Self Medication

[Klmisc]

My reaction to Mirapex is what brought me back on today.
It was really bad.

 

[franciemarnie]

Tonic water with quinine before bed kills the RLS for the night. Or it does for my husband. Tonic must have quinine tho. About 8 - 10 ounces. Doctor recommended it.

 

[MoodElevator]

To add to what francie said: don't use quinine every night or you will build up a tolerance to it. It also comes in capsules of higher dose btw. I believe it's used to treat malaria actually (cramps too).

 

[DharmaGirl]

I've used calcium, magnesium, take iron supplements and get daily exercise and it all helps.

 

[Jenfa]

Cannabidiol liquid drops(extracted from grower-friend) for fibromyalgia, B-complex vitamins, melatonin (works great 5mg and up), the occasional benzo here and there when I'm tweaking out but it leaves me with an emotional hangover. I try to stay away from it because it's just too comfortable to be real, and it is sometimes.

I was a drug user from 12 years old until I was 24. I can tell if something is too good to be true lol for me at least. The price is too high to pay for me personally to do that very often. Vitamin D - you would be surprised how many people are not making enough of this hormone. I know my levels are way low because I am a vampire that doesn't go outside in daylight :p

 

[Bark at the Moon]

I used to self medicate with marijuana but it started to cause me too much problems with hallucinations, panic and paranoia, plus it was making my pain get worse. Which is weird because I used it for a decade in order to help with pain, anxiety, stress and sleep. One day it stopped working for my pain and I decided to quit to lower my tolerance, then every time after I tried it again it made me have weird hallucinations, visual and audio, it was like a bad acid trip.

I still self medicate with supplements: B-vitamins, Rhodiola Rosea (MAOI) and the occasional benzo when I'm having a bad day and can't seem to relax. I used to be a druggie but I've been off hard drugs for 5 years now, was never much of an alcoholic because I was raised by alcoholics so I know first hand the damage it can do.

Before I started self-medicating I tried antidepressants, Paroxetine and Bupropion and they only made my depressive symptoms get worse, Bupropion made them morph into OCD :eek: which went away after I discontinued taking the drugs. :cool:

 

[Spiderallis]

I used to self medicate with pot and alcohol. It's been two years since I 'took a break' from a several times a day pot habit and I only get out the booze maybe once a month. Before I got into therapy and treatment being intoxicated was a big part of an abusive marriage for me. I drank pretty much every day, and smoked a lot of pot... a LOT.

I also took a lot more pain medication than I do now. I've got some chronic medical issues, but now I only take the pills on really bad days. For a few years I took a pill every 4 hours. The doc said that was okay to do, so my mind justified it that way. In hindsight I was just abusing them on a rigid schedule.

 

[SeanCharles]

Wow! Honestly I have self-medicated in the past. My vice as of here and now is tobacco. In the past too, I had access to alcohol and on New Years day I was (re)introduced to Marijuana.

Why do I say reintroduced? I have a suspicion that I was introduced to it at an earlier age than I was at when I was reintroduced, as it felt familiar somehow. I am still wondering this even today... even though I haven't smoked it as of recently. I was reintroduced to it in 1989. One of my suspicions too may be that I was exposed to it in high school. I didn't actually take it first hand, so a contact high might have been possible. Another possibility is that I came into contact with that substance during my childhood trauma. At the time that I gave myself permission to smoke it, I drew the line at alcohol, weed and tobacco.

Years later that line was crossed... I had an introduction to rock cocaine...I will tell that story another time since this is mainly my self-medicating experience. (As I have stated, I am not self-medicating with illicit substances any longer because of the negative past experiences I have endured from using.)

With my job, That is one of the reasons I don't continue smoking marijuana. While I liked some, not all of the effects I found it quite medicating and it even seemed to mellow the ADHD! (I wonder why...) Anyway, I have come far from my experience with self-medicating as I am coping without and also not risking legal trouble either. More posting on this later...

 

[Lina007]

I'm not a big drinker because of how it affects me, as it tends to make me emotional, which I hate. Marijuana would be great, but it blunts everything, and when you're not smoking, you feel what you were trying not to feel, which seems to create a situation much like in PTSD when you're coming out of apathy. I wish I could wipe everything from my memory, but I'm only 34, and I'm torn right now between spending the rest of my life numb and wanting to try.

 

[airsquid]

I've used alcohol a lot until I started smoking MJ about 6 years ago and then the drinking went way down. After a year or two passed I was introduced to Coke, opiates and E and several psychedelics. Although the psychedelics and e were very helpful, at therapeutic dosages and frequencies, it's the Coke, pills, and taking drinking back up that really made matters worse.

I hit rock bottom when I received 2 DUIs in a year a couple years ago. Lost my job, car, and my license until a few months when I can get it back and am now without a home. I'm barely getting over the attitude hump with that although my life is now ruined. I returned to self medicating although not nearly as frequently. I tried the meds from the VA while I went through a year of no drugs due to randaom UAs and had never been more suicidal in my life. Things got nmuch better once I started smoking again.

My attitude has improved a little although It's agonizing for me to be completely sober and has been for a while. I know I'll get much better if and when I stop beating myself up.

 

[wild_danimal]

I currently abuse my adderall prescription. I can't help it, it really is the only thing that helps.

 

[TeaLeaf]

I still drink to get a break from my feelings of anxiety and depression. I don't drink as much anymore, maybe 3 drinks or so which is way less than I used to when I was staying up all night drinking to escape my pain. I guess I know it's a little too much but it's better than some other ways I have coped. And now when I drink to relax, I don't have the same strong drive to keep drinking to escape my pain, it feels different.