/ot/ - off-topic

I started smoking weed everyday about ten months ago because its the only thing I've ever had work for my chronic sleep issues and because my retarded bf at the time did it, and I just decided to quit 3 days ago for forever. Had no prob quitting and don't miss it particularly but as I predicted, my sleep quality pummeled downhill immediately, not to worst it's ever been but sent from normal 7-8 hours of sleep to 5-6. I really don't want to go to smoking weed though.

I need to stop using technology, but it's so hard

used to drink heavily, smoke weed +cigs every day and generally not eat well at all. i got really involved in reading about what these things truly do to your body. i'm not necessarily a happy person, but i don't want to die, and i certainly don't want to die painfully with cancer. seen it happen around me and the thought that i'm contributing to my own potential diagnosis was enough for me to put the shit down, even if the blackouts, embarrassment and shame couldn't. knowledge is power and can elevate you to better places.

>>309038
Same kinda? I am going to be working with tech alot but balance is good. It's good to disconnect for hours or a few days.

I'm trying not to fall into old addictive habits but it's hard. Seeing the results is so addicting…

I myself use technology to the complete detriment of my sleep health. I remember I successfully ditched smart phones and computers for about two months and had a better, more regular sleep schedule than I ever had before. Being without that stuff is too inconvenient though and you lose communication with people so I inevitably regained access to that stuff. It doesn’t help that browsing online shit helps a bit with filling the void created by feelings of loneliness and thus is a bit addictive.

As a result, I stay up way too often past midnight and almost always feel sleep-deprived because of it since my body is used to waking up early. The sleep deprivation really fucks with my motivation to get anything done.

>>309093
Can you elaborate more on that better place? Do you feel better now? I need to stop doing what you were doing.

I’m quitting weed on 1/2019

I’m already dreading living without the small comfort being high gives me

>>309094
It’s this from clothes called fat anon?

I'm trying to quit drinking alcohol everyday. any suggestions would be great. Good thread OP.

>>309109
Have you considered switching to CBD? It won't give you the same high, but it can be helpful for calming anxiety/stress, and also gives you something to do if you're accustomed to the ritual of smoking weed and miss it too much.

>>309145
Nta but is cbd really helpful for anxiety? I kind of want one of those small disposable cbd vape pens for my bag on the go since most of my anxiety happens from being in public. I know there's gummies and shit too but there's something relaxing about the action of smoking itself.

>>309146
It helps with mine, but everyone is different so YMMV. For me, it's not an amazing drastic "wow I'm cured and normal" feeling, but it really helps to dull my anxiety and paranoid thinking. That's the best way I can put it. I like taking it especially before I'm about to do something that spikes my anxiety, and yeah, I get what you mean about the action of smoking being relaxing. Right now I use oil but when I get my next paycheck I'm going to buy a vape pen, especially because inhaling the vapor results in a more immediate effect than using it sublingually.
Those disposable vape pens are fairly cheap and easy to find, so I'd say give it a shot and try it out.

>>309110
y-yes

>>309127
I'm sorry I can't be of much help but have you tried anything like AA?

>>309150
>Those disposable vape pens are fairly cheap and easy to find
Holy crap, at first I read this and was like what because last time I was seriously considering getting a disposable cbd pen was 2 years ago and they were ridiculous in price ($40-$70) and the few that were on the market were always all sold out. But I just googled them and there's more brands for 20-30 bucks. What's with the sudden boom? Did cbd gain a fuckton more exposure in the last few years with legalization becoming commonplace or what?

>>309244
I think it has more to deal with how much voltage it gives or brings out. Mine was maybe $30 but I know it's not that high voltage, it works great for the price though.

I've been having trouble with alcohol since about twenty years now, a ton of family members are alcoholics or borderline alcoholics, my father died from it in '09, the father of two of my half siblings bit it in the 90's because of it.

As clichéd as it may sound, abstinence only works if you really want to stay abstinent. I had two stints in rehab (first one in i think '06 which i quit after a couple of days, second one in '11 were i stayed 11 months sober after), it definitly isn't for everyone, i had two different co-patients come back the day after they finished their stay of five weeks (one got dragged back in handcuffs by police, the other came back voluntarily while still being sloppy drunk the day after her release. I commited myself voluntarily both times, it's also covered by health care in my country, even if you're unemployed as i was/am).

AA and the like absolutely did nothing for me, i don't like to be around people in the first place.

My latest, most prolonged phase of abstinence lasted from December 2015 until November 2017. Relapsed because i got fuck all to do in my life, not much hope for the future and drinking fills the time. I'm now at a point were i can say i still got a problem with bevvy but it is much easier to handle than when i was younger.

Sorry, i turned more into a rant than helping others.

how 2 stop alcohol and sleeping aids? :(
I lost my mum's private insurance recently so I'm just waiting with the government…. Anyone else take drugs?

