Where to start?

[dubcat6]

Hey.. I've never reached out to any community/online board etc.. so I suppose I don't really know how this works.
What I do know though is that I need to change something, and I have little clue as to how to go about it.

I live a peaceful and fulfilled life with a wonderful wife and two daughters and a well paying job. Basically, I have nothing to complain about.. well, maybe that I left all my friends in my home country and moved to the US 13 years ago.. and have since not really been able to connect to anybody besides my family.. so I have no near by friends.
But, all that aside, the most pressing issue right now very well might be that I started using a sort of opiate (Kratom.. I know, that's not a real thing, and yes, I tried everything else in the world before, and well.. it's what's legal and accessible to me in my sub-urban utopia) a couple of years ago and have since went with it on a daily basis.
The funny thing is, I didn't even start taking this to get high, but instead to help with my ADHD and at the time rather intense depression. And it helped wonderfully. I mean, ridiculously well.
I have a very demanding job in Healthcare IT and was able to perform at the highest level over this time, was able to be motivated and actually work through issues and not get distracted all the time by not being able to just sit still.
Anyhow, that's all not the point. Now , after these two years, I'd really like to kick the habit.
I am tremendously afraid of so many things associated with getting off this drug. Naturally withdrawal symptoms, then having my family witness all this, or if I get professional help to put financial strain on my family. I am embarrassed.. and I definitely am not the kind of person who would EVER tell hos family that "I need help".. that's just not going to happen.
So, I am trying to formulate a plan to get the proper medicine to help me through this week and the proper psychological help to stay with it afterwards..
So.. how should I go about this? Which helpful medicine is out there to go through somewhat speedy withdrawal?
see. I don't even know how to properly start this conversation.. Maybe if I just throw this out there, we can start a conversation.
Cheers
M

[Wave]

Welcome, well done for making the first step.

As you have probably seen, the vast majority of us are here with cannabis addiction. I tried Kratom like twice and the second time got the dose wrong and vomited a lot, didnt touch it after that!!

Being in the opiate category, I would read and see if you can see some withdrawal plans online, I think tapering down is recommended but I would 100% check out some better information from this. When I came off a long spell on Tramadol I trapered like half a table ever 2-3 days. Took ages but made the journey a little less bumpy.

As you said you have not meet to many people where you live, have you tried interest groups / sport clubs / hobby meets? Can be a great way to meet like-minded people if you try some out. I did this when I moved to a new area and meet loads of people, and through them meet way more people. This was great as meant I love longer had my old "drug" friends around me. Could be worth a try.

[Sightblack]

Dubcat,

Great job on reaching out. It is really hard to come to terms with our misdeeds and make changes sometimes but you've already decided to take that first step. I wish I could do anything more than just be supportive of your decision to quit but I'm completely ignorant about kratom except for what I just now googled.

What I can say as a fellow addict however-- You've already come to terms and realized you have a problem. You've even went one step further than that, and you've reached out to a community of like minded people. I assume the withdrawals you are going to experience will far surpass that of marijuana. Having a community here to encourage you will help tremendously I believe. I can't imagine worse withdrawals than I experienced the first week I stopped. I felt like a heroin addict that first week and for me, that first 5 or 6 days of being sober was the hardest. I didn't eat for 5 days! I'm 23 days clean right now, and I still pine to be high and have that euphoria, but I've found a new strength both in this community and in being sober. I think you will too. Just engaging other people that are going through a similiar struggle and struggling together has helped me tremendously. I even made a really good friend from this community.

Like you, I've been very reclusive these last several years and my network of friends can be counted on 1 hand. My social life is in the crapper and I feel like weed is primarily the blame. It is very easier to just veg out on the couch all day and not get anything done. I was getting stoned before work, at work, on the ride home from work... and while I was living high (literally) at the time, its been a long hard fall out of orbit for me. Reality is overbearing at times and when I am lucky enough to sleep it seems the dreams are overbearing too. The only real outlet I've had to help me along is a supportive family and a supportive community.

I believe your decision to stop using will ultimately be a great decision for you. For your health, for your wife, and most importantly, for your 2 children. It is a rocky path you've chosen to endure but the road to sobriety does have an end with rewards that I feel far surpass being inebriated.

We are here for you as long as you are here for us. Keep us updated! Post as much as you need to.

Sb

[asgoodasitgets]

So.. how should I go about this? Which helpful medicine is out there to go through somewhat speedy withdrawal?

Hello Dubcat6,

Welcome friend! You will find that many of us here are "first-timers" when it comes to reaching out to online communities, after all, most of us are reclusive smokers attempting to face our addiction.

The majority of people I have spoken with recommend a cold-turkey quit. That said, it may be helpful for you to taper down the marijuana if you prefer that method. I myself am an advocate of cold-turkey....one is one too many...one more is never enough...as the song goes. The first week can be hell, so prepare yourself. If you can take a few days of PTO, I'd highly recommend it. Try to stay busy, distracting yourself seems to help. For me, the first 1-4 days were the worst, I experienced cold sweats, insomnia, bouts of tears, depression, anxiety to name a few. Stay hopeful though, because as you put some time under your belt you will start to feel better on a daily basis. I say "better" because it never gets easier, we just get stronger.

Sightblack had purchased something from Amazon that was allegedly supposed to alleviate THC withdrawal symptoms, but if I recall, he was slightly skeptical of it. I don't recall the name...Sight, if you see this can you link it for Dubcat6? I mean, even if it is a placebo effect, it may be worthwhile. I'd also recommend a clean diet, lots of water, avoid sugar and alcohol if possible, you don't wanna trade one vice for another. I'd say the biggest tool or hint I would give you is something you've already done, posting here. This forum has provided me with so much support and hope. I know now that this isn't a problem localized to me, people all over the world experience pain when they quit weed. The empathy and hope I find here is and always will be, instrumental to my success. Sometimes knowing I'm not alone is the only thing keeping me from giving into my demons.

If you need anything, please reach out. What's awesome about the community here is there is no incentive for us to post other than helping ourselves and each other. This is kinda like one giant, dysfunctional family. Welcome to the clan!

-Alex

[asgoodasitgets]

@ Dubcat

I sincerely apologize, when I read your post I was in the waiting room @ my doctors office. Sincere apologies.

I have a friend that had a hard time coming off Kratom, he found the WD symptoms very unpleasant, especially since he believed there would be none since it is legal here in the USA (for now). I believe he tapered for a few days and then simply went cold-turkey. He told me that it took him about a week to feel normalized. His WD symptoms were eerily similar to what I experienced coming off weed. I will reach out to him tomorrow and ask him for an update and to give me any pointers...but I think a taper would be best for coming off an opiate-like drug...

Again I am so sorry for the confusion, basically everything I said almost can be applied to any drug. Regardless, I apologize for not being more attentive...I was responding to you on a mobile phone in a busy place and my pot-riddled mind probably substituted "kratom" with "weed."

Apologies and blessings! I will get some pointers from my friend who detoxed from Kratom and get back to you ASAP.

-Alex