When you're quitting something really heavy like crack or heroin, what does the withdrawal feel like?
When you're quitting something really heavy like crack or heroin, what does the withdrawal feel like?
From what I've been told by the few people I know who have gone through a heroin 'cold turkey', it's like your body is going through the most intense bout of flu you've ever had, with all the associated headaches, body pains and all-round weakness, while trying to resist the psychological urge to take the miracle cure of a heroin dose.
If a person is forcibly restrained from seeking this release they can be 'cleansed' somewhat, but unless they can get out of the environment that reinforces their dependency, most are going to backslide sooner or later.
To sleep, perchance to experience amygdalocortical activation and prefrontal deactivation.
I don't know about crack or herion, but cigarettes are equally as powerfully addictive. I've quit for several long stretches (a few years) and have gone back to smoking socially (only when I drink) and then quit again. So, I can at least speak to that.
I never used any sort of cessation aid like gum or patches, always just cold turkey. And it's always a bitch. You know that feeling you get sometimes when you're so hungry you're shaking, but you can't find anything to eat? Or when you're violently restless and you really just need to get up and do something, but you can't move? Or when you're dying of thirst and you can't find anything to drink? Now roll all of those feelings up into a vat and splash in a few gallons of anxiety and you're getting closer.
You know that at any time you can push it all away with just a single, small, tiny, little smoke. Resisting that is torture.
As for physical symptoms, any or all of the following (and more):
- headaches
- brain fog/difficulty concentrating
- flu-like symptoms
- sweating/clamminess
- coughing
- weight gain
- muscle/joint aches & pain
- trouble sleeping/insomnia
- dizziness (this is actually kind of cool - you can feel your body taking in more oxygen)
- irritability
These symptoms can last weeks or even months.
There can also be a singular focus on feeding your addiction. When I try to quit smoking my brain reminds me of the fact that it would enjoy some nicotine approximately every 10 seconds. It starts to warp your thinking, like if you're sitting there and you say to yourself "Hmm, my foot sure itches" your brain will spit out "You know what helps with that? NICOTINE!"
Hell, if I didn't do things just because they made me feel a bit ridiculous, I wouldn't have much of a social life. - Santo Rugger.