>>309107

i definitely feel better now. i would get hangovers every single time i drank, 3 day stretches, so i'd just keep drinking. my heart would race every time i got high, but i did it anyway. my skin would break out in boils regularly when i smoked. things like this helped. it was obvious that my immune system was already really compromised. i got diagnosed with alcoholic fatty liver. if you drink a lot and have for a long while, but can't get it confirmed, you should probably assume you have it or are on the way to it. our liver can't go on taking abuse forever, especially with all the other shit it has to deal with before what we do to it. but, like any big decision that takes away a comfort/coping mechanism, a lot of it is in the mind and with willpower. that in itself is empowering. it really depends on what you value that you can use as that leverage. whether it's your health, maintaining friendships, saving money… find that reason and hold onto it, but also give yourself room to breathe if you slip up so you don't crash and relapse. as for defining a better place, it's subjective, there are pros and cons, but the pro of healing my body and seeing things reverse in my blood work and ultrasounds is my better place. it brings a sense of calm that i tried to create with drugs and alcohol. it's different for everybody. you need to find out why it's important for you to stop. i hope you can.

>>309399
oof, never had to quit alcohol but sleeping pills are tough. :/

I have a pill addiction issue.
It's hard to accept because it never really got out of hand but it's defenitely there.
I tend to take 30 zolpidem in about 20-25 days. I got through a tramadol box of 60 in about 45 days.
The quantities are under control I guess but I mostly take them to get high (tramadol or codeine get me really chatty and euphoric/ mixing zolpidem with a bit of alcohol gets me either really horny/euphoric/nicely sleepy and comfy / drops of prazepam to go inbetween, no high just withdrawals mitigation)
I safeguard myself by never going to my GP more than once every 30 days.
I've been through several withdrawal (but always found benzos withdrawals to be a walk in the park compared to AD withdrawal for example)
I'm at the end of my pill supply right now and thinking about going to my GP next tuesday.
Not sure though because I've been having tipycal benzos short term memory issues and I feel that I'm really not as sharp as I could be even when not high.

I'm addicted to the internet and (unhealthy) food. I also have this weird obsession with constantly cleaning my nose and my ears.

I spend way too much time on lolcow and especially youtube. I go to bed at like 11/12 and then watch videos about god knows what until 4 in the morning (but it's not like I don't do this during the day as well, so…).
I had an ed in the past and was always a perfectionist who liked to keep everything in order, so in a way I'm also addicted to organizing - yet the last few months/years my food and internet addiction has taken overhand, so I don't get shit done at all. I never sleep enough, so my concentration and motivation is pretty much non-existent and the lack of sleep also causes me to be even more anxious than I already was to begin with. Because I feel like shit I turn to eating and eating a lot plus getting fat in turn makes me feel like shit again and therefore I don't go out, but spend the day (and night) online again…

>>309456
What the absolute fuck, are you actually me?

Reading this just made me gasp tbh I've never related with something more. Wish I could hug you anon

>>309456
I have a very bad habit of being the most productive during the day time (but i work 9-4) and then as soon as i get home , i just got on lolcow and youtube until bed.

I want to be active and work out, do a hobby offline, but my ritual of getting online after work is awful. I am only productive on my one day off (saturday) so not sure how to remedy this.

>>309127
I started browsing forums specifically based around sobriety and alcoholism.
I'm not really a social person, so online forums have worked pretty well for me in place of a "real life" support group.
I also started buying cans of flavored sparkling water to sip on in place of beer, which was my drink of choice.
It's hard. I'm not struggling as much lately as I used to but the cravings are still there. I've also been having abdominal pains and I'm terrified that I've done irreparable damage, and also too scared to see a doctor.

One day I just got really fed up of being dependent on a substance so I quit. I stay off of it by telling myself if I go back I will die. When that doesn't work it helps to consider how life only gets better when you're sober, and that no one likes you when you are intoxicated/high.

I remember an anon talking about her drinking problem and she said she gets very embarrassed the day after, thinking about her outlandish behavior. I somewhat felt that way too and would just do even more to forget. Self-medicating solves nothing. Embrace feeling bad, embarassed and cut your losses. Quit now!

>>310317

Fuck hell anon, that's me 100%. Has been since I was 12.

I canceled my home internet which people think is insane but I have a smartphone and also I have internet at work. It isn't the perfect solution but it makes it easier. To keep from just endlessly scrolling thru shit on my phone I sometimes download some of my favorite podcasts /docuseries at work then let them play in the bg while I cook/clean/spend time with my cat/draw etc . I've also decided recently to focus exclusively on Russian language docs so o can justify my technology addiction at least by using it to passively improve my Russian skills.

