• HEALTH & RECOVERY
    Welcome Guest
    Posting Rules Bluelight Rules Thread Directory 1 Thread Directory 2
    Mindfulness Links Addiction & Mind
    Sober Living Partner Program (SLiPP)
  • H&R Moderators: VerbalTruist | cdin | Lil'LinaptkSix

Poppy Seed Tea Withdrawal Is Hell

Ive been prescribed zomig. I found it the strangest feeling. It anesthetized me. I went from awake to not remembering falling asleep. Didn't get drowsy. From awake to knocked out. It also gave me very realistic dreams. So realistic, it was difficult to discern if they we're real or not.

We had a friend living w us, he used to walk to the store at 5am every morning to get a newspaper. I dreamt, he walked by me, said "Hey 10, I'm going to get the paper", I said "ok, see you soon", and out the front door he went. If I hadn't woken up a at 3am, I would've sworn that I had just seen him leave. Also, I would have some unpleasant dreams on it. My husband would wake me up, because I was obviously distressed. My husband experienced all the same side effects. I stopped taking it. If it works for you, great. Everyone is different.

I don't have a good reaction to Seroquel either. I get extremely drowsy, my legs feel like I have buckets of cement tied to them but, I can't sleep! The feeling stayed with me until the following evening. So maybe, it's just me that those meds don't agree with.

I used oxygen for a few years. There's even a "cluster mask", designed by a ch sufferer. It has a tight seal for around nose and mouth to keep the O2 in. You use a high liter flow of ,O2, 15-25 lpm for relief. The air is rushing out, very audibly I actually found the sound soothing.

That's why the cluster mask is much more effective. With a regular O2 mask, alot of the air escapes. I've done it all. Including nerve blocks, that would leave one side of my body paralyzed for 3 days. I'm "med-resitant and chronic". Most ppl with Ch's are episodic. They have them in Spring and Summer, or Fall and Winter. I've exhausted all protocol. I'm considered chronic pain. So, it really sucks lol.

To be honest, other than your pain being unilateral, it doesn't sound like you have cluster headaches. You said you're able to function(never happening w Ch's), need to lie down in a dark room, etc. That's characteristics of a migraine. With clusters, it's extremely difficult to stay still. It took years to be able to sit still w my eyes closed and meditate. I still tremble from the pain, instantly am covered in sweat, with it riveting off my jaw. You mentioned you had an injury, that makes sense. I'm not a Dr ., just someone very experienced with cluster headaches. Your Dr may have thought they were clusters, because you have unilateral pain, eye swells - indeed they are symptoms be of CH. But not the rest of it. I'm happy for you�� - you don't want CH's.

I haven't used it in a long time. It's difficult to get insurance to cover it if it's not for respiratory issues. Thanks for the info though.

Weird/negative dreams are common while in w/d and detoxing. Your garage had a special corner for your pst. Maybe that has something to do with it. Hope your well IAG. I'm here for you.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Thanks Ash--Good to hear from you. Completely understand the chronic pain--when not on the PST or prescription drugs, everything hurts some days.

I've done some really stupid physical stuff over the years and it seems the older I get, the more pissed off my body is about it. Actually crashed an ultra light (motorized hang glider) and fell about 700 ft one time. Luckily I landed in a muddy cornfield which saved my life...took a few days to recover from that one. My back is the worse though--Tylenol, Advil, Aleve will take the edge off but the pain is usually always there.

I need to get in to see my ortho but am afraid he is just going to start prescribing drugs again and I know where that will take me. I had a procedure called a rhizotomy 3 or 4 years ago where they cauterize the nerves that send the pain signals to your brain which really helped (the procedure was torturous, though--similar to having 6 steroid injections at the same time, only with a burning sensation at the end of each one). The nerves regenerate over time, so I may be due for another as long as there is no structural damage in my spine.

Anyway, thanks for the encouragement. Hang in there.
 
Last edited:
@10YearsGone: I figured you had tried everything. May be right about the cluster vs. cluster migraine diagnosis. Maybe my doctor said it was a cluster-fuck and I misunderstood him (ha!)...All I know is that they suck when I get them.

