Why do I still haveCrystal Meth Cravings???

[Done_With_It!]

TAKEN FROM

http://www.crystalrecovery.com/GoAsk...top=G-ADD.html

Cravings

"Why after 5 months of being clean of ice do I still get cravings?"
"How can I stop the cravings?"
"What can I do to make the craving easier to deal with?"

Our Response: Please excuse our long winded answer, and feel free to email again describing the specific "cravings" that you are having, how many months or years you used ice, how intensely did you use, what method did you use to get the drug into your system, and any other information that we can take back to the experts.


General Understanding: Anything that we put into our bodies that causes a "physiological" reaction can be considered a "drug" (including food). Physiological is defined as "characteristic or appropriate to an organism's healthy or normal functioning". So, the important thing to understand, is that drugs interact with our brains and bodies, and affect how our brains and bodies "normally" function. Most addictions counsellors distinguish between "psychological cravings" and "physical cravings" to simplify understanding; but in truth, they are both different aspects of the same thing. A "craving" is defined as "a great longing, desire, or an abnormal desire to use a drug". An "addiction" is defined as a compulsive physiological need for a habit forming drug.) In short, - You believe that you need to use the drug - to feel normal.
<hr> "Why after five months of being clean do I still get cravings?"

You still get cravings when certain things remind your brain and body of the experience of being high. All your drug using habits, your thinking, the things that you say and do, even looking at the pictures of Crystal on this website can trigger a drug response reflex. Reflex is defined as an automatic response directed back on the mind or it's operations; or a response that is produced or carried out in reaction to, or in resistance to, a substance.
This drug response reflex will in most cases, gradually fade off to the point where it does not cause cravings for you any more.

Further Explanation: Psychological (mental) addiction can be dealt with through a treatment and recovery program, that helps you to learn how to think differently, act differently, and to make choices that are supportive of you living a healthy and happy life - without drugs. Because Crystal Meth causes such a strong mental rush (high), other things in your life that would normally make you feel good, like winning a game, getting good grades, or even eating your favorite food, suddenly seem less rewarding. When you are high, the drug is stimulating your reward centers of your brain and you simply do not think about eating because your brain is not able to send you signals that you need to eat.
Remind yourself that this Chemical Reward is NOT REAL - and that it will take a toll on your body and brain. It is like tearing down the inside walls of a house to build a fire to keep warm, sooner or later the house is going to collapse because all the supporting structure is gone.


So, as you begin, or continue in your recovery, you need to force yourself to remember to do things like eat, drink, sleep and exercise - even if you feel that you have no energy. Plus, you need to be aware of your thinking patterns, such that, if you are thinking about things associated with drug use, and it is bothering you to the point of triggering cravings - you need to deliberately think about things that make you happy, about your goals, about why you can't go out and use because you have to be at school or work the next day. This is the mental aspect about controlling cravings.
"How can I stop the cravings?"

To answer this part, I would like to explain a bit about physical cravings, and how physical cravings relate to our brain and body, as they automatically try to maintain normal functioning. When we use a drug to alter our feelings, energy level or reality; our brain is working hard right from the beginning to get back to a normal state. When we put a large amount of a drug into our system, and keep putting more of the drug into our system. Faster than our bodies can get rid of the drug; it creates a lasting impact on our brains and bodies.
The big concern with Crystal Meth, is that as an Artificially Created Chemical; there is very little scientific information about exactly what internal body systems and brain structures are being damaged, and how permanent the damage is.

If you think of the "drug action" on your body and brain, like using a machete to "cut a path through the jungle" every time you use. If you have to go through the jungle again, it is going to be much easier to take the same path, rather than cut a new path. Each successive time you go through the jungle it gets easier, until you don?t even think about trying to cut a new or different path. When that happens, you are addicted; and it can happen even after only using once.
Now, if you think that our brain is a pretty sophisticated organ and is trying to maintain a balance of the brain chemicals all the time. So from the moment you use and the drug reaches your brain, it is trying to eliminate the excess chemicals from your system. If you think of this action like filling up a bathtub with water, and when the water level gets too high, then the water will begin to drain out of the overflow. What if you put water into the tub faster than it can drain out? What can you do? One thing you can do is make more holes for the water to escape!
Now, if the chemical impact on your brain of Crystal Meth is 600 times more than the normal level of brain chemicals floating around in there, how do you think you brain is going to try to maintain a balance? Make more holes??

This is why addictions counselors are so concerned. As in the examples above, there is not enough good publicly available research out there, for us to know ?how wide the path through the jungle is or how many holes are in the bathtub.
In most cases, drug users brains will recover to a certain extent and the physical cravings will also lessen over time.

How much time? It is different for each individual, but will correlate to how much of the drug you have used and for how long you have been using. The best thing is to get yourself to a supportive Medical Doctor, be honest about your drug use, and try to get as many tests done to determine the specific effects using Crystal Meth has had on you!
"What can I do to make the craving easier to deal with?"

To deal with the mental aspects of drug cravings, get yourself into treatment, and keep doing the positive things that you have been doing so far that have kept you clean. Tell yourself constantly that you are worth it, and that you are doing a good job, and that you deserve to live a good life each day - free of drugs! There are a lot of support groups, and support systems out there. Even having just one person that you can call when you feel like using, can make the difference. Most importantly if you do use again, stop as soon as you can, and get back to doing the healthy things that are really important in your life. It will get easier!
To deal with the physical aspects of cravings, get a proper medical assessment done to find out what damage has been done to your brain and other body organs. Then, for example, if you find out that you have damaged your heart, you can be careful not to stress yourself physically too much until it gets a chance to heal. If you find out that you might have trouble concentrating, remembering things, or staying focused on a topic, - you can at least be aware and try to do other things to compensate.

TAKEN FROM

http://www.crystalrecovery.com/GoAsk...top=G-ADD.html