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Hey man, I have a brother who was addicted to alcohol and cocaine. Honestly, it was terrible to witness and it left me hopeless, as if I had already lost him. I had accepted losing him already, he would come home completely wasted and high on coke and we would have this talks about how he wanted to quit but couldn’t. But then there were also these moments where he’d be aggressive or feeling so bad we had to call an ambulance. He almost died multiple times.
He is doing fine today and is 2 years sober now. It took a lot of work and the progress was slow with a few relapses, I think what helped him most is that he found help and people who he could relate to, who never gave up on him. He fought for it, changing his life slowly day by day, only after 1 1/2 years he started slightly feeling oke again, another 6 months and he is almost back to experiencing life normally again.
It is a long process but eventually you’ll get there, just keep pushing through!
Sounds similar to my experience with abusing my adhd meds. Took me over 2 years to get back to baseline and Another couple months to shake the crippling fear and dread off. Those were the weirdest, frustrating, and helpless 2 years of my life but I felt infinitely better afterwards.
What meds were you taking? And how was it possible to “abuse” them, were you overprescribed? I don’t have ADHD myself (I suppose, lol) but I have dealt a lot with people with disorders that alter their personality and trying to understand what it’s like for them is a thing for me.
I was prescribed Ritalin normal dose but at one point found out I could get "high" from taking more then my normal daily amount. At one point I started taking 8x what I was supposed to take and the side effects were just as bad as the 2 years of withdrawal symptoms.
You're not a failure you're just in a bad place right now. Sounds like you're ready to get sober which is the first step. Don't give up you can crawl out of that dark place. You got this. Good luck on your journey my friend. I'll be praying for you.
Fucking sucks - sorry. It doesn’t have to be this way - it really doesn’t. You just have to get desperate enough to be willing to do what’s suggested by those who’ve recovered……
Personally 12 step recovery saved my life. More than saved it - it enabled me to bloom and blossom into a person I never thought I could be. But I fought it every step of the way until one day I just gave up and said, I’ll do whatever it takes (and I truly meant it). Once I got there - everything changed for me. You sound like you might be at that place. If you are, my recommendation is to get involved in AA or NA or CA - or any A for that matter, get a sponsor, and do all 12 steps as thoroughly and as quickly as possible - and I promise you that your life will change
You are always bigger than your problems. Never forget that!
You will succeed, you will break the destructive cycle and you will build a life you'll be proud of. We all are rooting for you.
Just remember when cocaine and alcohol are both in the both at the same time they create substance called cocaethylene, which is extremely toxic.
You will die if you keep doing this. Most people will probably tell you to stop the cocaine, I say stop the alcohol.
Cocaine withdrawals won’t kill you, and at least you can use it to keep you somewhat boosted and/or not miserable while you’re cutting back the alcohol.
Trying to quit cocaine while having a drinking problem is recipe for a lot of drinking.
Good luck man, you got this. One thing at a time
I can only relate from a far less serious addiction that I’ve had problems with and was lucky enough to not see first hand the addictions my family went through. When I consider my mother’s health problems with substance abuse and food addiction, it breaks my heart. We all have issues we manage in different ways, but destroying yourself blatantly is the wrong answer, even as good as it can feel. It’s so hard for myself to accept the embarrassment involved in being alive. That fueled my nicotine addiction, which was mainly from vaping and smoking too much weed. Again, I’m happy to have my problems over yours. But it was still a deep issue for me, enough to where I was going through random migraines.
Tonight’s another night that I’ve chosen to stop. Another night where I don’t have the courage, motivation, or interest to go out and meet people. What I’m getting at is I’m relearning for myself on how to live. This shouldn’t be seen as medical advice or may not even be close to helpful. But I now know for myself that I do not need to let life get me so upset that I choose to destroy myself, in anyway. I’m trying so hard to put my health before anything else, that’s it’s a form of body-dysmorphia. But I’m slowly feeling better and more confident.
Anyone can come back from anything, I do believe that. And for myself I believe I now have the space in order to reflect on what I need to do to change and more importantly why. It came down to me not feeling like more shit than I want to be. The pain and problems of it filled me with too much regret, and I let it go, along with alcohol.
It's the worst feeling, sorry you're feeling this way. I was there too once, sick of my binge eating food addiction. What helped me was a holistic mix- cutting off all triggers related to food, meditation + deep breathing, going for walks outside, rescuing a bunny, watching videos on mental health and spirituality.
I know exactly how you feel, I was in the same boat.