Hope you're feeling better today. Keep looking for answers--there are always new treatments being introduced. Have you tried searching on www.clinicaltrials.gov?
 
Damn, falling 700ft isn't for amateurs! Glad you survived and didn't end up a quadriplegic.

Ive begged my Dr to give me shots in my temple, and all down my jaw. It made the pain worse I give up.

I've also pushed the envelope physically. My body definitely reminds me too. I take 4-600mgs of Ibuprofen just about everyday. I hear you about getting back to narcs.

I was prescribed 400.mg OxyContin/day, which changed too 400mg of ext. Release Morphine, #120 Fioricet month, #90 1mg Xanax w/ 2 refills a month, Lyrica. Alot. Now I take Neurontin, a small script for Lyrica and that's it.

At one time, I was doing a bundle and a half of heroin IV on top of all that. I'm so grateful I'm off of all of that. Be well IAG. It's sunny and nice out in PA today, hope it's the same wherever you are. The sunshine cheers me up.
 
Day 16: Another long night with no sleep meds. Think I slept from 4:30 to 6:30 but that was it. Last time I went through withdrawal, I went almost 30 days with little to no sleep and could just barely function most days. With this WD I have been using sleep meds off and on and can really tell a huge difference when I get 5/6 hours compared to 2/3. Probably no surprise to anyone who has dealt a lot with recovery. It is tempting to just take them every night, but I really don't want to trade addictions (especially with the benzos) and know that eventually my sleep patterns will normalize--it will just take time. Plan to try and make it another night without them and then switch to Trazadone for a couple of nights.

But, I actually feel better today than I did yesterday...yesterday sucked. Just could not find the energy to anything. I would get up for short bursts but would just completely run out of gas and have to sit back down. I managed to get some things done for work in the morning but spent most of the day watching Netflix. Also had a pounding headache all day that no amount of Tylenol would touch.

I still have a dull headache today and seem to have a lot of congestion/drainage going on. That seemed to be getting better last week but has been worse for the past few days. Psychologically/emotionally I am functioning much better which I am thankful for and it seems that my mental clarity is improving as my brain feels less foggy today. Appetite is back at this point and gastro issues have all passed (ha!). But my legs/arms still feel achy and tired. Difficult to find the energy to get them up and moving even though I keep forcing myself to do so. I have some meetings this afternoon so I am gong to workout and head in to work.

I know I keep mentioning the crappy weather here but I really think it is having a huge effect on my attitude. Last time I went through WD it was Spring/Summer and I could get outside and either sit or walk in the sun. If I had this WD do-over to do over, I would have waited until it was nicer outside. Today it is supposed to hit 60 degrees but it is grey and rainy and supposed to drop back to 25 on Friday with no sun in the forecast. But, I do see flowers starting to come up and the trees starting to bud, so I know Spring is imminent. Just need to be patient...with everything.
 
10YearsGone said:
Damn, falling 700ft isn't for amateurs! Glad you survived and didn't end up a quadriplegic.
Click to expand...

Happened about 30 years ago when I was younger and stupider. It was more of controlled crash and not a nose dive or it would have killed me but it still made the front page of the local paper! 4 broken ribs, lacerated spleen, punctured lung, broken ankle, shattered tibia, broken wrist, cracked pelvis, cracked collar bone, fractured cheek, separated both shoulders, concussion, a shitload of bruises and stitches. It was a bad day...but I'm still here to tell about it. The dumbassed part is I got right back into another hang glider as soon as I recovered. Guess when your're 20-something you think you are immortal anyway and I just survived falling out of the sky.
 
Day 17. Well that was a long night...zero sleep. Saw the sun go down and come back up (actually the sun is not out AGAIN here today and it's pouring down rain). No sleep meds but I really considered taking something at one point. Actually gave up about 3 AM, got up and wrote a couple of blog posts for work that actually don't read too bad. But I am really starting to feel the lack of sleep now and know it's probably not going to be a great day. Luckily, I don't have much on the agenda that requires much mental focus. Figure if I can make it to 8 or 9 tonight, I can take something to help me sleep and hit the bed early. I know from the last WD that napping during the day just makes things worse at night and really fucks with my sleep patterns. Insomnia is just the absolute worst part of recovery--it just wears you down in all kind of ways.

