Addictions -drugs alcoholism etc

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pioneer98
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Re: Addictions -drugs etc

Post by pioneer98 »

Vidor wrote:I'm a caffeine addict. Honestly, I have a cup of coffee sitting right in front of me right now, I've had a couple already, and I'll have more later. The reason I'm a caffeine addict is that I've held jobs over the last 15 years or so that have required long irregular hours and impinge on my sleep. (I'm a passenger jet pilot.) (No, not really.) Anyway, didn't drink any coffee in high school and college, started drinking coffee in my twenties, and now, if I don't have coffee tomorrow morning I probably won't feel all that great. In fact, when I was younger I'd marvel at how awful my dad looked in the morning before he had his cup of coffee. One day my little girl will probably think "man, dad is useless until he's had his coffee." Heroin's a lot stronger than coffee.
No one ever takes pure caffeine in the same kind of quantities as the other drugs, either. A cup of coffee contains like 200 to 300 milligrams of caffeine. There are people who have died from overdosing on caffeine:
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Sleep/brit ... d=12033005

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/ho ... 74964.html

AWvsCBsteeeerike3
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Re: Addictions -drugs etc

Post by AWvsCBsteeeerike3 »

planet p wrote:
JL21 wrote:
lukethedrifter wrote:I recall how good cocaine made me feel and it wasn't really over the top amped up. I felt very focused and clear headed, really calmed my hyper brain down. So I figured it had to be bad for me and I hardly ever did it. But as self medicating goes, that [expletive] worked like a goddam charm.

Or maybe it was because I was a cheapskate.
That's pretty comparable to the one and only time I ever did it. I remember thinking, "I'm never trying this [expletive] again because horrible things will happen."

Generally speaking, my drug exploration involved the non-addictive stuff (LSD, mushrooms, weed). I don't need any more vices.
I did coke twice in my younger years. One time it involved giving my debit card to someone to pay for more. I'm with JL, made me feel invincible until the dehydration/crash kicked in and I knew it was a bad thing.

Edit: you can drink a 12 pack on that [expletive] with virtually no effect.
Until it wears off and youre ass tired and schmammered ;)

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Re: Addictions -drugs etc

Post by Freed Roger »

Now GRB is making me feel like a loser for not doing coke the numerous times my college roommate offered (Numbies?).

In my defense, it was typically right when I got back from classes (which he never bothered with), and I wanted to save myself to get bloated drunk later that evening on Milwaukee's Best. Appreciation of the finer things in life.

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Re: Addictions -drugs etc

Post by TabascoElvis »

I have friends in recovery. Addicts and alkies.

Pill poppers. They're [expletive] genius chemists. One of them is a walking pharma encyclopedia... up on all the new stuff and clean for 20+ years. They'll work with a handful of different pills until they find the right mix... "If I pop 3 of these and then 20 minutes later take one of these, all the pain goes away."

Same for the alkies... and it's not always about physical pain... it's these general feelings of agitation, unsettledness, unsatisfactoriness. And because they're addicts, or alcoholics, or both, they are susceptible to addictions... mental obsessions coupled with physical cravings... they become unable to control their intake of things they fully understand are killing them, or likely to kill them, or might kill them (sometimes immediately)... not through disregard for their lives, but through being under complete control by their substance of choice. A lot of folks here describe having stopped because of fear, because of $$, because of any number of outside influences. That sort of defines them not being addicts or alkies... 2 questions, none of the [expletive] "how many times have you blacked out?" crap... when you drink or use can you control how much you drink or use EVERY time? And if presented with some reasonable cause to stop completely; legal issues, marital issues, job issues, health issues, could you never do it again?

Not a fan, but interesting read

http://www.theguardian.com/culture/2013 ... hout-drugs

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Re: Addictions -drugs etc

Post by Joe Shlabotnik »

I've got a son who dropped out of a full-scholarship aerospace program he'd looked forward to all his life because of his substance abuse problems.

At least it wasn't the needle. But the damage is done. Makes me sick to think of where he'd be now versus the getting-by he's doing now. Don't know if he'll ever find that ambition again.

[expletive] it all.

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pioneer98
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Re: Addictions -drugs etc

Post by pioneer98 »

Alcoholism runs in my family. Grandpa and uncle both died too young because of it. Because of the trauma my dad saw it cause firsthand, he wouldn't touch a drop of it, for years. Nowadays he'll have a glass of wine once in a while. I have always been too afraid to try drugs, other than alcohol. I've had my own struggles with alcohol and still do sometimes. I've spoken with AA people about it. I'm not an alcoholic but more of a problem drinker. I've never had to have a drink every day. There are just times once in a while where I drink too much. But with my family history it is something I am trying to be mindful of. I should probably just stop altogether.

When I had appendicitis a few years ago, they put me on morphine while waiting for the operation. I went from being in so much pain I could barely walk to not even feeling the pain. Physically it felt nice, but mentally it was scary. I had no clue if my condition was getting worse. After the operation they put me on Vicodin for a couple weeks. It did a good job of dulling the pain, but I didn't like it. It made me feel strange. I only took it the first few days (by far the worst days) and even then I'd take it as infrequently as the pain would allow. After 4 or 5 days the pain had receded enough that I just stuck to ibuprofen. I just did not like how the Vicodin made me feel. I felt "medicated".

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Re: Addictions -drugs etc

Post by Freed Roger »

TabascoElvis wrote:2 questions, .. when you drink or use can you control how much you drink or use EVERY time? And if presented with some reasonable cause to stop completely; legal issues, marital issues, job issues, health issues, could you never do it again?
compared to your description of people w/o control - I kind of control how much I drink every time- I may end up miscalculating and stop later than I should, and can't say I've always been ready to answer the bell the next day. The times I've had issues is not so much from an exhorbitant amount of alcohol, but drinking when I'm wiped out physically already (sounds like a cop-out, but since I've done more endurance running - I can go over a tipping point fairly quickly -especially if I don't have enough food/water in me).

could I quit drinking alcohol or anything else 100% if push came to shove. I think I could. I used to have many more things that I viewed almost always as an occasion to drink (watching a movie, watching sports, cooking dinner, nice day outside, family gathering, a visit to my old hometown etc). Now I don't always feel like those things require a drink.

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Re: Addictions -drugs etc

Post by Gashouse »

JL21 wrote:
Generally speaking, my drug exploration involved the non-addictive stuff (LSD, mushrooms, weed). I don't need any more vices.
This. I had decided to draw the line at stuff I knew could be highly addictive. Through a couple of sources, including this thread, I've learned more about the high you can get from coke. Definitely sounds fun and definitely glad I didn't try it. I think I would have liked it a lot.

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Re: Addictions -drugs etc

Post by Maclowery »

I just saw this on my facebook feed the other day:

This artist did self portraits on lots of different drugs

I have enough of an alcohol problem that I know how bad it would be for me to do anything else. I'm around blow all the time and have never done it - my friends that do know not to even offer, especially when I'm drunk. I've had a lot of people think I am a cokehead, simply because I am a skinny bartender who drinks heavily. Blow sounds absolutely amazing, and I am jealous when I am with partying with friends on it, or working with coworkers on it, who can handle it and not piss away their life. One bump, and I absolutely know that in 3 months I would be losing my savings, friends, and job.

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Radbird
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Re: Addictions -drugs etc

Post by Radbird »

Never got into coke. Tried it a couple of times and didn't feel much of anything. Not a big fan of snorting so perhaps I didn't use the proper technique.

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