The First 72 Hours of Withdrawal
I've never used illicit drugs but I've been through a whole lot of withdrawal over the years from prescription drugs, OTC drugs and even second-hand exposure to stuff due to living in poverty housing. Depending upon the substance in question, how long you have been using/exposed, your general state of health and other factors, it can take many months -- even a year or more -- to fully recover, especially if you wisely taper off.
But if you go cold turkey for some reason -- and that's sometimes something you have no real say in -- the first three days is likely to be the worst part of it. If you do a good job crisis-managing that critical period, the rest is a piece of cake in comparison.
So here are some guidelines and suggestions for making it through that period with less risk of dying (or failing to get clean) and less misery.
If chocolate is not your thing, look up other magnesium-rich foods or get hold of some magnesium supplements that are bioavailable, such as magnesium glycinate. Trust me, you will want magnesium on hand if you become highly noise and light sensitive and it can happen very suddenly, especially if you start throwing up.
Watermelon is good kidney support and very hydrating. It's easy to keep down. If you are having trouble eating and/or are throwing up and suffering diarrhea, having watermelon on hand to keep you hydrated and such may help keep you out of the ER and off of an IV drip. It can also help settle your stomach enough to help you resume eating. (Do yourself a favor and get the pre-cut stuff.)
Tea is an astringent. If you have lots of clear fluid draining from the eyes and nose or lots of fluid building up in your lungs, tea can help combat that. It's also a moderate source of caffeine and has other health benefits.
Coffee or other caffeine sources, such as very dark chocolate, can be used in place of a rescue inhaler to open up your airways. It can also just help give you a boost to help you get through the misery.
Sugar cookies or sugary candies can help take the edge off your misery. It doesn't work like a pain killer, but having a single sugar cookie or handful of candy every so often can bring your general misery levels down to a bearable level.
Potato chips are a good source of both salt and potassium. If you sweat a lot, you will need to replenish both. If potato chips are not your thing, have some other salty snack on hand and some other source of potassium (but NOT orange juice because if you begin throwing up, vomiting orange juice burns like hell and you don't need that on top of everything else).
Muscle cramps, especially in the legs, can indicate a need for potassium. Being too giggly can suggest a need for salt.
Grape juice will not burn when you throw it back up. Any flavor works -- white, red or purple. This can help you resume eating and drinking normally, which is an important part of the recovery process and escaping the worst of the crisis.
Soups or other easy to digest foods can help keep you eating or help you resume eating. If you have a helper watching over you and playing nursemaid or if you prep beforehand, you may be able to make homemade soup with more nutritional value than, say, canned soup.
Here are some easy, fresh soups you can make. And if you have the ingredients on hand for beef stew -- or make it beforehand so you can just reheat it -- beef plus potatoes and salt helps stabilize lithium levels, which helps mitigate extreme mood swings.
Calcium citrate is a bioavailable form of calcium. Calcium is critical to the clotting process. If you start coughing up blood or bleeding from the rectum or sinuses, 600 to 1000 units of calcium citrate (or possibly more if you are a big guy/gal) can put a stop to the bleeding.
Take "as needed." If the bleeding resumes, take more calcium. You are not likely to be taking too much if you take it until the bleeding stops and then you stop.
A best practice: Take two or three 200 mg pills to start. If that doesn't stop the bleeding, take one more and take one more and take one more until it stops. It should stop fairly promptly, so don't wait more than a few minutes to take more if it isn't working.
Mint is good lung support. If you are on a drug that is smoked/nebulized and/or you have serious lung issues as one of your health issues, you will want lung support on hand.
Onion is also good lung support but you may not want to be relying upon that during the first 72 hours if vomiting is a possibility. (I once threw up leftover Bloomin Onion from Outback steak house and it was a long damn time before I was willing to order that again. I felt psychologically scarred for life for some months.).
Guaifenisen is another potential source of lung support if you have serious lung issues or are smoking/nebulizing these drugs. Make sure to take with plenty of water and salt as it is an expectorant -- it helps you cough stuff up -- not a cough suppressant, so it doesn't really work if you don't stay adequately hydrated and keep your salt levels up.
Sparkling water, coconut water and aloe vera drinks are all super hydrating drinks. You may be sweating profusely, suffering diarrhea, having a lot of clear fluid running from your eyes and nose, etc. STAY HYDRATED. That is the single best thing you can do to keep yourself out of the ER.