But...if I compare how I feel today to where I was 2 weeks ago, I can see things are definitely getting better. Still have a very slight headache and congestion/drainage seems better today but still sneezing a lot. Obviously, feel tired with low energy. Aches do not seem as bad this morning for some reason, but they usually amp up later in the day. Seems like I usually hit a wall around 4 in the afternoon and just feel absolutely drained. Makes it hard to get up and keep moving. It's worse on the days that I don't sleep, so I'm sure it's the insomnia affecting me. And even though I am exhausted, my mental clarity seems much better today and I don't seem to have the ringing in my ears or visual fluttering sensation. While, I think that the foggy/cloudy feeling I've had is due to my brain trying to figure out how to function without the drugs, part of it is due to the Lunesta. Even though it puts me to sleep, it makes concentration hard if you take it for too many nights in a row. Think since I haven't had anything for the past few nights, it is working itself out of my system. So, I can be tired and concentrate or rested and catatonic--tough trade off. Honestly, of the 6 or 7 sleep drugs I've tried over the past year, I've yet to find anything that just makes you feel like you've had 8 hours of natural sleep. They all have their side effects and fuck with you in weird ways. And, I am starting to worry that by taking the sleep meds, I may be delaying my normal sleep patterns returning naturally. I don't know if it is better to just suffer with the insomnia for the next couple of months or use the meds off and on and risk never getting back to natural sleep. Anyone have any experience with that?

Anyway, need to find something to do to fill about 12 hours today until I can go back to bed. I noticed a couple of gutters are overflowing which means they must need cleaned out, but I don't think I have the juice to go out in the rain and mess with that--screw it, it's just water. Thought about going into work, but kind of hate to risk driving on the interstate when I am on no sleep--reflexes and concentration are just not there. But I may make an attempt at going to the grocery store which is just around the corner and driving out to my parents to see how they are doing which is just a few miles.
 
Getting a some light excersize may help you out. Forces your brain to produce some endorphin
 
8thday to iamgollum

iamgollum, I have LOVED reading your last and current experience. I too have my own story and about 3-4 years of poppyseedtea addiction. I decided to go cold turkey 8 days ago and my experience was just as your first one was. This has been the most difficult week of my life. We have the same issues.....no sleep. I could deal with the anxiety and sickness and zinging, shooting pains of burning hot and cold throughout the body all day and night long with with sweating but there is no relief--EVER! usually when you are sick, you can escape by going to sleep and our misery goes day and night and day and night again with no relief. Why does the poppy seed tea seem to be worse than the other opiate withdrawals? I thought poppyseed tea would be less of a withdrawal but I was wrong! Ive been on in for too many years I guess? I had surgery over a year ago and I thought it would be great to just take the pain meds and not have to deal with making my wash 2x a day. On the 3rd night after surgery, I could not sleep, felt like I was crawling out of my skin, restless leg, same kind of withdrawals as I have had since stopping and that was taking pain medication. I am not sure what is in the poppyseeds that isn't in opiate pain medication, but it is addicting! I preferred PST to pain meds. I have a stock of pain meds because I have been through so many surgeries but actually don't use them after a couple of days. I prefer Ibuprofen probably because the pain medication doesn't work for me anymore.

