MattM316

My councillor said to me the other day that alcohol is by far the hardest drug to come off of once you are reliant/dependant on it.

I don't know how true that is, but if it is true then you've got to have respect for people who successfully get sober.

I'm just worried that if I acheive my goal of being sober for a long period of time, that i'll turn into one of those annoying, sanctimonious, preaching types who constantly go on about how they've kicked a habit and look down on anyone who picks one up!

BullDog777

for me personally, alcohol withdrawal was a walk in the park in comparison to my detox from benzodiazepines. i went so far as to get a medical alert id chain that says not to administer any benzos whatsoever if i'm ever in a medical emergency.

i respect anyone who can recover from any addiction.

ChikkaB

In all honesty? Cigarettes.

I smoked for years after I quit drinking and drugging. Cigs were worse than coke, worse than crank, worse that booze, worse than bad relationship choices, worse than the buffalo wings platter at Flannigan's. White knuckle all the way.

And absolutely worth every agonizing minute

ste

If your worried about becoming sanctimonious, then you probably won't. Not everyone becomes a zealot in their sobriety. I think even the "vociferous" are a minority.
Worry about achieving your goal. Don't let others deter you.

sleepie

Same for me regarding benzos. It was a nightmare the first time around- I am in the process of weaning off again and I feel it creeping back.

doggonecarl

Hardest? As in most addictive and therefore most difficult to quit? I think the hardest drug to come off of is whichever one you are addicted to.

Alcohol is one of the most dangerous to quit, as are barbiturates because withdrawals can kill you.

NEOMARXIST

Alcohol is legally available and engrained within the fabric of English/British culture, so from that regard then staying off booze may be considered very difficult comparing to other drugs in the sense that the illegality means that if you stop hanging around dealers you can stay away. Also I guess the reality is that if you're an alcoholic then it's the first drink that does all of the damage, so you gotta know that you're an alkie and be absolutely rigid in that knowledge and acceptance or else you're going to take that first drink sooner or later, or just be depressed and miserable. Staying sober takes a complete overhaul of your life in my experience, and also a great deal of acceptance. You gonna have to totally change your expectations of nights out, parties, and what you can expect. For me then I had to know without doubt that I'm an alcoholic and where that first drink would take me. If I had any notion of moderation then it would be so easy to go back drinking again, everybody drinks pretty much and getting blackout drunk is not unusual for a night out for many in England. It's often said that if you can't remember it then it must have been a good night.

However... for me then it was the fact that I would drink as soon as I woke up that set me apart and made me undeniably an alcoholic. I tried many times to limit myself to only a session on a friday night for example, only to be drinking at 7.00am from the cans I'd put aside and nailing super strength outside the shop at 7.30am totally and utterly consumed by the alcohol in my system. I knew I was an alcoholic and that's the difference.

For me then i stay down to earth in relation alcohol and drugs, I don't have a problem with them and only got sober because I'm an alcoholic. if I wasn't then i would be mashing it up. For most people then a friday night P*ss up ends friday night, for me it wouldn't and it would totally destroy my life.

I think that regardless how horrendous my comedowns were then it wouldn never have deterred me for long until I hot my rock bottom and was beaten by booze. From then it's daily mantenance but crucially I have to accept that I'm an alcoholic. Without that acceptance then i wouldn't stand a chance being 25 male and living in UK. I had to change my life 100%. In my experience then the only way you're going to be able to stay sober in England is by changing your life totally, most aren't willing to do this and consequently stay stuck in the cycle, maybe get sober when things get unbearable years later. for me then I hit my bottom at 23. Also for me then my drug use sped my process up to and I know that I couldn't not do drugs when i drank as it would seem like the natural thing to do and i would end up buying Coke and pills and just always looking to take it to the max. I know that would never change and I was sick of it all.

for me then coming off anything isn't going to be pleasant but it's incredible how quicly those meoires will fade and you'll be laughing about it with mates a few days later as it's part of the deal. Bang back on it again the following weekend. For me then it's all really crucial that i know without doubt that I'm an alcoholic at the base level, I can't comment on any country but i know the reality of england and drinking culture. It certainly is more than giving up drinking, it's changing your whole life or your gonna take that first drink again sooner or later down the line in my experieice from what I've witnessed in my own experience and also knowing how it works in UK.

