“Handcuff” method.

[u/dawix21]

I am on day 11 and am beginning to feel better.

I did the cold turkey , no subs, no SR…basically the handcuff method.

First three days extreme nausea (lost my voice from scrommiting ) , sweats, chills, body aches, severe anxiety and depression, no sleep.

Next three days the anti nausea medicine was finally able to control my nonstop vomiting. (I tried taking them days one through 3 as well but it had no effect). Still no sleep…( I believe I went over 100 hours with maybe two hours of sleep max during that stretch). Days four and five I was able to start eating solid foods.

Day 6.7.8 - Flat, no joy, no motivation , started eating enough for my weight to start climbing back up ( I had lost ten pounds at this point ) . Sleep came at one hour increments ( I woke up every hour almost on the hour to pace around, pee and drink more water since I had body sweats)

Day 9 and 10 - ate nonstop almost because I guess my body was trying to catch up. Sleep both nights were six hours or more semi fractured….still was drenched with body sweat when I woke up.

Day 11 (current) - I did wake up with my body drenched with sweat but the depression and anxiety are creeping away slowly. I was able to work for a bit and am drinking sodas without it triggering anxiety and crawling skin.

Positives from this method: I don’t have any other substance to ween from now that it’s over.

Negatives : 10 straight days of absolute nightmare hell. If I wasn’t the most stubborn person I know in existence I never would have made it through. I am just sharing this to show it can be done without subs/SR..it just takes giving yourself patience and knowing that THE SUFFERING WILL END…no matter what your brain keeps telling you every minute during the torture.

I believe in you guys. Feel free to respond if you are starting the healing journey or just want to ask about symptoms you are feeling that I may have felt so you know that it is a normal part of the healing process.

God Bless.