I am still really sick. Diarrhea for about the 10th time today, but I do have a bit of an appetite back. I am already starting to dread the night. I was reading about Gabapentin after 2 days of no sleep and I know my sister had some so she brought some over and I told her what was going on. She was sweet to me and the Gabapentin has worked to sleep for 2-3 hours a night but I don't want to use it every night. I wasn't to go off of everything. I want my body to readjust to a normal person without drugs. I've been given everything for anxiety and depression and the only thing that ever seemed to work was pain medication. Just made me feel better. Made me feel like I wanted to get things done. I never used them for a high. I don't even know what that would be. I don't want to get high, I just wanted to feel happy and feel like I could motivate myself to do something. Depression is horrible. I do think the PST has made it worse over the years. My mom said about 2 years ago that my personality had changed and I wasn't the same fun loving person I used to be. That still rings in my ears. My husband is a gem. He has been such a support to me. He doesn't even drink caffeine unless we are on a long road trip and it is dark. A could of weeks ago on a Friday morning, I was getting my Diet Drink out of the frig to make my morning cocktail of caffeine and he asked for a sip of my Mt Dew. I said to take the can and he said that he was exhausted and just needed a couple of swigs to start the day because it had been such a stressful week and he didn't want to have the caffeine, he doesn't think it is good for him. He never said, Don't drink that crap! You are self medicating in every way possible, he just is kind. I decided since the PST was just not working great for me anymore, I was done. Done with addiction to it and Caffeine and I already went off of ADHD meds a couple of months ago and thought I was going to have horrid panic attacks the rest of my life. Doctors throw out meds everywhere and I had no idea how addicting they are and how they will ruin you life. I have tons of Valium too. I could tell after taking them to sleep every night that after a week or so, they make my anxiety even worse so I never kept taking them. Only every once in a while if I was having a bad bad day and always just to sleep. I have never had such great sleep as I have drinking PST these last few years. I don't ever really have insomnia anymore. I always used to but maybe it was always my caffeine addiction. Okay. I have ranted enough. I wrote my horrible days down in my journal but have loved reading yours and they have really helped me. It is so nice to know I am not alone. I am not going to take the Gabapentin tonight. I am guessing it will be another all nighter without it. I do want my brain to reset and normal sleep to start again. I am not looking forward to two months of insomnia though.
 
@8thday: I know what you are going through and truly feel your pain. Some people have compared cold turkey to having the flu. Maybe that's true of short acting drugs but for PST it is like having the flu while the world is ending in slow motion. The thing about PST is there are so many different alkyloids in it that you are not just withdrawing from the opium. It's hard to tell what effect all of them have had on the brain chemistry and probably why seed tea withdrawal lasts so long. But I swear to you on my life that it will get better but it is a slow process. As I said above, don't try and compare it day-to-day, but week-to-week to see improvement. There will be good days and bad days, but eventually the good days will start to outnumber the bad ones. Everyone's body chemistry is different but I started to feel a lot better about the 15 day mark--not great, but definitely better.

A couple of suggestions based on my experience (again, everyone is different and react to things and experience withdrawal in different ways so take this with a grain of salt):

1: Start taking looperamide for the diarrhea. I would day 4-6 of them every 6 hours. They not only stopped the runs but also made the WD symptoms a bit less acute. I know that one has to take a shitload of it for it to cross the blood brain barrier for an opiate effect, but I could actually tell a difference when I took it.

2. Stay hydrated. I know you don't feel like eating or drinking anything but liquids will help in a lot of ways. They will help you think clearer and flush the system. I would put a gallon of water in the fridge and challenge myself to drink it each day.

3. Hot baths help immensely. If you can get it go buy a bunch of bags of Epson salt and dump 2 or 3 in the tub and soak in it. It will relax your mind and soothe the aches. Also, I took a magnesium supplement and high dose Vitamin D during this latest kick and it has made my aching legs/arms feel much better.

4. Stay away from decongestants, especially DXM and Benydril. Both of them jacked up my heart rate and made the restless legs much worse.

5. Get up and get moving as soon as you feel like it. Believe me, I know exercise and activity is the last thing you want to do, but it does help a lot.

6. Find a focal point for why you want to be clean. Maybe it's a picture of you husband, a place you'd like to visit, your sister, kids, a new job, education, whatever. Focus on it when you feel like giving in.

You have made it 8 days in cold turkey withdrawal from PST and that is an incredible achievement. You have more willpower than you know and the support of people who love you and want to see you succeed. That is powerful. Keep going--you got this.
 
jasperkent said:
Good essay about trying to come off poppy seed tea:

WARNING! POSSIBLE TRIGGERS!

https://www.thesunmagazine.org/issues/514/tea-time


Peace&Love,
jasper

​"I am not a member of any organized political party. I am a Democrat." -- Will Rogers
Click to expand...

