How Long Will Cocaine Withdrawals Last?

[some_chick]

SWIM (seriously) has been addicted to coke for about 4-5 years, she's been off for a little more than two months...the cravings died down after the first month but recently they've been coming back. I just want to know how long SWIM should expect to be feeling the symptoms of coke withdrawal...

[DrMuffy]

Well you might very well crave mentally for coke for the rest of your life, so theres not too much hope in that catagory. But all the physical withdrawel effects should be almost gone by now so SWIdr is not sure about that.

[~lostgurl~]

SWIY may benefit from something like CBT (Cognitive Bahavioural Therapy) or EMT (Emotive Bahavioural Therapy) to help change the associations SWIY may have between drugs and certain people, places, things. SWIM read an interesting book a few years ago (actually she might go the library and see if she can find it again as it is more applicable to her current situation) It's called "Magnificent Addiction" by Phillip Kavaunagh. (I think I spelt that correctly) It gives some helpful ideas and techniques for turning all the energy that was put towards negative addictions and using that energy in a positive way.

That's awesome that SWIY has made it 2 months without coke, a 4-5 year habit is not easy to kick, has SWIY done this alone? If SWIY has any good advice or coping techniques to share SWIM would be very interested.... SWIM currently has 7 weeks free of meth and has been lucky as far as cravings are concerned but she has compensated for the lack of meth with an increase in sleeping pills and cigarettes.

[pankreeas]

5 year addiction to 2 months sober.. like going from 120 mph to going in reverse.. congrats on your sober time. All I can really tell you is life is going to be a hell of a lot different if you stay on the road you are on. A few rest stops or detours along the way are enivetable, we are only human.. to never touch it again would make you super-human in my books. And if that isn't incentive enough then I don't know what is.. :P

Seriously tho, Don't get bogged down statistically. It's scary to see sentences like: Only 20% of people ever stay sober (not fact just an example) and "there's never a recovered addict as recovery is a life long process".. it make a very hard lifelong commitment to something, much harder if you cannot picture yourself in that tiny percentage that is said to have success... and the basis of that is flakey at best anyways. Just be yourself, don't change drastically.. many people say you have to change completely in order to have the best chance at recovery, but changing too much leaves you very vulnerable and naive. Never forget those terrible moments, those horrible things you did, the countless people you lied to, and most importantly don't regret anything you did. If you do you will more than likely forget the factor which made and is still making you a much stronger person in retrospect... For me regret is like gettin to the top of Mount Everest then chalking the whole journey up to a lack of better judgement. And no matter how good you're doing, you haven't won.. nobody does. The minute you think that, your guard comes down. Not just you.. everyone :/ And finally, keep in mind you probably won't find anything to scratch that itch, or shake that "what now" feeling till it becomes almost unbearable.. thats the crossroad between relapse and freedom, and you will find yourself there like a recurring nightmare, and each time you get there, the next choice will invetably determine how long until you return.

Anyways I could go on and on and etc....... Theres tons of usefull info / brainpower in the community, but If youd like someone to chat with gimme a message, I'll let ya know how I even helped swim realize there's plenty of fish in the Rc.

And the cbt aspect mentioned by Lostgurl is a very good suggestion and should be something at the top of ones list. Some hospitals have programs called "bridge programs" in which they either have group or one on one Cbt sessions, or can at least direct you to a place that does.

[Forthesevenlakes]

SWIM backs the suggestion by lostgurl that CBT and related therapies could help greatly. They help to change the beliefs that one can only have fun while high, or will have more fun while high, and can help break associations between people/events/places and drug taking. A bit of neurological reprogramming will probably be necessary after a long addiction in order to break the connections between the thought of cocaine, and the thought of pleasure, and perhaps building new connections where cocaine is associated with negative outcomes, and other, non-drug alternatives are associated with positive ones.

The other key, SWIM thinks, is to be patient with one's self and give it time for these new connections to form. Addiction is not an easy thing to overcome, but there are many people who will be willing to help, and many ways to go about getting over the feelings of stagnation and depression that can tempt one into doing just one more line. Best of luck, let us know how your SWIM is doing.

[some_chick]

in response to questions asked by ~lostgirl~...SWIM has had a great amount of help and support from me (her girlfriend)...also, cuttin off ties and ways of communication is helps for those times when she really wants coke and would if possible get some and relapse...other than that, i think my support is really what has helped her so far...

another question...
how long is the drug supposed to stay in her body, when did it start becoming mental?

[Forthesevenlakes]

To SWIM's knowledge, it should only stay in the body for a few days, maybe a week max. However there may be a rebound depression after physical withdrawal is complete that may last for weeks or months. For most drugs the depression isn't too bad, it may manifest as anhedonia, which is an inability to experience pleasure. Put simply life may not seem as fun or exciting without the drug, but this feeling will pass in time, the key is to not get tricked into a relapse by believing that one cannot have fun without drugs.