Do other addictions suck just as much?

[JB 883]

So we know what a smoking one is like. It is like even close to a year later and some of us still get craves. Though mine are not strong like at three months but lately I want to set a bag of tobacco on fire and just breathe deep. with my face close to it.

 

Anyways, so when people get hooked on other crap like booze or hard drugs, do they also have a long fight ahead of the dealing with withdrawals at first then on/off craves from months? I have never been addicted to anything other than tobacco (unless you want to count sugar and shopping as addictions)

 

Yeah one could probably look this up but just wondering what people say first hand. You know web sites blow things out of proportion. I still remember reading how nicotine addiction was worse than trying to break addiction to crack, heroin, weed, speed, meth, huffing glue and paint, alcohol, and sniffing homeless people underwear combined.

 

So what of it?

 

 

 

[jillar]

Interesting that you brought this up as I was just thinking the same after watching the nuggets video. That video could apply to every addiction it seems. I've always heard that quitting cigarettes is as hard or harder that kicking heroin. The problem is that having never had another addiction it's impossible to know if this is true.  I would imagine though from having alcoholics in  my family that it really is one day at a time and always vigilant

 

[c9jane29]

I think it all comes down to that vicious dopamine cycle and what pathways are created by the drug. I've read that some drugs change the survival part of your brain creating false instincts that can over ride your primal need for survival...thus causing people to abuse use knowing they could die. 

As for the cravings, I think a def yes on that...I mean, our brain loves dopamine and short cuts and if we've created false pathways in our brain "to feel good is to abuse drugs" then we will constantly seek out this source of pleasure. 

I've never used heavy drugs, or had a underwear sniffing problem. I've smoked a fair share of weed, I drank heavily in my late 20's, but easy to give up once I started having kids so my knowledge is also limited.

[Whispers]

I was addicted to alcohol for a few years, it sucked. I was a pack a day smoker but i was a drinker and i was fairly new to heavy drinking. You sweat it out the first few days after quitting drinking also you get the shakes. You can smell the alcohol in your sweat its crazy when you detox, i drank for a lil over two years everyday straight. Knowing your limit is the trick with drinking but i had issues so it was easy to say **** it and get drunk. I know people who have had addictions to pills, H(they goto H as its cheap or when the dr wont give them a script for the pills and perks are what they like) and blow . All pretty much suck but the one thing i'll tell you is in a AA meeting they all smoke and say its my only vice. I went to a few meetings to see how it was and alot of them have battled that addiction . You can tell by the look on the people( they age rapidly/have that look like they went thru a war or something)

Edited August 19, 2018 by Whispers

[notsmokinjo]

Ok... I started drinking at around 12... just a shot when I was stressed, or couldn't sleep or felt bad... then it was a shot to got to sleep every night by uni it was 1 bottle of vodka a week with another bottle or two on the weekend when i binged... in my early 20s this was binge drinking (to the point of not knowing what I had done in the morning some days) from Thursday to Sunday... I was also smoking at least a pack a day, and doing speed or blow most weekends and havin cookies (E's) or acid (so I had an e and speed for the first time at 16)... basically if it was an upper or a psychedelic I went there... so I would leave the 'hard' stuff for the weekend (Friday night to Sunday).. i'd have the occasional cone to re-kick an E... so I started smoking at 18... quit at 21.... started again at 27 (quit when pregnant, no issue because it wasn't a real quit, just til the kid wasn't breast feeding)... tried to quit a few times here and there...had a planned quit at 33 that didn't pan out after I ended up in a comma and in hospital for nearly 3 weeks... first thing I did when I left.. light up.... and now this quit, which is the sticky quit.

 

So... grog .... hard, especially because it is such a huge social thing here and in my circle of friends and family.... so I cold turkeyed due to kidney issues and did fine for about 8 years then started to have a 'social' drink here and there which meant a total binge once a month when the kid was with her dad.... lasted for about 4 months and ended up with a kidney bleed and haven't drunk since... because I know I can go for days or months without drinking but once I have that first drink I will drink until oblivion... then just stop again until the next one. Physically I can not afford to drink, and you know what I don't want to anymore, I'm sick of running away from my crap and it doesn't fill the hole. Physically kicking this and detoxing was much harder than that side of quitting smokes, the withdrawal/detox aspect. Psychologically much easier. Emotionally it had been my go to crutch since I was a baby... that took a bit and socially i felt isolated a bit and even still sometimes I feel pressured to drink at times. But the health impacts of giving into this are now pretty immediate.

 

Speed... I stopped that when ice first started making a scene here and it was being cut in with the speed... the speed was different, I didn't like the high, I didn't like the come down... I kicked it pretty easy... but i was sort of doing a partial detox every mon-fri anyway. I don't if think about this anymore and don't miss it... I did always feel more centered and focused on speed or blow but if it was lined up in front of me... nah wouldn't bother.

 

Blow, E's, Acid, Mushies, GBH, Liquid Fantasy, Special K.... I just said one day I'm done and I was... that first weekend to the middle of the second week were not nice, the first weekend I thought I was going to crawl out of my skin. To be honest, with the exception of those who are family, I have cut ties with all the 'friends' from that time... they all still use or transitioned to ice... I think I got out of that scene at the right time. Cousins will still offer me product from time to time... I just say thanks but no thanks... I think I just grew up.... yes when I was on it, life was fantastic... I could escape the dark shit I carry and I felt like I fit in and belonged and was worthwhile... but i also felt more focused and attentive on louie or blow.. and then I felt like the only way to be that was to be ripped off me tits and I was over it... I think I grew up.... and honestly, now I have a kid I can't because that kind of escapism isn't conducive to being an even semi decent parent.

