runnynose

heyy. i came across this site on google and i hope it will help me. im addicted to cocaine and its causing all of my lifes problems. i need to quit but it seems like all the problems it causes the only temporary solutions is to do more coke. i need people to talk to that can help. and all my friends, pretty much, are users of this drug. i dont want to abandon all my friends but i feel its the only way to help me quit. any suggestions?

Zak

Yes,save yourself get to rehab asap,like your not going to use when your best friend has a mound of it in front of you get real and get out you picked one of most addictive drugs I have ever tryed

runnynose

yes thank you i realize that... i just need new friends to fill the void.. and i didnt pick this drug to be addicted to. you sound oblivious to my situation. im just asking how other people got over their addiction without going to rehab.

Dee74

hi runnynose

Welcome to SR.
the links on this page are a good place to start

http://www.soberrecovery.com/forums/...i-recover.html

D

change4penny

RN, Hi and welcome. I'm a recovering opiate/cocaine addict, 14 months clean. I won't go into my opiate addiction here, but needless to say, I was very addicted to pain pills for more than ten years.
The cocaine use started when I was in my late teens, (I'm now 42), and I used it on and off socially for years, quit when I got pregnant with my first son and didn't use again until I got a divorce in '98.
It never really had a hold on me until the last 3 years before rehab. A 'friend" who was selling it, was giving me coke all the time, about an 8 ball a day. I wound up having septoplasty, nose surgery to repair a hole in my septum due to all the coke I'd snorted. That didn't stop me from using.
One evening, a 'so called friend' went to get us some coke before we were going to a bar. I gave her my money and she brought me back 'rock'. I was mad, but she said, "just try it, it's o.k., plus you won't do anymore damage to your nose". The first time I did it, I didn't 'get it'...didn't really like the high. The second time, I loved it. I chased that high for eighteen months straight. Losing almost everything, including my life due to overdosing a couple of times.
The only advice I can give you is to stop it now. Whether your snorting it or smoking it, it will lead you down a very dark road. As far as friends? Trust me, when you recover, those friends will lose their appeal. You'll no longer have anything in common with them and will want to be around people who want the same things out of life that you do...and that is to be CLEAN and HAPPY, living a life that doesn't involve drugs.

Good luck and God bless.

Penny

Lolajames

Hi Runnynose,

In Edmonton, you can contact AADAC and they can help you with advice and counselling. They can also help you get into a rehab program:

10010-102 A Avenue NW
Edmonton , AB T5J 0G5
Tel: 780-427-2736
Fax: 780-427-4180

CrackQuack

HI runnynose! I am crackquack! 10 months clean from crack cocaine!
You do need new friends. If you truly DESIRE to stop using cocaine, forget about those friends. I would guess most of them are only friends because of the cocaine connection. It's a guess, but my crack using friends don't call me anymore. They did for a while, when I first said I was quitting, because all of us crackheads have said we're not using anymore, at one point or another and we still end up using.. How many times we've said it.. Anyway, the point is, once they realized I was SERIOUS about stopping, they quit calling.
None of us ever pick up to become addicted. ALL of us had a different reason for why we picked up. We wanted to fit in. We wanted to forget our troubles. We wanted to have fun. The list goes on and on!
And unfortunately, the reason some of us are going to be "tough" on you is because we DO understand, all too well. We've been there. A lot of us will exercise tough love, a lot of us will be more sympathetic. Some of us, like myself, will be kind of a mix of both. It kind of depends on my mood and the mood of the original poster. If it looks like they need some serious truth, I'll dish it. LOL.
We all do need some serious truth, especially in early recovery. A lot of us are at that stage, when we first start realizing we need to get away from the drugs, where we know we need to stop yet we're still in denial. Still convinced that, with some support, we can control our using. We cannot.
We get defensive when someone tells us like it is, because, frankly, truth hurts and we're still not completely convinced we need to completely stop using. We think, if we can go a day, a week, a month, or even a year, without using, we are in control of our addiction. Especially with cocaine. Cocaine is such a tricky drug. Very few physical withdrawals, and they usually happen later in recovery, rather than right off the bat like with opiates, alcohol, and other more physical drugs. It was about a month before I got chills up and down my body, in warm weather. And that lasted only a couple days. Then in the summer, I was quite shaky and cold, in 90 degree weather. But it always started with my desire to go and smoke crack. When I told myself I would not use, then physical symptoms kicked in. So I really believe that our addiction to crack/cocaine resides 99% in our brains. Our brains want it so bad, they're willing to trick us into thinking we're going through withdrawals and convince us to use. I know my mind tried very hard, many times, with and without physical symptoms, to convince me to go out one more time. I still get it, but it happens less and less. My truck has been out of use because of no heater and when my car blew the head gasket, I did not want to use. It was an event that would have had me looking to use last winter, but not this one. I am very proud of that moment. On the flip side, when my boyfriend and I got into a small arguement over the location of the car (in the way of his garage) and it would not start because of the blown head gasket, he was getting kind of excited and I kept saying to give the car a minute, she'll start, the whole time I am thinking "As SOON as I get this F***er moved, I am taking off IN MY TRUCK AND GETTING SOME CRACK!" Just screw it.. It just snuck up on me like that. And I did get in my truck and I froze my booty off, but I did not go out and use, I slammed the gas pedal down and just rode the highway for 1/2 hour, got a new head gasket kit and my FSM's so I can fix the car the first chance I get. It snuck up on me, but I did not use. I don't have to use, no matter what.
Have you looked to see if there are any NA or AA meetings in your area? Go online and google it to see. If you have health insurance, check out outpatient therapy.
The way I stopped using was hitting my bottom. Everyone's is different. Mine was coming kissing close to selling myself in order to get more crack. I had an 8 ball in front of me, back in February, but I knew I'd want more and one of the guys smoking in the house said he'd get me some if I let him do sexual things to me. I had thought about it but I took my rock and left. Of course, I finished it. I threw up several times, but finished it. Then went to a friend's house and told them what I had done and that I was REALLY DONE this time. I didn't want to sell myself for dope. Ugh. I called my boyfriend. I called my sponsor. I called my own mother. Admitting to her what I did with my money and the sad look in her face. I remember it all so clearly. And even thinking about going out and smoking dope makes me want to vomit.
But it started with going to the NA about 4-5 months before. Not being serious about getting clean. Kept smoking dope. Stole from my Mom. Smoked dope in her house, while she was in the hospital. Ending up, FINALLY, done in February. I made a phone number sheet for my friends and family to call each other. If I said I was going to my boyfriends, they were to call him and verify. My money was completely in control of my boyfriend. He held everything, debit card, check book, and went with me to cash my check. He demanded receipts for everything I purchased and kept track of my money. That went on for a while. I just got my debit card and check book back in September. He still demanded receipts up until last month. Now I am basically on my own and being trusted with my finances again. I even started paying off one of my credit debts! It's really rough since I don't make much, but I manage and I don't use.
I stopped going to NA every day around my 4th month. I go a couple times a month now, but I come to SR frequently, and I also am so lucky to have strong support from my friends and family, who do not use.
Point is, we can do it. We've got to want it for ourselves. We've got to DO IT for ourselves. We've got to really WANT IT, more than we want to get high.
Aside from the risks coming from cocaine abuse, it just feels so much better to know you can handle life without the use of drugs!

windysan

coke is gross and icky

tsmba

You must not be addicted to it. I was into IV coke for years and went through a fortune or two. Even after years away from it, I can still crave it so bad that I can taste and smell it. It is most definitely the most insidious drug I've encountered. I had numerous experiences when I did enough to cause seizures and hallucinations, then as soon as I was able, I did more. Pure insanity.

windysan

like i said, coke is gross and icky

CrackQuack

Ya gotta kinda know Windy to know that he's meaning what he says. Doesn't mean he was addicted or not addicted to cocaine, but he's right about it being gross and icky. It is. It's definitely like you said, it's insidious and we go through pure insanity in order to get high. Of course, I am not claiming to know Windy, but I do understand what he's saying. LOL.
Personally, I have no experience with using the needle for my cocaine. I did enjoy tooting it, but got hooked when I smoked it.
Anyway, I am glad you are still around to tell the tale.
And that we all have another chance, at life!

windysan

I always found blow to be too much like work. The first bit is great.........but after that it's just work. Hard, crappy work.

