big_k105

Since we aren't just talking about a mental addiction here, willpower and motivation can only do so much. When it comes to a physical addiction then treatment is normally needed, not to say there are people who haven't quit with just motivation and willpower but it doesn't happen very often in reality. Professional treatment is your best option, but remember that you have to have the motivation to quit, also. Treatment and Motivation alone won't probably work, you need both.

The method stated at least for smokers definitely won't work for harder drugs, it rarely works for smokers. I have personally tried it for smoking and I just end up smoking more. The sooner you get past the withdrawals the better off you are, I am sure the withdrawals for harder drugs is a fair amount of time so that is one reason treatment is normally needed to help you get past those symptoms. For smoking the physical addiction only lasts 3 days, after that it is a mental addiction. Those days while your body is trying to clean itself out and remove the physical addiction will be hard, and that is where the professional treatment will help you get past those. Personally I haven't been able to get past the 3 days of the nicotine physical addiction, so I am sure it would take more then just willpower to get past a stronger addiction.

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BIG K aka Kyle
Programming Forums
Kyle K Online

Please do not PM or email me programming questions. Post them in the forums instead.

mrynit

Stop hanging out with drug users or other addicts. This wont cure you but will make you less likely to use more drugs. friends can pressure and influence you into using more.

Reflect on why you started taking drugs in the first place. take of this issue why you start and that should help you from replacing.

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i dont know much about programming but i try to help

Wizard1988

Mrynit makes a good point, people you hang around do influence you. Taking on a hobby or a sport might take up some of your time and steer you away from thinking and or doing drugs.

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JG-Webdesign

Harakim

You've GOT to get away from the situation. If you can move, that would probably be helpful. I mean far away, too. I've never been addicted to drugs, but I've had other addictions. I've gone without eating for a week before and it wasn't even hard. If you can get yourself busy in a new environment, it really helps you change your habits.

Best of luck.

bigguy

Thanks yall. My friends and me talked it over just now, we are gonna check into a local NA group. We decided if we didnt want to do it for ourselves, then to do it for jesse our friends that OD'd. We know if he could he would tell us to get out of drugs and everything. I've heard people say you know once you do meth, your addicted for life, cause its a hard drug to get off of. Especially if you shoot up and thats all i did and smoke it. But my mom is a nurse and she hired one of her old friends from work who is a drug counselor, and we all gonna move in together so we don't have to check into a regular rehab. We can still see our family and stuff just not our friends. Which is good because I got offered to develop some programs for a local restaurant, i just hope they wont back out, when they here I'll be in a rehab environment. Thanks for the advice, we have a couple computers there,so maybe i'll stop in once in awhile and let yall know how I am holding up. Thanks again and wish me luck.

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Forgiveness is the fragrance that the violet sheds on the heal that has crushed it. - Mark Twain

Destruction leads to a very rough road, but it also breeds creation.

Wizard1988

Good luck man, I hope it all goes well for you.

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JG-Webdesign

Indigno

I'm addicted to coffee, but I don't think caffeine counts.

Anyways, just stick with it. I know some druggies who say they quit, then three weeks later they come in totally stoned saying "It was a good run, but this is more fun".

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Perhaps I should have a sticky topic for all of the times I "return" to this forum instead of a new one every time.

mackenga

I've never been a big drug user (as far as I remember!). I've smoked various amounts of hash and grass; not a lot lately, but still have the occasional puff. And there's the obvious (nicotine, caffeine, a little alcohol). The only dodgy one I'm taking quite a bit of at the moment is ephedrine (a stimulant, a little like a mild amphetamine, which I take for a bit of extra energy although the side effects at the level I take are starting to get me down - tachycardia, skin problems, paranoia and some mild but unsettling mental effects). I'm working 16 hours on an average day at the moment and losing about 1 to 2 nights a week of sleep so I really couldn't do without it these days. When things settle down I'll stop.

People have very negative opinions of drugs. To say that drugs "will kill you" is oversimplifying; I don't think it's helpful to be that dogmatic. I've never known anyone, or known anyone who's known anyone, who died from cannabis related complications. Some drugs might damage your health in some ways under some circumstances. Let's not get hyperbolic here.

Meth and amphetamines are not really addictive, but stimulant dependence can be pretty strong too. I know I'd find it hard to stop taking the ephedrine from one day to the next, and it's pretty mild compared to real speed. You also mention pain killers, so whether they are depends on the type. Most recreationally used painkillers are opiates (I think - not an expert) which generally /are/ addictive.

I think, what you should do depends what you're on, and the level of intake, and whether it's having much of an impact on your life. If you've decided NA is the option for you, then I won't say you're wrong, but be cautious. Are they advocates of a 12-step program, like AA? If so, beware: 12-step programs in general have a dismal success rate (less than 5%) and are more of a cult than a support group. There are other options and if NA is 12-step (not sure) and they start telling you that you're sick (you're not!) or that you're powerless (you're definitely not!), then they belong more to the problem set than the solution set.

Personally I think that you should just realise that you are in control of your own behaviour and your own life and allow yourself to believe that you can beat whatever it is you're addicted to. Each day, just decide you won't do it. Do it five minutes at a time if you have to, and as others have already advised try not to associate with people who take it, try not to be in places and situations where you've done it yourself. Try to distract yourself, keep yourself busy, and don't substitute other things like alcohol (sounds obvious but how many people still have the will-power not to take the drug they're quitting when they're drunk?).

Remember, even support groups have their own agenda, so be cautious and don't let anyone tell you that you need their help. Maybe their help is useful to you, and maybe it's not, but you're addicted, not stupid, and you'll be the final judge of that and have the final say over your own life and your own behaviour. With or without NA, it's /you/ that decided to do this, and it'll be /you/ that succeeds, when you do.

Sincerely, I wish you the best of luck. You know you want to stop, and you have control. You will stop. Don't let anyone take away your pride in that achievement, when you've done it.

Oh, and P.S.: Good luck with the software development, too - if there's no way to keep it from them that you're coming off the drugs, and they back out for that reason, then they're assholes of the highest order. What's it to them? Anyway, most people are reasonable so probably they won't back out.

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"I'm not a genius. Why do I have to suffer?"

Wizard1988

Im not 100% positive but I think ephedrine causes heart damage.

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JG-Webdesign

russianpirate

Just get yourself checked into a hospital (I hope you have some insurance or money..) to detox you, go to a rehab center, but most importantly get into 12step because none of that will do anything to your addiction, it will just clean your body. To clean your mind - 12step (drug-users anonymous or something).

PS: Anyone here listens to loveline? lol