What are withdrawal symptoms like?

[Ethan729]

That's maybe a weird thing to be asking. The only drugs I've ever done are over-the-counter cough and cold medicines, and I heard that they don't give you physical withdrawals unless you use like an insane amount every day for like two years. I only use like a small or medium amount and only 3-7 times a week... And it was only for three months last time, and about two months this time.

And yet, whenever I stop (which I have now for the past few days), I get these really weird, messed up, feelings I can't even describe. It feels like my heart is pumping butterflies and electricity and sedatives from my brain into my whole body. Except I only really feel it in my head, my back, my stomach, and my left arm. What on earth is that? And it also sometimes makes me feel really weak, like I need to sit down, or like shaking/shivering. It is really weird, and I can't figure out what it is.
It's not normal shaking... If that makes the remotest amount of sense. Though I did get what I call "normal shaking" one random time, when my hands were shaking so much that when I was trying to eat crisps, I kept dropping them and somehow accidentally throwing them.
I also get random headaches, stomachaches, nausea, and cold symtoms. But I know that those are relatively normal, and I know what they are. I have no idea what the weird feelings I get are, or if they're even an actual thing as opposed to something my mind/body came up with to torture me.

But anyway, what I think I'm asking is, can anyone tell me if it makes the remotest amount of sense for me to feel so weird and messed up? Or if you've felt anything similar, or even just tell me what withdrawals are meant to be like? Or if what I'm getting isn't/can't be withdrawals and is somehow something else that has really coincidental timing...

Thanks for reading this, thanks for any responses, and I apologize if this is somehow posted in the wrong place or anything like that.

 

[Alex000]

Dextromethorphan is addictive, psychologically and physically. I am assuming that is what you are using. This is a toxic drug, quite toxic, so you could be feeling how it fucked up your brain in the short term, or these could be withdrawal symptoms.

 

[Shameful]

DXM is a SRI and what you've described sounds like pretty standard SRI withdrawal to me.

 

[effie]

^ I think I would agree - electric shock sensations and shaking are common when coming off serotinergic drugs - but I think you should get yourself checked out by a doctor to be sure. Pains down the left arm can occasionally come from the heart and although very unlikely, it would be worth speaking to a doctor about this, for your own peace of mind if nothing else

Another possibility is anxiety or depression. Random physical symptoms that don't fit with a specific illness can be caused by our psychological state - that isn't to say they are any less real than those caused by a physical illness, just that they have a different cause. Shaking and pains can be caused by acute anxiety too. Do you think this could be a possibility?

Good luck

 

[Ethan729]

Thank you all very much. I never knew that DXM was an SRI, or that it caused withdrawals (I'd always read it didn't), so it all makes a lot more sense now.
I think it's definitely withdrawals as opposed to anxiety or anything else, because I only get it for the first week or so of not getting high after doing it for a while. If I haven't done it in say, a month, I'd still get feelings of anxiety like I normally do, but they never manifest that way, and I never get those symtoms unless I've been high really frequently for a while and then have stopped recently.

One thing, though: I don't always do DXM. Just usually. Diphenhydramine makes the withdrawals go away just as well (I think, I don't really remember), and I know it's not the same kind of thing as DXM. I often just take DXM/diphenhydramine/both without paying much attention to what exact ingredient I'm using, so I don't really know.

Also: It's not a pain at all, it's just a weird feeling. It's like being nervous or shaky, except in random places. But it's not just confined to the left, because I felt it in my right arm today. That thought did cross my mind before though, 'cause it feels kinda like my brain's beating instead of my heart, and it's pumping a weird, shaky, drowsy feeling through me.

Anyway, thanks for the helpful replies!

 

[effie]

Technically it's not called withdrawal - with SSRI antidepressants it's called SSRI discontinuation syndrome, but you can get similar symptoms after stopping other serotinergic drugs. It may not be this - I would still get yourself checked out by a doctor to be sure. I don't think it's your heart from what you have said, but you can't diagnose someone over the internet - there is no substitute for seeing a dr face to face

It could all still be related to anxiety or other psychological issues, too - as I said that isn't to say your symptoms arn't real, far from it, just that physical symptoms can have a psychological cause as well as a physical one. I hope you start to feel better soon

 

[swilow]

Dextromethorphan is addictive, psychologically and physically. I am assuming that is what you are using. This is a toxic drug, quite toxic, so you could be feeling how it fucked up your brain in the short term, or these could be withdrawal symptoms.

Just going to point out that DXM isn't really physically addictive in the way that opiates or benzos are.

 

[srrondina]

That's maybe a weird thing to be asking. The only drugs I've ever done are over-the-counter cough and cold medicines, and I heard that they don't give you physical withdrawals unless you use like an insane amount every day for like two years. I only use like a small or medium amount and only 3-7 times a week... And it was only for three months last time, and about two months this time.

And yet, whenever I stop (which I have now for the past few days), I get these really weird, messed up, feelings I can't even describe. It feels like my heart is pumping butterflies and electricity and sedatives from my brain into my whole body. Except I only really feel it in my head, my back, my stomach, and my left arm. What on earth is that? And it also sometimes makes me feel really weak, like I need to sit down, or like shaking/shivering. It is really weird, and I can't figure out what it is.
It's not normal shaking... If that makes the remotest amount of sense. Though I did get what I call "normal shaking" one random time, when my hands were shaking so much that when I was trying to eat crisps, I kept dropping them and somehow accidentally throwing them.
I also get random headaches, stomachaches, nausea, and cold symtoms. But I know that those are relatively normal, and I know what they are. I have no idea what the weird feelings I get are, or if they're even an actual thing as opposed to something my mind/body came up with to torture me.

But anyway, what I think I'm asking is, can anyone tell me if it makes the remotest amount of sense for me to feel so weird and messed up? Or if you've felt anything similar, or even just tell me what withdrawals are meant to be like? Or if what I'm getting isn't/can't be withdrawals and is somehow something else that has really coincidental timing...

Thanks for reading this, thanks for any responses, and I apologize if this is somehow posted in the wrong place or anything like that.

100% DT's. If its been a few days since you took anything keep up the great work and good luck

 

[Ethan729]

100% DT's. If its been a few days since you took anything keep up the great work and good luck

What's DT's?
And no... It had been like, two days since I took anything when I posted that, but then I took some again on Thursday. Then Friday. Then yesterday... :/ Thanks anyway, though.

 

[swilow]

^I would think deleriums tremens which is a term historically used to describe alcohol withdrawal, though people might try and use it for any withdrawal from sedatives/downers. It doesn't apply to DXM withdrawal though...

You should taper from DXM, as with all addictive drugs. It will (hopefully) minimise the withdrawal period for you. Take care