New here, helpful strategy
Hi folk,
I'm new here today, and already started a thread in the substance abuse section, but thought I'd post here, too.
I'm in the process of weaning myself off a combination of oxy and morphine, and have been working on it for three weeks as of today. I've gone from a daily intake of 120-160 mg split into 3 doses, to one single daily dose of 12.5 mg, and am feeling pretty good about my progress. I know I'm not there yet, but I've progressed far faster than I expected to, I had a sort of schedule in mind when I started this process, and I feel confident that I will be done with this crap within a week. Each significant reduction in my intake has been hard, and has hurt, but I was so afraid of the pain of withdrawing from my previous level of use, that this seemed like a better approach for me. I do think it's working. I used to wake up in withdrawal every morning, and now I don't, so I know progress has been made.
I wanted to share some advice given to me years ago, in an entirely different context, but applicable to many situations. This advice has been of tremendous value to me.
Three little things... We all sometimes find ourselves in overwhelming circumstances, situations we have no idea how to dig ourselves out of, painful funks, etc. when you have no motivation or inertia, and just can't see your way clear of the circumstances holding you down, start pulling yourself back out by doing just 3 little things, it doesn't really matter what they are, just set 3 small goals for today, and complete them. They can be as small as cleaning the toilet, paying a bill, or doing laundry, it doesn't matter how small, but do them. Tomorrow do 3 more, and do the same the next day. Make the goals a little bigger if you can, but if not, it's ok, just keep doing 3 little things, and feel good about accomplishing them. In a few days try 4, and keep going from there. It's so easy to forget how resilient we are, and this is a good way to start remembering. This strategy has helped me through the hardest experiences of my adult life, and is helping me get through getting off narcotics. I'm not there yet, but I'm really close, and I know there will be days in my near future that I will force myself to pull off 3 small goals, and will fully allow myself to glory in these accomplishments, because I know each one is a step in the new direction I've chosen for myself, and that one step at a time, I will get there.
I really hope someone else can benefit from this.