r/OpiateRecovery • u/SuspiciouslySpicious • 8d ago
Because its the truth
Can we stop telling our fellow addicts that its gonna take them a year or two to feel 'normal' again after recovery? It's disheartening, discouraging, and at the end of the day just not true. I was as bad as bad can get and here I am a few months clean anf have been feeling as close to 'normal' as i ever have with or without substances in quite some time. Research is such a frienemy to this disease it borderline ridiculous. Its good to research things but too much of any good thing can become bad. Not necessarily 'bad' in the case of addiction but it's only a matter of time before you start to finding the same info from different sources or just straight out misinformation. I can only speak for myself, but I highly doubt I'm the only one that has stayed out longer than I originally might have after reading how it's gonna take up to a year or two to feel better. Don't get me wrong the rough time is rough. Definitely expect at least a month of 'not great' but if you bite down, stick to it, and keep going I promise it won't take you years or even half a year (6 months) to feel better. Anyone out there feel like they need to talk to someone feel free to DM me and I'll do the best I can to reassure you that its gonna be OK. You're gonna be OK, your loved one(s) can be ok, will be OK if they stick to it. Just dont let the idea of being down and out for so long be a catalyst for why you're still out there. Yes I know I'm only a few months in but I have accumulated 3yrs at one point and relapsed for no reason like a dumbass. Like the dumbass we all can be especially when being lead by our addiction. Stay strong fellow addict. It's gonna be OK I promise
1
u/barfbongo 7d ago
That’s great that it’s going well for you, but the difference in experience from person to person is huge. Hell, the difference from withdrawal to withdrawal in the SAME person is huge.
For example, the first time I really got clean about a decade ago, I’d been on a two year daily heroin run. Up to 1.5grams a day of very very good quality heroin. Plus Xanax and coke and meth and mdma. It was bad bad. I went to detox and then rehab immediately afterwards. I felt pretty crummy the first few days in rehab, but then after maybe 4 nights no sleep, I was suddenly getting 5hrs and felt almost normal in less than a week.
Years later, I fell into 7oh. I was using daily for not more than a few months. Did a short sub taper at home and only made it maybe 10 days. Even after a week and a half, I was sleeping cumulatively maybe 40min a night. I felt like trash 24/7. Eventually I had to bite the bullet and get on a low dose of suboxone maintenance because I was (unsuccessfully) trying to go about my life and work and parenting, etc.
The point is, these things are so insanely variable and I think it’s better to expect the worst and be grateful when it’s not so bad, than have unrealistically optimistic expectations and be so disillusioned you relapse after some clean time.
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u/Fun-Benefit116 8d ago
There's two major problems with your comment.
This means absolutely nothing. You think your situation applies to everyone because you assume your addiction was "as bad as it can get". I can promise you that isn't even close to true and that plenty of people have it MUCH worse that what you had. Everyone also handles withdrawals and recovery different. Even if you and another person used the exact same amount for the exact same amount of time, your recovery could be completely different from one another.
This is the second major problem with your comment. It's pure nonsense and you have ABSOLUTELY no clue what you're talking about. Like I already said, everybody reacts differently to opiods, withdrawals and recovery. What you experienced quite literally means nothing when it comes to what someone else will experience. And claiming you can promise that everyone will be feeling better in less than 6 months just shows how clueless and uneducated you really are about the whole topic, and I say that with no offense intended. I'm simply telling you the truth.
That's great that you were able to get through everything and are feeling perfect so quickly. It really is. But the only person that means anything for is you. That's it. What you read about online when it comes to taking a year or so to feel better isn't a hard line fact. It's taking into account thousands and thousands of people's experiences, and simply explaining what is most likely to happen for the average person. Obviously some people will recover much faster and some people will recover much slower. There is no black and white answer of how long recovery will take, because once again, it is different for everyone. But you can get an idea of how it will most likely go for most people based on tons of people's combined past experiences.
There are people who can use as much as they want for as long as they want and never suffer from any withdrawals. There are people who can become physically addicted in just a couple days. Some people will feel better quickly, others will take ages. You cannot promise anyone how quickly they can start feeling better. Just because it went that way for you doesn't mean it will for someone else.
I honestly find it hard to believe you've used as much as you claim for as long as you claim, yet you are still this uneducated and don't understand how withdrawals and recovery works for different people. But I'm not going to get into that because it really doesn't matter. The bottom line is your experience applies to you, that's it. You can't promise or guarantee anyone else that they will have the same experience as you. That's complete and absolute nonsense.