|
What addiction is the hardest to quit?
########################################################################
|u/AutopsyPanda - 14 hours
|
|Fentanyl was... I was hooked to heroin for years and transitioned to
|fentanyl because it was more bang for my buck. It cost way more but I
|needed so little that it would last. I got in trouble and then needed
|to get clean but when I started to get clean my first few weeks I
|prayed for death. I lost 25lbs in 9 days and laid there praying for it
|all to be over. I wasn't even able to stand upright for almost a month
|without passing out. It was so bad. I am happy to say that I am 611
|days sober and haven't looked back. It took a lot of encouragement,
|resources and prayer to make it this far. I prayed for a new life for
|years and I finally have one.
|u/PM_ME_YOUR_TROUT - 9 hours
|
|Yay! 11 years clean from opiates and benzos here. It only gets
|better. I promise. I promise, I promise, I promise! Every day is
|better than the last. It took a couple years for my brain to
|recover, no joke. But I am naturally happy and giddy every day. I
|embrace the sillyness in life every single day. I'm proud of you.
|Stay strong and don't ever forget to congratulate yourself for
|getting clean. Yay!
|u/Euphoric-Package-521 - 7 hours
|
|Congratulations 🎉🎉, so proud of you brotha.
|u/Swimming-Foot-4781 - 7 hours
|
|Congratulations! If you don’t mind me asking… what do you mean when
|you say it took your brain years to recover? I have a close friend
|who got clean but is now experiencing symptoms of depression and
|she says she thinks it’s because of her addiction. She feels unable
|to feel good emotions and she thinks it’s because the substance
|she was abusing provided that for a long time. I tried doing
|research on this because I want to support her, but came up with
|not much . A little insight would be great if you’re comfortable
|sharing😊
|u/Sacredeire57 - 6 hours
|
|Im not a medical professional but your brain stops producing
|dopamine and/or seratonin at the same levels while you’re on
|drugs, the drugs artificially do this for you. Once you come off
|of them, the drugs no longer service pleasure/reward parts of
|your brain and it can take a very long time before you start
|producing your own “happy chemicals” again. Length can depend on
|someone’s particular biochemistry, length of addiction and the
|strength of the drugs you were taking. She’ll get through it
|eventually. The physical parts of withdrawal are a lot more
|stressful and painful on your body. All of the mental withdrawal
|and subsequent struggles like depression are to be expected and
|can take much much longer to recover from. Support during this
|time is super crucial. I’m glad to hear she’s got a friend like
|you who cares enough to both learn about it and want to help.
|Therapy or even some prescription drugs are often recommended
|during this phase of sobriety to help get through it. I hope
|some of that information can help. Best of luck to her!
|u/TruthRazors - 7 hours
|
|Oh man benzos, I was hooked on Klonopin, ended up with protected
|withdrawals, it will be 5 years this Xmas. Congrats on kicking
|both those beasts.
|u/LouisvilleBuddy420 - 7 hours
|
|Yeah, I was using painkillers on and off for about 6.5 years when one
|day I decided a needed to find a regular dealer. I approached a
|homeless dude and we went for a drive and stopped at the "store."
|Walk up and ask just for about 40 vicodin. He says he can get me some
|that week but asked if I wanted some powder in the meantime. I said
|yes just because what the hell, I wanted to do opioids that day.
|Homeless dude told me how I should go about snorting it to make sure
|I didn't take too much and die, he shot up, we parted ways. I went
|back home and did a few bumps. I thought it was very meh. Liked it
|okay, but nothing special. I preferred my weak little hydros. I
|started doing a few bumps in the morning and at night and within
|three weeks, I was stepping out of the office to rail lines in my car
|3-4+ time day. Line after line for hours. Here's the thing I found.
|Fentanyl isn't that GOOD. It's just like... shockingly addictive. I
|was definitely already addicted to drugs before, but I couldn't
|really go back to pills afterwards because my tolerance was so high.
|For years, I could get blitzed on 20 mg of hydrocodone and suddenly
|if I didn't want to use fentanyl, I needed 100 mg just to not be
|sick. $2000 minimum a month. It is wild wild shit. I recently
|relapsed on fent/heroin (luckily more H this time around). Its
|astounding. I never thought the safe and responsible thing to do was
|trying to find decent quality heroin... it's a mind fuck.
|u/Ok_Proof_7980 - 7 hours
|
|Keep fighting, you'll get out of it
|u/HamNotLikeThem44 - 6 hours
|
|Hang in there, brother. And thanks for testifying
|u/BlindBeppe - 6 hours
|
|I mean, I’ve never touched fentanyl thank god But I’ve gone under
|for some heavy surgery in the last couple of years, and popped out
|like dead sober, and asked a doctor friend of mine why the recovery
|was so… simple. And apparently that’s the whole thing with
|Fentanyl. It’s like a legitimate surgery drug. Will knock you
|out, clear your system in a few hours, and like, that’s it
|(apparently). So, never done it outside of a hospital, but, feels
|like a brutal time to be something you’d be craving for. I still
|smoke cigarettes and take (probably too much) valium, but, have
|totally dropped my past habits of near-daily taking morphine, Xanax
|(SO MUCH FUCKING WORSE) and Tramadol. And at least those felt
|fucking good to take, and would either knock you out or stay in
|your system for a bit. The more I hear about people buying
|fentanyl, the more pissed I get at people for selling it at all.
|u/O_oricola-Prickles - 4 hours
|
|My dad died from a heroin overdose. I was six months old so I never
|met him but what I find even worse is that my older sibling was in
|the same room as him while they tried resuscitation on him. Please
|keep fighting the good fight, please don’t die. Your life is so
|valuable and I’m sure there are so many ppl around you that want to
|see you healed ♥️ please get help
|u/Catman1355 - 7 hours
|
|Thankfully you were able to pull away from fentanyl’s grip. My son
|tried for many years to stay away from heroin and fentanyl but he
|lost his job during the pandemic and ultimately lost his battle in
|December 2021.
|u/golden_guinea_pig - 7 hours
|
|Omg you’re such an inspiration!!!! 3 weeks today off meth and your
|story really makes me continue to push forward.
|u/ayanamis_ - 9 hours
|
|Congratulations!!
|u/AnxiousCroc - 9 hours
|
|Proud of you, stranger ❤️
|u/stupidfock - 22 hours
|
|Heroin. Even decades recovered heroin addicts still admit they think
|about the high with some frequency
|u/konqrr - 22 hours
|
|It's the ultimate dump of all the happy chemicals at once. You could
|be soaking wet in the freezing cold but as soon as those chemicals
|hit you may as well be a billionaire on a tropical beach being hugged
|by a warm blanket and a feeling of bliss you'll probably never reach
|naturally. It's literally life's 'happy button'... but pressing it
|means you suffer twice as much as you enjoy it. The highs are super
|high but the lows are the pits of hell.
|u/StarManBoom - 20 hours
|
|This animation, for me summed up opiate addiction, in a way that
|was both simple and profound. Its short and really worth a watch:
|https://youtu.be/HUngLgGRJpo?si=hKAdME7mbw2l-qho
|u/robotnique - 19 hours
|
|I knew that it was going to be nuggets before I even clicked.
|Hahaha.
|u/bro-ccoli1 - 8 hours
|
|Same. Too real if you’ve struggled with addiction. That little
|bird breaks my heart.
|u/Legitimate-BurnerAcc - 7 hours
|
|Ahhh I didn’t know the name of it but fuck as soon as I saw the
|coke duck 🦆
|u/Pipcandy - 11 hours
|
|Me too!
|u/crazy_lolipopp - 11 hours
|
|I Remember this video. Made me cry the first time I saw it
|because of how relatable it was. Drug addiction is so fucking
|brutal.
|u/Fine_Faithlessness67 - 10 hours
|
|Man, I also was very moved by that video. And I’ve never
|experienced drug addiction. I’ve seen the wreaking of havoc
|that alcohol abuse creates. Just awful. Hope you’re doing
|better than before.
|u/crazy_lolipopp - 9 hours
|
|I'm currently in recovery and it has been awful. I really
|don't know if I'll ever fully recover. It's been 3 and a half
|years now, and while I feel a little bit better, I still feel
|like shit.
|u/Aware_Delay_5211 - 7 hours
|
|Keep strong, I know alot of heroin addicts and i have yet
|seen one stay clean.
|u/abbienormal28 - 7 hours
|
|Every day away from that shit, life gets better. I'm doing
|thing now that I never thought would happen to me... in
|fact, I was sure I'd be dead by now. But now I can save
|money. And travel. I got married and had a baby. I feel
|like I'm getting back all the karma I wasted on keeping my
|alive by pure luck. And to add somewhere someone can see
|it.... SUBOXONE SAVES LIVES. It saved mine. I never felt
|high, I just didn't have to withdraw more than a day. Plus
|everyday I take it, the temptation to go back is non
|existent because it wouldn't even work. Fuck anyone giving
|you stigma for being on it. Subs plus therapy changed my
|life and I will never regret that choice
|u/Emxopow - 10 hours
|
|This was my first time seeing it and I just cried
|u/wikkedwizzard - 9 hours
|
|I love this video with my whole heart! I'm a recovering
|alcoholic, and it really spoke to me. I even got a kiwi tattoo
|(the bird, not the fruit) to remind me. (I don't know if the
|little guy in the video is a kiwi but 🤷♂️ He kinda resembles
|one)
|u/ckleschick227 - 10 hours
|
|Lost my brother within the last year to heroin addiction. This
|video and the way the ducks emotional state turning complete dark
|and full sadness made me lose it immediately because I imagine
|that’s exactly what it felt like inside. Like a truck hit me.
|u/Catman1355 - 7 hours
|
|We’re in the same club. I lost my son in December 2021.
|u/YeehawSugar - 8 hours
|
|Thank you so much for showing me this. I was addicted to heroin
|for 4 years, straight into IV heroin from nothing. This is
|exactly accurate. I have 7 years clean. Thank you
|u/Uppapappalappa - 10 hours
|
|wow. how happy and powerful the kiwi seems at the beginning.
|u/ninjitsu101 - 11 hours
|
|Thanks i like shorts like this. Very good mate
|u/mtngoat7 - 10 hours
|
|Dang nuggets
|u/okrdokr - 9 hours
|
|knew it was gonna be the addiction bird before i clicked it lol
|u/joker_with_a_g - 9 hours
|
|I'd never seen that. Incredible. Thanks for posting this.
|u/ArchyRs - 21 hours
|
|I’ve received it medically for pain, but all it felt like to me was
|the pain going away and a little bit of a crackling/popping
|sensation in my head and then I was slowly lulled into slumber. I
|don’t recall any euphoria or happy feelings from it.
|u/ninetofivehangover - 20 hours
|
|You’re lucky. My dentist prescribed me oxy after my wisdom tooth
|removal and jesus.. it ruined my fucking life man. I’d take it
|over anything. Time with my family. Sex. The absolute comfort and
|warmth, like being hugged by God herself. Dipping into the
|cosmos. Peace. And another side is the lifestyle. Opiates were
|for evading life. Hiding away in my room, being a complete
|fucking degenerate. 12 hours of movies, junk food, and ignoring
|everyone who loves me. It creeps so slowly but surely. Weekends
|turn to “oh i got home early today…” or “eh fuck today, why not”
|and bam. One day you wake up nauseas and anxious. You barely
|sleep. The Devil has you now.
|u/DysphoricNeet - 16 hours
|
|Exactly what happened to me. One minute I was sober and
|extremely active running 5ks and lifting, then I got a wisdom
|tooth infection that opened the door to opiates. I got a perc
|from someone to carry me through the night and then a bottle of
|lortab after the surgery. Then a bottle of percs for fun. Then
|eventually my connection ran dry and I stopped for like a year
|but I was always thinking about it. There was this little
|pebble thing where we would do band practice. It was outside
|where I would smoke and it looked exactly like a Percocet. I
|would stare at it every week. Eventually I was researching how
|to get oxy on the deep web and figured it was too sketchy so I
|tried kratom instead. That was like 6 years ago and I haven’t
|been able to stop. The withdrawals are unbearable and it has
|ruined my life and my health. I am 6’3” and weigh 130 pounds. I
|can only do like 3 pushups. Im sick right now cause my stomach
|is full of it. After I took that first Percocet I never ran
|again and running was my favorite thing in the world.
|u/Putrid-Variation1135 - 16 hours
|
|I'm also trying to quit kratom after almost 4 years of daily
|use. I can barely get out of bed without my dose. My body and
|my mood are complete sh*t in the morning. I take 3.75g 3-4x a
|day. Feels no different than taking a perc 30. I get real
|irritable without it and forget trying to go out and do
|anything if I don't feel it in my system. It sucks. I
|should've never started. I quit cocaine way easier than this
|stuff.
|u/ninetofivehangover - 14 hours
|
|Kratom sucks ass I replied above w my kick regiment! It’s
|possible man, promise. Just do not fucking use subs,
|please
|u/DysphoricNeet - 12 hours
|
|I’ve really been considering getting on subs because this
|powder is ruining my physical health. I know there is a
|huge chance I would get even more addicted to subs but at
|least I could be active and not feel so stupid. I haven’t
|done it because I know it’s not really a fix and
|theoretically quitting kratom is easier. I just don’t
|know. I got up to 80gpd of this shit and even though I’m
|way down from that I still can barely function because of
|my health alone.
|u/Norkmani - 10 hours
|
|Everybody’s path is different. Subs may be worse for
|others but better for you. I got on methadone after a
|nasty addiction and I was discouraged early on by many
|around me but I personally knew there was nothing left
|I didn’t try. I encourage you to go to a doctor, build
|a treatment plan and get your health back. Good luck
|on your journey. You can do it!
|u/gabrieltwin - 9 hours
|
|Do not try subs. Every account I have from someone who
|was using them, said it was more addictive than
|whatever they were using them to quit
|u/Intelligent_Bake949 - 10 hours
|
|If you switch to subs, here is my advice… I was on
|percs/ oxy for 3-4 years. I found out about subs and
|got hooked on those for the past 6-7 years because it
|was so easy to do and way less expensive. It can be
|trading one addiction for another, so if you want to
|get clean I recommend Switch to subs with a set plan to
|taper off of them. I finally got sober from everything
|in June this year. Before that I was hooked on
|Adderall, subs, Xanax, and was vaping for a few years.
|Being sober made me finally realize that I’ve been on
|substances basically my whole adult life.
|u/ninetofivehangover - 14 hours
|
|Bro hmu. I have kicked the kratom demon so many times. I know
|all the tips and tricks fr. I think with a proper
|application you can eliminate damn near 90% of withdrawal
|symptoms just with meds. 600mg gabapentin x 3 a day for 5
|days. clonidine .1 in the morning and before bed. LIPSOMAL
|vitamim C 3 grams as needed every 3-5 hours. Magnesium as
|needed. Baclofen 20mg x 3 a day. Then at day 5 you start
|tapering down. fuck kratom. this new 7o shit is evil too it
|feels just like a roxy
|u/odb76er - 11 hours
|
|I became dependent on kratom, and had to overcome
|withdrawals for a week. I had only been using it for a
|couple of months. There was sickness, vomiting, couldn't
|eat anything or keep it down. Unbelievable this stuff is
|sold in the States.
|u/FuckeenGuy - 18 hours
|
|OxyContin makes me grumpy as fuck. I’m fighting a fog and nausea.
|There’s no euphoric feeling at all. I consider myself lucky for
|that, and I’ve never researched it further. I can’t imagine if it
|made me feel good as addictive as it has been shown to be.
|u/WembanyamaGOAT - 13 hours
|
|Well yeah that’s medical heroin they aren’t gonna give you an
|amount that most addicts are using to get super high
|u/fearless_leek - 12 hours
|
|Every time I’ve taken it I’ve vomited. Was given it in emergency
|for a problem I ended up needing surgery for. Vomited. I didn’t
|realise how addictive it can be when I was prescribed it after
|abdominal surgery, vomited horribly and made the decision I
|couldn’t deal with the vomiting AND the pain, and now I know more
|about it I’m thankful for the decision I made to not keep taking
|it.
|u/Penile_Interaction - 10 hours
|
|thats opiates based medicine, not actual heroin that you're
|talking about though right? i had opiates based tablets after i
|had a fracture as well, basically a warm wave was moving upwards
|my body and pain was disappearing momentarily, but then i always
|started to feel sleepy and couldnt ever fight it, just had to
|fall asleep
|u/TalkShtThrowaway - 21 hours
|
|Correction- it's the ultimate dump of **satisfaction** chemicals,
|not happy ones. It's the ultimate **satisfaction** button If you
|want the ultimate dump of **happy** chemicals, then you want MDMA,
|Molly/ecstacy, which is far less addictive. It's the serotonin
|drug.
|u/NoodlesAreAwesome - 20 hours
|
|I was never addicted but thought for years (still do) about some
|of the times my wife and I had on MDMA together. The only reason
|we prob don’t is no access to it now that we are older. (Last
|time was prob 16 years ago). They were perfect nights.
|u/bmxtricky5 - 16 hours
|
|Me and my wife will do MDMA a few times a year together to work
|on our relationship and those nights are the best.