I certainly ain't high and mighty and try to be the other way. The thing is then you may have a good message but if people don't listen to it because they think you're a arrogant tw*t then it serves no purpose.

I just try speak my truth and if people relate then great.

All The Best

dairo

Booze. When I was in the depth of it, whew, it's even hard for other alcoholics to realize what it was like for me when I was near the end.

Agitation[7]
Alcoholic hallucinosis[3]
Anorexia[7]
Anxiety and panic attacks[3][8]
Catatonia[9]
Confusion[3]
Delirium tremens[3]
Depression[10][11]
Derealization
Diaphoresis[7]
Diarrhea[7]
Euphoria[3]
Fear[3]
Gastrointestinal upset[7]
Hallucinations[7]
Headache[7]
Hypertension[7]
Hyperthermia (fever)
Insomnia[7]
Irritability[3]
Migranes
Nausea and vomiting[12]
Palpitations[7]
Psychosis[3][13]
Rebound REM sleep[14]
Restlessness[3]
Seizures and death[7]
Sweating[7]
Tachycardia[7]
Tremors[7]
Weakness[7]


I had all of those, after drinking for about 5 years very hard. I could drink a liter a day without eating for 4-5 days, it just killed my appetite. To have your body actual feel like it's eating itself from the inside is something that is inexplainable. And those tremors.... oh you people have no idea, mine would never go away, unless I was pretty intoxicated, and then they would subside, but to not being able to hold a cup or a spoon, or being able to sign your signature, or being able to grab anything without looking like a total.. freak. I can't tell you how much anxiety my tremors had given me, just trying to go to the store to get more booze was as a humiliating experience a person can have imo. Those clerks look at you like ... i dunno, not being able to control parts of your body no matter how hard you try is a very scary thing to me.

yeahgr8

I've seen someone coming off benzos...it was much worse than any story i have heard here or in the rooms of AA...

Stevie1

Never have done benzos....I'm on the tail end of the sort-of hippie generation and did not do pills because they weren't "natural." (insert rolly-eye emoticon here.)

Nicotine, for me. I've been able to quit drinking many times, longer than I could quit smoking. But alcohol is different - 20 years ago my addiction to nicotine was the same level as now. My addiction to alcohol (took me a while to realise the truth of it being a truly "progressive" disease) has become a much tougher nut to crack. If I stay sober for a while longer, I hope to have the confidence to quit smoking too!

Used to smoke pot daily, did a lot of various kinds of speed, acid, have tried heroin, done opium more than once, shrooms and angel dust many times, cocaine...either I simply didn't get addicted or I didn't do some of these substances long or often enough to get addicted to.

I spent a weekend many years ago shooting up meth. Coming down was the most horrible thing and when I caught myself contemplating doing some really degrading things just to get more, I scared myself straight, pretty much.

I do find it sort of ironic that of all the illegal substances I have used, it was only the two legal ones - nicotine and alcohol - that I got addicted to.

Peter G

Hardest and longest withdrawal is definitely benzos. But it's the easiest thing for me to stay far away from - because I would NEVER again willingly put myself in any position to have to face that hell again. I would literally choose death if told my only options were to be whacked out on benzos and live, or take a bullet.

Don't get me wrong, the booze withdrawals I've had have almost killed me 3 separate times - critical condition, seizures, DT's, the whole nine yards. But withdrawing from benzos I came dangerously close to killing myself at least half a dozen times. In retrospect now I truly believe my life was in more danger when I was mid-withdrawal from benzos - because the thoughts steamrolling through my head were darker and scarier than the blackest nights I've ever faced after a drunk, in ICU, hooked up to machines and stitched up from some bar brawl or self inflicted agony.