Wow...that was an eerily similar story to read. A lot of what the author wrote hit very close to home. Maybe too close. The main difference is that the guy was trying to avoid chronic un-diagnosed pain. I also deal with a lot of pain, and while the tea does make me feel better, that's not why I used it. I think there is a distinct difference between someone looking for answers to pain or affliction and someone who is just bored and wanted to get high. The problem with self-medicating though is that the beast cannot be controlled for long--that much I'm sure of.
 
Iamgollum, thank you. Honestly, made me cry! No one, no one can understand unless they have had to struggle with PST. I just got out of a hot bath because I am still sweating and my feet are blocks of ice. I just wish I could feel better. My kids and my husband, my family, I have a million reasons to get better. Mostly my kids and my husband. They are truly wonderful. I thought the PST was helping me get up and get things done and be super mom but there are so many downs to it and I don't remember who I even was before all of my surgeries 5 years ago. I feel for you not being able to talk to your wife. I will be here for you until you tell her. My husband has been such a sweet, loving, wonderful support to me and my oldest daughter. She knows about everything and has been helping me.

I get the no Benadryl thing....I tried NyQuil, Dramamine, Benadryl, and it made it worse and I couldn't sleep at all those nights. The only thing that has helped the surges of heat and cold was the Gabapentin and after reading up on that, I don't dare take it anymore either. I'm going cold again tonight. My husband and youngest are on a golf trip and I can not have to worry about taking care of things tomorrow, so If I don't get any sleep. I don't get any sleep....just like the first three miserable nights and the 5th. Really, thank you for you posts. I read all of them twice. I have a couple of questions. 1. Would you not take any sleep aids at all and just let your body adjust or do you think it helps to get some kind of sleep to help recover, even if it is putting medicine in your body? I have Valium, the Gabapentin. 2. What is Loopermide? Is that Immodium? 3. Why did you relapse. That about killed me. I don't want to do that after putting myself through the decision to get back to my old self. Just wondering. I am just a mess right now. The hot baths with the mag salts really help, but I only put a little in. I guess I should get more. I take that and for 10 minutes at night the hot and cold flashes stop and I can lay down and relax, but they start up again. I am starting to swear already. I am day 8! Why is it still so horrible? I thought After day 5 I would be better. I was in California with my kids for Spring Break.....bad, bad, bad idea! I thought after day 5, I would still be weak, but okay. WRONG! I thought I was going to die! I didn't sleep, took bath after bath in the hotel bathtub and could barely walk around and go get food with them and sit on the beach freezing about to throw up! I was never to glad to get home again and I thought after a week, I would definitely be better but I'm not even close! This is so incredibly frustrating! After reading your posts, I realized it is going to be a really really long haul. If I would have known, I would not have done it now. I would have waited, but there is never a good time as a parent. Never! I feel horrible ruining their SB. I tried to be the fun mom, but I felt like a 100 year old, out of breath, barely walking around and no appetite. I am an ex-marathon runner and always full of energy doing everything at lightening speed and now I can't even walk down the hall in my house or change the laundry without almost crying I am so tired. This is unbearable!!!
 
@8thday: Do not beat yourself up over this or what happened over Spring break--the past is the past and cannot be changed so just focus on today and tomorrow. One day at a time--celebrate your victories. That super mom who used to run marathons is still in there and will soon be returning. I'm sure your husband and kids have missed her. As you said above, you have a million reasons to succeed and not one good one to start drinking the tea again.

Yes, loop is Immodium. Be careful with it though because it can cause the opposite problem...definitely drink lots of fluids when you take it. At the sign of the first normal movement, stop taking it. Things should start to get more regular after that.