I don't like work.

sandnuka

I was addicted to cocaine for 6mo's.... this was 8yrs ago..... had a line waiting for me in the bathroom in the morning so I would get out of bed and go to work... had a line in my car when I got to work... lunch.... so on......

Well, it took me getting the hell beaten out of me in downtown seattle and all my drugs and money stolen before I realized it was time to quit...... Itleast you didnt have to go threw that..... when i quit I left the country...... If I couldnt find it, I wouldnt do it.... then when i was in another country got sober then I got married on the pink cloud... LOL... true story....

Have not touched the stuff since...... sooooooo you can try it my way?! Well, just to show you, It can be done..... and really it wasnt that bad..... just that first 2 day detox...... HOLY MOLY, after that smooth sailing... just dont be around it..... cause its nearly impossible to say no, I can honestly say if it was laid down in front of me, I could not say no.... its been 8 yrs, I have a wife, daughter, and would still not be able to say no..... Good luck prayers are with you when you try.

scottishmayne

^^^^^^^^

minute

When I was addicted to Coke for 5 years I finally packed my bags and moved 800 miles away from my "freinds" that gave me coke everyday. I was lucky that I could do this and stay away from new freinds that did coke. Can you move away??? LOL
My prayers are with you.

Jin

Cocaine is definitely gross. As an addict for 15 years, I know all about it. Did anybody know it rots your teeth, your insides, and makes you smell bad. I have a damage wound in my nose from so much cocaine that the deep scab still won't heal after 7 years, it's still bleeding.

One good way to stop cocaine is to cut your dealer off! That's how I stopped, also that's how I stopped my pill addiction and everything else, don't know where to get any and glad of it, and utilmately, I don't miss it.

runnynose

the thing is these people are my friends. ive known them since ******* like grade 7. it hard to just move away or some ****. i dunno. it my new years resolution to quit this **** though. my buddys gf is havin a kid in a couple months and hes still sneakin off to sniff ****. its bad. but im gunna try to be a good influence.

Vintersemestre

Coke really is something else... I'd really like to understand every process, cause and effect of it's neuropharmalogical profile more than any other drug.

I've done all the potentially addictive and very inevitably addictive drugs at one point or another - dozens of different opiates, meth- dextro- levo- amphetamine, "ecstasy", alcohol, coke, pot and I still smoke awful cigarettes, so I know what I'm sayin' dawg. The only thing I haven't done is crack-cocaine, not that it's on my to-do list.

The few times I did coke (about four or five I think) it just made you feel so DAMN GOOD and all you could think about was how to get more in your snout and reclaim your dopamine pedestal after the feeling I'm referring to (and anyone who's taken it is definitely familiar with) went away. I won't bother attempting conceptualize it by painting a picture (no one reads long posts), it's just something you have to experience.

Being the responsible individual that I am, I realized what these thoughts were.

My animal brain was telling me:

"THAT'S AWESOME, TOTALLY DO THAT AGAIN DUDE. WHAT'S MONEY? YOU GOT ENOUGH, AHHH, CUT IT OUT."

But my human brain was saying:

"Hey stupid, I'm sure that was fun and all, but you have to buy groceries tomorrow, dummy. How about you just stop it and get another beer."

So that's how I avoided a coke addiction. I can very easily and clearly see how such would consume all money, possessions, clothing, employment and living quarters very quickly and very destructively. I've seen a few of my friends do it, one of them's dead.

DSoT4Ever

I look for and cherish the long posts over others lol

Nice.. light and funny but meaningful

runnynose

@ Windysan. Your avatar is disgusting.