I've been relying on technology in some form of over half my life to regulate my private/alone time and I've given up hope for changing completely. now I am just looking for my methadone management. Rn my main issues is instagram, lolcow and Reddit. I try to keep my chin up that in the realm of addictive behaviors it could be much, much worst and at least it's only banal addictions and I have a job/friends/mostly normal life. You should keep that in mind too anon.

>>309456
I feel you on being hyper-responsible and organized in some ways but still struggling with time management and impulse control especially around the internet.
Sometimes I feel like I spend all my impulse control staying clean off substances and managing myself professionally and interpersonally, so that when I finally get some free time alone I'm exhausted and just act like a self-administering coke rat on the internet.

I have a week off so starting tomorrow I'll go cold turkey off of codeine and zolpidem.
Wish me luck, anons. It's going to suck.

>>317340
Good luck anon. I’m getting sober from alcohol (was doing well til a Halloween party last night). We can do it!

I have a habit of drinking 6-8 beers every night. I've done so for so many years now it's hard to stop.
I know it's unhealthy and I hate feeling like crap all the time but I don't really get many negative consequences from it except shitposting or texting semi-embarrassing stuff.
Oh and the mornings suck.
But it's not bad enough to want to actually change it. The pros outweigh the cons.

>>317360
No they don't. Why are you self-medicating? Doesn't it piss you off that you can't go a month without your fix? Or a year? There are only benefits to be had when quitting.

>>317365
I don't even know, at this point it's just routine and I enjoy being drunk. I know my life could improve if I stopped, but it's like I'm waiting for a sign or something bad to happen before I make the leap. It's dumb.

>>317367
You have to quit today. Just cut your losses and be thankful nothing bad did happen.

>>309340

Anon! I know you posted this two weeks ago, but I wanted to chime in and say that quitting is possible! I successfully quit drinking! it's been several years now. Smoking too, except that I picked it back up while I was in grad school and then quit again about a year ago. It'll be a year on the november 1st anyway.

AA can seem like bullshit if you aren't religious, because they push the higher power stuff hard. Really it is beneficial to what extent that it is because you have a group of people committed to not drinking. But, on the bright side, if you don't have a friend group that centers activities around drinking then they're not going to tip you into a relapse.

That's what started me smoking the second time.

Two things that helped me: 1. replace one vice with another. I replaced alcohol with caffeine, and smokes with gum and candy. I know it sounds trite, but if I want beer I put a pot of coffee on. 2., if you do relapse, forgive yourself and get back on the wagon. Don't take any breaks or vacations from sobriety, but if/when you do relapse sober up and recommit the NEXT DAY to not drinking anymore. If you fall down, get up again. Just don't be like "lol, guess I'm a drunk again, no point in keeping up the chararde!" I'll admit, there have been a few times this past year when I've fallen off the wagon with cigarettes, but I limit it to the one screwup and move past it. So, since I've quit I've smoked two cigarettes. It would've been easy to shrug, drive to the store and buy a fresh pack and a lighter, but I focused on moving forward. I don't cram candy into my face anymore either, though I still do drink tons of coffee. My point is this is doable. Your only competition is yourself. The only person you need to impress is yourself.

>>317340
It sucks. I'm having a rebound headache and I'm struggling hard to stop myself from calling it a day with half a zolpidem.
I have to hold on for at least 4-5 days before it gets better.

Good luck recovering anons! I just got my brother (full blown meth addict) into rehab for the second time, and I’m feeling very hopeful. Not recovering myself, but I know it’s hard. Only sharing because it makes me feel happy that he’s getting help.

I tried to cope with my mental health issues with cigarettes, weed, and alcohol, and I ended up in a lot of bad situations because of it, but I'm proud to say that I haven't smoked weed since 2011, I haven't smoked a cigarette since 2012, and I haven't had a drop of alcohol since last year. I'm fairly certain the weed is why I'm constantly depersonalised now, so I really wish I hadn't spent years smoking it. Hindsight is 20/20, though.

>>317858
Good job anon!
I stopped smoking weed and drinking alcohol in 2013, mostly due to similar side effects. I had a panic attack the last time I was high and it was an intensely scary moment. I couldn't stop shaking for over an hour and my imagination made me believe I was going to see the moment I died that night. I did psychedelics once before and I had a panic attack during that as well and that basically traumatized me, so having similar sensations makes me afraid for life.
Alcohol, I had a panic attack while drunk on the last day of 2013 during a New Year's party.
Needless to say, 2013 was the lowest point of my life. Way worse than the years afterwards when I was in a constant state of being depersonalized and locked in a single room for literal months, afraid to have another panic attack.
Now, I'm glad to be sober. I'm living a stable enough life to be able to work a full time job and rent an apartment with my boyfriend. I got rid of my friends I knew in 2013 since they all were self destructive and didn't want to be helped. They even mocked me for quitting everything, so good riddance to them.