canuhearme1

Any theories on why it seems that there only a handful of recovering cocaine/crack addicts in the substance abuse forums at SR, it just seems that most post tends to be on opiate addiction? Then when I go to friends and family of substance abuse it's just the opposite....

I have two thoughts on this:
~A few years back doctors where handing out medication like it's candy. Walk in say my back hurts.. boom.. easy as that.
OR
~Crack/cocaine users don't recover as often



Maybe I'm thinking to much..... Any one else think about this stuff?

Nallabelle

I dont know. Maybe more people who use pain pills own computers. Maybe more opiate users recover. Maybe there are just more of us.
Good question though.

Sugah

I'm a crack/cocaine addict in recovery. And an opiate addict in recovery. And a benzo addict in recovery. And a boozer in recovery. And a pothead in recovery. And a reformed trip addict.

Hey, I guess I'm an addict in recovery.

Why mostly opiates on here? I have no idea how illicit drug use shakes down, percentage-wise. I can tell you that when I was actively using coke and its sisters, I wouldn't have dreamed of posting here. It was relatively easy (in a physical sense) to put down, and near impossible to keep from picking back up (psychologically). I didn't want to hear anything in that time (seven years solid use) that would get in between me and my obsessiveness.

Opiates--and at other times in my life, alcohol--beat the living hell out of me. I got clean & sober in rehab and in the rooms, and by the time I got here, I had nearly three years under my belt. Had I known of online recovery options in the final days of using and early weeks and months of recovery, I'm sure I would have sought it out then. But when I was sticking primarily to coke? I'd have been too paranoid to post here. You folks might have found me out or done something else to me against my will.

Peace & Love,
Sugah

canuhearme1

I know it's not funny but. The memory of all my stuff lost to our local pawn shop flashed through my mind. They new AH's drivers lic# by heart! So you could very well be right on....

sailorjohn

Never thought about it here much, but I've been told, for various reasons, crack is much harder to recover from.

Which would also account for the numbers being skewed the way you noticed.

Shellslove

I'm not even joking here but think about it...opiate addicts get the initial energy "boost" but that fades quickly. Then they have this sense of well-being and overall good feeling...but maybe they know what they're doing is wrong. At that point, some of them find this forum, still feel all 'lovey dovey' and talkative...and we all just have soooo much to say. WE hear stories just like ours about losing control, cheating, stealing, lying....not being sure we want recovery...but talk a big game. Maybe some of us post a few threads and then forget about the forum. Cut to a few months later and we are at the terminal stage of addiction where we are shut ins...sit around at home all day long, lost conections w/friends and family, feeling desperate and lonely and need someone to talk to....back to sober recovery for as much support as we can possibly get.

I don't know much about a meth/crack/coke addiction (tho I did have a run w/adderall, so similar) -- when i was taking that I know I would talk and talk and talk but couldn't sit still - lots of energy and concentration - but on the useless things. I've had friends w/addiction to stimulants and I notice it begins w/tons of energy and turns to almost insanity - no sleep, strung out, paranoia...seems the last thing they would reach for or think to do is sit around at home on the computer and talk out feelings. When the opiate depression hits you feel so lonely but you crave for someone to lean on. I have a feeling at the height of a stimulant addiction you're more lost in your head and want solitude. Don't know if I'm onto something or just talking out my a** , but it seems like part of the rationale or answer to the question you asked, imo.

canuhearme1

I'm thinking it's a combination of every thing you guys have just said.
1. no money or possessions (nallabella), 2. not wanting to find help & paranoyia (Sugah) 3. and how hard it's is to recover and stay in recovery (sailorjohn)

I prefer to believe it's more of one and two. It's sad to think of the odds..

I've always been VERY competitive and I don't plan on loosing this one.
I really like being out side of the curve. Especially this one.

canuhearme1

nothing wrong with talking out of that when it's such an open question/discussion.
...... but for me crack/iv cocaine (both of witch I enjected) and speed are not even in the same ball park. It was 100% locked in a room, paranoid, doing NOTHING!

But still, with that said:
I agree.

lostbutterfly

I spent many nights googling "recovery" while I was doped and drunk (usually landed up buying something on Amazon, that took me by surprise later on when it was delivered!)

