What non-mainstream methods have you used to aid in recovery?

[bed]

Besides meds and CBT/DBT therapy etc. what are some methods you've used to aid in recovery, that you've found to be beneficial?

 

[Dystopia]

Actually lots, if you only count "meds" as legitimate/script. Microdosing and huge doses of lsd.

A bunch of other psychedelics (some helped others didn't)

I made an esketamine nasal spray last year that was probably the only thing that stopped me ctbing

Sadly, most of these dont do the trick for me any more and have too many health issues to fuck with these kind of things much any more..

 

[bed]

thanks for the info!

 

[motel rooms]

I always swallow.

I always swallow.

@Bed WTF? How did you do that? This is how people get credited with coming up with solutions?!
@GenesAndEnvironment Is this how you earned all your solutions??

 

[Myforevercharlie]

Meditation helps me.

And reading about my diagnosis to better understand what it is that's ' wrong" with me.

Talking to others with the same problems to learn from their experiences, and to know I'm not alone in this

 

[bed]

I always swallow.

@Bed WTF? How did you do that? This is how people get credited with coming up with solutions?!
@GenesAndEnvironment Is this how you earned all your solutions??

 

[motel rooms]

Okay, @Bed, sit on the bed & let me thank you properly.

 

[Mynameisnotimportant]

Trauma dumping on friends and hookups. Not super healthy and makes things weird but it definitely helped me. Wouldn't super suggest it for anyone else

 

[StevieNixs]

Lego Technic.... bought lots over a period of about a year. Really engaging - but very expensive.

 

[poisonedminds]

Kratom is the only thing that gives me a bit of life quality and energy nowadays. In the past, shrooms and other psychedelics have helped a lot too.

 

[ket]

psilocybin really changed my life for the better until it started making me panic and cry in a ball for 6 hours.

it can take you from suicidal to blissful in an hour or two. and you just stay like that for a while. it's wonderful. absolutely try it, it can change everything. and while a bad trip is protracted existential terror, you're probably not gonna permanently break anything. if you have some underlying dissociative disorder or psychosis, it may exacerbate things. be careful.

 

[LoBea]

i'm all for the psychedelics, myself, but an integration therapist/guide is crucial

 

[little helpers]

Besides meds and CBT/DBT therapy etc. what are some methods you've used to aid in recovery, that you've found to be beneficial?

reading as many papers as I could 'bout my specific condition. any professional resources really. I often feel like shrink's not as well read on C-PTSD as I am. or addiction. drug counseling is BS.

downside is, you now know too much and they hate you.

Kratom is the only thing that gives me a bit of life quality and energy nowadays. In the past, shrooms and other psychedelics have helped a lot too.

man, I've not seen the word kratom for years… I've heard kratom w/d horror stories, how's it been for you? no w/d yet?

I don't even know if kratom has enough opiates in it to get you dopesick or not. but since people get withdrawals from codeine and motherfucking tramadol, I guess kratom could as well. one day it's gonna get there. I guess.

 

[LoBea]

reading as many papers as I could 'bout my specific condition. any professional resources really. I often feel like shrink's not as well read on C-PTSD as I am. or addiction. drug counseling is BS.

downside is, you now know too much and they hate you.


man, I've not seen the word kratom for years… I've heard kratom w/d horror stories, how's it been for you? no w/d yet?

I don't even know if kratom has enough opiates in it to get you dopesick or not. but since people get withdrawals from codeine and motherfucking tramadol, I guess kratom could as well. one day it's gonna get there. I guess.

kratom just made me vomit!
meanwhile, i am with you on the CPTSD thing and how shrinks mostly don't seem to be as well read as we are. PM if you ever wanna chat. have you read Pete Walker's book on CPTSD? if not, i highly recommend it.

 

[little helpers]

kratom just made me vomit!
meanwhile, i am with you on the CPTSD thing and how shrinks mostly don't seem to be as well read as we are. PM if you ever wanna chat. have you read Pete Walker's book on CPTSD? if not, i highly recommend it.

thanks! really appreciate it.