|u/grantking2256 - 15 hours
|
|I took mdma like once and I still think about it. Shit is
|AMAZING
|u/EldoSmelldough - 12 hours
|
|I took it once too! It was AMAZING! So I took it another
|100 more times or so. Still good
|u/grantking2256 - 11 hours
|
|😂😂😂
|u/bmxtricky5 - 14 hours
|
|Yes it definitely will make you feel great lol while the
|feel good side is great and all its the therapeutic effects
|that I enjoy
|u/abgtw - 14 hours
|
|Touche. I feel like most people who experiment with
|substances go high or go low, and MDMA is the opposite of
|heroine in this case.
|u/goiterburg - 15 hours
|
|Can I ask how old you are?
|u/Own-Distribution-193 - 7 hours
|
|Everyone I know is either too old to have a connection or
|thinks I’m a narc. MDMA was my DOC until I apparently aged
|out.
|u/hackatrade - 16 hours
|
|An addict I knew used to say that taking heroin to him was like
|‘borrowing happiness from tomorrow’
|u/Relative_Spring_8080 - 16 hours
|
|The catch though is that those highest of highs only last a short
|while. Before you know it, you're using heroin just to feel
|*normal*. That's when you know you're in deep doodoo.
|u/full_bl33d - 15 hours
|
|There’s this old interview with Keith Richards from The Rolling
|Stones where the guy doing the interview asks him what he misses most
|about the old days. Not missing a beat, Keith says “heroin”. I think
|the interviewer was searching for an answer about the nostalgia of
|smaller clubs and the movements of the 60’s and 70’s but Keith kept
|it short and sweet. He misses heroin the most. I can relate as
|someone in recovery myself. I can only imagine the luxurious
|depravity of a rock star addict. How he’s still alive is anyone’s
|guess. He belongs in a museum
|u/JamesBondGoldfish - 14 hours
|
|And they had the real shit back then, too, not the fentanyl-laden
|zombie garbage
|u/Jumpy-Program9957 - 5 hours
|
|I am so happy I got off of it before it turned into whatever it
|is now that's eating people's skin. I mean I started when it was
|supposedly just dope. And I probably stopped when it was being
|sold as dope but really fentanyl. But yeah the stuff now scares
|the shit out of me
|u/Ok-Border1269 - 9 hours
|
|Benzos to calm my panic attacks. Once per month if needed.. turned
|into once per week.. once per day… 2/3 per day… and life spiraled.
|Did the dumbest thing ever and risked death quitting cold turkey. I
|will never forget the grip the devil had on me. 9 months clean the
|windows are longer waves are minimum. Killed my joy of caffeine and
|i completely stopped. But i am glad i am getting better. Never give
|up.
|u/talkamongstyerselves - 6 hours
|
|I was an athlete and the first time I got injured they pumped me
|full of demerol. The second time I got injured, I was happy
|because this meant more demerol. A guy I worked with had back
|surgery. When he came back to the office and I asked it how'd it
|all go, he told me with a big smile 'I got morphine'
|u/ExtraPicklesPls - 15 hours
|
|10 years clean and i still know that the answer to all my stress and
|worries is heroin. I'll never touch it again but I know I'll always
|be an addict. I also know I can get addicted to anything habit
|forming and have to both watch myself and trust my friends and family
|when they have concerns. Recovery takes humility.
|u/United_Wolf_4270 - 20 hours
|
|>Even decades recovered heroin addicts still admit they think about
|the high with some frequency Former heroin addict here. I think
|about heroin about as often as I think about how to spell
|"xylophone." Almost never. There's the occasional drug dream though,
|perhaps once or twice a year, and those are bizarre. So clearly it's
|still in there somewhere, in my subconscious. Adderall, on the other
|hand... God I wish I could go back on that stuff, but the blood
|pressure is no bueno.
|u/ninetofivehangover - 20 hours
|
|Not to perpetuate a potential issue you have regarding the
|substance - I have bad adhd also a former opiate addict. I hate
|stimulants generally and have to take several tiny doses through
|the day. I paired it with clonidine to combat the blood pressure
|problem
|u/Eastwood8300 - 9 hours
|
|i’m a newly clean heroin addict. i also have bad adhd. if i go
|to clean or do a task, i get so overwhelmed i can’t do it. i
|can’t focus, it’s just really bad. doctors judge addicts so even
|though i never had a problem with adderal or adhd medicine, (it
|doesn’t make me hyper, it just helps me focus) the doctors won’t
|prescribe it. i really need the right medicine. even a low dose
|would help.
|u/United_Wolf_4270 - 20 hours
|
|I appreciate it, but I'm already on two antihypertensive drugs.
|It's probably better that I just don't take adderall. It sucks
|though because it improved virtually every part of my life -- my
|depression, my motivation, my ability to focus, everything. Oh
|well.
|u/ninetofivehangover - 20 hours
|
|Sorry mate :/ it has helped me a lot too. Perhaps natural
|approaches? I see a lot of people yapping about lions mane
|mushroom and shit. You seem like a trooper. I hope it works
|out well regardless, much love stranger 🫡
|u/TheyCallMeGOOSE - 11 hours
|
|3 years sober from extreme alcohol addiction. Many many detoxes,
|homelessness, etc. I have an Addy prescription and absolutely no
|issues. I regularly forget to take it. I think it depends on your
|brain chemistry which drug "does it" for you.
|u/frityn - 13 hours
|
|At 14 y.o. I had a medical issue that required a strong push of IV
|morphine, heroin's weaker cousin. I've never had it again or anything
|stronger since. I still think about that feeling 26 years later. As a
|result, I've always had great sympathy for those struggling with
|heroin.
|u/throwfaraway212718 - 7 hours
|
|Several years ago, I was in a serious car accident, resulting in a
|hospital stay and major pain. They gave me fentanyl to manage it,
|and after the first dose wore off, I told the doctor/nurse to never
|give that to me again. Never, before that point, had I really
|grasped how people could become addicted to drugs, but that sense
|of euphoria was other worldly, and it scared me. It’s been almost
|ten years since that day, and I still vividly remember what that
|felt like.
|u/frityn - 7 hours
|
|It's absolute madness what one taste can do to a person.
|u/ydnarb007 - 15 hours
|
|Been clean almost 6 years. I dream about it like at least 3 times a
|week. Heroin destroyed my family and my life but goddamn did it feel
|amazing
|u/Fun_Proposal4814 - 9 hours
|
|I wish I could send this to everyone but you all are courageous for
|taking the steps to get clean truly an inspiration
|u/youremomgay420 - 8 hours
|
|It is always easier to make a bad choice than to make a good one.
|People who wake up everyday and choose to make the best possible
|choice for them and their family are the most noble folks on the
|planet, imo
|u/AnotherBlind - 18 hours
|
|Heroin’s grip is like a shadow that never quite leaves, no matter how
|far you’ve come. It takes real strength to fight that mental pull
|every day
|u/GielM - 17 hours
|
|Everything I ever heard about heroin indicates I should never get
|near it. Until I've heard from at least two doctors I'm terminally
|ill and won't last another year. In which case I should go down a
|list of "fun but stupid stuff I always wanted to try." and have it at
|the very bottom of that list.
|u/SnooSprouts6974 - 12 hours
|
|Met a guy in NYC who was a user when I lived in Queens. He worked
|in the Bronx at a elevator factory - next to a REALLY sketchy part of
|town w/ serious heroin usage adjacent to the factory. Anyways, over
|beer one night - I asked him after he mentioned a "girlfreind" (loose
|group) died of heroin a month prior from usage. I asked him, "Why
|the, do YOU keep using?". His response, "It just feels too good to
|quit, " The way he said it - made me know - I would never,
|ever try. He, sadly was dead a month later. He was actually, a
|pretty "soft soul".
|u/Ch4rlie_G - 17 hours
|
|I find this with opiates of any sort. I spent about 5 years on
|Vicodin. I’ve been clean almost 15 years and I still want it
|everyday. Even with counseling, the monkey is always on my back.
|Opiates made every day amazing for me. Never felt better.
|u/escobizzle - 10 hours
|
|Heroin is a walk in the park compared to fentanyl and the new
|fentanyl/xylazine/nitazene combos they have on the streets now.
|Saying this as a recovering opioid addict who started with oxycodone
|then moved to hydro- and oxymorphone, then to heroin, then to
|fentanyl, then to fentanyl/xylazine before finally getting clean.
|What's on the street now is disgusting and damn near impossible to
|get off of. Heroin pretty much no longer exists.
|u/blinx0rz - 18 hours
|
|I was addicted to heroin for years.. now meth Meth is another
|monster
|u/iambillwong - 18 hours
|
|I tried heroin 4 times, but never had a dealer. I still think of the
|feeling most days. I’m glad I didn’t have a consistent supply.
|u/IntrospectiveMelo - 15 hours
|
|I’ve been clean from hard shit for a few years now and I still wake
|up thinking about H and fentanyl just about every morning. Have vivid
|dreams of using all the time.
|u/Baldojess - 14 hours
|
|I've been clean for 5 years (heroin and meth) and still dream about
|getting high all the time, like at least weekly if not more and still
|think about it quite a lot
|u/lanamars - 13 hours
|
|I was addicted to heroin for about a decade. Baaaadly addicted iv
|user. I can’t fathom ever wanting it again now and I’m so thankful
|for that. Nicotine is what I can’t let go of. I’ve accepted it’s a
|necessary evil in my life at this point.
|u/Aggressive_Big_8733 - 12 hours
|
|Fentanyl.... Makes quitting heroin seem easy. Ask me how I know. 😑
|u/gabriel5519 - 10 hours
|
|Id have to say benzodiazepines just because of the withdrawals and
|how terrible they are and how long they last, as a opioid addict and
|benzo addict specifically to klonopins and fent id say benzos were
|the hardest to quit. Im still on a taper that is very painful two
|years later
|u/-something_original- - 8 hours
|
|Heroin is the only thing that cured my anxiety. Actually made me
|comfortable in my own skin. I hate it but I loved it. Tried it 32
|years ago for the first time and have 13 years clean. I don’t get
|crazy cravings anymore but I do think of it on occasion like right
|now. I just remember almost walking in front of a city bus, but
|walked into a woman’s shelter instead sobbing and asking for help. I
|remember that feeling of having no hope and the only logical choice
|was to end it. I thought of my kids and took that first step. I’ll
|never forget that feeling.
|u/captainfuzzyballs - 23 hours
|
|Quitting smoking was probably the hardest thing I ever did in my life.
|And I tried many times before I finally succeeded but I haven’t had a
|cigarette in 25 years now and I smoked for 25 years.
|u/Velio1 - 22 hours
|
|Quitting smoking is pretty easy. I did it hundreds of times.
|u/repwatuso - 22 hours
|
|This is the story of my life right here. Age 17 and still quitting
|at 49...
|u/reredd1tt1n - 21 hours
|
|Reading Alan Carr's book(s) was amazingly effective for me. They
|break down the logical fallacies that nicotine addiction makes us
|believe. You keep smoking while you read to help with the
|reflection on breaking down the fallacies we are telling
|ourselves. I know that I'll never smoke again or want to smoke
|again, the fleeting thoughts about smoking are easy to respond to
|with a bit of logic and then I remember how awesome I feel.
|u/OmSaraya - 20 hours
|
|100%. This book helped me quit over eight years ago.
|u/Due_Pay3324 - 19 hours
|
|Same here, almost 4 months clean of smoking and feeling the
|benefits in my life already, wish I read it earlier in life.
|u/hawtlava - 17 hours
|
|Gotta parrot this, it’s been a full year for me after 10 years
|of a pack a day. The book is great and it just shifted
|something in my brain.
|u/GielM - 17 hours
|
|Glad it helped you. It did nothing for me, though.
|u/ShadyTree_92 - 16 hours
|
|Same. I agreed with some of it but some of just didn't
|resonate with me. Getting pregnant helped me quit cold turkey
|though, it's just not smoking after giving birth that's the
|tough part 😂
|u/GielM - 16 hours
|
|Your method unfortunately won't work for me either. One of
|the few downsides of being male...
|u/blaster1988 - 22 hours
|
|How did you do it? I’m really dysregulated right now and on track to
|smoking 40 cigs in 24 hours. I used to be a heavy drinker and pot
|smoker and I have given up both of those but cigarettes seem too hard
|to quit.
|u/cant_find_me_here - 13 hours
|
|Not OP but for me I had to quit drinking and smoking within roughly
|the same time period, because ya know drinking and nicotine go hand
|in hand It's probably easier to quit drinking first, but I did the
|opposite. What truly helped me was Allen Carr's book, I read the
|vaping one but the concept is the same. Once you realize you're
|really gaining nothing, quitting becomes so easy. The line that
|really clicked for me was nicotine is the equivalent of wearing
|shoes that are too small all day just to get the satisfaction of
|taking them off.
|u/Veronome - 20 hours
|
|It's been ten years, but I *still* crave a cigarette when I'm
|stressed or after a few drinks.
|u/shit_on_the_curb_2 - 23 hours
|
|Cocaine was hard. Booze was harder. Cancer sticks were the hardest.
|Took me 2 solid years of trying to quit. I’d go 2-3 days then have a
|whole pack. I finally waited until I got the flu really bad and haven’t
|smoked on cigarette in 2256 days! According to my app that’s 31578
|cigarettes not smoked and over $200,00 not spent. The last pack I
|purchased was over $17.50 here in California.
|u/DistantKarma - 20 hours
|
|My father in law is 85 and quit smoking over 40 years ago. He says
|he'll still occasionally reach for a non existent pack in his shirt
|pocket when he has certain triggers, like sitting on the front porch
|after dinner.
|u/GlassBandicoot - 18 hours
|
|My stepdad used to smoke one before starting work on a car, and
|quit in the early 1950s. Ever since, when he's contemplating what
|work to do on a car, I'd see him pawing at the chest pocket of his
|coveralls, looking for a pack that hasn't been there for decades.
|u/Mundane-Bread-1271 - 14 hours
|
|This shit scares me. I turned 30 recently and started when I was
|16. I have no desire to quit I accept the negatives of it but
|when I eventually do quit I don’t want those damn phantom habits.
|Scary af.
|u/PorkyMcRib - 14 hours
|
|Everybody quits, best to do it on your own terms.
|u/XTingleInTheDingleX - 12 hours
|
|My dad quit suddenly on a toilet at 73. I quit two years
|ago.
|u/wisedrgn - 10 hours
|
|...... i mean i hope he quit the cancer sticks and didn't
|pull an Elvis for you.
|u/XTingleInTheDingleX - 10 hours
|
|Nah it was the Elvis thing. Never managed to quit smoking
|or drinking. Motivated me to do both.
|u/ilovemyhiddenself - 6 hours
|
|Hey man I’m sorry. Good for you for improving yourself.
|u/rephyr - 9 hours
|
|My dad at 68. I quit this year.
|u/XTingleInTheDingleX - 8 hours
|
|Good, it’s hard and you deserve a hug / Pat on the back.
|u/Over-Confidence4308 - 7 hours
|
|True my dad kept smoking after his lung cancer diagnosis.
|He described his nicotine withdrawal as the most difficult
|part of being in the war.
|u/JaredGoffFelatio - 13 hours
|
|It's not always like that. I smoked for about 7 years from age
|18-25. Took me multiple tries to quit, but I did switch to
|vaping for a few years and then cut it out altogether. I
|"relapsed" a couple times after I cut out cigs for vapes and
|couldn't even get through a full cigarette either time because
|it was just gross. Now I haven't used any nicotine products
|in about 5 years and honestly I never think about smoking
|cigarettes, vaping, or crave nicotine anymore. Quitting was
|extremely difficult, but I literally don't miss it at all and
|I'm so glad that I'm not wasting my money and fiending for
|nicotine all the time anymore.
|u/ferns0 - 14 hours
|
|Less scary than the cost
|u/Betrayer_of-Hope - 13 hours
|
|Financial and otherwise.
|u/bugdelver - 14 hours
|
|Don’t worry… if you wait that long to quit the cancer will get
|you before the ‘phantom habit embarrassment’ does…
|u/NCEMTP - 11 hours
|
|The cancer is bad, but COPD and Emphysema are guarantees even
|if cancer isn't. You don't ever appreciate being able to
|breathe thoughtlessly until you realize it's been weeks or
|months since you've been able to take a "full" breath without
|thinking. And that damage is both completely irreversible,
|sans for lung transplants that you will always be
|automatically denied for given a history of smoking, and
|absolutely inevitable. People should be informed as much
|about the inevitable shortness of breath as they are about
|the potential possibility maybe of one day getting cancer.
|Take it from someone who knows.
|u/kim01001001 - 12 hours
|
|My dad carried Chicklet gum in the breast pocket of his polo
|shirt, instead of Pall Mall unfiltered.
|u/Ok_Muffin_925 - 18 hours
|
|A woman I know is a gorgeous, health nut and not at all a smoker.
|She smoked in her 20s for only a few years and is now in her early
|50s but looks 30 due to her lifelong healthy lifestyle
|(notwithstanding a couple years of smoking in her youth). She says
|she still to this day often gets the urge to smoke even though she
|thinks it's disgusting. She even dreams that she is smoking. She
|says all she has to do is wait ten seconds and the urge passes but
|that is a powerful addiction.
|u/Wundrgizmo - 15 hours
|
|I knew I had to quit opiates cause I had only done it a handful
|of times at that point, and I was already having dreams I was
|finding them in my pocket. Dreaming about it is pretty bad. I
|would get excited in my dream and the blues when I woke up and it
|wasn't real. If I didn't nip that in the bud, it would have
|likely been a real problem.
