What is withdrawal? How long does it last? Share your experience here!

I've never felt that sort of thing, but everytime i stop drinking coffee for more than a couple days I get hit with a day or so of headaches, vomiting, and other fun stuff.

Caffiene, yoikes, no fun that.

Friend of mine told me that he didn't get what the big deal was with people who are struggling with substance abuse. Withdrawl couldn't be that hard right?

To prove it he quit drinking coffee and smoking on the same day. Two days later he called in sick to work. The fifth day he was back looking pale and like death warmed over. He had a much different attitude about withdrawal symptoms and I recall hearing him later tell a coworker who was about to go into detox that she had all his sympathy and that she could call him night or day if she needed a friendly voice on the other end of the line to talk with to help her get through her 30 day stay.

@BeyondTheInvisible

1.Would you like to share about your experience with it? I've been through multiple withdrawals with a number of different substances. Some of the worst ones were opiates and benzodiazepines.

2.What is/was the hardest part to face? Although the physical pain can be almost unbearable, I think the mental part is the hardest part to face, especially if you are going off a substance cold turkey and without enough support. And then trying to cope with how boring life without drugs can seem after is actually way more difficult than I had expected. I didn't really have a plan for how I was going to replace those good feelings with other, more natural ones, in my life. I think that will be the key when I finally stop the merry-go round of going on-and-off of various substances. I also hadn't dealt yet with a lot of the trauma that had led me to use in the first place, and doing that is a seriously hard thing to do!

3.Have you been or are you well supported? I did have some support some of the times I withdrew, which did help compared to when I had none; but I really think that to be well supported you need to have a friend, or someone you trust, with you through the whole of the worst period of it (which can vary depending on the drug, the length of time you've been on it, and the amount you've been taking). Having someone to talk to and reassure you is very important. Luckily for me, at least having a friend online to talk to helped me with my mental health during what was some of the most stressful things any person could;d do to their body and mind.

4.What could help you face the withdrawal better? Ideally, slowly tapering at home, but under a doctors supervision; and with a close friend or two for company, and plenty of distractions. There are also some legal, herbal things that can help and there are things you can get OTC at a pharmacy, depending on what you are tapering off (ask your local pharmacist, if they are friendly they may be a great help with advice). There may be things that doctors can prescribe in theory depending on what your addiction is; although actually getting that sorted out when you want to quit isn't always possible, or can done in a timely fashion, but it's worth trying.

In my case it wasn't believed that I was taking that much because I didn't appear to be like a "junkie", nor did they even take a urine test. That my friends is a type of stigma!

Plan your tapper beforehand and making a plan that includes a backup in case it turns out to be too quick and difficult for your body or mind to cope with, in which case slowing the tapper down will really help, but don't increase the dose, just stabilise at where you are until you are ready to begin dropping the dose again.

Also seeing a therapist of some kind to get at the root of your issues would help, as long as it was someone who understands and is qualified to work with this type of problem, and not just judge you. However, I'd suggest waiting until after the worst of the withdrawals to have past before attempting any kind of serious therapy.

@BeyondTheInvisible it's day 7 I slept last night for 6 hrs longest so far still have sweats and chills in the middle of summer I have moments of energy but they don't last long still eating only because I know I must nausea is letting up though and my cough is improving that's it for now

@BeyondTheInvisible I have Lupus and have a lot of joint pain and have been taking pain medication for it for about 3 years and I find when I run out of it I don't feel like myself. I do not have any motivation or interest to do anything at all. I muddle through the days just looking forward to when I can get my next refill. I get diarrhea, fatigue, body aches, and severe anxiety and depression. There is no other feeling like it in this world. When I do have it I am motivated and can get tasks done with ease and I just feel overall happy and well. It is easier to just wait for your next refill instead of stopping the medication and getting help but you know deep down that it's something you should do because you're just going to get back into withdraw again until you get them again. I've been on it so long that I couldn't imagine what life would be like without them. I constantly have a mindset of "I'll cross that bridge when I get to it." You feel bad because your doctor trusted you with them and you don't want to let them down because these days doctors who do prescribe controlled substances have to go through extra work for the patient to receive them. They help the pain like they are supposed to but they are so hard to get off of when they aren't needed anymore. It is a vicious cycle. My advice to anyone with chronic pain is to only go on pain medication if you ABSOLUTELY have to and to take them exactly as prescribed and don't take them for extended periods of time. It will save you a lot of suffering.

I've had withdrawals from a few different prescription medications, not sure about prednisone - I was a toddler or preschooler when I was on that but the rest I had no addiction to.

Some of the must frustrating aspect was the misdiagnoses that had me on medications I didn't think I needed and I didn't want to take, but sometimes working with doctors means showing them their thoughts of something are wrong by having a medication give no benefit.

