Opiate withdrawal and natural endorphins

[jmidz88]

So, i've been struggling to stay clean from opiates this week and have so far been doing excellent until today. I have gone a whole week and the past 3 days i have been feeling much like myself, good mood and energy probably because i have been forcing myself to excersise like a madman. Today a severe craving led me to relapse and now i just feel incredibly guilty and depressed about it. Since i made this mistake is it likely that i will have to go through hell all over again to feel normal again? Or will the amount of excersise ive been doing make up for the pain, or did i just lose all my natural endorphins by introducing a foreign substance that my body and mind craves?

[jifmoc]

Yup, I memorized ph #s too. I noticed though, that I have forgotten them since I haven't used them.

The difference for folks who have stayed clean vs those who haven't is aftercare. Peeps w/ sober time say that over and over.

[jmidz88]

I wouldn't say Im new but I havnt been on for a while. I created this account a couple years ago when I made my last attempt at getting clean and this helped. There are a lot of helpful people on here that got me through the worst of things. My problem is that I learned to memorize phone numbers. BIG mistake, also I was alone for majority of the day which left me alone with my thoughts which is not really the best thing right now.

[jmidz88]

You're absolutely right it does take time. My last detox took about 6 weeks before i started feeling normal again. Every once in a while during the process we have a "good day" and think we are over the worst then the next day seems horrible and thats what happened to me today. All the strategies ive been using to stay busy just went right out the window today. It seems like the first week is easy to abstain probably because i just dont have the energy to construct a shady plan to get something but now that my energy is back i find myself pacing around for hours unable to shake this demon of an addiction.

[Krissy_123]

Thank you,and no mood swings,I'm stuck on sad and loathing right now. And sleep is still hard for me. Get maybe 2-3 hrs a night if I'm lucky. I know it's a process and I have to go through it to get better,wish I could fast forward sometimes...and this is my first rodeo :)

[jifmoc]

Hi there. You are new here, right? I'm gonna tell you what some of our "old timers" would say: detox is not what you need to be worried about. It's STAYING clean that's the work!! First thing, if you have access to pills, you won't get clean. Where did you get em? We have to cut all our sources. Delete ph #s, tell the dr, etc. And the most important is recovery in aftercare. We cannot (as you know) do this alone. It just doesn't work.

So, yeah you relapsed, let it be a teaching tool, so to speak. Get back on the horse and keep posting:)

[motye51]

I don't think taking some opiates will undo all that you've done....HOWEVER, what are you going to do to ensure that this doesn't happen again?
The excercise and eating better are great, but your natural endorphins are not going to be there in a week.  Unless I'm understanding this wrong and you've only been taking opiates for like a month or so it's going to take a few weeks for your body to start producing its own chemicals.  Don't be in such a rush....slow and steady always wins the race!  I was told in the very beginning, we are addicts, we want what we want and we want it now!!!  Instant gratification!  We can NOT abuse our bodies for years and then think in 4/5 days all will be better and done.....unfortunatly, it doesn't work that way, I wish it did sometimes!  
I assume that you've gone back to NOT taking the opiates, so, big deal, your out 5 days, start over!  Today being day 1 and try again.  Get back up, dust yourself off, and move forward!  
Have you considered any type of aftercare?

[jmidz88]

you're right krissy its done and theres no going back I just wish I hadn't done it. but congrats on a month that's great. This is not my first time in the rodeo believe me, I've done tons of research to find what helps which is why I may be feeling better so soon. I still have heavy mood swings but overall they don't last long. Im sure that's what you mean right?

[Krissy_123]

It's amazing you felt normal and great after only a week!! I'm on almost a month and don't know what normal is. No point in feeling guilty it's done,it can't be undone. Only thing you can do is get back at it.