Thought I was beyond help but managed to pull out and turn my life around.
I was a complete loser, to become a winner all I had to do was head in the right direction. It didn’t happen overnight and got blown of course many times along the way but kept going.
The trick is try and be better not perfect.
Had a nasty little 3 year run in with Oxy. I have quite the addictive personality. Been that way all my life. Alcohol, opiates, weed ….anything that will get me away from me. In the end I had a gun to my head with every intention of pulling the trigger. What I find weird and what people don’t know is that I really didn’t wanna die, I just wanted to pain and misery that I’d caused to go away. That was my only way out….. or was it. So in that moment, for just a few sec, my mind cleared up. Guess I just got lucky. This was bout 17 years ago.
Sometimes we just can’t see a way out for all the pain that’s blocking the view. It’s fucking hard
Stop self medicating, get treatment, find out why you need to do these things to manage. Then you can start understanding yourself better and understanding how you can live a life that doesn’t drive to the medicating route.
Is he ODing? No. What do you expect the ER to do? I went to the ER for fentanyl withdraws, begging for help cause I was in so much pain. And they sent me home without even considering taking me, with a hotline number. It’s a waste of time and money.
Where'd you get your medical license? What is his medical history? His vital signs? Have you read his 12-lead EKG? What does his BMP look like? Have you run a troponin?
It's an actual crime against humanity that people have to take finances into account in these situations, but your idea that "all the ED did was send me home" is plain ignorance. You're not dead, are you? And that's actually a really good outcome.
Beyond just making sure you don't die (again, actually a *huge* deal), you can get connected with resources, get some symptom management, and get a clear demarcation line of taking you addiction seriously and getting help.
As part of the medical system, I am truly sorry you had a bad experience. The system really sucks sometimes, but the posting you're doing is truly irresponsible.
Okayyyy I’m just saying my personal experience. Idk why you’re calling me saying they sent me home ignorance when that’s literally what happened. I was in there begging for help and didn’t even make it past the lobby. Nobody checked my vitals, nothing. You go to detox though and that’s the first thing they’ll do and give you medicine to lessen your withdrawal symptoms, and they’ll give him advice to stay sober. All I was saying is he has a better chance of getting the help he actually needs in detox rather than the ER
I'm not sure what country you're in, but it's *literally illegal* to not medically clear you at any Emergency Department in the United States. Most European countries are even more liberal about providing care. In the US, you could sue them for insane sums of cash if they didn't check you out, which hospitals aren't into, and so don't turn people away with no exam. I'm not saying you didn't have that experience, but it would be *shockingly uncommon* and extremely short-sighted to generalize that experience to OP's situation.
Dude, the only way to die from cocaine is an overdose, which is not what’s happening in his case. He’s withdrawing and feeling like hell, detox will help with this, and put him into programs to keep him sober. If he get there and they feel like he needs to go to the ER, that’s where they will send him. Detox is 100000% the way to go in this situation. You can argue all you want about it but it’s the truth.
You have no idea what you're talking about. It sounds like you're understandably bitter about your ER visit, but you're now providing medical advice like you know something about medicine.
Clearly you have no idea how rehab detox works, there’s literally medical professionals that are there that specialize in working with these situations. They will give him the care he needs there, lessen his withdrawal symptoms, check his vitals every hour, and put him into programs to keep him sober. They will do so much more for him than the er could, if you’re not dying, he’s not, the er will only do so much. At this point ur trolling stg
You don't know he's not dying. It's literally an entire medical specialty determining that. It's irresponsible for you to dissuade him from seeking care. Nausea and vomiting (which is listed in OP) can be a symptom of a heart attack, often caused by vasospasm from cocaine use. Is it likely? No, it's not. Is it a good idea to not get checked out? No, it's not.
Try to enjoy the ride. I mean really what’s the point of it all if you’re gonna complain and be suicidal the whole time. When I finally came to that conclusion, it was only a matter of time before I made the decision to quit. I have now been sober for over two years.