That's how I found this forum, anyway! I stayed, people recommended AA, I went to meetings, and things have got better, so far, at least for today!

scaredtostp

I have an employee that works for me in the summer in our landscaping company who is hooked on crack, all his money goes there but he works damn hard for me and never stole from me. When he is high he will talk a mile a minute and have a tense look on his face like he is concentrating real hard. he uses a spoon, baking soda and water to turn coke into crack and uses an 8 ball a day or more and smokes it through a small glass tube. he has been using for two years now, how hard and what will he go through if he tries to quit?

smacked

Ditto..

Maybe it really is the unfortunate reality that people active or in early recovery from crack/cocaine aren't sittin looking around for forums to chill and reach out.. yet..

Maybe there's more friends and family posts because less crack/cocain addicts recover.

I have no idea, I'm just glad I'm here, and that you're all here!!

windysan

Because cocaine is icky.

Impurrfect

Good question. I've noticed the same thing...crack is mentioned most often in the F&F forum, but opiates in the SA forum. Since I've abused practically everything, and am a recovering crack addict, with a family member addicted to opiates...sheez, I guess I just fit in everywhere, huh?

I've had numerous people tell me how lucky/blessed/fortunate I am to be in recovery from crack...saying "most people don't get to that point, you know". I DO know that, but I also know that I don't take my recovery for granted. As Anvil says, "we're just one bad decision away" from going back to that demon.

Hugs and prayers!

Amy

scaredtostp

is it harder to stop it than opiates?

Nallabelle

Im sorry I hope I dont offend anyone here but in my area the people that use crack are not the people that sterotypically could afford to own a computer or frankly even have a job. I volunteer at a soup kitchen in Charlotte and I have spoken to some professionals who told me that a large percentage of people on crack in charlotte are either highschool drop-outs or illiterate or both.
By that I mean that perhaps recovering crack heads are less likely to use the internet as a resource for recovery. There is definitely a stigma attached that someone who uses prescription pills may not have. More likely to have upper class people addicted to vicodin than crack. Just saying.
Also like I said I think there are more of us too.

Sugah

No offense, Nallabelle, and I don't doubt your observations, but they are not the rule. I owned a business and a home, and though I didn't have a formal education then, I was well-read with an I.Q. score two standard deviations above the mean.

We come in all flavors.

Peace & Love,
Sugah

Nallabelle

Like I said I wasnt trying to offend anyone and alot of what I said wasnt totally MY opinion but the facts of MY town. If you assume Charlotte is a lot like most cities then there ya go. Anyway Im no better than anyone else, but come on, we all know the stereo types, or as I better call them "generalizations".

canuhearme1

scaredtostp,
I don't know how hard it would be for you friend to stop, or even if it's harder to quit one over the other. I think it's harder for some than others. But crack/cocaine doesn't have the painful wd like opiates do, it's more of a mental thing, sadly as of now there is no (approved) medication that dull that mental monster (but I hear talk of a vaccine)


-----------------------------
uh oh.....

Shhhh Nallabelle, please don't tell me that you think crack is only a lower class problem. It's the drug that turns people into what you see. I'm educated, I have my AAS degree. Own my own home, I came from a good family, drugs almost took that all away from me.

Please don't take this personal but, I really think stereo typing is rude. And has been the root of a lot of fear and hatred in this world. Wasn't that long ago that upper "class people" were blinded by stereo types. You know what I mean: Women belong in the home, with no opinions of our own, blacks were all gang members bla bla bla....
Be aware of stereo types but don't assume it's all true. You know what they say about assuming

Nallabelle

I believe that most stereo types are based on generalizaions. I tried to make it really clear in my post that I wasnt trying to put anyone down and tried to be really carefull with what I wrote. I am a pretty compasionate person.
I wish for no one to take anything I said out of context. Read it for what its worth. I was stating the facts of what is true in the town I live in. Not saying all crack addicts are poor or stupid.
And anyone who tries to tell me that someone considered upper class has a higher chance of getting hooked on crack than pain killers is just wrong. Ive never met or heard of anyone (that I can think of) who is of great financial status getting hooked on crack but i know a lot of rich people who take pain killers. Maybe they dont think its as bad (again with the stigma).
I hope this clarifies anything someone may have taken the wrong way. I dont even know how I got started on this.Things dont always come out right on the computer but i apologize if I offended you. I do realize that no "class" is immune to any drug.

canuhearme1

Search engines use your key words and look for web sights that have those key words, then list them in order of most visited by people that used those same key words. (although you can pay $ to have your sight listed at the top)

That is a pretty sure sign that more people are choosing SR website that are searching opiate recovery than crack/coke recovery.

I guess most of us pawned our lap tops, I did But I have a brand new one with the money I would have spent shooting coke