|u/Bobert_Manderson - 15 hours
|
|I got lucky and the first time I tried a painkiller for my
|wisdom teeth it made me vomit and I said fuck that I’ll just
|deal with the pain and never tried them again. Even in my party
|days in college.
|u/MooshieRissy - 12 hours
|
|Got wisdom teeth + four molars pulled. Only medicated for
|about two weeks. That’s all it took. The cravings went
|crazy, and genuinely tweaked out when I stopped. Thankful
|that’s all that happened. Now the strongest thing I take is
|Tylenol!
|u/Ok_Sign1181 - 15 hours
|
|I quit smoking weed over a year ago and yet I have bad dreams
|where i smoke ruining my progress and I wake up thinking that i
|ruined my progress also, I don’t have urges anymore but damn
|those dreams still come and annoy the shit out of me, I quit so I
|can get into a career that I dream of
|u/susabb - 14 hours
|
|Good shit quitting. Weed is, without a doubt, my addiction. I
|could stop touching alcohol any day, I'm not a big drinker. I
|already quit nicotine after vaping it for like 2 years straight
|- it sucked, but it wasn't actually that bad. I quit kratom
|after daily use. I even quit energy drinks. I don't know if
|I'll ever quit weed. Wish you the best in that career homie.
|u/Ok_Sign1181 - 14 hours
|
|Thanks man! If you want to quit weed it’s definitely
|different with everyone, when I first started the journey i
|slowly tapered myself off 1 bowl a day turned into 1 hit a
|day then after a bit it turned 1 hit every three days I did
|the everyday three days move three times before i completely
|dropped it, it’s completely doable man, if you go for it i
|believe in you!!
|u/phantom_diorama - 13 hours
|
|My biggest hurdle to quitting THC was avoiding that first
|puff from the vape in the morning with my coffee. It's all
|or nothing with me. I either take a puff shortly after
|waking up and then again and again throughout the day, or
|none at all.
|u/Mr8492nd - 13 hours
|
|Been of it for 3 months and the dreams I’m having are fucking
|nightmares
|u/bobshoy - 15 hours
|
|I only smoked for a few years, fairly heavily though, pack a day.
|Took years for the constant urges to go away, and still to this
|day, fifteen years since quitting I have to hold my tongue and
|not ask to bum a smoke when I see a friend light up.
|u/semantic_satiation - 17 hours
|
|10 years since I quit and I'll still have a flash of panic when
|packing for a trip that I need to run out and buy a few packs.
|u/Strange-Win-3551 - 15 hours
|
|My dad used to do that too, whenever he went fishing. I quit 30
|years ago, and the other day I was standing in the rain waiting for
|a bus, and there was a guy waiting who was smoking. The smell gave
|me a sudden intense craving, and I remembered back to my university
|days (when it felt like almost everyone smoked). We used to always
|light up at the bus stop, because the bus always came when you had
|a fresh cigarette.
|u/CoffeeBananaBreadd - 13 hours
|
|That's how you summon a bus after all.
|u/joshisold - 13 hours
|
|It’s weird. As a former smoker (don’t think I’ve had one in 4+
|years, but I don’t really track it), sometimes the smell is gross
|and off-putting and sometimes it’s an instant craving.
|u/AFC-Wilson - 16 hours
|
|I'm sure I read somewhere that you never fully quit smoking, like
|your body will always crave nicotine no matter how long it's been.
|u/BloatOfHippos - 14 hours
|
|My dad is early seventies and hasn’t smoked in 40 years either and
|still sometimes dreams about smoking. He can wake up with the
|feeling of disappointment towards himself that he lit a sigaret.
|u/bogerts - 22 hours
|
|It's currently my 11th day of not touching a cigarette. Taking up
|running seriously is helping me control the urge to light one up.
|Getting a whiff of a smoke makes me sick now tho. Edit: People are
|so awesome for being this supportive! Don't be scared of the
|withdrawal, y'all! You can do it too.
|u/ThePanther1999 - 21 hours
|
|The taste would also make you feel as sick as the smell too. It’s
|absolutely amazing how quickly your tastebuds bounce back after
|smoking, so they taste even worse after a break from them. Use that
|as extra motivation. Well done!
|u/bogerts - 20 hours
|
|My morning routine after waking up was always having coffee and a
|cigarette. It was a routine hard to break, turned easy because
|the first hit of cigarette always gave me anxiety. So I'm fine
|with just having coffee by itself now. I think 3 months ago too I
|started drinking only strict black coffee.
|u/Independent_Nerve230 - 20 hours
|
|i used vape with no nicotine to help with the playful smoke
|experience and then no more cravings after weeks
|u/jaycuboss - 19 hours
|
|I quit after smoking all through college and the ten years after.
|Since the goal is to get off of nicotine completely, I followed a
|simple two rule philosophy. Rule #1: Don't buy cigarettes. If
|you don't buy them, you won't have any to smoke. Rule #2: Don't
|smoke cigarettes. Kind of an obvious rule, but to be successful
|with this one, remind yourself that a craving is only a feeling,
|and same as any other feeling or emotion you have ever had, it
|will pass and transition to a new feeling if you wait it out.
|Don't harm your health to make some temporary discomfort go away
|when that uncomfortable feeling will go away on its own!
|u/Longjumping_Pie_9215 - 20 hours
|
|You gotta hate it. Almost become scornful of those that smoke.
|u/AlternativeFilm8886 - 20 hours
|
|>I finally waited until I got the flu really bad... This is how I
|successfully quit too. The thought of having a cigarette while I was
|sick made me nauseous, and after a few days of not smoking, I figured
|'why go back now?' It's been approximately 1610 days for me, which
|would have been about 32,200 cigarettes.
|u/ThrowAway1237540 - 23 hours
|
|Agreed. I quit alcohol, cocaine, crack, adderall, weed, and
|cigarettes 6 years ago. The only thing I still crave is cigarettes.
|u/ninetofivehangover - 20 hours
|
|I am constantly quitting and relapsing. it’s always hard but
|eventually it kinda goes away. takes a horrific hell day for me to
|be like OXYCONTIN I NEED OXYCONTIN! but just smelling a cigarette
|outside gets my ears perked up and i havent smoked for damn near 6
|years
|u/frito11 - 19 hours
|
|I haven't quit yet but I've switched to vaping over a year ago
|and am lowering my nic strength. I'm one step away from 0
|nicotine and honestly when I smell normal cigarettes they don't
|appeal to me at all anymore. In the UK vaping is a highly
|encouraged by the nhs and effective route to quitting for good
|and even if one doesn't quit it's many times less harmful to
|vape. In any event I feel like the ritual of doing it is all
|that's going to be the last thing to kick but the fact that you
|can buy 0mg juice means one could keep vaping without getting any
|nicotine at all if they wanted to.
|u/ayyyyycrisp - 17 hours
|
|if you diy your own juice, you can step down so gradually the
|nicotine level that you don't even physically feel any
|withdrawal symptoms. when I did it, I stepped down in mg
|strength every bottle I made. I went from 50mg - 45mg - 40mg -
|35mg - 30mg - 25mg - 20mg - 15mg - 12mg - 10mg, then I went 9,
|8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 2.5, 1 then after 1 I went 0.75, 0.5,
|0.25 and I stayed on 0.25mg for 5 bottles, then I made a single
|bottle of 0 and finished half of it before putting the vape
|down for good. the tapering is so gradual that your brain
|isn't once in a state of wanting more. you never feel any
|physical withdrawal effects. anybody who can't get through
|the withdrawals from quitting cigarettes and feels hopeless -
|you do not have to go through that if it hasn't worked the last
|15 times you tried. the process takes about a year and is
|smooth sailing, and won't effect other aspects of your life
|while you taper. you can continue to vape and get your nicotine
|the whole time you are weening off. it's basically an
|extremely effective cheat code to quiting what's arguable the
|most difficult addiction to quit.
|u/opinionated_ginger - 16 hours
|
|I've had issues where when I step down the nicotine, I just
|smoke more heavily to make up the difference. Granted, I've
|only done it with off the shelf juice and there was a minimum
|concentration drop of 2%. i.e. 5% nicotine to 2.5% are the
|off the shelf options. I'll have to look into what it would
|take to make my own and see if I can give the super gradual
|step down a go. I've "quit" more times than I can remember in
|the past 20 years, but the longest I've gone without relapse
|is 6 months.
|u/ayyyyycrisp - 16 hours
|
|that is exactly what happens actually, and is one of the
|main rules. do NOT go back up in strength. simply vape more
|until you feel satisfied. when you step down a bottle,
|for the first day or 2 you *do* naturally vape slightly
|more than you were in an attempt to get more nicotine. but
|after a couple of days you will slowly fall back into your
|regular vaping frequency. and you don't need to
|continuously keep dropping, you just have to make sure you
|don't go back up. so say you just made the step from 30mg
|to 25mg - those first few days you may take a couple extra
|rips every time you vape, and maybe by the time you're done
|the bottle you don't feel quite ready to jump from 25 to
|20. you can remain at 25 for as many bottles as you feel
|you need to, just don't head back up to 30. and even if
|you don't think you can go 25 to 20, you can always take
|the middle step and make a 22.5mg first. it's more
|difficult to taper in those upper mgs while we're still
|using salts, because salts hit faster and harder but they
|don't last as long. once we're down to around 12mg we can
|switch to freebase, which is slower to reach peak blood
|concentration levels but lasts about 3x as long in the
|blood, so the taperings from 12mg down to 0 are smoother
|than from 50mg down to 12.
|u/VVuunderschloong - 13 hours
|
|Great advice that many ppl could benefit from. Well said
|here and your above comment.
|u/stoppinit - 16 hours
|
|I'm doing exactly this right now. I started with one of those
|sub ohm vapes and vaped 3mg for a few years, then I decided
|to finally quit. I got myself one of those vape pens you can
|refill. I made DIY juice since about 6 months after I
|switched to vaping. I started at 20mg with my vape pen and
|have slowly tapered myself down to 9mg now. I take it extra
|slow, and have been tapering for about a year now. My goal is
|to be at 0mg around Christmas 2025. As you said, I've never
|noticed any withdrawals, and I actually find it easy to
|taper. I know I can probably speed up my tapering, but I want
|to take it really slow to ensure I don't bite off more than I
|can chew.
|u/NOLAIrish - 21 hours
|
|Cigarettes are harder than heroin.
|u/just_hating - 20 hours
|
|It was easy finding bottom with pain pills. But cigarettes? Those
|bills don't even come to collect until your heart is dead.
|u/TheFacetiousDeist - 20 hours
|
|Alcohol, since it can kill you when coming off of it.
|u/Spintax_Codex - 19 hours
|
|And it's everywhere. Some of my heroin addicted friends made
|the great point that "they could never stay clean if every
|restaurant gave them a menu with a list of needles", and it
|really hit me just how in your face alcohol is, all the time,
|anywhere you go.
|u/Un4gvn2 - 17 hours
|
|I’ve been sober for almost 10 years. Alcohol is hard to quit
|because it’s celebrated, socially acceptable and a right of
|passage.
|u/MotorcycleOfJealousy - 14 hours
|
|Keep going brother! Sober for 3 years over here.
|u/Careless_Bench493 - 13 hours
|
|I always thought alcohol would be the hardest because of
|what you’ve described. My addiction was cigarettes,
|everyday I think I’ll relapse. It’s been 10 months.
|u/StrengthBetter - 18 hours
|
|fuck I'm tryna stop, I have to not bring money with me, if I
|do, somewhere there's a corner store, a liquor store, it's so
|easy to just go in, get my drug of choice and feel amazing
|(for about 45 minutes)
|u/Own_Palpitation4523 - 17 hours
|
|I had an alcoholism stint a couple years ago, I always
|drank no problem But I would usually be the type to at
|least have a couple drinks, even if I’m home. When the
|pandemic hit, I just found myself too bored and for some
|reason I started migrating from drinking a beer in the day
|to crushing one to two fifths (750 ML) daily. Basically
|drunk all day every single day I was that person going to
|Safeway at six in the morning shaking from withdrawals
|because I was up at 4:30 and had been waiting until they
|opened to buy up. I had bottles stashed all over my house
|and I would always sleep with one under my pillow. I was
|literally just sipping straight alcohol all day every day.
|It was bad. I had never struggled with any sort of
|addiction before, but all of a sudden I was 36 and I was
|being hospitalized routinely in intensive care and
|ultimately, I ended up putting myself in a coma not waking
|up for seven days. I had spent weeks at a time in the
|hospital to just get out and start drinking again. I went
|to an expensive rehab in Laguna beach and thought I had it
|under wraps yet I was drinking on my flight home 🤦♂️ then
|it all started over again and it lasted about a year before
|I ended up in that coma. I remember in rehab We did a lot
|of basic stuff, but the main thing that stuck is what keeps
|you coming back is the withdrawals and then it made a lot
|more sense to me. Luckily, I quit (eventually) and haven’t
|had a drink in years. And you can definitely die off of
|withdrawal symptoms realistically, you gotta learn that you
|need to go to the hospital sometimes, unfortunately for me
|that usually meant I was having seizures from the
|withdrawals and then they would properly help Me with
|withdrawing in hopes that I wouldn’t die because once
|you’ve had enough alcohol, you might be too far gone.
|Withdrawal Symptoms ultimately Make you fiend for whatever
|it is you’re partaking in. If you tend to be an anxious
|person that drinks that anxiety goes through the roof in
|withdrawal mode until you satisfy that craving and it feels
|so good but it’s very short-lived and it can turn into a
|downward spiral quick. I’ve learned to realize that a
|lot of addictions are perpetuated by the withdrawal
|symptoms of whatever it is, you’re addicted to , ultimately
|leading you to submit into going down that path again. So
|yes, with alcohol it’s definitely important to know when
|it’s time to detox properly through a hospital because if
|not, the only time you’ll end up in the hospital is
|possibly from having seizures or convulsions from the
|cravings which can be fatal as well. And yeah, that’s one
|thing they stressed to me at rehab was that I was lucky I
|was there because my BAC was about a .44 (not my highest or
|even close) and that was after having to get down to LA and
|check into the rehab but at least there I was being checked
|on 24 seven and given Medication to help me not die. But
|the screams from a couple of the people that had been there
|for detox off heroin and oxys was terrible. I once called
|the nurse because I couldn’t believe they weren’t being
|tended to and they told me as bad as that sounds you’re in
|a worse situation because my withdrawals can be fatal
|(Benzos are also in that same category) and theirs
|typically are not. Hard to believe that that’s 100% true
|considering a lot of shit has fentanyl in it nowadays when
|you’re fucking with those hard drugs and those will
|definitely kill you
|u/Derpymcderrp - 17 hours
|
|I can't imagine how difficult it would be for an alcoholic to
|get off of. I stopped drinking and it wasn't bad, but I also
|had maybe 1 drink a day before that. It's so socially
|accepted and you're almost weird if you don't drink.
|Considering it's literal poison, that's a bit messed up
|u/A_Zombie_Riot - 19 hours
|
|yep. my best friends ex-husband had a seizure the day after he
|quit. he’s a hardcore drunk but he’s… i can’t think of the word
|but he drinks all day every day but you wouldn’t really know it
|unless you knew him.
|u/Javakitty1 - 19 hours
|
|I think the word you are looking for is functional alcoholic.
|u/A_Zombie_Riot - 18 hours
|
|yep. my brain went dead thinking of it lol
|u/animehimmler - 14 hours
|
|I was like this. Ever since I started drinking (ironically
|I did start drinking until I was 22, I’m 31 now) people
|would legitimately always say they couldn’t tell I was
|drunk. If you knew me, you could tell that I was maybe a
|little more friendly, sometimes slurred my words maybe two
|percent more, and overall my motor skills were fine. I
|wouldn’t get loud, belligerent, violent etc. With that
|said, it had gotten to the point where I could drink two
|sleeves of vodka shots, go to sleep, then get up for work
|in the ensuing six hours and work 11 hour shifts. I’ve
|literally only been sober for three weeks. One of the
|reasons why I stopped is because I had no idea how
|puffy/fat my face had gotten until I looked at pictures of
|myself when my daughter was born in April, six and a half
|months ago. It sucks because when you’re functioning you
|don’t have the telltale signs of alcohol abuse and you can
|still go to work, pay bills, go to school, be.. well,
|functioning. It makes it that harder to quit because it
|never purely ticks as something “wrong.”
|u/TheRage469 - 17 hours
|
|Yep, I feel it. Had three separate withdrawal-related seizure
|incidents but still kept "going back out." Beyond thankful
|that the last one knocked something back into place in my
|brain; woke up in the hospital and didn't feel like
|immediately leaving to get booze for the first time in 4+
|years. Been on the straight and narrow for 2.5 years now and
|never once looked back
|u/zamufunbetsu - 18 hours
|
|I had a coworker admit once how much he drank, totally took
|me by surprise. I told him I never saw him drunk, he
|responded I'd actually never seen him sober.
|u/caraterra8090 - 17 hours
|
|Sounds like my beautiful neighbor. He drank every day but
|held it very well mostly. I'd see him with his travel cup and
|csme to know in addition to Pepsi there was also whiskey. And
|instead of a seizure, he had a massive heart attack, a widow
|maker, and dropped dead in his mid fifties. He was actually a
|good guy and good friend, who would do anything for his
|friends if he thought you needed it. RIP, DP.