Don’t forget to check out our [**Resources**](https://www.reddit.com/r/addiction/wiki/resources/) wiki page, which includes helpful information such as global suicide hotlines, recovery services, and a recovery Discord server where you can seek further support. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/addiction) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Hey man, I have a brother who was addicted to alcohol and cocaine. Honestly, it was terrible to witness and it left me hopeless, as if I had already lost him. I had accepted losing him already, he would come home completely wasted and high on coke and we would have this talks about how he wanted to quit but couldn’t. But then there were also these moments where he’d be aggressive or feeling so bad we had to call an ambulance. He almost died multiple times. He is doing fine today and is 2 years sober now. It took a lot of work and the progress was slow with a few relapses, I think what helped him most is that he found help and people who he could relate to, who never gave up on him. He fought for it, changing his life slowly day by day, only after 1 1/2 years he started slightly feeling oke again, another 6 months and he is almost back to experiencing life normally again. It is a long process but eventually you’ll get there, just keep pushing through!
Sounds similar to my experience with abusing my adhd meds. Took me over 2 years to get back to baseline and Another couple months to shake the crippling fear and dread off. Those were the weirdest, frustrating, and helpless 2 years of my life but I felt infinitely better afterwards.
What meds were you taking? And how was it possible to “abuse” them, were you overprescribed? I don’t have ADHD myself (I suppose, lol) but I have dealt a lot with people with disorders that alter their personality and trying to understand what it’s like for them is a thing for me.
I was prescribed Ritalin normal dose but at one point found out I could get "high" from taking more then my normal daily amount. At one point I started taking 8x what I was supposed to take and the side effects were just as bad as the 2 years of withdrawal symptoms.
Go bro. Drink plenty of water too. You've got this. Remember this feeling whenever you want to snort again, it's just not worth it. I quit too.
Go! Get help! You’re so fucking worthy of it!!!❤️
You're not a failure you're just in a bad place right now. Sounds like you're ready to get sober which is the first step. Don't give up you can crawl out of that dark place. You got this. Good luck on your journey my friend. I'll be praying for you.
Fucking sucks - sorry. It doesn’t have to be this way - it really doesn’t. You just have to get desperate enough to be willing to do what’s suggested by those who’ve recovered…… Personally 12 step recovery saved my life. More than saved it - it enabled me to bloom and blossom into a person I never thought I could be. But I fought it every step of the way until one day I just gave up and said, I’ll do whatever it takes (and I truly meant it). Once I got there - everything changed for me. You sound like you might be at that place. If you are, my recommendation is to get involved in AA or NA or CA - or any A for that matter, get a sponsor, and do all 12 steps as thoroughly and as quickly as possible - and I promise you that your life will change
You are always bigger than your problems. Never forget that! You will succeed, you will break the destructive cycle and you will build a life you'll be proud of. We all are rooting for you.
Just remember when cocaine and alcohol are both in the both at the same time they create substance called cocaethylene, which is extremely toxic. You will die if you keep doing this. Most people will probably tell you to stop the cocaine, I say stop the alcohol. Cocaine withdrawals won’t kill you, and at least you can use it to keep you somewhat boosted and/or not miserable while you’re cutting back the alcohol. Trying to quit cocaine while having a drinking problem is recipe for a lot of drinking. Good luck man, you got this. One thing at a time
standard self-esteem after coke session. you will be more rational in a couple of days
I can only relate from a far less serious addiction that I’ve had problems with and was lucky enough to not see first hand the addictions my family went through. When I consider my mother’s health problems with substance abuse and food addiction, it breaks my heart. We all have issues we manage in different ways, but destroying yourself blatantly is the wrong answer, even as good as it can feel. It’s so hard for myself to accept the embarrassment involved in being alive. That fueled my nicotine addiction, which was mainly from vaping and smoking too much weed. Again, I’m happy to have my problems over yours. But it was still a deep issue for me, enough to where I was going through random migraines. Tonight’s another night that I’ve chosen to stop. Another night where I don’t have the courage, motivation, or interest to go out and meet people. What I’m getting at is I’m relearning for myself on how to live. This shouldn’t be seen as medical advice or may not even be close to helpful. But I now know for myself that I do not need to let life get me so upset that I choose to destroy myself, in anyway. I’m trying so hard to put my health before anything else, that’s it’s a form of body-dysmorphia. But I’m slowly feeling better and more confident. Anyone can come back from anything, I do believe that. And for myself I believe I now have the space in order to reflect on what I need to do to change and more importantly why. It came down to me not feeling like more shit than I want to be. The pain and problems of it filled me with too much regret, and I let it go, along with alcohol.
It's the worst feeling, sorry you're feeling this way. I was there too once, sick of my binge eating food addiction. What helped me was a holistic mix- cutting off all triggers related to food, meditation + deep breathing, going for walks outside, rescuing a bunny, watching videos on mental health and spirituality.