It takes two or more weeks to starve to death. If you can't eat for a few days, don't worry too much about it. But you can die in 48 hours or a LOT LESS from dehydration.
STAY HYDRATED.
(If you are constipated instead of having diarrhea, you are probably dehydrated. Drink super hydrating fluids to help combat the constipation.)
A common side effect of withdrawal is high anxiety levels. There can be myriad causes for this, but when you are going through withdrawal, a best first guess is that your adrenals are producing too much adrenaline for what you need currently now that you have removed X substance from the mix.
It can take a few days or weeks for your adrenals to successfully ramp down. In the mean time, a snack with rosemary, dill or sage can bring your adrenaline levels down to a dull roar and make the anxiety more bearable, though it probably won't go away completely.
Rent a movie online or find a free movie on YouTube you want to watch. Preferably NOT a thriller or horror movie. You probably don't need that while going through withdrawal.
If you begin sweating profusely, take a shower, change into clean clothes and get fluids and electrolytes into you.
If you vomit, brush teeth afterwards.
If you have lung issues or these drugs were smoked/nebulized, plan on sleeping propped up in a recliner, propped up on the couch or on your side. Do NOT lay flat during the first 72 hours if your lungs are significantly impacted here.
You can potentially die in your sleep if you have enough fluid in your lungs. NOT lying flat is the best means to make sure that does not happen.
(I plan to write a separate post about lungs and fluid dynamics, but I probably have to do my own illustrations. Initial research suggests there's nothing readily available on the topic.)
You can do lung clearance to help get the fluid out of your lungs, but if you are coughing up blood this may not be a good idea. It can potentially loosen the clots and restart the bleeding. So you may want to wait until after you have survived the first 72 hours without landing in the ER before you try doing lung clearance.
If you experience low back pain, it is probably immune distress. You can search this site for "low back pain" and you can also check out posts labeled antibiotic alternative to help you address that effectively.
But if you go cold turkey for some reason -- and that's sometimes something you have no real say in -- the first three days is likely to be the worst part of it. If you do a good job crisis-managing that critical period, the rest is a piece of cake in comparison.
So here are some guidelines and suggestions for making it through that period with less risk of dying (or failing to get clean) and less misery.
Prepping Beforehand
If you know it's coming and can do some preplanning, here are some things you can stock up on to help address specific issues:- Dark Chocolate
- Watermelon
- Tea
- Coffee or other caffeine source
- Sugar cookies or sugary candies
- Potato chips or other salty snacks and sources of potassium
- Grape juice
- Soups or other easy to digest foods
- Calcium citrate supplements
- Mints or mint tea
- Sparkling water, coconut water or aloe vera drinks
- Ready-to-eat foods containing rosemary, dill or sage
If chocolate is not your thing, look up other magnesium-rich foods or get hold of some magnesium supplements that are bioavailable, such as magnesium glycinate. Trust me, you will want magnesium on hand if you become highly noise and light sensitive and it can happen very suddenly, especially if you start throwing up.
Watermelon is good kidney support and very hydrating. It's easy to keep down. If you are having trouble eating and/or are throwing up and suffering diarrhea, having watermelon on hand to keep you hydrated and such may help keep you out of the ER and off of an IV drip. It can also help settle your stomach enough to help you resume eating. (Do yourself a favor and get the pre-cut stuff.)
Tea is an astringent. If you have lots of clear fluid draining from the eyes and nose or lots of fluid building up in your lungs, tea can help combat that. It's also a moderate source of caffeine and has other health benefits.
Coffee or other caffeine sources, such as very dark chocolate, can be used in place of a rescue inhaler to open up your airways. It can also just help give you a boost to help you get through the misery.
Sugar cookies or sugary candies can help take the edge off your misery. It doesn't work like a pain killer, but having a single sugar cookie or handful of candy every so often can bring your general misery levels down to a bearable level.
Potato chips are a good source of both salt and potassium. If you sweat a lot, you will need to replenish both. If potato chips are not your thing, have some other salty snack on hand and some other source of potassium (but NOT orange juice because if you begin throwing up, vomiting orange juice burns like hell and you don't need that on top of everything else).