|u/scalectrix - 15 hours
|
|My friend (drummer in my old band - lovely guy, so talented
|and funny) who was semi-secretly drinking a bottle of vocka a
|day, went cold turkey when his gf was pregnant, then when
|they were at the hospital for a meeting, getting the tough
|news that the baby had water on the brain, walked out the
|room for some air, had an alcohol-withdrawal seizure, fell
|down some concretes steps and died. In a hospital. Heavy
|drinkers should not give up suddenly - it's very dangerous.
|u/Rough_And_Ready - 19 hours
|
|As a recovering opioid addict and ex-cigarette smoker I can tell
|you this is crap. At least for me anyway.
|u/lovedbymanycats - 18 hours
|
|I helped my sister and an ex come off of opioids and I wouldn't
|wish that shit on anyone. It's brutal.
|u/Old_Tip4864 - 18 hours
|
|I am with you. I've quit alcohol, crack, and cigarettes.
|Booze and cigarettes are around me everyday and I don't really
|consider going back to them. However, I would be DROOLING and
|fighting myself if someone was hitting the crack pipe next to
|me. Even years later, my brain remembers the insanely
|pleasurable sensation that it brings. Can't really explain just
|how good it feels. ETA: Everyone has a different experience
|which is why people have a "drug of choice" so not saying that
|other people are lying, just that it's a wild concept based on
|my experience
|u/ibedemfeels - 18 hours
|
|Same dude. Quitting alcohol was tough, cigs was also tough...
|But anyone saying cigarettes are harder to quit then heroin
|wasn't doing heroin the right way.
|u/Trueayankee99 - 19 hours
|
|Idk brotha I quit dope 6.5 years ago and I never heard of anyone
|having to go to rehab or detox for cigs 🤷🏻♂️
|u/No_Wolf7741 - 18 hours
|
|Kinda why it makes it so hard. It’s socially acceptable to be a
|smoker but still so addictive
|u/Subject-Response-135 - 19 hours
|
|Sugar is harder than cigarettes
|u/aoskunk - 18 hours
|
|Ohhh as somebody that’s been addicted to every drug you’ve
|probably ever heard of.. yeah sugar would be a challenge. I
|just ate 6 brownies and a couple cookies a few minutes ago.
|u/Heltinden - 22 hours
|
|Good for you mate 👌
|u/No_Breakfast_9267 - 22 hours
|
|Well done mate! I'm still puffing away after 50 years. You're a
|legend!
|u/Kribo016 - 22 hours
|
|I have never tried heroin but I am almost 10 years from smoking
|cigarettes. I still every day think, "You've been good. Why not have
|one smoke?". I don't see that stopping ever, unfortunately.
|u/menolikepoopybad - 19 hours
|
|I quit smoking 18 years ago. Rarely does a day go by that I don't
|want one....it's a brief craving, but it's always there.
|u/K8nK9s - 20 hours
|
|Nicotine addiction waits. Its a patient demon, it gets in there and
|just never goes away. I've been smoke free for over 10 years but
|istg if I smoke one cig ill be back up to my previous numbers in a
|week.
|u/Kribo016 - 20 hours
|
|The only reason I stopped was my now wife, and the only reason I
|don't start again is my now wife.
|u/rob132 - 13 hours
|
|My dad told me he quit smoking 40 years ago because of my
|asthma. He said he thought he was saving my life but I saved
|his.
|u/Letters_to_Dionysus - 22 hours
|
|i also quit because of a cold. the first three days are the hardest
|and after two weeks you're basically in the clear with the chemical
|addiction. so colds really are a blessing for that if you make use of
|them.
|u/metalpanda420 - 22 hours
|
|According to a random stat I heard, quitting smoking adds roughly
|11/min per cigarette not smoked. Congratulations on adding another
|241 days do your life!
|u/queef_nuggets - 22 hours
|
|I thought you meant $200,000 for a sec
|u/tuiroo007 - 22 hours
|
|I got a bit confused by the use of a comma too, particularly as OP
|had used a . in $17.50. So anyway, I did a calculation to check and
|assumed each pack has 20 cigarettes. ($17.50/20)*31578=$27,630.75
|That’s an awesome to see that savings.
|u/theeangel21 - 12 hours
|
|He placed the comma in the wrong spot, he meant 20,000
|u/LovelyzzWomen - 21 hours
|
|Emotional eating. Been struggling with it since I was 12. The worst
|part is you can't just quit food cold turkey like other addictions.
|u/jamie_plays_his_bass - 16 hours
|
|People have lots of advice about food and diet, but they
|fundamentally misunderstand the emotional component of relying on
|food for comfort. When you have no way to emotionally regulate, the
|only obvious (and easily learned) option is to overeat. Overeating
|forces your body out of the fight/flight response, into the
|rest/digest response. It releases hormones to aid digestion and
|ignore the distress experienced. Insulin spikes in the body,
|relaxation hormones promote rest to accommodate all the work your
|body has to do to digest the feast, blood leaves your extremities and
|is directed towards your gut for more effective nutritional
|extraction. It works. Amazingly well. However, it can quickly create
|an intense reliance because of its physiological power and often
|those without alternative coping skills struggle to identify new ones
|by themselves, without therapeutic help. The problem to address isn’t
|the food, it’s the emotional regulation strategies. Therapy can help
|with that, and once you have other tools to reach for instead of
|food, you can improve.
|u/distractedsapientia - 9 hours
|
|Woah. This is like…low key life changing information. Thank you
|internet stranger!!
|u/jamie_plays_his_bass - 7 hours
|
|You’re very welcome. It’s amazing how powerful a little knowledge
|can be. Glad to hear my little rambling was some use to you.
|u/josh-non-anon - 14 hours
|
|This is why GLP1 medication is so powerful, it artificially sends
|that chemical to your brain
|u/DPStylesJr - 7 hours
|
|I recently realized that food is an emotional escape for me and
|have been taking steps to redefine my relationship with food.
|Hardest thing I've had to do I think. But, I'm glad I know what I'm
|up against now and I can work on healthy solutions.
|u/koolcat1313 - 18 hours
|
|Since I've started taking a low dose glp1, I don't emotionally eat.
|It's amazing.
|u/MistakeBeginning664 - 16 hours
|
|YES. I emotionally ate and struggled with it my whole life and the
|day I took the first shot it just stopped. No more McDonald's
|cravings, no more binging taco bell in the car, just, eat normal. I
|couldn't believe how well it worked. And then I lost 65 pounds.
|u/koolcat1313 - 16 hours
|
|I will forever take this medicine for the positive mental
|effects. I'm so glad you've experienced it as well.
|u/MistakeBeginning664 - 14 hours
|
|For real. All these "sToP tAkInG iT" people have no idea
|u/leesahmahree - 13 hours
|
|I emotional eat and I have never heard of this. I also don't go
|to therapy so idk if that's why. Did you get it prescribed???
|u/this1chick - 15 hours
|
|This stuff has put my emotional eating in check, I was able to
|finally give up drinking and weed, my endless scrolling is not as
|bad as it used to be and I generally feel better all around. I tell
|people my addiction button had been switched off.
|u/lostboy91921 - 16 hours
|
|I have control over my eating for the first time in my life thanks
|to mounjaro.
|u/Sailor_M_O_O_N_ - 12 hours
|
|I chuckled because your comment sounds like a commercial, but I
|know 100% it is a fact. My Dad passed away at 60yrs old due to
|his health and weighing almost 500 pounds due to growing up in
|the 'don't waste food, finish your whole plate' era which turned
|into an eating disorder. I'm 5'4", and was approaching 200lbs at
|almost 40yrs old. Along with my Dr's assistance trying to lose
|weight by changing diet & phentermine I wasn't losing much. My
|thyroid pooped out after kiddo #2 so that didn't help. I've
|dropped about 80lbs since 2022 with Mounjaro (lost in less than a
|year on maintenance dose currently). I don't need my blood
|pressure meds, my plantar fasciitis, knee and back problems are
|non existent, and I only eat when hungry or when I know I haven't
|eaten and need to. I am not ending up like my dad. Insurance
|doesn't cover the med because I'm not diabetic, but I'll pay
|whatever to stay healthy and present for my family. Stay healthy,
|y'all!
|u/koolcat1313 - 16 hours
|
|Love this for you!! Me too
|u/swiftekho - 15 hours
|
|Doc is in the process of getting one of them approved by my
|insurance. I'm hopeful it will happen soon. I'm ready to just shell
|out the slightly discounted price out of pocket. My parents have
|both been on a form of it for a year or so and it's saved their
|lives.
|u/koolcat1313 - 15 hours
|
|My insurance denied me because my labs were normal. I go to
|compounding pharmacy and pay out of pocket. It's worth every
|single penny.
|u/vinbullet - 13 hours
|
|Indeed, God bless big pharma for this solution to problems started
|by big ag.
|u/mosquem - 11 hours
|
|By any measure those things are miracle drugs.
|u/asupernova91 - 16 hours
|
|This. You can’t stop eating you literally have to eat to live.
|u/Amii25 - 16 hours
|
|Came here to say this. I can quit cigarettes by just not being around
|them but I need food. At some point I barely ate anymore but that was
|so unhealthy too. So now I eat more but the emotional eating also
|happens again with that. I'm struggling so much to find a balance
|u/assm0nk - 11 hours
|
|as an alcoholic.. i can't imagine trying to keep sober if i had to
|have 3 drinks every day
|u/radish_is_rad-ish - 12 hours
|
|I hate it’s the only vice you can’t just quit. People don’t
|understand how difficult it is to *have* to moderate your addiction
|for the *rest of your life*. I’ve been gaining weight steadily for
|the last few years and keep asking my doctor for help to get rid of
|my intrusive food thoughts but all they say is eat less. That’s
|like asking an alcoholic to continue to have 3 drinks a day for the
|rest of their life but never more than that. It sounds like an absurd
|request of an alcoholic but if you can’t do that with meals then you
|don’t need “help”, you just don’t “have enough will power” 🙄
|u/SweetLady45 - 22 hours
|
|Procrastination. The rush of leaving everything to the last minute is
|weirdly addictive. I've tried everything from planners to therapy, but
|my brain still loves that last minute panic.
|u/bdfortin - 20 hours
|
|For me it’s not even about that. It’s more “well, I didn’t do it last
|time I should have and nothing bad happened, so…”
|u/dimpledL - 20 hours
|
|I am scared of the day something bad actually happens 🫣
|u/Negran - 17 hours
|
|Ya. When you learn the last moment scramble, and get good at it,
|it is hard to want to be planning and on top of things, since
|they get done regardless...
|u/Significant-Image700 - 17 hours
|
|I love the thrill of the chase. But loathe the panic of being
|late. Def an ADD thing I believe.
|u/Negran - 9 hours
|
|I don't even panic. I just take care of business at the last
|moment, but I always have just enough time, and generally do
|well.
|u/Fluffy-List-8783 - 7 hours
|
|And then I convince myself “well that’s not procrastination
|it’s simply a different yet equally effective form of time
|management”
|u/phizeroth - 9 hours
|
|It's not really like that in my experience, like it's rare that
|it has a big terrible consequence. It's a slow rot.
|Procrastinating on classwork turns into missing a due date turns
|into dropping out of a class here and there to never finishing
|that bachelor's degree you should have. Procrastinating on
|studying for certifications or on updating your resume turns into
|stagnating in the same job after 7 years and getting passed on
|raises because you procrastinated on projects that fell to the
|wayside or weren't up to par. Procrastinating on those hobby
|projects leaves unfinished projects that haunt you for years and
|gnaw on your self worth until you just accept that you aren't a
|person who can finish anything. Then you're in your 40s with
|retirement starting to breathe down your neck, and looking around
|at the shallow facade of what your life should have been by now
|if you had just done the fucking things when they should have
|been done.
|u/fomaaaaa - 17 hours
|
|But then if/when something bad happens, it kinda gives you a
|reason to put it off again next time to delay the bad thing
|happening again
|u/Significant-Image700 - 17 hours
|
|Does anyone else hate being early?
|u/Then-Solid3527 - 19 hours
|
|I was late diagnosed adhd and now medicated. It does not help this.
|I’ve recognized its task initiation more than liking the rush. It’s
|weird my brain made up I just like feeling stressed and proud with a
|final product when it reality it just has a hard time starting lol.
|u/alex10653 - 18 hours
|
|did getting medicated help you to stop procrastinating? i’m
|thinking about starting because i cannot focus on anything at work
|and my boss is very hands off so it’s easy to procrastinate
|u/MYSTICALLMERMAID - 17 hours
|
|I noticed when I take my medication I have to be very intentional
|of what I'm doing. If I'm sitting on my phone and my meds hit i
|want to be on it all fucking day. I take mine when I get to work
|right away so when it hits im already doing my morning tasks and
|it absolutely makes a difference for me. Building healthy
|habits though is definitely important. I'm still struggling with
|that part lmao but my meds have 1000% helped when I'm being
|intentional. I also have a very hands off boss I am our COOs
|admin & office bitch (i call myself that lmao) so my days are
|always so different which is amazing for my ADHD but also can be
|terrible when I'm not feeling it lmao. I make a to do list every
|day in my planner and use my Gmail calendar to time block
|"events" so I remember when it pops up. Try some diff things and
|find what works! You can PM me as well i use a variation of a few
|things so I don't miss something and id say I'm about 90% at it
|now 😂
|u/Then-Solid3527 - 18 hours
|
|It won’t make you do anything you don’t want to do. So like i can
|focus but I have to make myself focus on the right things still.
|If I don’t want to do something I can at least tell myself once I
|start I won’t have so much resistance lol.
|u/MYSTICALLMERMAID - 17 hours
|
|I've started some aggressive self love and it has been working
|like 7/10 which is better than before 😂 "bitch just fucking do
|it" is one i repeat often
|u/Hairy_Nutt_Butter - 19 hours
|
|Do you have ADHD? I find that is really similar to how I behave and I
|found out it’s an ADHD related issue. I basically practice demand
|avoidance until I build a level of stress that pushes me into doing
|everything very quickly like a frenzy.
|u/InfiniteBlink - 16 hours
|
|Is that ADHD? I'm in my mid 40s and not diagnosed with ADHD (but
|bipolar when I was 19) cuz I think it's been over diagnosed so I
|didn't want to be associated with it.
|u/Sorrengard - 15 hours
|
|It’s a symptom of ADHD. As a kid I was diagnosed and I’ve
|outgrown a lot of the hyperactivity, but I still have issues
|starting tasks and I HAVE to have my mind occupied at all times.
|A lot of people think procrastinating is an adhd thing but it’s
|more than that. It’s a virtual inability to force yourself to do
|a thing you know you need to do. It’s the weirdest block because
|you know you have to do it, and you’re not doing anything else.
|But you can’t force yourself to start a task. You just have to
|hope eventually you have a moment of panic that overwhelms that
|block. Edit: I think its more over self-diagnosed a lot of the
|time. Everyone thinks being a little scatterbrained means they
|have ADD. But actually having it is a miserable burden.
|u/InfiniteBlink - 15 hours
|
|To your last point, I think you're spot on. My little sister
|(15 years younger) self diagnosed to her Doctor and gave all
|the symptoms to get a prescription for Adderall so that she
|could study for tests in HS and college.. Regarding
|procrastinating, I mentioned this in another reply. I
|procrastinate because I'm very analytical breaking down a task
|or problem to its composite parts and what they entail and
|potential things to consider. I often go into over analysis
|paralysis which then makes me not want to do it because there's
|all this potential shit.. then when my internal anxiety clock
|reaches its limit. I go into a berserker mode and push through
|all the logic trees I had thought of and just make a decision
|and keep going without thinking cuz now I'm forced into action.
|Of course at the end I complete the task and do it well (I'm
|pretty successful in life despite this same horrible pattern).
|The dopamine payoff of completing the task doesn't even out to
|the anxiety of putting it off But hey... It's worked for me
|for 44 years and I'm in the top 3% for a college drop out...
|At this point I've accepted the self induced anxiety and
|catastrophising cuz without it, I won't do anything...
|u/Ok_Life_5176 - 20 hours
|
|I hate the last minute panic, but I guess I’m addicted to the higher
|high you get from completing the task under immense pressure.
|u/lastMinute_panic - 20 hours
|
|We loved each other once... How can we fix it?
|u/lastMinute_panic - 20 hours
|
|I love you too.
|u/foofanoo - 19 hours
|
|Procrastination is like a secret thrill ride terrifying, chaotic, and
|you swear you won’t get on again... until the next deadline
|u/Artistic-Minimum-558 - 21 hours
|
|Nothing like the weird rush of last-minute panic, even though I know
|better.
|u/nikefreerunshoes - 23 hours
|
|Short form content like YouTube shorts and Reels are my new issue. One
|moment you’re watching a handful of them, next thing you know you
|haven’t moved in 48 minutes and it’s dark outside. It really is
|hypnotism
|u/Kaui - 22 hours
|
|I put a daily 20min limit on Instagram (the app will be locked for
|the rest of the day) and I clicked "Not interested" on multiple
|Youtube Shorts so they won't be shown in my feed at all. I still
|watch Youtube but only longer videos. I highly suggest trying this
|out. I no longer mindlessly refresh different feeds and doom scroll
|my day away.