 

So for me... the physical withdrawal of alcohol and hard drugs was much harder than the physical withdrawal of smokes... the emotional side was on about a par for me... the habit/routine side is significantly harder with quitting smokes and the psychological side of quitting is all the others combined and to the power of 10. That's me, that's my story.

 

So...

Hard drugs... nothing since Feb 2004

Dope... see above, wait no, I had a toke maybe 10 years ago but I don't know why I bothered I never liked it, only ever had it to give an E a boost.

Alcohol... not a drop since July 2011

Smokes...not one puff since 28 Nov 2017

nrt...l think not long after i joined here... it was before the end of softball season.. so late feb/mid marchish

Sniffing Underwear, of anyone... never been an issue.

 

I lucked out, I was an extremely functioning junky... I held down a job which gave me pretty decent money to fund my hedonistic lifestyle and I could seperate work jo from weekend jo... god only knows how because I sure as fvck don't... do I regret it... who wouldn't regret basically outting a house up there nose or down their throat over an 11 year period... but you know what there is no point regretting it... it made me who I am today and lead me to where I am... so it is what it is and it can't be changed.

Edited August 19, 2018 by notsmokinjo

[Cbdave]

G'day Jo

Im glad you have strength and trust in yourself to be able to say what you have.

Wow, I'm sorta a bit more empowered cause my journey hasn't been the same. Would I have been the same? If my life had been the same?

I only really know nicotine addiction it's legal and all consuming of my life. I am so glad to be free of it.

It gets better, really good! Trust me when I say you'll enjoy it more so much more the longer your Quit!

thank you so much for your writings, I need to never forget and reading maintains my rage. 

Chris

[Octain]

Simply put, once an addict, always an addict.

 You get used to dealing with cravings. After all, it always goes away. Always… 

[Doreensfree]

I would just like to say...

Your honesty in these posts made me drop a tear...

I'm proud of you all...you have fought and won your own wars...

I have only been addicted to Nicotine...well...maybe sausages....

But seriously you guys are much stronger than me...

Give yourselves the massive pat on the back ..you deserve...

Love to you all xxxx

[notsmokinjo]

2 hours ago, Octain said:

Simply put, once an addict, always an addict.

 

^^ truest statement ever!

[notsmokinjo]

2 hours ago, Cbdave said:

 

Im glad you have strength and trust in yourself to be able to say what you have.

 

Not saying it wont change it, people knowing wont change who I am, and if me telling it helps even one person then the whole sorry mess had a purpose.

[Whispers]

53 minutes ago, Doreensfree said:

I would just like to say...

Your honesty in these posts made me drop a tear...

I'm proud of you all...you have fought and won your own wars...

I have only been addicted to Nicotine...well...maybe sausages....

But seriously you guys are much stronger than me...

Give yourselves the massive pat on the back ..you deserve...

Love to you all xxxx

Thats what its about here, being honest and sharing your experience so that if another member or lurker notices a similarity they can get help. We as humans sometimes spiral, substance abuse most not all is when people start to self medicate from a difficult life or a tough situation. When we feel or get anxiety or depressed we use our goto to treat it in my case it was alcohol. I saw Dr's, lawyers big shot Corp people to your average worker when i was in those two meetings. What would happen if you found out your other half was having an affair? What would happen if a loved one was terminally ill? What would happen if you were on the verge of a financial crisis? You can blow your sobriety / quit if you're not strong enough mentally and just because one person is able to do it and stay sober or maintain their quit some people may not be and fall off. The one thing that i noticed is that smoking cigarettes(the drug) hasn't ruined relationships the way that drugs or alcohol does but its bad in its own way as it ruins our health in many ways 

Edited August 19, 2018 by Whispers

[Sazerac]

There is debate on whether caffeine is addictive but, it changes your brain in much the same way as nicotine

and the way I over indulged would signal an addiction.

Quitting caffeine was gruesome physically/emotionally for two weeks and now I don't really care about it.

 

Quitting nicotine was not physically gruesome but, it took more than a year to re-claim my thoughts

and that was often a serious wrangle 

in which I was determined to triumph.

 

Other drugs, psychotropics-amphetamines-soporifics,  I did socially but, they never grabbed me.

 

Oh wait....I did two weeks of Xanax when on a visit to my Mother and Evil Sisters.

(ignorant of X's addictive properties)

Quit cold turkey when I got home. 

That was fcuked up...awful, anxiety ridden crash. 

I found out later that you aren't supposed to cold turkey with X, you're supposed to Valium through.

(and then de-tox from V ? )

 

The Blessed Herb is still my friend, but, I can put it down no problem

and I'm not partaking in Demon Rum because of BP issues.

 

but, hey don't mess with me ! I will have to kill myself if I can no longer sniff underwear.

 

Edited August 19, 2018 by Sazerac

[farmgirl]

It was harder for me to quit drinking because (a) I didn't quit for myself.  I quit because of a drunken moment when I screamed at my husband in a drunken rage "I can quit anytime I want!  I can stop tomorrow."  And he said "I'd like to see it." and because (b) by the time I quit smoking nearly 5 years later, I knew the mental game of quitting.

 

But it was harder for me to actually get to the first day of quitting cigarettes because (a) my smoking didn't make me irrational and crazy like my drinking did, so it affected no one but me, and (b) no one but my husband and a few friends knew I smoked, so I kind of pretended I wasn't a real smoker.  

 

So... no real answer to your question.  If I remember the gut-wrenchingness of both, drinking was harder because I was an emotional and psychological mess as a result from my drinking.  I went into the smoking quit well aware of the failure stats and super determined not to give in to temptation.  I was already mentally on top of my game when I started this quit.

[brand.new.ela]

Thank you for your stories. You are all an inspiration.