Muscle cramps, especially in the legs, can indicate a need for potassium. Being too giggly can suggest a need for salt.
Grape juice will not burn when you throw it back up. Any flavor works -- white, red or purple. This can help you resume eating and drinking normally, which is an important part of the recovery process and escaping the worst of the crisis.
Soups or other easy to digest foods can help keep you eating or help you resume eating. If you have a helper watching over you and playing nursemaid or if you prep beforehand, you may be able to make homemade soup with more nutritional value than, say, canned soup.
Here are some easy, fresh soups you can make. And if you have the ingredients on hand for beef stew -- or make it beforehand so you can just reheat it -- beef plus potatoes and salt helps stabilize lithium levels, which helps mitigate extreme mood swings.
Calcium citrate is a bioavailable form of calcium. Calcium is critical to the clotting process. If you start coughing up blood or bleeding from the rectum or sinuses, 600 to 1000 units of calcium citrate (or possibly more if you are a big guy/gal) can put a stop to the bleeding.
Take "as needed." If the bleeding resumes, take more calcium. You are not likely to be taking too much if you take it until the bleeding stops and then you stop.
A best practice: Take two or three 200 mg pills to start. If that doesn't stop the bleeding, take one more and take one more and take one more until it stops. It should stop fairly promptly, so don't wait more than a few minutes to take more if it isn't working.
Mint is good lung support. If you are on a drug that is smoked/nebulized and/or you have serious lung issues as one of your health issues, you will want lung support on hand.
Onion is also good lung support but you may not want to be relying upon that during the first 72 hours if vomiting is a possibility. (I once threw up leftover Bloomin Onion from Outback steak house and it was a long damn time before I was willing to order that again. I felt psychologically scarred for life for some months.).
Guaifenisen is another potential source of lung support if you have serious lung issues or are smoking/nebulizing these drugs. Make sure to take with plenty of water and salt as it is an expectorant -- it helps you cough stuff up -- not a cough suppressant, so it doesn't really work if you don't stay adequately hydrated and keep your salt levels up.
Sparkling water, coconut water and aloe vera drinks are all super hydrating drinks. You may be sweating profusely, suffering diarrhea, having a lot of clear fluid running from your eyes and nose, etc. STAY HYDRATED. That is the single best thing you can do to keep yourself out of the ER.
It takes two or more weeks to starve to death. If you can't eat for a few days, don't worry too much about it. But you can die in 48 hours or a LOT LESS from dehydration.
STAY HYDRATED.
(If you are constipated instead of having diarrhea, you are probably dehydrated. Drink super hydrating fluids to help combat the constipation.)
A common side effect of withdrawal is high anxiety levels. There can be myriad causes for this, but when you are going through withdrawal, a best first guess is that your adrenals are producing too much adrenaline for what you need currently now that you have removed X substance from the mix.
It can take a few days or weeks for your adrenals to successfully ramp down. In the mean time, a snack with rosemary, dill or sage can bring your adrenaline levels down to a dull roar and make the anxiety more bearable, though it probably won't go away completely.
General Tips
Clear your schedule. Do your pre-planning shopping and then expect to go nowhere for the next three days. You probably won't be travel worthy.Rent a movie online or find a free movie on YouTube you want to watch. Preferably NOT a thriller or horror movie. You probably don't need that while going through withdrawal.
If you begin sweating profusely, take a shower, change into clean clothes and get fluids and electrolytes into you.
If you vomit, brush teeth afterwards.
If you have lung issues or these drugs were smoked/nebulized, plan on sleeping propped up in a recliner, propped up on the couch or on your side. Do NOT lay flat during the first 72 hours if your lungs are significantly impacted here.
You can potentially die in your sleep if you have enough fluid in your lungs. NOT lying flat is the best means to make sure that does not happen.
(I plan to write a separate post about lungs and fluid dynamics, but I probably have to do my own illustrations. Initial research suggests there's nothing readily available on the topic.)
You can do lung clearance to help get the fluid out of your lungs, but if you are coughing up blood this may not be a good idea. It can potentially loosen the clots and restart the bleeding. So you may want to wait until after you have survived the first 72 hours without landing in the ER before you try doing lung clearance.
If you experience low back pain, it is probably immune distress. You can search this site for "low back pain" and you can also check out posts labeled antibiotic alternative to help you address that effectively.
