Cocaine: What do you guys do when you get an urge?

[club222]

SWIM has been off coke for about 4 months now. He went from doing maybe
half a g per night, to a ball per night over an 8 month period. It was
an every night thing. When he was nearing the end of his spring
semester in college, he saw what it was doing to his life/school/grades
and knew that he had to stop. SWIM isn't going to get into the whole
bit about what happened during quitting, but his question was mainly,
what do you guys do when that sudden urge hits you and you just want to
snort a big fat rail up your nose? He doesn't get this feeling often,
but when he does it hits him hard and that's all he can think about. If
he's out in the town then he trys to just think about different things
to get his mind off of it and eventually it goes away... If he's at
home, he try's to do the same, but sometimes it just doesn't work. He
has found himself snorting other things, such as caffeine, to try and
help. Of course it doesn't though, it just makes him want it more. He
has been extremely good with actually quitting though, as it has been 4
months since the last rail, but the thoughts of it just kill him.



So, what are some good ideas to help get the thoughts out of his mind? Anything will help. Thanks.

[miffy]

Um. . . when I get an urge to have a hit, at the moment - I jolly well have one!



That's not helpful, though - and I'll be in this situation soon. When
I've felt this way in the past, I've not really been able to do
anything about the urges, other than to do something else to take your
mind off it - go for a beer, walk round the block, anything.



I have found, though, that the urge comes less frequently if I'm
somewhere unfamiliar - ideally, after coming off, I'd go abroad for a
few months. Also, I don't get the impulse to relapse as often if I'm
real busy - and doing lotsa physical work. Not drinking too much helps
too - it's too easy to think "well, just the one. . . " after a
few beers.

[miffy]

Falling in love helps, too, although that's hard to plan in advance.
And I've found that sometimes, smoking a joint (which I don't normally
do) can make me change perspective and be glad I didn't just relapse. .
.


Edited by: miffy

[sands of time]

Being with friends that don't do blow helps take your mind off it. You need to find activities that make you feel happy and satisfied. Invest some time in any hobbies besides drugs, although a joint will help. Alcohol, like Miffy said, is not the answer. I find that after drinking more than two beers, all the addictions of before speak a bit louder.

[Nicaine]

Originally Posted by club222

SWIM has been off coke for about 4 months now. He went from doing maybe half a g per night, to a ball per night over an 8 month period. It was
an every night thing.

Woah... that's quite a long time to use that heavily.

When he was nearing the end of his spring
semester in college, he saw what it was doing to his life/school/grades and knew that he had to stop. SWIM isn't going to get into the whole bit about what happened during quitting, but his question was mainly,
what do you guys do when that sudden urge hits you and you just want to snort a big fat rail up your nose? He doesn't get this feeling often, but when he does it hits him hard and that's all he can think about. If he's out in the town then he trys to just think about different things to get his mind off of it and eventually it goes away... If he's at home, he try's to do the same, but sometimes it just doesn't work. He has found himself snorting other things, such as caffeine, to try and
help. Of course it doesn't though, it just makes him want it more. He has been extremely good with actually quitting though, as it has been 4 months since the last rail, but the thoughts of it just kill him.

So, what are some good ideas to help get the thoughts out of his mind? Anything will help. Thanks.

First, have you tried Wellbutrin/Zyban (bupropion)? If not, give it a try if you can. And/or other brain chemical precursors like L-Tyrosine and 5-HTP. Lots of exercise (sorry, I hate it too when someone suggests that one). Vitamins galore.

Second... mind clearing exercises might be helpful in dealing with those jones's. Not talking about stupid stuff, but serious stuff... maybe some Zen meditation training, and some martial arts stuff for mental discipline.

Third... you're right, you sound to be doing excellent after only 4 months away from such heavy usage. If you can't find anything else, just toughing out the killer cravings until it gets easier is a solution of sorts. They should gradually diminish in frequency, how quick is hard to say. Just guessing, but bet you'll be doing a lot better 8 months from now.Edited by: Nicaine

[tracymw]

Lose contact with all dealers!! Then when you have the urge, you will have no way of getting it. This has helped me out alot until I run into one of my friends blah blah..........

[uqlfy]

You already are doing great Just
keep doing what you been doing. Every time you fight that urge and win
the next battle is easier. Everyone has already posted some great
suggestions. Take em.



One thing that helped me that wasnt mentioned is to keep in mind just
how bad those first coulple weeks without were. Do you really want to
go through that again? For a couple of lousy grams? What get high for a
day or so then suffer for a week worse than what you are now? No way.

[hippie_lain]

Find a hobby club. I swear it really works. Basically you really need to replace the drug with something else. THen you wont get all the urges as much.

[pcon]

re hab was actually very inspiring to me, i cried for the first 2 weeks
straight but after it was all over i felt great, they really focus on
you. i had a doctor go over my body lookinf specifically for damage my
drug of choice caused to show me exactly what i was doing to myself, i
had such bad holes burned in my nasal passageway that anything snorted
could've killed me at any time....you meet a lot of really interesting
people there too...depending where you go, i was at Tully Hill in
syracuse, great place

[Nahbus]

falling in love... yeah that does help.

it totally flipped my life for the better when I was quitting coke.

[Nicaine]

Originally Posted by sands of time

Being with friends that don't do blow helps take your mind off it. You need to find activities that make you feel happy and satisfied. Invest some time in any hobbies besides drugs

I like this suggestion the best so far. Finding activities that keep you happy/satisfied is maybe one of the best long-term aids, IMO. In particular, having the money to get into such activities is really, really nice... cola is expensive and ultimately a waste of money.

Re: friends who do it... maybe better just to not hang with them at all, particularly if they aren't sensitive to the situation (many aren't) and enjoy dropping lines in front of you. Some people just do that so you'll buy some & do it with 'em, cuz active cola use tends to blind people to almost everything but their own needs. Might be necessary to cut certain people off entirely.

SWIM (the guy I post for) is in something of a mess in regards to the above. His roommate does it, and his friend of 25 years does it. As long as they're around doing it, he's probably going to be doing it. Something drastic might be necessary in a situation like this.Edited by: Nicaine

[phenethylamine]

It is up to you and you alone to continue quitting. Just remember what it has done to your life, and think about what positives (are there any?) could come from you starting back up. It's real hard, coke is shitty like this... I've got friends and family fiending for the shit, I used to be into it but I got out quick. I just kept reminding myself how shitty I will feel after its gone, you just have to be sincere with yourself and every time you get an urge go smoke a joint or go get some food or something. hell, just call someone and talk till it goes away. I wish the best of wishes to you in your endeavors, I really hope you overcome. It gets easier and easier, but depending on your addiction potential and the amount of coke you've done, the urges though they may weaken may never go away. Think about it like this, every line you snort does in fact make it one line harder to quit, can you afford that? Best of luck to you. Just remember, I can only help myself, you can only help yourself, though I feel you and you can trust that we're in this together, with a lot of other motherfuckers.