I had the same delusions of how long the CT would last as well. Like you, I thought in 4 or 5 days I would be back to me and was absolutely shocked when I was still dealing with symptoms a month later. I will say that most of the horrible stuff will pass in the next week or two. My legs continued to ache for a long time and I sneezed a lot but the insomnia was the worse. I've never been a great sleeper and the WD really amped that up. My sleep doctor gave me some Restoril at one point which I took for about a week which seemed to remind my brain what sleep was and when to do it. After that things started to normalize. Restoril is a benzo, though, so if you try that do not take it for very long as I have heard the WD's are just as bad. I have mixed feelings about taking new meds to reduce the WD symptoms. Part of me thinks that one should just let the body reach homeostatis on its own. But, like you said life still goes on and one has to function. I think getting some sleep during this kick has allowed me to rejoin society faster than last time, but I do worry I am just extending sleep problems. Time will tell I guess.

Finally, regarding your question of why I started using again...I wish I could tell you but I don't know myself and I have thought about it a lot. I'd like to blame it on stress or some other traumatic event but I can't--I simply made a conscious decision to start drinking it again. I clearly remember telling myself it would just be for one time, no more. But after feeling that high again I wanted more and went right back for more. It wasn't a gradual thing like my first addiction--it was BANG i was using every day again. On the wagon and right back off in the span of 24 hours. And while I obviously made a stupid choice, I did learn a valuable lesson about myself which is that I am definitely a drug addict and my life is forever changed because of that. I can never use poppy seed tea again or risk any kind of opiate again. I may try and convince myself that I am strong willed and have the power to control it, but it will be a lie. My brain has been reprogrammed and it would only take one slip to get hooked again. That much I am sure of. But, I don't want to keep going through this agony either--I may be a slow learner, but I do learn--so I plan to get help and support.
 
Thank you for replying to me, and for the kind words. I am really needing you right now. I don't know why the hot flashes are amping up so bad right now. I thought I would be able to relax, knowing I don't have to get up and get kids off and no husband to see me crying in the morning after no sleep, so I thought maybe less stress would help.....guess not. I am sweating up a storm! WHAT THE HELL IS IN THAT STUFF THAT IS KILLING ME??? Why is it doing this to my body after 8 days?!!! I have had it! My feet are cold and soaked with sweat!

I have been looking for Immodium. I might have to go to the store again. Cry. haha. I don't know how you went through everything without your wife or a close support. This forum does seem great. I wish I would have seen it earlier, maybe not, because I would not have quit. This is 100x worse than any flu imaginable. At least with the flu, you can fall asleep and get relief. My daughter just came in to watch Legally Blonde for a break and she could not believe I am blogging on a forum and started laughing about it. I told her you are my new best friend! haha. Thanks for everything. I'll be back in tough after my incredibly long and miserably sweaty night of NO SLEEP!!!
 
rough rough night. no sleep. I took a Valium at 1am. did nothing. I maybe fell asleep from 4=4:30 but not sure. I feel like hell. Why won't by brain shut down? I did everything. I took 4 hot baths because the sweats were so bad last night. I feel like I'm dying. I'm worried by brain will never get back. What have I done to myself. I cried last night. Prayed, begged for help. It was horrible.
 
@8thday: CT withdrawal is a complete onslaught of physical, mental, emotional, and psychological symptoms which is why it feels so bad. Your brain and body chemistry are trying to figure out how to function without the drugs and like recovering from a serious injury it will take time. Trust in your body's natural desire to heal itself--sleep will return. I know with myself, the biggest challenge I find (aside from the sleep thing) is how aware I am of time passing--every second seems like an hour and even though I want it to go by faster, it seems to just crawl by. Someone in this thread suggested that outside of an altered state the brain perceives time differently because it is not filled with getting the drugs, mixing the drugs, taking the drugs, being high on the drugs, repeat, etc. And, since days and nights seem to blend together during CT withdrawal, time seems to go that much slower. Anyway, my point is to try and find something mundane to do so you are not focusing on how you feel or how long it may be taking. Clean house, organize a closet, arrange a photo album, etc. If it is sunny/warm where you are, take a short walk or just go sit in the sun and listen to the world. Just a suggestion.