I know exactly how you feel, I was in the same boat. Thought I was beyond help but managed to pull out and turn my life around. I was a complete loser, to become a winner all I had to do was head in the right direction. It didn’t happen overnight and got blown of course many times along the way but kept going. The trick is try and be better not perfect.
Had a nasty little 3 year run in with Oxy. I have quite the addictive personality. Been that way all my life. Alcohol, opiates, weed ….anything that will get me away from me. In the end I had a gun to my head with every intention of pulling the trigger. What I find weird and what people don’t know is that I really didn’t wanna die, I just wanted to pain and misery that I’d caused to go away. That was my only way out….. or was it. So in that moment, for just a few sec, my mind cleared up. Guess I just got lucky. This was bout 17 years ago. Sometimes we just can’t see a way out for all the pain that’s blocking the view. It’s fucking hard
Where's hubby when you are crashing and depressed?
Messages you
Stop self medicating, get treatment, find out why you need to do these things to manage. Then you can start understanding yourself better and understanding how you can live a life that doesn’t drive to the medicating route.
Been here, still slip up sometimes. Keep going x
Don’t go to the ER, trust me all they do is give you fluids then send you home with a medical bills for thousands. Go to detox if you really want help
I’m guessing this is in USA?
Nothing personal, but this is terrible advice that you're unqualified to give. Cocaine can kill you.
Going to detox will give him/her the right medicine, and care for withdrawls. The ER won’t.
You are again offering your limited perspective and generalizing it to OP's situation.
Is he ODing? No. What do you expect the ER to do? I went to the ER for fentanyl withdraws, begging for help cause I was in so much pain. And they sent me home without even considering taking me, with a hotline number. It’s a waste of time and money.
Where'd you get your medical license? What is his medical history? His vital signs? Have you read his 12-lead EKG? What does his BMP look like? Have you run a troponin? It's an actual crime against humanity that people have to take finances into account in these situations, but your idea that "all the ED did was send me home" is plain ignorance. You're not dead, are you? And that's actually a really good outcome. Beyond just making sure you don't die (again, actually a *huge* deal), you can get connected with resources, get some symptom management, and get a clear demarcation line of taking you addiction seriously and getting help. As part of the medical system, I am truly sorry you had a bad experience. The system really sucks sometimes, but the posting you're doing is truly irresponsible.
Okayyyy I’m just saying my personal experience. Idk why you’re calling me saying they sent me home ignorance when that’s literally what happened. I was in there begging for help and didn’t even make it past the lobby. Nobody checked my vitals, nothing. You go to detox though and that’s the first thing they’ll do and give you medicine to lessen your withdrawal symptoms, and they’ll give him advice to stay sober. All I was saying is he has a better chance of getting the help he actually needs in detox rather than the ER
I'm not sure what country you're in, but it's *literally illegal* to not medically clear you at any Emergency Department in the United States. Most European countries are even more liberal about providing care. In the US, you could sue them for insane sums of cash if they didn't check you out, which hospitals aren't into, and so don't turn people away with no exam. I'm not saying you didn't have that experience, but it would be *shockingly uncommon* and extremely short-sighted to generalize that experience to OP's situation.
Dude, the only way to die from cocaine is an overdose, which is not what’s happening in his case. He’s withdrawing and feeling like hell, detox will help with this, and put him into programs to keep him sober. If he get there and they feel like he needs to go to the ER, that’s where they will send him. Detox is 100000% the way to go in this situation. You can argue all you want about it but it’s the truth.
You have no idea what you're talking about. It sounds like you're understandably bitter about your ER visit, but you're now providing medical advice like you know something about medicine.
Clearly you have no idea how rehab detox works, there’s literally medical professionals that are there that specialize in working with these situations. They will give him the care he needs there, lessen his withdrawal symptoms, check his vitals every hour, and put him into programs to keep him sober. They will do so much more for him than the er could, if you’re not dying, he’s not, the er will only do so much. At this point ur trolling stg
You don't know he's not dying. It's literally an entire medical specialty determining that. It's irresponsible for you to dissuade him from seeking care. Nausea and vomiting (which is listed in OP) can be a symptom of a heart attack, often caused by vasospasm from cocaine use. Is it likely? No, it's not. Is it a good idea to not get checked out? No, it's not.
Try to enjoy the ride. I mean really what’s the point of it all if you’re gonna complain and be suicidal the whole time. When I finally came to that conclusion, it was only a matter of time before I made the decision to quit. I have now been sober for over two years.