I should have had more support than I did, for one another doctor allowed me to taper after I had stopped and the withdrawal effects also caused a worsening of a condition that was undiagnosed and really a medical emergency but everyone had no clue at the time.

Getting proper diagnoses for all of my illnesses would have helped deal with withdrawals, but that's still not done.

With methamphetamine, my main struggle has been with PAWS rather than the immediate acute withdrawal that comes with stimulant abuse.

1.Would you like to share about your experience with it? Personally, benzo withdrawals hit me HARD. Flu aches x 20, shaky, my heart races, cant sleep and stay sick to my stomach. Roller coaster mood swings. Usually lasts about 4 days depending.

2.What is/was the hardest part to face? After withdrawals, its trying to keep myself busy, having to just face life sometimes and all the emotions without being numbed. Finding other outlets and coping mechanisms I guess.

3.Have you been or are you well supported? For the most part Ive kept my addiction in the dark, I feel like Id have the support if I opened up about it.

4.What could help you face the withdrawl better? I honestly really dont know... stop relapsing maybe 😂

I hallucinate coming off Fentnyl laced Heroin really bad. I have seen avalanches in my house, I see a tiger that talks and wants to break my bones and eat me. I hid in my bathroom for 6 days from him and was too scared to turn the water on to get a drink for fear he would hear me. I have seen sharks with metal teeth around my bed. Um..a cat in a space helmet. He could not turn the door knobs in the house. Lol. I remember him poking his head up through the toilet because something shoved him in it I forgot what. It was punishment because he didn’t like water. It also put him in the washing machine and turned it on! I have had wild animals try to get me in my bed. Eagles and shit. I have been every animal. Puppies, birds, etc. I know when the hunter shoots the gun that you have 5 seconds to collect all your bird babies and you can only carry like 5 from 100 of them. I remember my dog was nursing puppies and there was the “milk galaxy.” This man had these ski goggles and you would turn them and open the milk galaxy up. Lol. I dunno...weird stuff. Yeah, that’s what I do coming off Fentanyl & Heroin. So far raw Heroin hasn’t done me this way. I haven’t made it over 3 days and Heroin cut with Fentanyl I couldn’t go 24 or 48 hours without tripping out for 6 to 13 days. I am going to try to detox again off raw Heroin so hopefully I won’t start tripping out in a few days. I get violently ill though & When I hid from the tiger in the bathroom for 6 days I finally laid in the tub because I was so sick I was shitting liquid nonstop for 6 days. I had run in there with my blanket when I got scared & realized I was laying beside him on the couch. Thank god I got off the couch before I started having liquid come out of me nonstop for days! So yeah, that’s what my detoxing is like...

I will start off by saying i am a little over one year sober!
I was addicted to many of drugs and bad habbits but for one common reason.
I diddnt know how to cope with my traumas at the time of my addiction and i was lacking the important tools i know have today.
never give up and never stop fighting your life is worth is and my inbox is always open to anyone!

1.Would you like to share about your experience with it? I was addicted to herion, cocaine,, and my biggest struggle was my meth addiction.

2.What is/was the hardest part to face? heroin was tough, but meth was the hardest kick for me. it tore me apart mentally i was lost in my obsession and i almost diddnt come back.

3.Have you been or are you well supported? my family saved my life. they cut me off when it was nessicary and when i hit my own personal rock bottom they were right there with open arms and help on the way to my recovery!

4.What could help you face the withdrawl better? cbt therapy really helped me, along with all of my supports from an AA based recovery center, they were so genuine and empathetic and they understood the fight i was fighting.
more importantly they showed me that i was important, that my feelings were valid and that i deserved and was worthy to live a sober life.

ever since i have gotten clean i made it my personal misson to help any one and as many people as i can
together we can beat addiction.
<3 thank you for reading!

@MeaningfulSilence

1.Would you like to share about your experience with it?

My experience with withdrawal has been something I've frequently encountered in my life. I used to be in a situation where I faced withdrawal every month because of how I was misusing my prescriptions. I've been sober now for 19 months, and I still think back to times when I was in withdrawal from alcohol and opiates.

2.What is/was the hardest part to face?

I think the hardest part of withdrawal to face is the physical symptoms. That feeling of wanting to crawl out of your own skin because you're so uncomfortable with how you're physically feeling.

3.Have you been or are you well supported?

Now I have a great support system in my life. In the past I didn't have many supports and it lead to a constant cyclical cycle of using, going through withdrawal and then using again. Now I have many people I talk to when I'm having cravings to use.

4.What could help you face the withdrawl better?

I think something that could help me face withdrawal better would be to continue to rely on the supports I have in my life.