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Old Aug 01, 2015, 10:47 AM
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Jimi the rat
 
Member Since: Dec 2008
Location: Northern Europe
Posts: 6,316
I would like to add to this, I can understand the OP's statement she is not a drug addict. The word addiction is stupid and vague. It implies many things of some might not being true at all.

I've taken a low dosage of Xanax for many years. I do not crave Xanax, I do not have "fun" with it. It treats my anxiety but because I have been on it so long, I have gotten physically dependent on it. Second last time I was off it I barely noticed but this time when I went off which was less than a year later, I seem to have crossed a line. I became VERY tense and I could not sleep. At all. This was obviously a symptom of withdrawals. Getting the med back, that feeling went away at once.

So am I a drug addict? That sort of gives the impression I roam the streets for Xanax and perhaps commit crimes to get money to feed my addiction. Do I do that? No. Do I crave the drug, do I overdose it for fun? No. Still, most people would still claim I am DRUG ADDICT. I find this quite unfair.

Having developed a physical dependence is NOT drug addiction. It needs a totally different plan than dealing with drug addiction. It only needs a plan to come off the med safely. It does not need to deal with the underlying issues that drive true addiction.

Even doctors have these two things mixed up. That is why it is hard to trust them if we develop physical dependence. They are so quick to assume we did something wrong.

You can get physically dependent on opiates in less than a week. I know from own experience when I got hooked on codeine after eight days (which I took for shingles). That did not include me mishandling my prescription, it is just not accepted that dependence can happen that fast and I was NOT warned about it.

I think maybe the OP needs help with figuring out how to safely get off the oxy and maybe be judged less and maybe we should not project our own ideas on why this happened on her. I don't know her but my own big trigger is when others tell me how I feel and why.
Thanks for this!
nushi