I did. though I wouldn't say it's my favorite. after all what everyone finds the most difficult aspect with their C-PTSD is different. also it was really, really, really difficult, emotionally, reading through it. in a sense I think that already means it's a good textbook for MH professionals. if I could get into a flashback with every couple sentences, it means this is very real and it hits home.

although now I know that some of the best thing one can do with complex trauma, is take it slowly. I'm not quite ready for the heart-wrenching stuff just yet. I err on the side of caution and go with the facts/clinical oberservations and theories more. cuz facts and theories don't hurt, sadly. been reading a book on structural dissociation. really like it.

Edit: btw, I just found the term that described the paper-reading thing on Pete Walker's website: *psychoeducation*. that's spot-on.

 

[Insomniac]

I wouldn't go as far as saying that I'm recovering, in fact I'm in more suffering and pain than I have ever been, but instead of acting like I don't know that life is suffering, I simply remind myself that it's expected.

suffering is the only possibility and increase of suffering and pain in the future is normal.

It helps me be productive. I do what I say I'm gonna do, always. That's all. It doesn't really improve anything else beside the fact that instead of laying in bed all day, I actually study and work towards various goals for at least 8h/day. all I feel is pain but it doesn't affect my performance.

I still read about suicide methods and still practice hanging from time to time. I can't help it. suicide is always very close.

 

[gianni rage]

reading as many papers as I could 'bout my specific condition. any professional resources really. I often feel like shrink's not as well read on C-PTSD as I am. or addiction. drug counseling is BS.

downside is, you now know too much and they hate you.


man, I've not seen the word kratom for years… I've heard kratom w/d horror stories, how's it been for you? no w/d yet?

I don't even know if kratom has enough opiates in it to get you dopesick or not. but since people get withdrawals from codeine and motherfucking tramadol, I guess kratom could as well. one day it's gonna get there. I guess.

I have been a kratom enthusiast for almost five years---within the past two, kratom + kava....I avoid any kratom strains that are known to be sedating or soporific, as well as any kava strains known to be "heavy" ("heady" kava is what I look for exclusively)

Kratom (Mitragyna speciosa) has been indispensable in regards to alleviating my mood disorder as well as the chronic pain from a spinal injury that has not responded to surgery or physical therapy well. It is not that easy because the most powerfully analgesic strains of Kratom are often too sedating or euphoric---both can interfere with daily functioning---there are a few, though, that balance the pain-killing properties with more stimulating effects, along with a milder euphoria which is pleasant and not necessarily intoxicating---and the kava effectively offsets the sleepiness...
But yes, it IS addictive and causes both dependency and withdrawal: I absolutely admit to a significant kratom habit, and can attest to the very unpleasant symptoms associated with sudden cessation.
That being said, it is important to also mention this withdrawal is far less severe than that from most narcotics. When I was in my early 20s, 30 years ago, I had a four bag-a- day heroin habit that took me almost 5 years to quit. Kratom is not, technically, a narcotic or classified as any kind of opioid. It is actually a relative of the coffee plant... But there is a family of alkaloids in its leaves known as mitragynes, that work on an assortment of receptors in the brain, including a few key opioid receptors, and chronic consumption will result in the same deficiency in endogenous morphone (endorphine) production that any true opioid or opiate abuse will cause...And although by contrast it is a much less powerful kick, it is still very uncomfortable, and especially at my age (51)...
Like narcotics, kratom withdrawal willl also lead to persistent marked depression, I thing I already am heavily afflicted by. I dread the possibility that one day kratom will be banned completely in this country. Although it is virtually impossible to OD on the stuff (the nausea from a borderline-toxic dose forces one to vomit it up long before), the combination of kratom, booze, benzodiazepines and real narcotics can result in death, and has been reported----and of course, just the fact that kratom might play an agonistic role is enough for moralist crusaders to go on the warpath, especially legislators who need a convenient target to fulminate about when they are running for election or re-election...It also offers an opportunity for "public safety" bureaucrats to look busy. All you need is one dimwit teenager seeking a way to put themselves in a recreational coma for the hysterical media noise to start.
Kava, most scientists agree, has no addiction potential; certainly nothing physiological....but people can become psychologically addicted to anything: laxatives, scratch-off tickets, reality tv shows, whatever, if they set their mind to it. It is for this reason the Sobriety Mafia has also put kava (alongside kratom) on their hit-list, and you can occasionally find them braying about the "danger" of kava use in various public conversations and a call for its proscription.