|u/baker2795 - 12 hours
|
|Shameless self plug but just published an app recently on iOS that
|lets you earn screentime based on your step count. Huge update
|coming soon & everybody who has the app before Dec1 gets free
|premium / pro features so wanted to share with the Reddit fam.
|Edit: holy crap that was a horrible self plug… the app is called
|Stryde on iOS. It’s really ugly right now but huge update next
|week.
|u/othercrazycatlady - 11 hours
|
|Please let me know if/when it's released for android!
|u/Ilove_gaming456 - 8 hours
|
|Holy shit imma climb a mountain tomorrow im installing that shi
|rn
|u/ThatsARivetingTale - 12 hours
|
|That's actually a pretty cool idea, unfortunately I'm on Android
|u/yourmotherswomb - 8 hours
|
|downloading rn thanks man
|u/ChaplnGrillSgt - 6 hours
|
|This is an amazing idea. There some decent scientific research
|out there that triggered rewards helps form habits (good OR bad).
|For example, if you really enjoy an audio book, only allow
|yourself to listen to it while doing something good for you that
|you may not want to do. For me, it's cardio. I fucking hate
|cardio but as long as I have a good audio book, I'll be in the
|gym every day just so I can listen to the next chapter or two.
|As a big science and technology dirk, I love this idea you have!
|Downloading it right now to pair with my other techniques!
|u/baker2795 - 6 hours
|
|Wow I should read up on some of that & incorporate it into
|marketing ! Really I just noticed that when the wife & I went
|on walks at lunch I ended up less likely to be on my phone for
|the rest of the day anyway. & then having a way to ‘earn time
|back’ keeps me from disabling the blocker. Drove me to build
|something to help reinforce that habit. Like I said big
|update coming very soon & if you have it downloaded should
|unlock all pro features. So try to bear with me through any
|bugs / ugly UI for the next week 😬
|u/Chogihoe - 21 hours
|
|Now I get annoyed when YouTube videos aren’t long enough lol only
|16 min? Not interested
|u/pjrnoc - 12 hours
|
|Sometimes I want a 3 hr 5-part doc and sometimes I cant stomach
|any more than 12 minute videos.
|u/starsandsunandmoon - 12 hours
|
|This is me with literally any Coffeehouse Crime video. I need me
|a lengthy video or am no watching it 😩
|u/idealistic_realist - 18 hours
|
|Did doing that entirely eliminate shorts from showing up for you on
|YouTube? Because that's exactly what I'm looking for, and I hate
|that I'm not able to disable them on the app myself.
|u/EkkoAtkin - 22 hours
|
|I recently realised that literally any time I'm not doing something
|in a game, I'm on my phone scrolling through feeds. I'll have
|literally 5 seconds between respawning in a game and my phone's been
|unlocked. Since I started putting my phone further away from myself,
|I've found excuses to use it and not even realise like "I need to
|check the time" or "what if someone phones me" etc. But hey, I'll be
|switching to an iPhone soon, and I do find that I use iPhones less
|when I have them because the UI makes me really dislike using the
|phone. And maybe that's what I need to kick it haha
|u/Chogihoe - 21 hours
|
|I have two tips that might help! Clear everything from your Home
|Screen except essentials like mine are; weather, Spotify, and the
|calendar. Bc if I open my phone and don’t see the app I’ll 9/10
|forget that I wanted to open TikTok when I don’t see the icon bc it
|wasn’t important to begin with. The other tip is to download Opal
|and use their deep focus sessions + app blockers for the times
|you’re most likely to mindlessly scroll on your phone: for me, it’s
|usually when I wake up to check my phone so I have instagram
|blocked til after 9 am to ensure I spend my mornings doing
|something better. You can also set limits which I do for reddit,
|it’ll block Reddit for 8 hours so I can’t even look at it on my web
|browser or the lil app library showing what’s open. You’ll find it
|annoying at first but it’ll be so helpful. I haven’t opened TikTok
|since January & I feel it’s made a huge improvement on my mental
|health
|u/SenditDale62 - 20 hours
|
|This helped me quit Facebook, Snapchat, and other social media.
|The only thing I have now is Reddit. I’m mainly on this sub while
|I read random things to fall asleep to. Plus the honest
|(mostly) reviews of Reddit when you google something and put
|Reddit at the end
|u/somehype - 21 hours
|
|Also use things like work focus in IOS. Completely changes your
|phone while in use. It’s not hard to make a dumb phone
|/minimalist device with a couple 10 minute YT tutorials either.
|As you mentioned, removing apps from your Home Screen will drop
|your usage of them a ton. Out of sight out of mind.
|u/MilfyKarma - 22 hours
|
|This is me 100%, my game could take 30 seconds to load up but I
|will still sit there and scroll for those 30 seconds, it's so
|intoxicating, like my brain can't live without some form of
|entertainment at every second these days
|u/chriseustace - 21 hours
|
|I recently deleted everything except reddit and I legitimately feel
|BETTER. More focused, better attention span and more in touch with my
|kids.
|u/awholedamngarden - 16 hours
|
|Yeah I deleted TikTok and I feel waaaaaay less anxious and focusing
|is about 100x easier. I started scrolling there during the pandemic
|and the quality of content just kept getting worse and worse - glad
|I finally deleted.
|u/d00dsm00t - 12 hours
|
|Be weary of the Reddit creep, because I use nothing else and I've
|recognized that I have developed an unsettling addiction to this
|place.
|u/CleanlyManager - 21 hours
|
|It becomes even more troubling when you realize how much of them are
|just bullshit, and you don’t even think about it. Like I have a
|masters in history, pretty much every history fun fact compilation or
|short is either very misleading or straight up false, but then I’ll
|switch and be watching some science or math or like literature or
|some other topic I’m less familiar with and I’ll just take it at face
|value completely forgetting that all the videos from a topic I do
|know about are bullshit, and these ones probably are too.
|u/LevelFourteen - 19 hours
|
|True I have to constantly remind myself that these are just random,
|everyday people. No actual credentials.
|u/ShadowedGlitter - 21 hours
|
|I work at a restaurant and I’ve seen little kids no older than 8
|scrolling through TikTok stuck to their iPad or parents phones even
|with a giant cookie pie on the table. It’s really sad
|u/Ocfri - 14 hours
|
|I get families into my restaurant. The kids are on the iPads and
|headphones! No interaction with anyone. No idea how they’re gonna
|learn how to behave socially. And they are young! They don’t
|speak or make eye contact. Just pads & headphones at the family
|dinner in a restaurant. Very sad.
|u/dogbert617 - 14 hours
|
|I hate when I see kids doing this, at a restaurant table. I
|almost want to advocate for wi-fi to be turned off inside
|restaurant dining rooms, whenever I see that. Granted some will
|probably do this, no matter what....
|u/2bags12kuai - 8 hours
|
|It’s a full on addiction and they are just children, but their
|brains are already broken. I mean our entertainment as kids wasn’t
|Pulitzer Prize worthy but at least there were stories with actual
|writing and production value. There were characters and story
|arcs. Even with video games we had to do something . But more
|than that we could turn it off and walk away..we were forced to.
|We had to leave to go to school or band practice or sports or
|whatever. Now it’s their entire lives and existence. There is
|no turning it off . Just mindless video clips in non sequential
|format. It never goes anywhere and it never stops. Just the next
|one and the next one and the next one. I live in a neighborhood
|where we all live in apartments worth multi millions . A decade
|ago when we would go on our evening walks there would be kids
|rushing by on their bikes and scooters and you’d have to yell out
|for them to slow down and be careful . Now the winding pathways
|are empty. The only kids we see are under 5 being pushed in
|strollers by their grandparents and nanny. And more than half of
|these kids .. even the 1 year olds are holding an iPad while being
|pushed through a beautiful park . Broken .. just broken before
|even having a chance to walk
|u/Zarathorau - 22 hours
|
|Am I in the mood to watch a film? Nah that'll take 90 minutes. I'll
|just have a look at tik tok for 15 minutes. 2 hours later....
|u/maddiweinstock - 19 hours
|
|What really helped me was my boyfriend asking me what I remembered
|watching. After 3+ hours a day on tiktok and only being able to
|verbally recall like 2 videos, maybe I wasn’t experiencing that
|“human connection” i was claiming after all.
|u/Critical_Cut_6016 - 20 hours
|
|Yeah man I feel your pain, it's actually fucked. I am so addicted to
|shorts its unreal.
|u/LuciaBeau - 22 hours
|
|Overthinking. There’s no hotline for it, and your brain is both the
|dealer and the customer.
|u/audible_narrator - 21 hours
|
|And the stress causes so many other health problems
|u/Killentyme55 - 17 hours
|
|That's me. I frequently resort to the worst case scenario for what
|are everyday events to a "normal" person. It's led to hypertension
|among other issues. Apparently I'm a perfect candidate for meds
|but because of a previous medical condition those are off the
|table. I'm getting a little better but it doesn't take much to set
|it off again.
|u/letitsnowboston - 14 hours
|
|Check out the book, Stumbling on Happiness. So great at framing
|and addressing this scenario
|u/Samuraisheep - 11 hours
|
|I have heard you can retrain your brain by thinking of the
|positive (opposite) version of the event. So if you're stuck
|thinking 'what if I fail this test', think 'what if I pass this
|test' instead and apparently it tricks your brain into thinking
|about the positive version of events. Apparently anyway.
|u/lurkingpandaescaped - 16 hours
|
|Truth. Become the observer in your mind and of your mind. The only
|way i was able to obtain this was by being a truck driver. I got my
|cdl and spent 15 months driving. I absolutely hated it after i
|overcame the learning curve. I was running double books and clocking
|16 hour days (dumb and dangerous i know). I would start with music,
|then move to podcasts and audio books throughout the day. Maybe make
|some phone calls home on my headset. But ultimately there was only so
|much audio input i could handle in a day. It left me sitting with
|my own thoughts for 6+ hours a day. Biggest gift i ever received from
|the universe. I didn't know it at the time, but thats when my
|mindfulness journey began. Over the course of my time on the road i
|began to process and take inventory of my entire life. I started to
|get familiar with the patterns of thought and places my mind would
|take me. The stories i would tell myself and my "personal fable and
|narrative." If you truly watch your mind, a lot will reveal itself.
|Being mindful is more than a full time job and can be hella
|overwhelming. But its like going to a gym, keep building your
|neurological muscles and synaptic pathways. You have to work at it.
|Some days i have to work harder and more with my mind than others.
|But i have found with practice, it gets easier the more i work with
|my mind. Most people live life in their heads and let emotions,
|trauma, pain and fear call the shots. Don't be that person. Realize
|the mind never truly shuts off and thoughts will continue to come up
|relentlessly. But with time and practice, you learn to let them go
|and stay rooted in the now. Right now is all we truly have. From
|one overthinker turned observer to another, i believe in you. You'll
|find peace if you work at it. Its exhausting and painful. But lean
|into the discomfort rather than away. All of the answers are inside
|of you. A final thought, do you know why you do what you do? The
|roots of your behavior and patterns of thought? Where do they come
|from and why do they present themselves in the way they do? Look
|inward dear internet stranger
|u/faraday_16 - 19 hours
|
|Suffering through it Any kind of words are appreciated
|u/MickStash - 19 hours
|
|Same. I’ve been sober for 2.9 years. The last summer for me was
|incredible. I got a gf and got in shape and was the happiest and
|most confident I’d been in years. But over the past two months I’ve
|been stuck in negative thought loops of anxiety and stress over
|thinking imposter syndrome at my job. I can’t turn my brain off,
|and it’s hard. It’s shocking to me how well I was doing just months
|ago, and how quickly I slipped back into this negative loop.
|u/Sakka15 - 15 hours
|
|I just went through a major struggle with this again for the
|countless time in my life a few months ago. The only thing I
|think will help me is to constantly be aware that there is a
|different way to think and to have different ways to not lose
|focus. And this must be done every day in some way. I have to
|constantly read books about this kind of topic and listen to
|podcasts. I have to spend time every day meditating to help
|clear my mind and hearing messages that help put me at ease.
|Working out and doing other things that my mind tell me I don't
|want to do is essential. Speaking with my therapist and truly
|being honest about what I am struggling with. Learning to
|understand the difference between my thoughts and my thinking has
|helped a lot. The reality is I know what will happen if I
|continue to let my mind go into that negative thought loop and
|like you said it can happen so easily and quickly if I am not
|ever vigilant. So I have to always work on it even when things
|are going well because the truth is I am always just one string
|of thought patterns away from potential unraveling everything
|that I have worked hard for and still hope to achieve. We can
|change the way our thought patterns work but it takes a lot of
|time and it has to consistent. We have to put in the work until
|this kind of thinking is not innate within us and then we still
|have to continue to work to maintain that. It feels daunting to
|know that there is no true end in sight but the truth is the more
|daunting aspect would be to always struggle with this. Try not
|to be too critical on yourself, just stay focused on what you are
|trying to achieve and feel some pride you are working to better
|yourself and that in turn will make our existence more enjoyable.
|We have to tear down the figurative wall day by day, piece by
|piece.
|u/MickStash - 14 hours
|
|This is such a great comment. I really appreciate it. Over the
|past few years of sobriety I’ve worked on myself and improved
|in so many ways. During last summer I thought I was finally
|“cured”. That’s why it’s so disturbing to find myself back in
|over thinking, anxiety, and depression. I achieved all my goals
|and my life looks amazing. How did it happen again!? Like you
|said - it’s the difference between my thoughts and my thinking.
|I understand that to be, you can’t control ur thoughts, but u
|can control what thoughts u choose to accept, and thus can
|control ur thinking and ideally overall mindset about life.
|That’s a hard practice tho. But everything worth doing is hard.
|Getting sober was hard. Getting in shape was hard. Dating again
|was hard. But I did it all and have to keep doing it. That’s
|the version of me I wanna be, and who I will always work to be.
|Anyway. Thanks for ur comment. My gf is coming over tonight and
|I’m in a good place and I’m gonna make us dinner and drink some
|diet sodas. It’s a beautiful fall evening. My house is clean
|and I’ve got some nice music playing. Things are good.
|u/coco_not_chanel - 18 hours
|
|Every minute of every day adds up until eventually the light at the
|end of the tunnel is no longer a train. Just getting thru the next
|thing, even if it’s brushing your teeth, applying for a job,
|sitting outside for 10 min. All of those things get you further and
|further away from “The Big Event” and the further you get, the more
|you’ll start feeling better. I’ve been going on almost 2 years of
|straight struggle. I feel like in the last year specifically I’ve
|had some of my lowest days and darkest thoughts. And while the
|noise of those thoughts is still there, the days that they’re
|quieter are more and more frequent. My brother always tells me:
|“You have to do something for something to happen.” meaning
|whatever it is isn’t going to seek you out. You have to crank that
|Soulja boi or that Soulja boi will crank you 😅
|u/AnotherBlind - 18 hours
|
|Overthinking is like having a conversation with yourself... but both
|sides are arguing and no one wins
|u/mistercolebert - 18 hours
|
|This is a big one I found that comes as a result of sobriety for me.
|Sobriety is good, but holy shit, I can’t turn my brain off now.
|u/Bitter-Basket - 17 hours
|
|CBT and a life philosophy of stoicism can significantly help stop
|overthinking / catastrophizing. Stoic philosophy emphasizes the
|importance of rational thinking and aligning one’s thoughts with
|reason. Stoics believe that it’s not the events themselves that
|disturb us, but our judgments about those events.
|u/BandicootRaider - 12 hours
|
|Went to therapy for this, she called it "catastrophizing" where I'm
|just perpetually waiting for the other shoe to drop. It really does
|feel like you're trapped in your own head, it's so hard to just be in
|the present.
|u/HypersomnicHysteric - 18 hours
|
|Eating disorders. You have to deal with your substance for the rest of
|your life.
|u/1in7billion_ - 8 hours
|
|This is the one. And you can’t just quit food because it’s essential
|to life. It’s so so hard.
|u/i_am_a_veronica - 7 hours
|
|Not discounting any other addictions but I’ve always thought ED’s are
|probably one of the hardest. If someone chooses they can never be
|about their DOC. But you have to eat, you can’t not eat so it’s not
|about abstaining but control and that has to be so fucking
|complicated
|u/iconofthemillinneum - 8 hours
|
|100% agree, but for anyone out there struggling right now, healing IS
|absolutely possible, even though you find that hard to believe, you
|will not be struggling forever. I used to fast for days on end and
|cry everytime I ‘lost control’ and had even a nibble of any food. But
|it’s taken years of ‘messing up’ and realising that the sense of
|control I was trying to find in restricting is nothing more than an
|illusion. Day by day, it gets better and you will look back years
|from now and be proud of yourself, knowing that you not only
|survived, but also thrive despite still dealing with food everyday.
|You got this. I believe in you.
|u/hiccups-n-huggles - 7 hours
|
|How to stop being upset when I "lose control"? How to not comfort
|eat? I want to be kind to myself and love myself and I also want to
|have a body that feels good. I keep going for a week or two of only
|eating what my body needs and feeling physically great, but as soon
|as some hurdle comes up in life I turn to food for comfort and
|control and then always regret it. It's a painful cycle.
