From one addiction to another to another...so on

Basically an addict is an addict despite what they use and how they use it. I'm beginning to understand the disease better then ever after watching my mother go from one addiction to another. I mean one may be less consuming, and one may be cheaper, the other might be okay to drive and function with, and one may even be legal....but where ever it stems from it still is there to suffice her suppression from reality and to make all the pain go away. I see that with in myself in a way too. It's strange looking from the outside of some one else's sickness and seeing it within myself as well. I suppose that's one positive of addiction is ultimately it's all the same and very typical.

I have been 100% sober for 10 full days...10. It's not that big of a deal, I mean it hasn't even been two weeks..but it feels forever to me. No drinking (biggest goal), no pot smoking, pill taking, euphoria in any manner....10 days.

10 days is a big deal, and you should feel proud. Stopping addictions is really hard. And you're right about the urge to replace one addiction with another. I used to joke that if I wasn't doing something self destructive I wasn't happy. Happily I'm over that and am now trying to find healthier ways of coping.

Feel free to drop into our recovery chat every Tues, night at 10 pm EST.

--splitimage

Congrats to 10 days! I wish you the best with staying with it.

youOme, congrats on the 10 days!!! That is a wonderful accomplishment! I understand trading one addiction for another--I quit crack but started drinking, then quit drinking but started smoking, now I have quit smoking but am chewing nicorrette gum...I hope to eventually get done to no addiction...You and I are both headed in the right direction!

I've seen some days that 10 hours and even 10 minutes was HUGE! Don't sell yourself short. A sober day, any sober day is a GREAT day. You have had 10 GREAT days! That is a whole lot sometimes. Amazing miracles can occur in those sober hours during the 10 days that can provide future sober hours. This entire process, for all of us has truly been an hour at a time now for a very long time now. Great job, hang in there! Tony

10 days is HUGE!!! Any time is huge. We all do it one day at a time. We've all been at 10 days. Definitely come to Recovery Chat sometime!!

10 days shows the newcomer that it CAN be done

Kudos to you!

It's been a whoppin 2 weeks now. I was tempted when a friend of mine asked me to booze out with her and another time when I was at her house and she lit up a joint. Still, I didn't take nothing. The fact I'm being laid off and seeking another job gives me incentive to stay clean because nowadays they drug test everywhere before employing somebody.

Thanks for the support ya'll. I'll join chat one of these days but most the time I'm working evenings.

That knowing that you'll pass a drug screen is such a huge relief!! In my field there are always randoms and its such a relief to know that I have nothing to fear. It was funny though, when I drug tested for this job, I still thought, what if I fail?? Knowing full well that was not possible haha!!

Congrats on 2 weeks!!

youOme, great job on the 2 weeks! I am so happy for you. Are you starting to feel a little bit better? Isn't it great to wake up with out a hangover? Please be careful hanging out with people who use--sometimes the temptation can be difficult to manage. Could you by any chance ask your friend not to use around you--in the very least go to another room? Just a thought....

Yes, she basically lets me know she's high or drunk before I come over. She's been understanding to me quitting as I am for her quitting smoking.

i can definitely relate to this trading & substituting. 3 months ago i quit smoking crack but i have been eating nonstop & also smoking cigs like crazy. the eating has leveled off somewhat but i still crave my intense sweet fix every day & am aggravated until i get it. ive also had spells of compulsive exercise like exercising all hours of the night and spending hours at the gym but now u wouldnt even know it cuz where ive eaten alot in the past 3 months. ive went on crack binges before where ive lost big amounts of weight in little time & my addict tricky mind says go on a stem fast binge & the weight will drop off. thing is reality is with that stuff u never know when your next hit is your last anything cuz it could cause a stroke or heart attack. just crazy back & forth from one thing to another. i just wish i could be normal.

wow..that kind of opens my eyes to the way I was been eating and smoking lately. It's been ridiclulous.

When my mother quit smoking crack cocaine she went from a petite size to huge. Still to this day she carries her recovery weight with her. Sometimes she gets all depressed and whiny about it, but I tell her it's better that she be round, plump, and healthy...then cracked out and forgotten about. Recovery weight is good weight. That explains my recent over eating and intense cravings for fast food and pizza.