Fabbrin1

**excuse the typo thread name, should be OFF cocaine

Hello, I've spent an hour or so reading through your forums and I'd like to ask for some advice, as most of the posts seem pretty helpful.

My names, well, thats not important, but I've struggled with cocaine on and off for near 2 years. I've had a 6 month field of sobriety upon which I relapsed in February.. I'm ready to call it quits.

I've been to jail, had the police called on me numerous times, stolen, and yeah. The atrocious things Ive done on or off cocaine just to get it are disgusting to me. by the GRACE of GOD i still managed to hold together my relationship of 3 years, but we all know that will fall apart soon too.

I'm tired of lying, cheating, and stealing. This is my second day sober. Any ideas on how to keep it that way? my sleeping sucks and i feel like my emotions are flustered.



Thanks for your time everyone, I appreciate it greatly

Anna

Hi and Welcome!

I'm glad you posted.

I don't have firsthand knowledge of detoxing from cocaine, but I think that sleeplessness and feeling emotional is part of detoxing from most substances. Have you talked to your dr?

My advice as to how to stay stopped - make changes in your life. Remember that the cocaine is a symptom and you need to deal with the underlying issues.

Fabbrin1

Thank you for your warm welcome. Sadly my doctor left me, one of many people I lost, because of the drug. I kept blowing him off.. I'm in the process of finding a new doctor with the help of my parents. ( i have a few mental issues, Bi polar, ADHD)

ADaisyifyoudo

It was a LONG time ago but when I stopped using Cocaine I had to sever all ties to folks I used to party with. Anytime I hung around them I'd wind up making a fool of myself begging them to give me a bump. . .once I didn't have connections anymore it was much easier. No one to call. . .

Exercise will help with the sleep stuff too.

stugotz

Daisy hit it on the head. There wasnt physical symptoms for me but the urge to jump right back in was there for the better part of a year. Good luck and God bless.

Aysha

Cocaine is in no way physically addicting. Not medical advice. Its a fact. It is all in your head which then turns it into what feels like a physical thing.
Just sleep a couple days and eat good, lots of fluids and cut all ties to that lifestyle. Get to a meeting or find some kind of supprt system and put it into place ASAP. Good luck.

Squizz

Cocaine isn't hard to come off of. It's purely a mental addiction. That being said, I find I get the itch to do coke a lot more than I do alcohol, which I was also addicted to. I remember working in construction, and the smell of insulation would instantly make me crave coke. It was crazy. Certain smells make me crave it badly. HAHA.

Don't worry, in about a week's time, you'll feel 1000x better. I can promise you that.

And this is coming from someone who did so much coke, I'd often feel like I had the flu. Come to think of it, I DID HAVE THE FLU. THE COKE FLU.



Good luck, and don't give up!

defyinggravity

I'm also bipolar and had a nice little coke habit up until about 45 days ago. I went cold-turkey after a suicide attempt when I was high on coke. I didn't really struggle with it so much physically (as others have mentioned) as I did mentally...I had to block my dealer's telephone number and avoid him like the plague. I didn't have any friends who did coke and I was lucky enough to have a therapist who pretty much put her foot down after I tried to kill myself and was adamant that I get help immediately.

However, I would like to point out that we can't definitively say that cocaine is not physically addictive and that it's only a mental addiction (I don't want to start a huge discussion about mental vs physical, this is just the information I have based on several pharmacology classes and studying addiction processes). True, the withdrawal is much milder compared to other drugs and yes, there is a large mental component - I'm not disputing that at all. But I am saying that cocaine use changes the brain. It changes the reward pathways and receptors for neurotransmitters such that the brain needs cocaine - in fact, it uses it as a source of energy because the normal sources of energy are so depleted after chronic use. Glucose levels in the brain are much lower and imaging studies show changes in activity levels in cocaine users. So, I would question the claim that it's not physically addictive or that there's no physical component.

Dee74

Welcome to SR Fabbrin

I'm glad you're looking for a new Dr to help you through this. It's a good decision

You'll find a lot of support here too
D

newby1961

to Sr its an awesome place to enhance ones recovery.

Like other's have mentioned it is a great site to get support and understanding for our addictions.

Have you ever tried going to NA or CA or even AA for that matter?

It is really hard to do it on ones own or at least that is what I have found.

Hang in there you have already started this journey so keep it up..

Peace & blessings