|u/the_mooseman - 22 hours
|
|Nicotine. I've quit herion and other opiates. Nicotine is the hardest
|one by far, it's so available.
|u/Sharp-Program-9477 - 22 hours
|
|Vaping has been hard. I've only quit while pregnant. Tried dope a few
|times, didn't see the appeal 🤷
|u/WittsandGrit - 22 hours
|
|I'm nearly a decade clean from heroin and everything else. A year
|and a half off nicotine. I quit smoking and started vaping about 6
|years ago. Quitting vaping was harder than Quitting smoking because
|I took it everywhere with me all the time. But as soon as I had a
|few weeks without vape I started craving cigarettes again. And
|that's where it still is, if I have a craving it's for a cigarette
|I don't even think about the vape.
|u/Sharp-Program-9477 - 21 hours
|
|I haven't had a cigarette in 9 years but still love the smell of
|it when the other people do
|u/zxvasd - 20 hours
|
|I quit for over a year three times. The thing is I loved the feeling
|of nicotine. If I could just smoke a few times a month I would. It’s
|not like some other drugs where you’re chasing that first high that
|you can never have again. I quit for the last time when my son was
|born. I knew that children of smokers are much ore likely to smoke.
|Knowing the exact date I quit and why gives me strength when I’m
|tempted.
|u/YeSeulsMagicShop - 18 hours
|
|This is kind of information that nobody asked for (and I don’t need any
|response) but if anyone is reading this quietly and struggling, never
|give up. I (35F) started smoking at 16, heavily drinking shortly
|after (abusive 7 year naive relationship with a guy 20 years older than
|me), I was a Coke addict for 10 years, and also meth and regular took
|anything to escape (tranquillisers, ketamine, acid, ecstasy, etc). I
|was addicted also to lying thinking I was protecting myself. I became
|addicted to sex to punish myself. I was also anorexic to boot, my body
|as frail as a feather. Many more things happened that are just too much
|to mention… Most of my life was rough behind closed doors. When I
|really thought I was at my end, and felt ready to give up, I gave it
|‘one last try’ (for the thousandth time’). Never give up. That last
|time I was able to break myself free. (Not all at once, but trying to
|survive and choosing to give that one final push gave me the strength I
|didn’t know I had. Fast forward - I’m now happy, healthy, fully
|independent, I’ve dealt with my trauma in so many ways (therapy is
|amazing, it feels embarrassing at first, which is normal, but it will
|soothe your soul like a hug from the person who loved you the most) and
|left it all behind, I’m married to someone I can’t even believe is real
|(he’s such a beautiful person), and I’m carrying our first baby (almost
|there!). I know what it feels like to stare at blank walls while
|days/weeks pass by, I know what it feels like to relapse, I know how it
|feels to reject people who try to help you, and also how lonely it all
|feels. There’s hope. Never give up. Never let that voice win. I
|believe in you so try to believe in yourself. There will never be
|another you! 🥰
|u/wspaace - 16 hours
|
|thank you for giving me hope. life is hard. so so happy that it
|worked out for you. congratulations with your pregnancy and marriage!
|u/The_Real_Scrotus - 23 hours
|
|Food. You can't go cold turkey. And it's such a huge part of our
|shared culture and the way we interact with other people that trying to
|eat healthier can mean you lose friends.
|u/BagShot8521 - 22 hours
|
|Did you say cold turkey?
|u/clownman90 - 22 hours
|
|With.....pillowy mounds of mashed potatoes
|u/Extremely_unlikeable - 22 hours
|
|You're thinking of hot turkey. Cold turkey like on soft white
|baker bread with a little shmear of mayo, homegrown tomato
|slices, and a crisp lettuce leaf.
|u/no_condoms_ - 21 hours
|
|I prefer a larger shmear of mayo, please.
|u/Qaeta - 16 hours
|
|The combination of your user name and a discussion of "mayo"
|is making me uncomfortable lol
|u/VonMillersThighs - 21 hours
|
|Try some marinated roasted red peppers.
|u/_multifaceted_ - 22 hours
|
|🤭🤭🤭
|u/Shas_Erra - 22 hours
|
|I’m currently trying to be to lose weight as part of ongoing health
|issues. It is so fucking hard because all I want to do is eat
|u/foofanoo - 19 hours
|
|I hear you. It's like your body’s on a mission to eat everything in
|sight, while your willpower is just trying to survive the journey.
|But hey, every small victory counts even if it's just not eating
|the whole pizza
|u/SunOfNoOne - 20 hours
|
|I dropped 60 lbs this year. I am currently the most in shape that
|I've ever been, but my body just stays hungry now. I feel almost
|excited when it's time to eat, like it's some kind of reward.
|u/ITconspiracy - 22 hours
|
|This last about 2 weeks for me! If you can fight the ear urge and
|monitor your food, make better snack choices, etc, the constant
|hunger goes away. My snacks are apples and bananas now rather than
|chips. I can also eat 3 meals a day and only be at 1,000 calories
|if I really monitor what I eat. That lets me have a sweet treat and
|still be in a deficit.
|u/Shas_Erra - 22 hours
|
|I’m using a calorie counter. I’ve dropped 10kg so far but need to
|lose more. The annoying thing is that I’m not that far overweight
|to begin with but it’s the only way I can prove that the issues
|I’m facing aren’t due to being a little bit fat
|u/SeattleTrashPanda - 21 hours
|
|Food addiction and emotional eating is so incredibly difficult
|because it’s the one addition you cannot quit. You can live without
|alcohol, drugs, and smoking. It’s an easy NO. Addicts know they don’t
|want one drink they want the whole thing, so they know they can’t
|have any or they won’t be able to stop. You cannot do that with
|food. You have to enable your own addiction to stay alive, and every
|piece of food in your mouth could be your next relapse and binge
|eating episode, because the stress of dealing with it gets to be so
|much. It’s incredibly difficult. Even more if you have a sugar
|addiction in there too.
|u/grannybubbles - 19 hours
|
|I gave my food addiction a personality: she's my evil twin who
|lives in my brain and likes to hurt me by driving me to substance
|abuse, mainly food. I can quiet her by treating myself well, but
|she never really goes away. Her name is Ginger. Ginger the
|Binger.
|u/sparklybeast - 22 hours
|
|Agreed. As an ex-smoker and a current rotund person, tasty food is
|definitely much harder to give up than smoking. And giving up smoking
|was HARD.
|u/bird9066 - 22 hours
|
|I started smoking loose tobacco in a pipe. At least I can't smoke
|while driving, and I would chain smoke while driving. The worst
|thing about food was when I was working and taking care of
|everything in the home and raising two kids. The one meal I had
|with the kids was great. Protein, starch, veggies. Vegetarian meals
|a couple of times a week. It was when I was running around or had
|no time the fast food drive through or gas station roller grill
|would get me
|u/Extremely_unlikeable - 22 hours
|
|I read that you can go without food for the rest of your life.
|u/Amonamission - 20 hours
|
|r/technicallythetruth
|u/Zarathorau - 22 hours
|
|I heard a quote one time, it was something along the lines of how
|addiction is like owning a tiger that you have to get into a cage and
|lock it, whereas with food addiction, you still have to take that
|tiger out and walk it three times a day
|u/D1rty87 - 22 hours
|
|I don’t know if it’s the hardest, people ruin their lives with drugs
|every day. But I quit smoking, drinking and lost weight. Out of the
|three, losing weight is, by far, the hardest. You can quit smoking,
|and after a while cravings go away, it no longer crosses your mind.
|But you eat every day, and you want to not be hungry every day, it
|takes A LOT more discipline to not overeat.
|u/Fearless_Locality - 21 hours
|
|I think this is the answer that wins the thread you literally needed
|to survive anything else just chemically Alters your brain and there
|are ways to wean yourself off of it But you have to eat.
|u/peas8carrots - 22 hours
|
|Sugar. ¾ of America agrees with me.
|u/ApplebeesDinnerMenu - 15 hours
|
|I've done drugs, I've drank alcohol to excess, I take the addictive
|ADHD medications. I can walk away from all of it without much
|difficulty, but Sugar is something else. I quit smoking and my vape
|which took some will power, but I'm done with that and I don't get
|cravings. Sugar though, I can't stop, I get withdrawals and I fiend
|for anything sweet. It's the most difficult substance for me to quit.
|All the others I can find something I don't like about it and zone in
|on that feeling and eventually I won't care about it anymore. Sugar
|I fucking love, I love soda, soda is what gets me going back every
|single time. I've kicked it before, but it's hard when you live with
|people who keep bringing it into the house.
|u/SMUHypeMachine - 12 hours
|
|In laboratory models using rats who were given cocaine and sugar as
|rewards, when given the option of choosing sugar or cocaine they
|always chose sugar. People don’t understand how addictive sugar
|really is.
|u/Miaoxin - 11 hours
|
|Covid mostly got rid of sugar for me. I lost the ability to taste
|savory and sweet... and with that loss, salty, sour, and bitter
|became relatively more intense. I'll still use a little like for
|coffee and such. While it doesn't make anything sweet anymore, it
|makes it less bitter (if that makes sense.) Foods and drinks
|made in a manner that relies on sugar for appeal generally taste
|terrible without it. Even many "unsweetened" foods aren't
|palatable without sweet and savory tastes. Red meat tastes
|horribly rancid when tasting only the sour, bitter, and salty
|components of it.
|u/notsimpleorcomplex - 11 hours
|
|> I've kicked it before, but it's hard when you live with people
|who keep bringing it into the house. This may be the truly hardest
|part of any addiction. Trying to quit something while others around
|you aren't is going to make it a lot harder. I had a period with
|chocolate where I'd gotten it down to only eating a low moderate
|amount each day. Wasn't total quitting, but I had it under control
|and the idea was to get it to a point where I could have it on
|special occasions without binging, knowing how common of a thing it
|and desserts are and the like. Then a big holiday rolled around and
|suddenly, I'm around more candy than usual. I tried hard to keep it
|under control even within that, but it sort of spiraled from there.
|Thing is, we're social beings and we tend to mirror the actions of
|others to some extent, whether we mean to do it consciously or not.
|And that's not even getting into active peer pressure. It's rough
|trying to go it alone on anything, all the more so on quitting.
|u/Msktb - 12 hours
|
|I had to stop eating sugar for 2 days to take a gestational
|diabetes test and I had wild cravings. I've quit smoking but can't
|give up sugar.
|u/wetterbread - 10 hours
|
|Soda is my weak spot. I don't think about quitting but my body
|would love me if I cut back. But an ice cold can of Pepsi is
|mouthwatering.
|u/za1moxis - 11 hours
|
|It took me two months to quit sugar. In the end, what helps is
|visualizing cigarettes/cigars instead of the treat (cake, cookies,
|chocolate) and asking yourself would you smoke that? Cause the
|damage to your body is the same, just takes longer to kill you.
|u/MACception - 16 hours
|
|Whenever someone says it's not an addiction I just laugh in their
|face. Most the country wouldn't be fat as fuck if it weren't.
|u/Unitmal - 22 hours
|
|I think the most common addiction which is the most difficult to get
|away from would be alcohol. Especially as the brain becomes dependent
|on the ethanol. Once knew a guy that drank a bottle of whiskey a day.
|He tried to stop cold turkey and was on the floor not long after. 999
|advised giving him a shot of whisky as he'd become so dependent on it.
|He went to rehab a couple of times, continued drinking beers and passed
|away from acute liver disease. He was a really nice and friendly guy,
|he just could not stop his addiction.
|u/healthierlurker - 20 hours
|
|I’m an alcoholic. Was drinking half a bottle of bourbon a day when I
|quit. I had tried and failed to self-regulate and stop a number of
|times over several years before hitting my bottom and finally
|sobering up through AA. It’s been 10 months and I still attend
|meetings and think I will for a long time. Quitting nicotine was
|harder though.
|u/AstroNataliee - 17 hours
|
|I’m proud of you, my father is an alcoholic and it truly affects
|everyone. I wish everyday he could sober up, he’s like the best guy
|in the world and it hurts seeing him when he’s wasted. I know it
|comes from trauma and I just wish he could get the help he needs. I
|love him and I will always love him but it’s so hard to watch.
|Especially when he’s doing good and then you go over and he can
|barley talk or walk because he’s so messed up. All I can do is love
|him and hope he can love himself just as much. After all I can’t
|make him stop he has to do that on his own. He’s admitted to having
|a problem so I think that’s the first step into recovery. You’re
|strong and you can do this!
|u/FlowerOfLife - 15 hours
|
|Big ups on your sobriety friend. I was right where you were, except
|my thing was mostly tequila. Keep going to meetings when you can.
|The thing that trips people up once they have some time under their
|belt is the random moment where you think you can just have one
|drink since you've been good. I am almost at five years and never
|want to go back. It gets easier. Keep it up!
|u/rock_and_rolo - 13 hours
|
|> Once knew a guy that drank a bottle of whiskey a day. I absolutely
|**love** scotch. The smell, the taste, ahhh heaven. And I don't
|feel the effects. Not denying them, just inside the bubble I *feel*
|sober. I haven't bought a bottle in something over a decade. That
|is because I would be this person of I had it at hand. The last
|750ml I bought was at least 2/3 gone in one evening. If I'm in a bar
|(rare), I might get a shot. But I cannot have it in the house.
|u/Bruce9058 - 22 hours
|
|Benzodiazepines. The withdrawals will quite literally send you into
|seizures and eventually death. I was a legal addict for 12 years(thanks
|VA), after ~4-6 hours of missing a dose my brain started “clicking” and
|I wasn’t even safe to drive and couldn’t put a thought together to save
|my life. Alcohol is the only other drug that can kill you from
|withdrawal.
|u/thitorusso - 21 hours
|
|I've been taking benzodiazepines for over 10 years—not
|recreationally, never for the "high." I started because of severe
|anxiety and depression. When they were first prescribed, I had no
|idea how dangerous they could be. Now, I feel trapped. Even the
|thought of quitting terrifies me, especially since I’ve had a few
|seizures in the past (unrelated, but still). Ironically, benzos help
|prevent them, but if I stop, the risk of seizures skyrockets. It's a
|vicious cycle. I feel like I'll never live a normal life because of
|this. My memory is completely shot. I’m just a shadow of the person I
|used to be. Thanks, doc. And yeah there's the alcohol too. So I'm
|fucked
|u/The_Ocean_Collective - 21 hours
|
|You need to talk to your doctor about safely decreasing the dose.
|u/thitorusso - 21 hours
|
|I've tried a bunch of times. I was able to dial down but I always
|come back. Right know its 2mg a day. And only take it before
|sleep so at least I don't crave them during the day. And of
|course when I'm having a panic/anxiety attack. I think the
|damage is already done. I hope someday I'll get there. Tks for
|the kind words
|u/ninetofivehangover - 20 hours
|
|Naw man look into the [Ashton
|Manual.](https://www.benzoinfo.com/ashtonmanual/) It is the
|benzo bible for quitting. Low and slow. I’m talking about
|reducing by MICROgrams. You have to do it with water
|solutions. It could take a long time but it is worth it. There
|is also substituting with a longer half life. If ur on xanax
|for example, it is eliminated from the body so fast. Valium
|however, stays in ur plasma a long time making reductions
|easier and less dramatically awful. [Here is a calculator
|based on the Ashton Method. Plug your Rx in, length of time,
|amount and voila.](https://drleeds.com/ashton-manual-
|calculator-for-calculating-an-ashton-benzo-taper/)
|u/gigalongdong - 20 hours
|
|Well shit, I wish I knew about that way back when I quit
|using benzos. That was a fucking horrible 3-4 months.
|u/ninetofivehangover - 20 hours
|
|Im so sorry 😔 it’s such a science. Hope you’re doing well.
|Even with a slow taper, it can take up to a year to feel
|“normal” again. Sleep, anxiety. Wishing you a pleasant
|path man
|u/gigalongdong - 19 hours
|
|I've been clean for nearly 7 years. It's been a long time
|since I've had any cravings. I appreciate it regardless!
|u/ninetofivehangover - 20 hours
|
|No. Doctors are not good at weening, usually. I’ve seen many a
|cases of doctors just saying “yeah you want off ok well here’s
|half your Rx good luck” Benzos need to go SLOW. Way slower than
|most medical professionals would advise. Happened to me, doc
|ripped me off cold turkey saying a month isnt long enough for
|dependency. Fwd 7 days of not sleeping I ended up in the psych
|ward. Best bet is to just do it yourself in secret so you don’t
|risk a lower available quantity and end up seizing
|u/theforest12 - 20 hours
|
| [“Benzodiazepines: How They Work And How To
|Withdraw.”](https://www.benzo.org.uk/manual/bzcha01.htm#1) From
|NYT: When researchers began tinkering with a class of tranquilizer
|drugs called benzodiazepines in the 1950s, they felt they had
|uncovered a solution to modern anxiety and insomnia.
|Benzodiazepines worked quickly and effectively to quell racing
|heartbeats and dismiss spinning thoughts. The dozen or so different
|types — including Xanax, Valium, Ativan and Klonopin — became the
|most frequently prescribed drugs around the world, even as concerns
|arose about their potential side effects and addictive properties.
