Question for ppl who've been off pills awhile.How many months until you felt normal again?

[tired_of_oxy]

Just curious how long it took to feel normal again. To not think about pills, crave etc. I know everyone is different but just curious.

Someone told me it took 6 months before her mind stopped obsessing over pills. What was your experience?

[tired_of_oxy]

Going To Make it: that's what I need to do, I know it. I have to put my ALL into this. I know that any half measures won't suffice. I got clean and went through all that suffering for nothing. Because I thought I could do it alone. And your right it did take a long time, years, to get this way so expecting it to be all hunky dory in a few weeks is unrealistic. I'm in for the long haul.

Gnarly: in regards to NA you said just a desire to get clean was needed? They won't look at me funny if I go to a mtg and am still using?? I'd like to start going now so I have a few friends when d-day rolls around but I would feel weird being the only dirty person in the room..still it would be nice to get started soon. Hmm maybe I'll just go and see.
Gods probably pretty mad at me. You see I promised Him during my detox last year that I would never use again if he would just take away the pain of wd. I suffered 6 straight days of horrible wds. On day 7 I woke up and felt human again. God answered my prayers and I let Him down by relapsing within weeks of detox.  I hope he'll forgive me and help me stay clean this time.

[GoingToMakeIt]

It took months to feel close to normal, but before that I would have stretches of days that I'd notice were really good. A good strong prayer life, surround yourself with people that want to be or are clean. I whole-heartedly dove into being, thinking and staying clean and helping those who wanted this too. Exercise and amino acids help too.
   Just realize that it took a long time to get where you are now. Don't expect it to get back to normal quickly. It takes time and patience. It can be done.

"When your desire to get clean, is stronger than your desire to use. Then, you will get clean" GTMI   1111days

[gnarly_1]

HEy.....well it hard to say when it really stops for me it was around the 6mo mark to
but thats with plenty of aftercare and a good walk with God...I dont think you can do this alone you need some sort of outside support with that you do heal...I still get the occasional craving from time to time but there short lived and more of a bother then an obsession
is sounds like you need to detox again start going to N/A meeting now you only need to have the desire to get clean to participate you can never start to soon stick with us here will help you with your detox and also help you with your recovery good luck and God bless...Gnarly    

[tired_of_oxy]

Bec I'm so glad to hear that you have gained your freedom, rather earned it from a lot of hard work and perseverance. You should be really proud of yourself and reading about people like you who have succeeded in quitting drugs after years of use gives me hope. I think "hey maybe I CAN do this!"

Unfortunately suboxone hasn't helped me much. I found that anything above 8 mgs a day gave me terrible headaches but 8 mgs or less just wasn't enough. I constantly craved and felt like I was in a state of withdrawal all the time. Not fun. So instead of doing it properly I would (and still am) go off sub for a few days and do oxy then go back to sub. I'm tired of oxy, dislike sub and just want to be done!!

So the first week of January I'm going ct off of oxy. (I've read up and know that sub wd is much worse and far longer then oxy wds which for me are hellish enough. I'm going to get a good after care plan in place and leave no "out" for myself. Already cancelled the pain clinic appt I had for January 5th. Ironically I called to book an appt for counseling and the first date they had-January 5th. Better outcome from that appt then a pain clinic appt for sure. So no more scripts and no more living like an animal consumed with hunting down and getting pills.

The pills have ruined me physically, emotionally and financially. I feel guilty about the way I've been living my life. So much time and money wasted. I want to feel again, not walk through life numb, fixated on pills but otherwise completely unmotivated, waking up and my first thought be about pills..the list goes on.

I have a lot of fear  about detox and recovery however but I guess that's normal. Well here's to a clean 2011 and hopefully many more years after that. The mental part of this addictions going to be hard but with lots of support I will be ok.

[BrotherFrankie]

define normal? LOL

i have found recovery and sobriety is made easier when yo put yourself in the strong and Loving arms of Jesus Christ.

It helped me with coping. It helps knowing He will never leave or Give up on me. It also helps to know that HE knows right where we are, he is sovereign and is still in control of every situation we find ourselves in..

U r loved'
Brother Frankie

[BEC1973]

You are on the right track for sure, people, places, and things that you used with and around before need to be avoided. Suboxone is a great way to help with the initial stages of recovery, when an entire treatment plan is in place: meetings, support groups, etc. And a tapering schedule should also be in place when starting Suboxone so that you are not on it forever. I was an addict for 10 years, and used Suboxone for 2 years along with meetings and a great family to keep my addiction in check. It does not make you high, and keeps you from being sick, therefore you will not think about doing pills at all, and can focus on your recovery and your future. Suboxone is much easier to come off of than full opiate agonists, and a doctor will monitor you the entire time. Urine tests twice a month will help keep you in check. I've been sober and off of suboxone for 2 1/2 years after nearly killing myself. I'll be 38 in a few weeks. Good luck, you are in my prayers!

[tired_of_oxy]

Thanks for your replies. I know I want to be done but I admit I fear having " nothing" to take the edge off. I've used drugs to mask emotional pain since I was 13. I'm now in my 30's. I need to learn how to cope without my bandaid.

I guess that's where NA comes in. There's no easy way out. I'll have to suffer the intense wds, I'll have to feel it all again and pray I can make or through the shitstorm that's headed my way in a few weeks. But a couple relapses has taught me that only 100% will get me to where I wanna be which is healthy, sober and LOVING it. Not resenting having to be straight. WANTING to be clean and willing to do anything for it.

God give me strength , I've got so far to go to get  "there".

[vicki595]

For me, I just told myself it was over forever. There was no going back to the pills. I think about them but more in terms of "those days" and I'm glad they're in the past.  It's a mindset that you must have. You just have to want to be done. It becomes simple.

It took me several months to feel good,however. I just went after being as healthy as I could be and pretty soon I felt great and still do!   I can't emphasize enough the need for aftercare of some kind. It's very important!

I used for 30 years. I've been squeaky clean for about 8 months. It's all good!

Good luck to everyone...you will feel wonderful when the active addiction is behind you!

[ImDONENoMore]

Normal is overrated.  I feel like myself, and I wouldn't call myself normal.

I think it's the weird, unique, beautiful parts of people that make them special.  And keeps life interesting.

:-)

[OIFMc09]

My longest stretch of clean time since I discovered pills 8 years ago was a little over a year, and I thought about pills every day.  I don't think I'll ever be "normal" again.  Than again I guess I was never normal, that's probably why I've had drug and alcohol problems for most of my adult life...

[ImDONENoMore]

I agree.  It's different for everyone.  It wasn't until I hit right before the 4 month mark that I finally turned that corner.  Don't get me wrong, I started to get noticeably better after 3 weeks, especially when you compare it to my time on drugs.  But something just "clicked" for me at the 4 month mark where it all made perfect sense.

And I'm very encouraged, laurel453, to hear that the upcoming 6 month mark is going to be even better!

[laurel453]

i think it depends on the physical and mental state you are too and how proactive you are with your recovery... leading a disciplined and healthy life helped me and the moment i started working on my addictive behaviour was when i really started to be  in a better frame of mind....exercise, aminos and vitamins, healthy diet and addressing our personal problems&behaviour are my advices :) I stopped obsessing over the pills before the 6 months mark but i felt really better some months after the 6 months mark. All in all, i didn't stressed about getting better cause i just felt that as long as i was on the clean path, things would eventually get better