Is stimulant abuse recovery possible?

[Dutchguy]

Hi everyone,

First of all. Sorry for my English, i am from the netherlands

I have been looking around for a while and decided to make a post:

I have been abusing 3mmc for the past year. I started it june taking it every weekend ( 2 grams). from july to september i took it 4 times a week, with an estimate of 3,5 grams a week. I did not sleep for 2 days every week.
In october i did not use and in november i started using again, every weekend 2 grams until december. In december i started to get the side effects as listed below:

- DPDR, lost my concept of time, it felt like the past year went by in a blink of an eye, it felt like everything went on autopilot
- Tinitus
- headache
- brain zaps
- waking up in the middle of the night and my heart pounding

I was really scared and decided to get some help, i learned a lot about DPDR and have been trying to excersice and meditate eat healthy.

The thing is that from January until now i have used it 3 more times even though i know it enhances the symptons and i should take a break for a minimum of 6 months, i am having trouble to stay sober for longer then a month.

I now am scared that because i kept using the drugs while i had the DPDR it will stay forever..

My question is if there are more people here that have abuses 3mmc and have recovered and what worked best for you?
i also have a question regarding the serotonin depletion, is the depletion comparable as with MDMA or is it much milder? Is it easier to get rid of the DPDR comparing 3mmc with mdma?

Thanks

 

[Jabberwocky]

i have never heard of DPDR being caused by stimulants. i'm sorry you're experiencing that.

you are right that you need a much longer break for your brain to heal. are you getting any help for your substance use or for the symptoms it is causing you?

i abused MDMA and mephedrone regularly so i know what its like to do a number on your serotonin system. i'd end up randomly in tears. not fun. i was addicted to other drugs at the time so they probably masked a lot of the symptoms.

nothing is a foregone conclusion. some symptoms take longer than others to resolve but they are rarely permanent. like i had residual psychosis when i got clean from crack that lasted 6 months, and for some people it last years, but it almost always goes away in the end. so there is hope, but get help, doing this shit on your own is needlessly painful and more likely to fail.

 

[Eligiu]

Recovery from anything is possible, it just depends on your mindset and environment. I had a pretty large methamphetamine and heroin IV habit between 2016-2017 which almost destroyed my life but with the help of a friend I got on the right path to then attend outpatient rehab. It wasn't easy by any means, nor am I completely fixed, but my life is a far sight better now than it used to be.

 

[Dutchguy]

i have never heard of DPDR being caused by stimulants. i'm sorry you're experiencing that.

you are right that you need a much longer break for your brain to heal. are you getting any help for your substance use or for the symptoms it is causing you?

i abused MDMA and mephedrone regularly so i know what its like to do a number on your serotonin system. i'd end up randomly in tears. not fun. i was addicted to other drugs at the time so they probably masked a lot of the symptoms.

nothing is a foregone conclusion. some symptoms take longer than others to resolve but they are rarely permanent. like i had residual psychosis when i got clean from crack that lasted 6 months, and for some people it last years, but it almost always goes away in the end. so there is hope, but get help, doing this shit on your own is needlessly painful and more likely to fail.

Thanks for your reply. How are you feeling now? and may i ask how much mdma and mephedrone you used? i am currently waiting to get professional help, to get rid of my underlying anxiety issues.

 

[Jabberwocky]

Thanks for your reply. How are you feeling now? and may i ask how much mdma and mephedrone you used? i am currently waiting to get professional help, to get rid of my underlying anxiety issues.

i'm ok, i have long term problems from other drugs but i don't think i have any from mdma/mephedrone.

i dunno how much mdma and meph i used tbh. i first did md when i was 16, would do it once to twice a week in college (probably not coincidental that i had a serious suicide attempt at 16 and didn't smile without drugs for a long time). at uni i did it between once a month and once a week. in 2009 the import of saffrole was banned which meant that there was very little mdma in the UK, so use went right down. discovered mephedrone in 2010, probably doing twice a month. then it got banned, but new synth routes for md were established by then. i had a 6 week period doing it every weekend when mdma was back in the uk. that destroyed me mentally so i reined it in a bit. then til 2018 i did it maybe 5-6 times per year.

so, i'd say i've done a fair bit lol. but its one of the only drugs where using it was actively a good time. i've been addicted to weed, benzos, crack, heroin, and alcohol (kinda) and most of the time that using was not fun, i was just feeding an addiction. i can't say i've ever had a great night doing hard drugs, maybe the odd great 10 mins, but i've had some banging nights on mdma and mephedrone. so even if it has contributed to my ongoing mental health problems, they are the only drugs that were vaguely worth it. sorry, this is just me musing and not relevant to your questions. in your case it sounds very much not worth it!