|“Patients themselves, and not the medical profession, were the
|first to realize that long-term use of benzodiazepines can cause
|problems,” wrote Dr. Heather Ashton, a British
|psychopharmacologist. She said that patients who had been on the
|medications for months or years would come to her with fears that
|the drugs were making them more ill. Some continued to have
|symptoms of depression or anxiety. Others had developed muscle
|weakness, memory lapses, or heart or digestive issues. Dr. Ashton
|would dedicate much of her career to listening to hundreds of
|patients’ experiences and rigorously collecting data. The result
|of her work, in 1999, was [“Benzodiazepines: How They Work And How
|To Withdraw.”](https://www.benzo.org.uk/manual/bzcha01.htm#1)
|Edit: [gift link to full NYT
|article](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/03/science/dr-heather-
|ashton-dead.html?unlocked_article_code=1.aU4.ihb7.OMLiE36WT3zN&smid
|=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare). Good info on
|benzo addiction and quitting them (in the form of Dr. Ashton's
|obituary, because she was the first one who realized it and helped
|people get off them safely)
|u/boofitanditsfree - 18 hours
|
|Scrolled way too far down to see this. This is the answer 100%.
|u/throwaway20102039 - 18 hours
|
|You forgot to mention that withdrawal can also last for months or
|even years, unlike the typical acute withdrawals of most substances
|like opioids which last 4-14 days. And here I am diving into the
|lions den, I'm going to get access to more benzos than I'll ever need
|real soon lol. I'm gonna try finding some strats to use
|recreationally without risk of addiction, I mean, there must be a way
|right? Alcohol wd kills you the same way and has a very similar feel
|to benzo wd, as the part of alcohol that results in withdrawal works
|the same as benzos (gaba stuff -anxiolytic).
|u/PokemonandLSD - 20 hours
|
|Barbiturates and GHB/GBL/BDO withdrawals can also kill you in a
|similar fashion.
|u/foofanoo - 19 hours
|
|That sounds brutal. Benzos really have a way of keeping you hooked
|without you even realizing it, and then the withdrawal? It's like
|your body revolts on a cellular level. Respect for making it through
|that, though what you went through is a whole different level of
|fight
|u/N8IVAmerican90 - 23 hours
|
|Porn/Lust for me.
|u/Deepvaleredoubt - 21 hours
|
|It’s the same for me. Broke my streak yesterday, and I was going
|decent. It used to be three times a day. I don’t blame anybody. I
|just got access to stuff when I was about 9 years old that I really
|shouldn’t have had access to. By the time anybody thought about
|restricting access in any way, I was a 14 year old kid with a habit
|that was already 5 years old. It’s hard to kick when it’s been a
|natural part of your life for so long.
|u/zthirtytwo - 21 hours
|
|I don’t see many people mention the habit that it forms from young
|adolescence. It’s new and exciting and feels amazing the whole time
|and ends up more amazing. It gets normalized to view every time you
|gotta jerk off and this can become a problem if not kept on check.
|Everything is a habit until it affects those around you, then it’s
|an addiction right?
|u/Deepvaleredoubt - 20 hours
|
|That’s the trouble. It doesn’t register as hurting anybody, and
|so there’s not the usual stops that cause someone to second guess
|it. They burn with desire, then find out they can fix that
|desire. It’s a win win? Until they find out too late that they
|can’t function day to day without it, and stopping it makes the
|whole world feel like it is going to cave in on itself.
|u/Great_Ad_6852 - 17 hours
|
|Its weird nobody questions it, humankind didnt have access to
|porn for centuries until a couple decades prior since the
|internet was invented. Before that there were porn magazines.
|I too got into it at a young age, and its wrecking me :(
|u/Girl_International - 18 hours
|
|I’m at 145 days and the one thing holding me back from breaking
|that streak is the memory of how messed up my relationship with sex
|was. The absolute shame and sheer delusion that came after reading
|or watching the depraved bs I found myself consuming was way too
|heavy for my psyche. Start over again, it happens but you’ll
|eventually get to a point where even the thought of relapsing will
|sicken you.
|u/Sweet-Ad9366 - 20 hours
|
|I had a therapist explain that (I'll be off on details but
|generally) because I saw a hardcore porn magazine when I was around
|7 years old, it fired off a huge dopamine hit and I've been an
|addict ever since. It makes complete sense when I hear how heroin
|users chase that first high. I wasn't born like this, I just had a
|crazy experience when I was young. Now I'm screwed.
|u/Deepvaleredoubt - 19 hours
|
|I actually had a therapist explain to me that pornography is
|harder to kick than heroin, presumably due to the massive
|dopamine hit. That was around the same time I saw mine. It
|actually embarrasses me a lot. There will be some people with
|whom I hold regular conversation with, and they’ll whisper to me
|about how so and so person is into “really hardcore stuff” and
|when you dig a little deeper they just have a pair of toy
|handcuffs. That’s not a brag about how hardcore I am. It’s
|genuine shame, because I desperately wish I hadn’t seen the stuff
|that caused me these problems to begin with.
|u/xmorecowbellx - 18 hours
|
|That’s interesting. I wonder if getting exposed earlier leads to
|harsher addiction, or if addictive personalities just find it
|sooner due to disposition, and will have harsher addiction
|regardless. I assume it’s the former.
|u/Deepvaleredoubt - 14 hours
|
|I think the earlier exposure. Because then the pipeline begins
|and they come across harder and harder things until the regular
|stuff means almost nothing to them.
|u/speed-of-sound - 19 hours
|
|This one is so difficult because we combine something healthy with
|something unhealthy. I can have a streak for a little while, but it's
|tough when your brain always remembers you can get a big dopamine
|rush on demand when you're bored or whatever. The crazy thing is
|that a legit wank when you really need one, organically and without
|much assistance, is always a 10/10 better experience than overloading
|yourself with more and more porn. There's like a natural healthy
|process that our society just found a terrible bypass for.
|u/notsimpleorcomplex - 11 hours
|
|> There's like a natural healthy process that our society just
|found a terrible bypass for. Oof, this can be said for a lot of
|modern stuff. Another example being how screens can keep people
|awake long past when it was healthy to go to bed. Mind you, I'm
|not like "anti-technology" or something. But there are times stuff
|gets normalized in a way that is dismissive of consequences and
|becomes a "cause we can" thing and makes things worse for some
|people.
|u/8B1tSquid - 21 hours
|
|Same, especially after a recent breakup. It's tough man, but we'll
|get through it
|u/dirty_feet_no_meat - 18 hours
|
|I work with sex offenders, a lot of whom consumed CP. The standard
|trajectory is that they start out with "normal" porn, but end up
|feeling addicted. After a while, they want "a better high," and they
|seek out more and more deviant porn categories. They'll go to step
|moms, sisters, more rough stuff, etc.-- just stuff that's not so
|vanilla-- and eventually... The most forbidden fruit of them all...
|I have pages on pages of data about this, and would be more than
|happy to send it to you. My sincerest recommendation, before you end
|up on a list somewhere, is to reach out for help. Sex and love
|anonymous is a great resource, or find a therapist, but please don't
|go down this road. We do a test on clients, called ABEL VRT, that
|tests attraction by age group. Nearly none are attracted to children;
|they were just chasing a high.
|u/daric - 16 hours
|
|> We do a test on clients, called ABEL VRT, that tests attraction
|by age group. Nearly none are attracted to children; they were just
|chasing a high. Well Jesus, that's chilling. Do you mean that our
|societal pedophile problem is less an ingrained people-are-
|attracted-to-kids problem and more of a chasing-an-addiction-high-
|that-happens-to-lead-to-kids problem? wow.
|u/dirty_feet_no_meat - 15 hours
|
|Most pedophiles aren't sex offenders, and most sex offenders
|aren't pedophiles. Two of my 39 clients tested as having an
|attraction to children, and tbh they hate it. The reason many
|aren't sex offenders is that they are deeply bothered by the
|attraction and try not to act on it.
|u/Ultrace-7 - 14 hours
|
|How dare you imply that anyone who has an even momentary
|attraction to children isn't a monster that should be castrated
|and executed, in that order. You should know that Reddit won't
|tolerate that kind of soft-on-thought-crime behavior around
|here. /s in case it's needed.
|u/XxBowelHuntRxX - 15 hours
|
|Sounds crazy, but it kinda makes sense especially for the people
|who think they can get away with stuff, they probably just never
|faced consequences for their own actions until they do something
|illegal like that...... Sounds like there needs to be more study
|done.
|u/Seanwanders - 16 hours
|
|I hear so many people say it's completely harmless but no, it is
|quite dangerous and sets your love life up for failure every single
|time. Not to mention the way it actually changes how your brain
|functions.
|u/spoonishplsz - 15 hours
|
|It's also not good that you have so many people who have so much
|sexual experience via porn. Porn really gives a completely
|unrealistic understanding of intimacy, and it definitely can affect
|future relationships
|u/KleverGuy - 20 hours
|
|Same here, it’s harder than quitting amoking
|u/tanglingcone94 - 19 hours
|
|Absolutely. A porn addiction is not necessarily publicly known;
|it's hidden and, for many people, it is a shameful thing.
|Especially if you know that it is hurtful to your loved
|ones/significant other. You work harder to hide it as well.
|u/YRO______ - 15 hours
|
|And it's free
|u/SadisticPawz - 13 hours
|
|costs time which a lot give up for free
|u/plantsarepowerful - 16 hours
|
|Yea you can choose not to buy booze, cigarettes or drugs but your
|dick is always just right there…ready and waiting.
|u/Own-Peace-7754 - 10 hours
|
|I was going to say this What makes it worse is that society at
|large is so passé about it, and acts like it's not really a problem
|It contributes to sex traffic and dehumanizes people, in addition to
|the normal harmful effects on the brain I wish there was more
|support: places to go, medicine to take (that doesn't irreversibly
|change your sex drive etc.), support groups etc. I know of a few but
|the anonymous part is really important
|u/Vinny_Lam - 21 hours
|
|Same. I have a huge lust/masturbation addiction. Jerking off every
|single day. And I don’t even watch porn. I just use my imagination
|for it.
|u/SadisticPawz - 13 hours
|
|using your imagination should be much healthier
|u/DUFFnoob40 - 14 hours
|
|Got introduced to it at six or seven, I'm currently 23 and on a two
|day streak. I actually don't know what a life without porn looks
|like. There isn't a before
|u/GrimeyGringus - 22 hours
|
|Food. I’m prescribed antipsychotics and opioids and no weight loss
|drugs have worked so I eat endlessly.
|u/TheCuddlyCougar - 17 hours
|
|I take Quetiapine so i can sleep. Otherwise I'll be up for days. That
|medicine makes me want to eat my entire body weight in junk food
|right before I go to bed. Legitimate bottomless stomach. I can
|probably eat 3 Thanksgiving dinners and I won't feel full.
|u/TwoPigeonsInACoat - 15 hours
|
|Same. I woke up in the middle of the night Thursday and ate 3 large
|chocolate chip muffins and passed back out. Forgot until I wanted
|one for breakfast, lol. That stuff is a miracle for insomnia but
|the hunger is crazy.
|u/codex064 - 15 hours
|
|I've gained like 80 pounds since I've gone on quetiapine.
|u/epicallyconfused - 18 hours
|
|I'm surprised I had to scroll down this far to find food. What makes
|it hard is that unlike cocaine or heroin or other hard drugs, there
|is no way to be completely abstinent from food. As someone who has
|navigated both alcoholism and binge eating disorder, IMHO finding a
|way to a healthy relationship with the thing is way harder than
|removing the thing completely.
|u/Dull-Operation8237 - 20 hours
|
|Did you try one of the glp meds? I too have an addictive personality
|and could quit smoking, alcohol, ect but never food. I swear those
|meds work! And you can even order the peptides online (I have friends
|who do this) and it’s much more affordable. But if you have diabetes
|it should be covered anyways
|u/AsparagusLive1644 - 19 hours
|
|Just started GLP wegovy and have 40 days sober no alcohol cravings.
|It's a damn miracle
|u/Equilibror - 22 hours
|
|Speed was easy af. Alcohol.. easy af... Weed.. easy af... Smoking..
|almost impossible. Gambling online.. still not possible.
|u/LunchNo6690 - 20 hours
|
|lol adderall was hard af to quit. but i have adhd so i eont have that
|much dopamine to begin with lol
|u/Krastain - 12 hours
|
|Adderal is hard to quit for some people, and other people forget to
|take it for like 6 days in a row. ADHD is strange.
|u/shrtnylove - 18 hours
|
|Codependency. It’s a compulsive, deeply rooted issue. For me, it was
|caused by my traumatic upbringing. I did so many of the things called
|out here—excessive drinking, tv, social media, binge eating, I was a
|workaholic. I was numb and needed these things to fill an endless void.
|By healing my trauma-I’m leaving all of that behind.
|u/infinitycryptid - 14 hours
|
|not enough people talk about how hard it is to unlearn behaviors like
|codependency. it's less of a learned behavior and more so a developed
|survival instinct. i had to learn that this was an issue on my own,
|despite years of therapy with dozens of different therapists who all
|knew my struggles—lemme say that again: my *therapists* didn't even
|address my codependency. i had to do a lot of work by myself and it
|took me **years** to stop depending on the people around me. i still
|have my moments sometimes but i'm doing much better now. proud of you
|for taking those steps towards healing, my friend :)
|u/shrtnylove - 10 hours
|
|This makes me so angry on your behalf!! 😡I feel like I won the
|lottery when my friend referred me to her talk therapist. She’s
|done her work and is what a therapist should be! She told me I was
|codependent during one of our first sessions and I didn’t see it at
|all! It took me four months before I had the aha! Moment while
|listening to “best of you” by the foo fighters. It’s insanely hard,
|I thought that was who i was, this pushover that couldn’t was full
|of self hate (thanks, mom and dad!) Im trying to not be so hard on
|myself and I hope you are too! Unlearning this stuff takes so much
|time and work. So many never do it. I was one of those that thought
|I’d have 4-5 therapy sessions and be cured. Ha! Sweet silly me.
|Thank you for your kind words, I’m proud of you too, friend. This
|shit ain’t easy! I feel like even just seeing these behaviors in
|yourself (and working to fix them) is HUGE!
|u/dammmiao - 22 hours
|
|Gambling...
|u/AnotherBlind - 18 hours
|
|Gambling is the addiction where the more you lose, the more you
|convince yourself you’re *just one bet away* from winning it all
|u/MNKristen - 18 hours
|
|This is the worst, because gamblers don’t steal $20 from your wallet,
|they embezzle millions of dollars. Anytime I hear of someone
|embezzling huge dollar amounts, it’s always a gambler. It also has
|the highest suicide rate.
|u/gubiiik - 18 hours
|
|Yrah. It destroyed.the past few years of my life
|u/Dandandandandan2 - 12 hours
|
|This is the worst because there’s only really much drugs you can
|physically do in a night. But gambling you can go on your phone and
|lose your entire months wages in 10 seconds.
|u/TheDangerHeisenberg - 17 hours
|
|Worst part is it’s an invisible addiction. With drugs you usually
|notice changes in a person’s behavior or their appearance. Then,
|before you know it, this guy is either wanted for embezzlement, in
|debt with some shady people or broke out of the blue
|u/I_dont_livein_ahotel - 19 hours
|
|Surprised i haven’t seen this yet
|u/WOTDisLanguish - 17 hours
|
|It's not even as visible or as direct as it should be, like grinding
|for items in a game. If the drop rate's 0.5% what's the difference
|between that and say attempting a SSR gacha pull? Either my take on
|gambling's overly cautious or gambling's just way more subtle of an
|addiction
|u/zeuscap - 16 hours
|
|As a kid, I was jealous of the kids of alcoholics. Their parent still
|had the ability to use at home, and mine only came home after all was
|lost.
|u/---chewie-- - 18 hours
|
|It's not drugs or alcohol for me. It's food. I'm a huge foodie. I do my
|best to eat relatively clean, but damn I love burgers and fries and
|pasta and pizza and donuts and all things food. Healthy food, too, I
|don't discriminate. I work out about 4-5 times a week, and try to eat
|two meals a day, but even when I'm full, I'm thinking about what I'm
|gonna be eating next.
|u/Mycatisnameddawg - 19 hours
|
|Bulimia- any long lasting eating disorder tbh especially if it’s gone
|on for 5+ years
|u/AlienGnome0 - 18 hours
|
|Yep. I thought when I went into therapy for my ED that the hardest
|part was done, then she told me the average person takes 7 years to
|fully recover. She was right almost on the nose!
|u/randompishposh - 12 hours
|
|It just becomes a lifestyle and you can't even imagine living any
|other way.
|u/Open_Comfortable_565 - 9 hours
|
|so true. i've been adicted to starving myself since i was eleven. the
|high of hunger, the sharpness and the dopamine from people telling me
|i look thin...it's a bad addiction.
|u/egmar95 - 15 hours
|
|Can relate, unfortunately… my ED started when I was 12, got seriously
|out of hand when I was 19 and I never got it back under control. I
|will be 30 next year… I still hope one day we will be strong enough
|to fight! As long as we are alive, we have a chance and we can fight!
|u/MizziDog - 23 hours
|
|Sugar
|u/csch1992 - 22 hours
|
|did a cold stop of soda/energy drinks this summer and was the best
|thing i ever did. but damn the first 2 weeks where hell
|u/Bat_Flaps - 22 hours
|
|Came off sugar years ago due to being overweight and suffering
|extreme migraines… The first two weeks were pure hell, but after
|that I never looked back
|u/MizziDog - 21 hours
|
|Good job! Especially the never looking back part. I will get there
|also, I have to! Sugar is just so incredibly bad for the health..
