Business person hooked on DXM.
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Join Date: Dec 2017
Posts: 1
Business person hooked on DXM.
Hello I'm Span3636. I'm a local business person who is addicted to dextromethorphan. It comes in many forms- cough syrup, tablets, gel tabs. I have been a "functioning alcoholic" for 15 years since I was 21. I drank and smoked marijuana for several years. I quit marijuana 10 years ago and alcohol about a year ago. I am now addicted to Dextromethorphan or"DXM". I take about 1000mg daily just to stay sane. I find the withdrawals are more psychological than physical. This still doesn't help much. I feel silly because this is supposed to be a teen drug. I'm 38 years old and have used it consistently for the last year. I have been trying to quit with little success. I have to admit I like the dissociative effect it has on me. I would like input from anyone out there who has dealt with anything similar.
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Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: northern michigan. not the U.P.
Posts: 15,281
welcome span. no experience with DXM, but do have experience with changing my DOC, like addicts do. my main DOC was alcohol, but turned to quite a few drugs over the years.
no success stopping on my own either. thats where AA came in for me. NA meetings were also helpful.
if ya cant do it on your own, its probably time to reach out locally- rehabs,NA, therapists.
no success stopping on my own either. thats where AA came in for me. NA meetings were also helpful.
if ya cant do it on your own, its probably time to reach out locally- rehabs,NA, therapists.
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Join Date: Jun 2017
Posts: 1,276
I don't know anything about DXM, but if I was in your position, the first person I'd speak to would be my doctor. They're good for accountability and also might be able to prescribe you something to help with the withdrawals. Good luck.
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Join Date: Feb 2016
Location: Washington State
Posts: 591
Hi Span, I have some experience with this. Well actually my overall experience is that of switching between substances and behaviors when I stop using one I'd start using another. For example I have a long history with alcohol and marijuana. Awhile back, when I moved to a new place where I no longer knew where to get marijuana I also started taking antabuse to chemically stop myself from using alcohol, but was not active in a recovery program at that point. No surprise I started drinking cough syrup with DXM as just another way to get high to numb myself out from reality. Then I stopped taking cough syrup once I figured out where to get marijuana again. Awhile later I got sober from substances in AA but found myself binging and purging on junk food once or twice/week my first few couple of months sober in AA too, though I stopped that after a few months as AA started to provide some relief, that was not the end of my problems.
Overall when I was using it just came down to wanting to escape from and numb myself from reality. For me I never really understood what was causing this, and while AA was helpful it wasn't fully what I needed for where I was at to get to the root of the issue. It finally has taken therapy to resolve stuff that happened to me a long time ago which was affecting my present in an ongoing way without me even realizing it because it had just become the background noise/pain of my reality. For many/most people though joining a group like AA or another recovery program with group support is all the support they need to get and stay sober.
I can't say how much of this might apply to you, but it is what happened with me. One thing I can say is that I do think if someone is sober and not working a recovery program, they should consider becoming more active in their recovery to see if it helps (group support of any sort is really key in my opinion), and if they are in recovery but not feeling relief from underlying discomfort for whatever reason it might be helpful to see a specialist/therapist if they suspect there are things going on under the surface which are causing them ongoing pain/anxiety/discomfort which their recovery program by itself doesn't seem to be addressing.
I hope that helps.
ps if you're new to recovery programs/group support, one safe and fairly non-intrusive way to start might be to check out the Class of December Support thread on this forum, and maybe read through it and see if its something you might be interested in joining.
Overall when I was using it just came down to wanting to escape from and numb myself from reality. For me I never really understood what was causing this, and while AA was helpful it wasn't fully what I needed for where I was at to get to the root of the issue. It finally has taken therapy to resolve stuff that happened to me a long time ago which was affecting my present in an ongoing way without me even realizing it because it had just become the background noise/pain of my reality. For many/most people though joining a group like AA or another recovery program with group support is all the support they need to get and stay sober.
I can't say how much of this might apply to you, but it is what happened with me. One thing I can say is that I do think if someone is sober and not working a recovery program, they should consider becoming more active in their recovery to see if it helps (group support of any sort is really key in my opinion), and if they are in recovery but not feeling relief from underlying discomfort for whatever reason it might be helpful to see a specialist/therapist if they suspect there are things going on under the surface which are causing them ongoing pain/anxiety/discomfort which their recovery program by itself doesn't seem to be addressing.
I hope that helps.
ps if you're new to recovery programs/group support, one safe and fairly non-intrusive way to start might be to check out the Class of December Support thread on this forum, and maybe read through it and see if its something you might be interested in joining.
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