 

[little helpers]

I have been a kratom enthusiast for almost five years---within the past two, kratom + kava....I avoid any kratom strains that are known to be sedating or soporific, as well as any kava strains known to be "heavy" ("heady" kava is what I look for exclusively)

Kratom (Mitragyna speciosa) has been indispensable in regards to alleviating my mood disorder as well as the chronic pain from a spinal injury that has not responded to surgery or physical therapy well. It is not that easy because the most powerfully analgesic strains of Kratom are often too sedating or euphoric---both can interfere with daily functioning---there are a few, though, that balance the pain-killing properties with more stimulating effects, along with a milder euphoria which is pleasant and not necessarily intoxicating---and the kava effectively offsets the sleepiness...
But yes, it IS addictive and causes both dependency and withdrawal: I absolutely admit to a significant kratom habit, and can attest to the very unpleasant symptoms associated with sudden cessation.
That being said, it is important to also mention this withdrawal is far less severe than that from most narcotics. When I was in my early 20s, 30 years ago, I had a four bag-a- day heroin habit that took me almost 5 years to quit. Kratom is not, technically, a narcotic or classified as any kind of opioid. It is actually a relative of the coffee plant... But there is a family of alkaloids in its leaves known as mitragynes, that work on an assortment of receptors in the brain, including a few key opioid receptors, and chronic consumption will result in the same deficiency in endogenous morphone (endorphine) production that any true opioid or opiate abuse will cause...And although by contrast it is a much less powerful kick, it is still very uncomfortable, and especially at my age (51)...
Like narcotics, kratom withdrawal willl also lead to persistent marked depression, I thing I already am heavily afflicted by. I dread the possibility that one day kratom will be banned completely in this country. Although it is virtually impossible to OD on the stuff (the nausea from a borderline-toxic dose forces one to vomit it up long before), the combination of kratom, booze, benzodiazepines and real narcotics can result in death, and has been reported----and of course, just the fact that kratom might play an agonistic role is enough for moralist crusaders to go on the warpath, especially legislators who need a convenient target to fulminate about when they are running for election or re-election...It also offers an opportunity for "public safety" bureaucrats to look busy. All you need is one dimwit teenager seeking a way to put themselves in a recreational coma for the hysterical media noise to start.
Kava, most scientists agree, has no addiction potential; certainly nothing physiological....but people can become psychologically addicted to anything: laxatives, scratch-off tickets, reality tv shows, whatever, if they set their mind to it. It is for this reason the Sobriety Mafia has also put kava (alongside kratom) on their hit-list, and you can occasionally find them braying about the "danger" of kava use in various public conversations and a call for its proscription.

man, this is too well-written. "Sobriety Mafia", that describes enough people I've been with. and I have a phrase, "Recovering Addict Ltd". that's how everyone sees me whenever I express despair at this motherfucking habit, or any hint of change. now they care about the sobriety shit more than they do me. doesn't matter if I want none of that or feel like a piece of shit, cuz my feelings don't sell. they all expecting a good price on the market. social values of a junkie heresy vs. orthodox normies. that's how the Drug War hurts interpersonally. it bleeds into every bit of our social structures and social relations. while most people don't even know that yeah, addiction is psychological. literally any behavior can get locked into a habit. with one's entire system of meaning driving that.

so yeah. I'm going through the same thing you did in your twenties. I don't know if you get sentimental looking back on it. nostalgia.

what you described about kratom, it seems like it's a bit like opium, right? searched the structure for mitragynine and at first sight it just looks like a MOR agonist. said it's also a competitive antagonist at KOR. so that's not unlike buprenorphine. which may explain why it helps with mood. bupe has antidepressant effects through antagonism at KOR. the dynorphin thing and all of that. when I had a bit of clean time once, I got high on motherfucking naltrexone. this sounds like total BS but it's true. I suppose that's what blocking the KOR did.

yeah still, if there's MOR activity there's PAWS. depression, irritability and stuff. that's why I think all rehabs are BS. my first choice has always been methadone or subs. although I been out of the subs program for a long while now.

 

[Sherri]

HTTP5. It's for sale in herbal shops, really did work, but decided to go back to my meds, as it is a bit expensive