rate and may make the physical withdrawal worse. I would only take it for a couple weeks to get things going because over use may interrupt the recovery of the functionality of your dopamine receptors, only use it to give you a push in the beginning and use exercise to bring you the rest of the way to optimal mental health.
Your Dopamine receptors will recover to where they were before but make sure that you don't jeopardize your recovery by using again, and also don't be extremely hard on yourself if you do relapse, beating yourself up too much could just lead to way to much guilt which is a big trigger in relapses. Don't be afraid to try support groups such as NA, it could be of great help to you but you never know until you try. I decided that it wasn't right for me but I tried atleast. I have been mostly clean since last december, i've had a few relapses but I don't let them get me down. I just remind myself of all the progress that I have made and that encourages me to keep going for my goal of becoming strong enough to not even think of drugs when things get tough, to feel comfortable with all the hurt and bad feelings that life is bound to throw at you; because i know that if I can learn deal with that sober, I can finally start being the person I want to be....someday, baby steps.....
I hope this helps you, sorry if I went too far off topic there
I wish you all the best.
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