Throughout my entire adult life, even now (by the grace of God) having some quality sober time, I still can't stop frikin smoking. That just frikin bugs me to no end. I'd say for staying quit it's between alcohol and smoking for me - and cigarettes still have me big time. Benzos? Easiest thing in the world to stay away from - when I see a benzo script being filled at the local pharmacy I run away as if looking at an open vile of flesh eating bacteria.

BD777, that medic alert bracelet is an excellent thought, I'm getting one for sure.

CarolD

Hmmm...
It took me 4 years to actually quit...I returned to drinking many times.
I've not had a drink in 22 years.
next month I will begin 23 years of AA recovery.
No...I don't wear a halo ....

I've had much less success with cigarettes
I'm smoking .... yet again....

It's my experience and observation....that people
can quit whatever....it's very difficult to stay stopped.

sleepie

That's enlightening Carol, I don't feel so bad about my numerous attempts to quit- getting some time and then drinking and so on. For some reason I thought you'd quit CT.

suki44883

Alcohol is everywhere and you don't have to go out of your way at all to get it. It is an accepted part of society. I think that's one reason why it's so hard to stay away from. In that sense, I can understand why your counselor would say that.

CarolD

Sleepie....let me clarify please...

I had no idea de toxing from alcohol was so risky
so I did do it cold turkey without medical assistance.
To me...CT is de toxing without professional help....so you are correct.

I do use others to grow in my recovery...it's vital for me
and gives me much joy and a sense of purpose.

Hope everyone finds their way...

Justfor1

Benzo withdrawal should be done with Doctors advice and a slow taper. One should not detox off benzos like an alcohol/heroin detox. Alcohol seemed to have the worst effects physically on my body. I have done all types of drugs but king alcohol is the worst.

ChikkaB

Y'know, maybe I read the original post wrong. Is the question "what was the hardest substance to detox from" or "what was the hardest substance to stay away from for good"?

Because booze was hella hard to detox off of, no lie there, but cigarettes were darn near impossible for me to stay away from for good, even though, like Mark Twain said, "quitting smoking is easy - I've done it a thousand times". I've been smoke-free for many years and I still occasionally find myself on autopilot, looking for my lighter...

omegasupreme

Staying stopped-my experience is that the Power has removed the obsession for all drugs and alcohol equally.

Detoxing-alcohol was easier than it should have been with all the nice doctors giving me pounds of librium and what not but still most unfun, however the at home detoxes I experienced from oxy or crystal were...well the oxy got pretty nasty at times physically and the crystal was just "out there" mentally. Detoxing from cigarettes was almost nonexistent or unnoticeable compared to my other experiences.

MattM316

I think the general thing is that coming off of alcohol is the only thing that can actually kill you, simply as a result of coming off it.
A doctor actually told me a story once of how many years ago there used to be some kind of wagon which went around the streets picking up all the drunk/drugged people lying around.
In the morning the people on heroin etc would walk out of the van feeling like crap, but some of the alcoholics would wakeup dead.

Again, not sure how true that is, but it does kind of give me the mindset of thinking "F**k you, i'm coming off alcohol, this is harder than anything you've ever done in your life!".

Ainslie

I think the hardest drug to come off would be the last one you choose to give up

In hindsight, alcohol was easiest for me - I just smoked more weed, cigarettes and ate more.

Weed was harder, but I smoked more cigarettes, popped the odd benzo (3-4 15mg serapax per week), and compulsively exercised.

I guess im hooked on pills now - but not one in particular. I take a mix of seroquel, serapax, (both prescribed) and herbal remedies, and I still smoke cigarettes. I dont intend to replace pills and cigarettes with anything, theyre gonna be with me for life