pinkheart39

So I have discovered that another facet to addiction is "behavioral conditioning" which for an addict means that cravings will occur anywhere you did drugs or got them etc. I am struggling with this problem myself; I am an opiate addict, and am currently trying to get off Valium (prescribed for anxiety for the last 5 months) and plan on getting off opiates again after I'm done with the Valium taper. Opiates caused major addiction issues in my life and I'm struggling with the fact that when I'm off them anything I see relating to opiates strikes a strong craving; my desk where I would snort them off of causes me to crave, and the most disturbing to me is that I'm addicted to snorting things-it absolutely makes me feel disgusted with myself.....desiring something up my nose is a terrible feeling and I need help figuring out how to control this behavioral conditioning. Does anyone have similar experiences and advice?

Kedakari

Opiates are my pitfall aswell.
Used them for both pain and emotional issues.
It's hard bcause you have to first really identify your triggers that cause you to think about the drug.
What I leanred to do when I was in a situation where I kept thinking about the drug, I would close my eyes, sit up strait and take deep breaths. I would ONLY thinking about my breathing. It wasn't the end all, and I really didnt think it would work. The more I practiced it, the easyer it became to do.

Its just a suggestion, but it helped me deal with the craving and trigger just a little bit. Use every suggestion you get, its just another tool for you to use against your demons.

Take it easy and don't be to hard on yourself either.

bval

The addiction to snorting things will pass as the active addiction phase passes. I.E. once you get past the point of wanting to DO opioids, you will also get past the feeling that you're addicted to snorting. That was my method as well, both for OC's (back when they were in their original formula which was HIGHLY sniffing-conducive) and my Subutex as I weaned down and off. So I have a rather staggering amount of experience with this subject ... probably 5 years (every day, many times a day) total over the course of my life.

Now that I'm not hooked on opioids, I don't feel AT ALL like putting something up my nose.

Bottom-line, I know that the two 'addictions' are directly-linked in your brain, but that the opioids are the driving force, and that this feeling passes when you get clean ... so don't stress yourself out on it in advance.

I also know that your desk will stop 'triggering you' in time as well. Persons and places and obviously drug-related things like rolled up bills or pill bottles ... may remain a threat for awhile. The desk-phase should pass quickly though