My sleep doctor has told me that when I cannot sleep to get up out of bed and do something boring until you start to feel tired and then lay back down. If you still cannot sleep, get up again. It is pointless to lay in bed staring at the ceiling worrying about not sleeping because it only stresses you out more and makes it even harder to sleep. If you can do this, the brain begins to associate sleep with your bed and will eventually help alleviate the insomnia.

You were able to go on a vacation with your family during acute cold turkey withdrawal--that is so impressive. I don't think I could have done that as I could barely function at that point. It shows both a commitment to be sober and incredible inner strength. Try to compare how you feel today compared to those first few days of withdrawal. The physical symptoms should be starting to lessen and in another week or so the mental/emotional ones should also begin to improve. Yes, the insomnia will suck and will mess with you, but once the other issues pass you can at least deal with it better.
 
Thanks, I needed your pep talk and advice desperately this morning. It is freezing cold and lots of snow here, unfortunately. I guess I will quit feeling sorry for myself and get on with the miserable day. I felt better yesterday because I had taken Gabapentin and it actually helped me sleep for maybe 3 hours or so. No sleep today and it is strange how I am not tired at all, just feel like crap. My brain is wide awake, I don't understand this at all. I read back on your posts and you were getting a couple of hours sleep on your own. I have not been able to and it scares me that I have done something that won't ever repair. IT seems like most people are sleeping a little. Why am I not? Why won't my brain shut off? The Immodium helped. I have been surprised how long the gut issues are using. Every said you are feeling better between 5-7 days. Why is everything with mine persisting?

How is your sister? ai thought about her dealing with cancer last night.
 
Day 18: Weird day yesterday. Felt really tired both mentally and physically in the morning but around noon I started feeling really good even with zero sleep. Got some things done around the house, took a load of stuff to Goodwill, went out to my parents. Not sure where the energy came from but actually managed to stay up until midnight watching a movie with the wife. Decided to try and make it another night without sleep meds but around 2:00 decided I needed some help so I took a Trazadone. Managed to catch about 4 hours of continuous sleep. It takes a while to regain focus when you wake up from the Traz and I usually have a slight headache from it, but all-in-all I actually feel pretty good today. It's St. Patrick's Day, so maybe I got lucky...

Definitely starting to feel normal returning since the day ahead does not seem like a huge undertaking. Lower back is kind of fired up today but that is something I'm used to. Not feeling as achy and plan to go on a long walk. No anxiety/depression at this point and starting to feel like my usual upbeat self again. Congestion does not seem as bad today but still sneezing a lot--like 7 or 8 times in a row. It is the one symptom that the wife really notices and always asks if I'm allergic to something...uh, yeah, kinda. Still haven't said any thing to her about my little problem but I plan to talk to someone once we get back from vacation so we will see how that all shakes out.

Weather is still shitty here--no sun--think the high next week is supposed to be 42. But in 2 weeks I will be sitting on a beach in Gulf Shores so looking forward to that.
 
@8thday: Everyone's body chemistry is unique and reacts differently to both the drugs and withdrawal. Also, the length and strength of the drug use will affect recovery. I also think age and health/fitness has a lot to do with it. I know during my last kick the physical symptoms just seemed relentless but on this last one, they were not nearly as bad. I think that has to do with me dropping a bunch of weight, getting in shape, and eating healthier.

I've read that the reason we sleep is more for brain health than body health. In fact, the brain relies on it. That is why we insomniacs are usually able to function physically on a couple of hours of sleep but are zombies mentally. The opium and other alkaloids had a greater effect on your brain chemistry. It is working full tilt trying to figure out how to make dopamine and is sacrificing sleep in the process. But it will figure it out and eventually you will get a couple of hours of natural sleep which will turn into a few more and so on. There will be good days/nights and bad ones, but one day you will wake up and realize you slept 7 or 8 hours straight. That will be a good morning, trust me.

I know you feel like hell, but you are doing awesome. Jumping off cold turkey withdrawal is not for the faint of heart and demonstrates a real desire to just be done with that part of your life. Making it this far just means keep going. You've got this.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top