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What is your source of supply?
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If you are dependent on drugs that are prescribed by a doctor, then you
have an ally in your detoxification project. Talk over your plans with
the doctor and tell him or her what you are planning to do.
If you feel that you are dependent upon Benzodiazepines or Barbiturates,
and are on high doses, or have been using them for a long time, then it
may be unwise to attempt to stop without medical supervision. Both drugs
can cause severe fitting when they are withdrawn, and deaths have been
caused by barbiturate withdrawal so it is not a good idea to attempt to
stop immediately. With the Barbiturates, it is usual to change over to
Phenobarbitone before attempting a gradual reduction, whereas with the
Benzodiazepines, it is usually best if the prescription is changed to
Diazepam.
If you are dependent upon an Opiate, then many people find it helpful to
change over to either Methadone or Dihydrocodine (DHC or DF118) for
detoxification. Again, if you are receiving your supplies from a doctor
or a clinic, talk your plans over with them. They can help you by
rationing your supplies for you. during the course of your detox, and by
offering more flexible options should you experience difficulty with
your plans.
If you are dependent on black-market drugs such as heroin or cocaine,
you may find it difficult to persuade a doctor to prescribe for you.
This can be a good thing, as if you go on a script, it can make it too
easy to continue using for a long time. Once again, it is crucial to
stress that you need to know what you want. If you want to stop using,
then it may be easiest to attempt a home detox. Should you find it too
difficult, then you can always seek help from a doctor or drugs agency
afterwards. If you wish to continue using, then you may well benefit
from a visit to a drugs agency in order to discuss ways of stabilizing
your drug use or reducing the risks that you run.
What will the withdrawals be like?
Withdrawal symptoms will differ with the drugs that you use. Cocaine
users will not experience physical withdrawals, but they may experience
intense craving, irritability, inability to sleep, mood swings and panic
attacks.
Heroin users, on the other hand, will experience all of the
psychological symptoms, accompanied by physical withdrawal symptoms.
Some clever-dick drugs workers claim that withdrawal is no worse than a
dose of bad flu. That might be true, except when did anybody suffer a
dose of flu that stopped you from sleeping or even getting comfortable
for more than a minute at a time? A dose of flu that can be cured in
minutes by the consumption of a little bag of powder?
With opiate withdrawal, although the symptoms are the same for
everybody, everyone seems to focus on one particular aspect as the thing
that they experience as the worst. For one person it may be pains in the
muscles or joints, for others it could be the inability to get
comfortable. Others have difficulty coping with the lack of sleep. The
range of symptoms for opiate withdrawal includes sweating, restlessness,
nausea, diarrhea, stomach cramps, muscle pains, sleep disturbance, hot
and cold flushes. It is undoubtedly unpleasant. However, fear of
withdrawals makes them seem worse than they actually are. Almost
everybody can cope with the severity of their withdrawal, regardless of
how much they have been using.
Some people do really stupid things and claim the fact that they were in
withdrawal is an excuse. It isn't that they can't deal with the sickness
though - the real reason that they do these things is because they
aren't really committed to stopping. It's hard to sit and suffer if you
know that as soon as you get money, you are going to get sorted, and
therefore you'll have to go through the whole thing again. You, on the
other hand, are different. If you have decided to stop using drugs, this
will be the last time that you suffer this way. Not only will you feel
the pain, you will embrace it as you kiss it goodbye, safe in the
knowledge that after you have finished your detox all that will be
behind you.
How do I go about it?
Once you have decided to stop using, don't just say "that's it, no more"
as you are bound to fail. You need to plan your detox properly. Decide a
time when you are going to do it. It could be relatively soon, or it
could be some time in the future. Whenever it is, put aside at least two
weeks when you don't need to do anything stressful and you don't have
any responsibilities. If you have children, send them to their
grandparents or to a friend for a holiday. They won't enjoy spending
this time with you, and you'll be glad not to have to worry about them.
Tell everybody about your decision to stop using. People who love and
care about you will give you support through this period. Other users
may resent your ability to break the habit and try to tempt you into
using. If you suspect that this is the case, explain what you are doing,
and tell them that you would rather they didn't come around during this
period. You can decide later whether you still want to see them, but if
they insist on trying to tempt you, you can be certain that they don't
really care about you, so don't feel guilty about excluding them from
your life.
Try to put some money aside. You need to be able to pamper yourself with
rewards during this period. Giving up drugs is a very brave and
difficult decision, so you shouldn't feel guilty about indulging
yourself in other, less destructive ways. If you are unemployed, perhaps
you could avoid paying the rent for a week and make up the arrears a bit
at a time later on.
Finally, find a comfortable place in which to do your
detox. One of the
main reasons for doing a detox as an in-patient is that some people
don't have anywhere comfortable that they can detox. For most people
though, detoxification is much easier if you can make a drink in your
own kitchen, watch your own T.V., read your own books and listen to your
own stereo. If the place where you live isn't very nice, see if you can
go back home to your parents, or if you can stay with non-addicted
friends for a couple of weeks.
Personally, I think you should regard a detox as being like a prison
sentence. Rather than focusing how long you have felt lousy, focus on
how much closer you are to feeling better. Make a calendar and tick off
the days, or keep a diary and write down how you feel. Identify landmark
points so that you can look back over it and see how much progress you
have made. Stopping using drugs is one of the major decisions in your
life - it will be nice to look back and see how you managed to overcome
each of the obstacles, or even just how much you suffered without
quitting.
Every time you complete a certain period, congratulate yourself for
having made it. Give yourself a reward. For each day you complete it
could be something small, like something special to eat or drink. For
each week that passes, do something really nice for yourself. Buy
yourself something to wear or go out for a meal. Think about both the
detoxification and the rewards as investments in the new you - the
person that you want to become rather than the person that you were.
One of the most difficult aspects of opiate withdrawal is the lack of
sleep. Some people might be tempted to use sleeping tablets in a
desperate attempt to get some respite. Personally, I find that they
don't really help, they just dope you up so that rather than lying
around withdrawing, you are lying around feeling doped-up and
withdrawing. You still won't sleep and benzodiazepines are addictive
too, so you could end up replacing one habit with another. Remember,
there are no easy solutions, you've just got to bite the bullet and ride
it out.
Finally, don't get hung up thinking about the length of time that a
detox is going to take. Like they say in Alcoholics Anonymous, just try
to get through one day at a time. It's difficult trying to imagine a
life without drugs, but far easier to make it through to the end of a
day. Then you can again start afresh tomorrow. Remember, every day that
you manage to stay clean is an investment in your own future - and if
you can't be bothered to invest in yourself, you can be pretty damn
certain that nobody else will. read more> Next >
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