Quitting

[Bonzi]

Have you ever quit an addiction?
If so what kind?

If you had to quit several addictions, which was the hardest to quit?

For me, I used to smoke (about 10 years ago). That was the hardest.
2nd hardest was drinking. That was recently - but, right NOW its hard (because I have ZERO desire to smoke), but I want to drink about ever day.

Those are the only 2 addictions I have had.

I quit smoking cigarettes in high school. It was harder to quit than I thought. There was several failed attempts.

I used to do all kinds of illegal drugs but the one I developed a serious problem with was crack cocaine. One hit and I was hooked. I was smoking it every day. I was a crack head for about a year back in the 80s when it first hit the scene in a major way around here. The stuff suddenly just everywhere. It seems like overnight everybody was smoking it or dealing it or both. I was doing both.

Crack wasn't really difficult to quit. The withdrawal symptoms were uncomfortable. Anxiety and intense cravings. But unlike cigarettes, the cravings were gone after a couple of days. When I quit cigarettes I was still having cravings weeks later.

Cigarettes were definately much harder to quit than crack.

I also was addicted to alcohol. I used to dink alot.
By a lot I mean the Budweiser truck would deliver to my house every week. How many people drink so much that the beer that they are on the beer distributors route? I wonder what the neighbors thought.

I developed so much tolerance to alcohol that I was drinking a case of beer a day and wouldn't even catch a buzz. To catch a buzz I had to hit the liquor bottles.

When I decided to quit I tried to just wean myself off of it by drinking less and less each day until I was dry. But that didn't work.

Finally I said enough is enough and just went cold turkey. When I was about 10 years old my mother was studying to be a nurse and I would help her study by giving her quizzes and stuff. I knew her nursing textbooks inside and out. So I have a lot of medical knowledge. I knew that going cold turkey could potentially have some very serious consequences and could even be fatal.

When I went into withdrawl my whole body was shaking, my heart was racing, I was paranoid and I was projectile vomiting. But the worst was the extremely vivid and terrifying hallucinations.

I called 911 and they took to me the ER. I ended up in the hospital for 5 days.

That was about 30 years ago. Today I only drink in moderation and have no desire to get drunk.

In my experience cigarettes were the hardest to quit but alcohol was the worst. The doctor said that if I would have waited much longer to get to the hospital I probably would have died.

GREAT post. Thanks M!

 

[JoeMoma]

I don't drink smoke or chew or date women that do........

Could be why I'm still single.

 

[Kat]

Does Diet soda count? Actually I am not addicted to it, but I like it a lot! Coke that is. Diet Coke.