Somewhere in the vicinity of 3am Tuesday morning and I find myself unable to sleep. Again. This time my insomnia is not brought on by annoying withdrawal symptoms, but by a mind that won't stop thinking. Plagued by thoughts of remorse that come along with the very thing I created for myself as an outlet for the stress and screeching voices hollering at me from inside the addicts mind. My blogs. Somewhere I have dropped the ball on reporting my progress (or lack there of), to a cyber world of readers that may or may not exist.
My writing and enthusiasm developed into a rather consistent and productive outlet over the first month. The enthusiasm has not died, but my insides feel nauseated over the fact that I think I am not making enough progress. Am I a let down? As a day passed by and I ignored my online therapy I allowed an onset of shame to plant seed in my soul. Each day that I did not write acted as the fertilizer that turned that shame seed into a weed infested guilt garden! My mind tells me that if I mess up I mine as well give up.
If you struggle with addiction in way shape or form this concept will seem quite familiar. As I fight my insomnia I realize that 8 or 9 days does not a failure make!!! I mean, duh...right? The more I allowed my thoughts to unravel over the hours the more I realize that this is all still a part of who I am. A living breathing pattern of my addictive behaviors, and a very real part of my recovery. My goal is to not give up!
No matter how long I stay off the computer, or how many hours I sleep and want to ignore even the smallest set backs, my problems will not go away.
SO, this is my attempt to grab hold of a new concept I will call- not running away from something so long that I make it irreparable by my own actions. Here on the early hours of day 50 of my road to recovery, I will not give up. I am still on the pills. A very low dose. A bit stagnant on the process. This last week has been different in my actions and in my thoughts. I have been journaling everyday, only on paper so that I could feed my silly fear of failure by logging onto google.
I am hoping this entry will help me to sleep a few hours. I plan to take my laptop to Starbucks and spend an hour or two going through emails, comments, etc and typing up my last week of journals.
Until then... J'Elle
I have tried twice posting here with my phone and it isnt working for some reason. I was wondering if you live in the US. The reason why I ask is because I was given 3 non-narcotic, non-addictive medications for my opiate taper. The medication is Robaxin (methacarbomol), Clonidine (Catapres) and Neurontin (Gabapentin). Robaxin is a mild muscel relaxer, Clonidine is a blood pressure medication and Neurontin helps with sleeping, shivers and night sweats. I dont know if you have tried these or heard of any of them but they worked exceptionally well for me. That is how I quit. Maybe it would be worth asking a doctor about these? I was taking each one, 3 times a day. When I stopped them, there were no side effects for me. Everyone is different but I can't stress enough how helpful these medications were in my recovery.
ReplyDeleteI have a script for Gabapentin but used it for anxiety last year and it was kinda worthless... However, I was not coming off meds at that time. I think I will refill it, I can see how it may help. I also have a script for Clonidine and refilled it. I have never heard of the other. Thx for the info! Never thought to try Gaba.
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