What should you do if you think you might relapse?

Is group a new thing to you? I think support would really, really help you.

I’ve been thinking about trying it again, and I know I shouldn’t.

Problem solved.

I should’ve put this in. @pinkparaluies I go to NA meetings twice and sometimes three times a week. I also have a sponsor I call, it just doesn’t seem to help.

Figure out what triggered you. Acknowledge your feelings and see if there’s something you can do about the trigger.

Remember HALT. Are you Hungry, Angry, Lonely or Tired? I also add bored to that.
Those are things you can fix.

Have you told your sponsor how you’re feeling tonight?

Do you have an unusual amount of stress in your life?

Are you around other triggers or cues that remind you of using?

this is normal you will think about it for a long time and you will have drug dreams even a couple years from now. The important thing is to not be around people, places, or things of getting high. you should be in a space where its really really hard to get drugs.If you are where its easy to get, you need to change that, it needs to be hard or almost impossible for you to do drugs for awhile, then you stop thinking about it all the time.

@gemiwing I’ve talked to him this afternoon. 12 steps 12 steps 12 steps

Your sponsor won’t come over? Get out of the house, go be around people who don’t use and can support you.

maybe consider how you would feel after.
remove yourself from your using self… stay strong.

It gets easier. It really does. It’s not ever going to be ‘easy’, yet the longer you go the more you learn how to deal with it.

Have you journaled? Used physical activity? Taken a freezing cold shower? Or are you just sitting around thinking about using again?

Sometimes, for me, it helps just to get out of my own head sometimes. (long bad childhood) Shocking the system helps- hence the freezing shower bit. Also try finding something to do that requires physical labor. Hell run around your house ten times if it’ll help.

One step at a time, even tiny ones count.

@JONESGH What was your addiction?

Go to meetings and practice behavioral modification mantra like. Do not trust your own thought processes. Do not trust your own thought processes. Did I say do not trust your own thought processes? Remember where your best thinking got you before. Step outside of your comfort zone. Move a muscle change a thought. Go work out. Be proactive and do not indulge your thoughts. You can act yourself into good thinking but you can’t think yourself into good acting. DO something.

@oratio heroin

remember, after being clean there’s no safe dose!!!! , don’t be alone! don’t do it!

I’ve was on all kinda drugs for years. I still slip up but it has happened less and less. When I kicked a few different times I stayed away from my drug friends. If its in my face I will probably do the dope. Don’t put yourself in that situation. Do something fun and physical. My saviour was skating when I was really fiending. Skating probably saved my life. Go on a bike ride or walk or hike in a pretty park. If you got a girlfriend/boyfriend that is using you should get rid of her/him. It want work you will use again if she uses.

how long have you been clean

almost 5 months

5 months clean, don’t throw it away now.

you have to, have to, be away from anybody thats using, get rid of your guys number or any of your numbers, its hard but think about being sick, remember that? really, it gets easier, it takes awhile.

I’m sorry that I can’t come up with any real advice, but I just wanted to say hang in there, We’re pulling for you!

You’re going to have that feeling from here on out unfortunately. Now you have to change your behavior such that you’re not in the same
positions you were in that led you to drink or use.

@JONESGH I think it is great you went to rehab. Fantastic you are recovering. Your drug of choice is a very hard one to kick. You need to be going to NA meetings daily and participating in them. If that is not enough then you need to get a substance abuse counselor. You can get them low-cost or free sometimes if needed. Also, and I hate to say this, if you already called your sponsor today and it didn’t help you may want to think of getting a new one.

Do you know what is triggering your thoughts of relapse??
Also what was your motivation to quit??

ONE DAY AT A TIME.

@RedPowerLady I really have no idea what’s triggering them. I haven’t really even considered doing it again until this week.
I hate to say it but it wasn’t really my decision to go to rehab, I was underage and got caught so I had the option of jail or rehab..

@JONESGH It might be good to consider what your motivation is. When people feel like relapsing they don’t have much to fall back on. You need to decide what makes it worthwhile to be clean. I’m sure we could give you a hundred reasons, even some that touch home, but it has to be something that is meaningful to you.

Also I bet there is a trigger that is causing these thoughts. Perhaps you could really sit and think about what it is. What is it that you are missing? Are you hanging around your old friends or places you used to get high?

Would you consider seeing a counselor/therapist? They have some good youth/young adult rehab programs you go to once a week also.

Also I know scare tactics don’t work. But you might consider the fact that many people who are off your specific drug of choice and relapse have a very bad reaction, some overdose. That particular drug is very dangerous to relapse with.

Do you have a sponsor or a support group that knows you and can help you through this?

@Judi Ya he/she is going to NA three times a week and has a sponsor. He/she said neither are working. sorry don’t know proper pronoun

@RedPowerLady he. I have been hanging around old friends, but I have been for a while so it’s nothing new. I’m just getting back to that “it’s not a big deal” state of mind.

@JONESGH Hanging around old friends creates that state of mind. And it doesn’t always happen right away. I’m pretty sure this is your problem right now, or at least part of it. In fact hanging around old friends is a Huge no-no when trying to stay clean. It really is a big deal. Do you want to post another question so we can list reasons why it is? If that’ll help I mean. I suggest that to stop your relapse thoughts you ditch the old friends and find a new hobby where you can make more friends, ones who are not associated with your past life.

If you are hanging around the old drug friends you have your answer. I am sorry, but if you want to stay clean you are probably going to have to cut yourself off from that life completely. There is nothing there for you but heart ache.
I didn’t do H, but when I did do drugs, one of the hardest things for me quiting, was feeling so alone. I felt like no one but the druggies really understood or accepted me. It was where I felt comfortable.
I also found out, that as much as I told myself that I could stay clean and still hang out with them, I went back to using every time.
I will be honest with you and tell you that it took me a good 10–15 years to really feel a part of “normal” society. I felt lonely a lot, and I often felt like the people I would deal with in the “real world” were so shallow and didn’t have a clue about this entire other world that exists.
Everything won’t be perfect in 6 months or a year, or ever for that matter, but you have to turn away from that old lifestyle if you want to have a hope of having a long and happy life.

@Judi great answer!

@Judi That’s exactly how i feel, it’s hard to be friends with other people because they just don’t understand

@JONESGH It is hard, really hard. But it is important to change your friend group. Like @Judi said it only leads to using again.

@JONESGH ; I know. It’s a hard road, but possible, and there is light. I promise. (30 years clean.)

<—22 years