|u/zippdupp - 22 hours
|
|This is hard. By the 6th day, I would have licked old chewing gum
|from the concrete.
|u/luansh - 23 hours
|
|I was a heavy smoker for 15 years. Quit cold turkey. Never was addicted
|to porn. I kicked a cocaine habit. Being a high functioning alcoholic
|is probably something I'll never be able to beat. Trying to quit
|drinking hurts me physically and mentally so badly, and it doesn't
|really affect my life right now, so I justify not putting myself
|through it. I know I am shortening my life by not quitting, but I still
|just can't do it.
|u/impossiblechir - 23 hours
|
|Quitting alcohol can be done. In my experience it takes time,
|patience, multiple relapses and a mindset reset. It has taken me
|about three years to develop a distaste for alcohol, but I was a
|functional alkie for about 20 years. Go for it. You won't regret it.
|u/earth-ninja3 - 22 hours
|
|you *can* do it. never give up never surrender!
|u/Gigglepop_F - 18 hours
|
|Food. It’s the only thing an addict can’t quit completely. Eating is a
|constant challenge. Imagine telling an alcoholic (or any other
|addict) to keep a pantry and refrigerator full of booze, and that
|they’re required to have 1 drink, 3 times a day, but no more than that.
|I’ve quit a 2-pack a day nicotine addiction. Food is harder.
|u/NoctQuill - 17 hours
|
|Quitting caffeine was my toughest battle. The headaches and fatigue
|were brutal, but once I pushed through, I felt way better. It's wild
|how something so common can have such a grip on you.
|u/Mr-J4kk - 14 hours
|
|Surprised I had to scroll so far for this answer. I’ve quit
|cigarettes, alcohol, and cocaine but no lie caffeine was the hardest
|because I used to consume more than anyone should. I made it about
|a month and that month was hell of headaches and fatigue but by the
|end I just felt generally tired most of the time. I still drink
|caffeine daily, but I’m much more aware of how much I’m having and
|when I need to stop for the day. Usually about 2-3 cups of coffee is
|where I stop now where as I used to drink it the entire day sometimes
|for weeks on end.
|u/Richierathod - 20 hours
|
|Porn n masturbation
|u/KryptonicxJesus - 19 hours
|
|Hitting 6 months sober on Thursday. I started smoking cigs in rehab,
|trying to get off the cigs next ugh
|u/basukutchi - 18 hours
|
|Social media! I wish we could go back to simpler times, everything it
|seems is guided by social media. I don't remember the last time I met
|someone that didn't care about it. SAD!
|u/MaxRebo99 - 18 hours
|
|Haven’t gone a day without maladaptive daydreaming for like 6 years now
|u/PotatoAvenger - 16 hours
|
|Same
|u/MissIthara - 12 hours
|
|For me, quitting smoking was the toughest battle. Tried countless times
|before finally kicking the habit. It felt like a constant uphill
|struggle, but now I'm smoke-free for years. It's hard, but totally
|worth it in the end. Keep pushing through!
|u/csch1992 - 22 hours
|
|music. i need my 5 hours every day
|u/Rude_Advance3747 - 18 hours
|
|I was wondering about this. Some people say, “I need music at all
|times because I can’t be alone with my thoughts hahaha…” I think
|there is nothing funny about that. Can you be alone with your
|thoughts tho? Maybe yes.
|u/jangobotito - 21 hours
|
|I’m fucked then. I have music going at almost all times.
|u/NoodlesAreAwesome - 20 hours
|
|Nothing wrong with that :)
|u/MySecretAlwaysAngry - 19 hours
|
|Food. Imagine having to quit an addiction to carbs, sugar, or similar
|and you’re told you still have to consume some but not too much… Hey I
|want you to quit smoking but you have to have 1-2 cigarettes a day.
|Good luck with that bro.
|u/Mountain-Blue7737 - 20 hours
|
|Toxic relationship
|u/Salt-Marionberry-712 - 23 hours
|
|Nicotine.
|u/CocoaMcBrown - 22 hours
|
|endless scrolling
|u/Independent_Nerve230 - 20 hours
|
|huh............. continues scrolling
|u/Glad_Diamond_2103 - 22 hours
|
|Phone for me
|u/trixy6196 - 17 hours
|
|Underrated one to. I’m down to under 2 hours a day of screen time
|which still seems high until I talk to others who are 5+ lol
|u/badibilder8 - 13 hours
|
|I am at like 8-9 hours, shit is tough man. And I don't even play
|games!
|u/AdImpressive7198 - 19 hours
|
|Weed for me. Was a lot harder to quit smoking weed than vaping. There’s
|nothing I’d rather do than get stoned and sit on my phone or play video
|games. I got to a point where nothing I did sober was fun. Weed took
|all of my dopamine from all the stuff I loved to do and only enjoyed
|doing it when high. It took like a month of pure boredom to finally get
|some dopamine back while sober.
|u/SentientGoose - 14 hours
|
|I’m going through this right now. I legit have to quit to move
|forward in life and it’s kicking my ass. It may not be the substance,
|but it’s definitely me. I gotta let it go :/ bwah bwah *sad trombone*
|u/cant_find_me_here - 13 hours
|
|Give it a few weeks to a month and you're over the hump. Light work
|you got it
|u/badgercat12 - 18 hours
|
|Nose spray 100%. That stuff is addicting and hard to quit once you
|start because you become addicted to being able to breathe
|u/azninvasion2000 - 20 hours
|
|Porn. It's free and always available.
|u/Satoshi-kris - 22 hours
|
|Smoking
|u/rigotina - 22 hours
|
|Soda drinks
|u/VeilMurmur - 13 hours
|
|Quitting smoking was my toughest battle. Took years of failed attempts,
|but finally kicked it after catching a bad flu. Haven't smoked in over
|six years now. It's crazy seeing how much money I've saved and
|cigarettes I didn't smoke. Stay strong, it's worth it!
|u/NoirGleam - 11 hours
|
|For me, quitting caffeine was brutal. The withdrawal headaches and
|fatigue were no joke. I used to rely on coffee to get through the day,
|but cutting it out has made my sleep way better. It took some time, but
|I finally feel more balanced without it.
|u/fall_from - 23 hours
|
|Food, once i find a good place + good meal it is hard to not eat there
|for a day until i bored out of it
|u/Tasty-Run8895 - 19 hours
|
|Sugar, I was on opioids everyday for 4 years, took me 2 months to get
|off of them, Took Xanax every night to sleep, decided they were not
|working for me anymore so weened myself off in a month, but sugar I try
|and try but after a few days that craving gets too bad and I give in
|and those glucose numbers keep creeping up
|u/StoicismGivesPeace - 22 hours
|
|Too much Screen time
|u/Quirky_Queer137 - 22 hours
|
|Loneliness
|u/dont_say_Good - 15 hours
|
|Feels impossible to get out of, especially after a long time of
|isolation
|u/Tyrantss - 22 hours
|
|Opiates
|u/LandOfLostSouls - 17 hours
|
|For me, self harm. My legs are destroyed, covered in scars and
|bandaids. But the feeling of picking at my skin coupled with the smell
|and feeling of blood on my fingers is almost euphoric. Any time I’m
|anxious, depressed, or bored it’s all I can think about.
|u/Advanced_Stranger434 - 9 hours
|
|Im surprised I had to look so far down for this one. The feeling is
|like no drug I have taken
|u/TRP_Embo05 - 19 hours
|
|Porn.
|u/BronxBelle - 19 hours
|
|Caffeine. I work in a call center (and actually love it). At least 3/4
|of the people there always have an energy drink in their hand and on
|their desk. The commissary has an entire drinks fridge full of nothing
|but energy drinks and it gets refilled every week. There are only maybe
|100 working in office. We keep Monster afloat.
|u/soonerzen14 - 18 hours
|
|You.
|u/GoLow63 - 18 hours
|
|I walked away from booze and (consistently good) cocaine in 1985, after
|an intense, 8 year (daily use) affair with both. Morning drinking,
|snorting coke, later freebasing --- I was a high-functioning addict who
|simply quit. Not suggesting for a moment that I'm stronger-willed or
|possessed of more self discipline than anyone else, etc., because to
|this day I still do plenty of other stupid, impulsive shit. Constantly
|being broke, the bloody noses and recurring sinus infections, the
|debilitating hangovers, the ER visits for severe gut inflammation, etc
|--- it all struck me one morning and caused me to look in the mirror
|and say, "That's enough, you're killing yourself, this isn't worth it".
|Addictive tendencies run in my family --- my mum was a low-key, long-
|term alcoholic, my two older siblings are nearing 70 and are STILL
|locked into multiple substance dependencies, all 4 of my 20-something
|nieces struggle on and off with opioids and booze, and my son wrestles
|with chronic weed and alcohol dependency. I do my utmost to meet them
|where they are RE: support, rather than beat my chest and say, "Be like
|me !", because to this day I've really no idea why I was able to flip
|the switch to "Off" without a backward glance. It truly didn't seem
|like a big deal then, but looking around as I get older I realize how
|inexplicably and profoundly lucky I am.
|u/Neat_Economics5190 - 21 hours
|
|Pride and Lust are dead even Most people are addicted to pride. They
|always gotta be right. They always need the final say. They always want
|to prove their point without understanding yours. They always have to
|insult you for disagreeing. They always need to look the best, be the
|best. Every other word out of their mouth is "I." When people try to
|swallow their pride and accept being wrong or defeat, it literally
|hurts us. Lust is a just as hard to break. Most people just end up
|submitting to it. Lust is like a demon with fake tits or something. It
|seems like it's bringing you pleasure but it's always constantly
|secretly trying to kill you. "Have sex have sex have sex! Oh, was that
|a gangster's wife? Oops >:D"
|u/negahthebigga - 20 hours
|
|Adult videos especially if you started watching since you are a kid
|u/thatcleaninglady - 19 hours
|
|Weed was the most difficult thing for me to quit. I’ve done a lot of
|coke, Molly, ecstasy, smoked cigarettes.. no problem quitting that
|stuff. But weed let me tell ya, that was hard. I smoked everyday for 15
|years. People say you can’t get addicted to weed and that’s a lie.
|Finally quit and have been 100% sober for 1.5 years. Now it just makes
|me sad the amount of money I spent over the years 😂
|u/SuccessfulRush9328 - 18 hours
|
|Social Media
|u/No-Essay2128 - 13 hours
|
|Heroin was very difficult. Half the time I kicked was in jail, which
|sucked. Took 6 years of being homeless, going to jail, rehab before
|I got clean. Spent 1 year living in the Salvation Army, which helped me
|stay clean. In February it will be 10 years.
|u/SundaeVibez - 19 hours
|
|Toxic Latinas
|u/ExcessiveHorse - 19 hours
|
|Lmao same brother. That and goth girls
|u/broken888 - 17 hours
|
|Ayy papi
|u/Cereal_eat - 14 hours
|
|They tryna quit yo, not remember
|u/throwaway321112222 - 20 hours
|
|Food. Wish I was 30 lb lighter
|u/Grocery-Full - 20 hours
|
|Food. You need that shit to survive. And it's all so delicious 😋
|u/AnotherBlind - 18 hours
|
|Probably my addiction to checking my phone every five seconds... even
|though I know I have nothing new to see
|u/ObsiPearls - 12 hours
|
|Quitting smoking was the toughest for me. It took several attempts and
|sheer willpower, but eventually, I made it through. Apps that track
|progress really helped me stay motivated by showing how much money I
|saved and health benefits gained over time.
|u/q26977le - 23 hours
|
|Food addiction. Because you literally cannot quit, you just have to
|find a way to moderate your use without ever being able to.
|u/ShadesPulse - 11 hours
|
|For me, quitting caffeine was surprisingly tough. I underestimated how
|much my morning routine relied on it. The headaches and irritability
|were real, but switching to herbal tea helped. It took a couple of
|months to feel normal without that initial coffee jolt.
|u/SB-15 - 22 hours
|
|The easiest one to get
|u/fartiestpoopfart - 22 hours
|
|it sounds silly since it's just a plant but with a 10+ year kratom
|habit, things get really miserable when you stop. its like after a
|certain point it's seeped into your bones and brain and become a part
|of you. saying this as someone who's been through heroin withdrawal
|ages ago, i would much rather suffer through the withdrawals of a 12
|month heroin habit than 10 years of kratom. with kratom it's nowhere
|near as intense but it just sucks the life completely out of you and
|drags on and on for months before you start feeling remotely close to
|normal again. don't get me wrong, kratom is great if you can use it in
|moderation, just like anything else. unfortunately, for a good chunk
|of my life, i wasn't really big on moderation.
|u/ColeGM - 20 hours
|
|Porn. The internet is so tempting... Give me a minute or 500 I'll be
|back.
|u/ngraham888 - 19 hours
|
|Sugar. Cigs were very hard (I turned gray for a week) but sugar… let’s
|just say I am still struggling with that addiction after so many tries.
|u/Unfair-Ad82 - 19 hours
|
|Sugar
|u/DrChaos09 - 18 hours
|
|Gambling addiction. Just ask players of gacha games how good their game
|is and why they can stop at any time. Looking at you, once human.
|u/LoveDistinct - 23 hours
|
|Cheeseburgers.
|u/drabred - 22 hours
|
|"Are you whoring yourself for cheeseburgers again?"
|u/LoveDistinct - 22 hours
|
|''Mahfuckas with guts like that definitely are on the cheeseburgers
|dawg''
|u/Generic--Username15 - 21 hours
|
|Walrus-assed, basketball-eatin mafaka
|u/Chuck_Justice69 - 20 hours
|
|Is this Randy from Trailer Park Boys? Are you prostituting yourself
|for cheeseburgers again?
|u/LoveDistinct - 20 hours
|
|Call me Smokey.
|u/chefboiboird - 18 hours
|
|Man's gotta eat
|u/NoirSelenes - 12 hours
|
|For me, quitting smoking was the toughest. Took multiple tries and a
|lot of determination, but I finally kicked it after years. It's all
|about finding that one thing or moment that makes you truly want to
|stop and sticking with it.
|u/Holiday_Rich3265 - 19 hours
|
|Porn. It’s free and everywhere
|u/WranglerBeautiful745 - 20 hours
|
|Porn
|u/Tadilee04 - 20 hours
|
|Porn
|u/Natural-Airline2942 - 20 hours
|
|I have been able to quit everything except porn
|u/Lilgorbe - 20 hours
|
|Porn/jerking off
|u/CaliforniaPotato - 20 hours
|
|Internet addiction.
|u/_Jesus-_-Christ - 19 hours
|
|Sex/Porn hands down at least for me
|u/fastbreak43 - 19 hours
|
|Cigarettes are hard. But hopefully this helps one person. A few years
|ago I made the switch to vaping. If you tried vaping 10 years ago,
|trust me it’s a whole new thing now. Those things pack a very
|satisfying drag. That said the transition to vape should be very easy.
|Also much cheaper. This will also eliminate you smelling like an
|ashtray. The quality of life for you and those around you increases by
|1000%. Now you’re still getting nicotine but it’s odorless. As a bonus
|you can do this in your house which hopefully you weren’t haha. And
|yes, vaping makes you look like a douchbag. But this is the trade off.
|Step down the vape from 6 to 3 to 1.5 to zero. This might take a few
|months. The final step for me was vaping 0 nicotine for about a month.
|I was going on vacation for a week and knew it would be pretty much
|stress free and a whole new routine. I chose day one of my vacation as
|the day. It was weird but not too hard actually. That was this past
|summer and so happy to not be owned by nicotine anymore.
|u/Aliglikeahorse - 18 hours
|
|I am almost 30 years old. I have been smoking cigarettes for 15 years
|and vaping for 10, I’ve stopped smoking cigarettes for good 1 year ago
|and have been vaping since, even though I have been trying to also quit
|vaping, the fact that vape is more accessible I was so addicted to it I
|could never let it go, I even smoked at my desk at work in the call
|centre haha, while I’m sat on the toilet, in bed watching TV, while I
|drive, there isn’t a place where the vape isn’t in my hand. The
|problem I have is that people think that vaping is a substitute for
|smoking cigarettes but no to be honest personally I think vaping is
|fucking worse than cigarettes , In the past I was able to quit
|cigarettes for a few months before I came back to it, BUT with VAPES I
|have never been able to stop for more than a day before falling back
|in. If you are reading this, do not fall in to the trap of vaping or
|if you have already, just quit smoking altogether, it is hard no doubt,
|but any man can do it. As of 4 months ago I am nicotine clean, healthy
|and fit and I feel the best and youngest I have ever felt in my life.
|God bless you all
|u/TwilightVele - 15 hours
|
|For me, quitting sugar was a real battle. I underestimated how much it
|controlled my cravings and mood. Cutting it out felt impossible at
|first, but after sticking with it for a few weeks, the fog lifted and I
|felt more energetic than ever. So worth it!
|u/Username_______user - 23 hours
|
|Technology
|u/CoffeeDangerous2087 - 20 hours
|
|Internet
|u/coworker - 20 hours
|
|Sugar You can never go could turkey
|u/tauntonlake - 20 hours
|
|Sugar. the cravings are tenacious, and awful.
|