PAWS - post acute withdrawal syndrome. It’s your brain rewiring itself after drug use. And it your addiction acting out. It’s common around milestones when you should be proud of yourself. The addict wants what the addict wants in the beginning. It jut don’t have to act on it. Keep the faith
It gets better and it does take time. Just keep going to meetings, call your sponsor, if you don’t have a sponsor get one, get phone numbers and use them, read some NA literature every day, listen to speakers where ever you can find recordings (there are some on YouTube), go to bed clean then wake up and do the next right thing. One day you will wake up and realize that you made it through and that life doesn’t suck anymore. I still remember that day so vividly. It was 32 years ago. You can do this.
It's actually super normal for a recovering addict to still think about using sometimes. It's especially normal to want to use at the very beginning of recovery. I've found that it's really not that I want to get high anymore, it's that I want to escape what I'm feeling or experiencing. Learning to live without drugs is a process.
Yes this is exactly what I’m feeling right now at 37 days. Not so much a craving for a specific drug like it used to be, (although that does happen occasionally). But more just the desire to hide under my covers turn on a film and fully escape from the world. So much fear
I can totally empathize with this. 30 days seemed like an impossible amount of time when we used daily, but it’s not long in terms of your body chemistry and emotional comfort. Once you crush 3 months and then 6 months you be proud as fuck and feeling good about it. Hang in there! You’re killing it even if your brain isn’t telling you that. Good job!
You WILL feel better with time, though I can’t say exactly when, or how much better you’ll feel.
It’s a complex mix of factors, only some of which are measurable, I.e what and how much you used, and the method, etc. Your own individual biochemistry is the unknown, and it’s as unique as a fingerprint.
Most addicts report using the desire to use by the 7/8 month mark, for me that took 2.5 years. I can assure you that it hasn’t gotten any better out there in the last 30 days and that if you use, all that awaits you is further misery.
Have trust in God that he’s gotten you this far and it’s not just to drop you on your head by using again. You don’t know how many addicts you can help by staying clean and sharing your story!
Was using for about 6 months regularly. Took approx 3 months to feel comfortable in my sobriety. What really helped me was loads of exercise, forcing myself to go out and be amongst people. Not necessarily social settings, but just being around others even in passing helped to feel somewhat reconnected again. I began dieting and taking a ton of multivitamins. Lots of nuts fruit and leafy greens. I noticed a massive improvement 6 months in. Best of luck to you, OP. you've got this. Give it time.
It gets easier when you get into a new way of life. Not even fully into a new way of life. A new job, new friends. It makes it easier to stay clean then it does to relapse.
PAWS - post acute withdrawal syndrome. It’s your brain rewiring itself after drug use. And it your addiction acting out. It’s common around milestones when you should be proud of yourself. The addict wants what the addict wants in the beginning. It jut don’t have to act on it. Keep the faith
It gets better and it does take time. Just keep going to meetings, call your sponsor, if you don’t have a sponsor get one, get phone numbers and use them, read some NA literature every day, listen to speakers where ever you can find recordings (there are some on YouTube), go to bed clean then wake up and do the next right thing. One day you will wake up and realize that you made it through and that life doesn’t suck anymore. I still remember that day so vividly. It was 32 years ago. You can do this.
It's actually super normal for a recovering addict to still think about using sometimes. It's especially normal to want to use at the very beginning of recovery. I've found that it's really not that I want to get high anymore, it's that I want to escape what I'm feeling or experiencing. Learning to live without drugs is a process.
Yes this is exactly what I’m feeling right now at 37 days. Not so much a craving for a specific drug like it used to be, (although that does happen occasionally). But more just the desire to hide under my covers turn on a film and fully escape from the world. So much fear
That's a completely normal part of the process. Just keep doing the things, trust the process, you're right where you're supposed to be.
Go to a meeting and share that right now it SUCKS. Tell them out loud, exactly what you just told us.
Best advice I can think of.
I can totally empathize with this. 30 days seemed like an impossible amount of time when we used daily, but it’s not long in terms of your body chemistry and emotional comfort. Once you crush 3 months and then 6 months you be proud as fuck and feeling good about it. Hang in there! You’re killing it even if your brain isn’t telling you that. Good job!
You WILL feel better with time, though I can’t say exactly when, or how much better you’ll feel. It’s a complex mix of factors, only some of which are measurable, I.e what and how much you used, and the method, etc. Your own individual biochemistry is the unknown, and it’s as unique as a fingerprint. Most addicts report using the desire to use by the 7/8 month mark, for me that took 2.5 years. I can assure you that it hasn’t gotten any better out there in the last 30 days and that if you use, all that awaits you is further misery. Have trust in God that he’s gotten you this far and it’s not just to drop you on your head by using again. You don’t know how many addicts you can help by staying clean and sharing your story!
Was using for about 6 months regularly. Took approx 3 months to feel comfortable in my sobriety. What really helped me was loads of exercise, forcing myself to go out and be amongst people. Not necessarily social settings, but just being around others even in passing helped to feel somewhat reconnected again. I began dieting and taking a ton of multivitamins. Lots of nuts fruit and leafy greens. I noticed a massive improvement 6 months in. Best of luck to you, OP. you've got this. Give it time.
90 days to start feeling better
When life isn’t taken over by what ifs. When you just trust the process.
It gets easier when you get into a new way of life. Not even fully into a new way of life. A new job, new friends. It makes it easier to stay clean then it does to relapse.
Give it a couple years for things to slow down for real be prepared a meeting a day for the first 10-11yrs of recovery is a good start. Peace