need advice from recovered guys

[abiogenesis]

Hi,

I had recently posted about how i feel after four months of being sober. Although i see all the positive aspects of quitting, one thing is bothering me alot and i want to take advice of people who think that they are recovered.

The thing is i'm very obsessed about all these relapse rates over time. I read that even after one year, relapse rate is around 50 percent and it makes me paranoiac. That makes me feel like 'i will never be able to put my addicted life behind". I try to say to myself that everyone's case is unique and statistics cannot bound me. I'm not really able to express my thoughts clearly because it's not also really clear to me. It's just bothering very much to think about the future i guess.. i regret my addicted period of my life so much that having any probability to fall back again scares the hell out of me..

So, i'm basically asking for your experiences for the advanced stages of recovery.

Thanks for your advice,

[ajh151h]

For about the first year and a half after I quit smoking the idea of smoking the drug again seemed absolutely insane to me, and during that period (especially after the first few months had passed) I don't think there was virtually any chance of me relapsing. Fairly recently the shock and awe of the addiction has been rubbing off. I've started hanging out with some new people ive met that smoke (im in college, so it seems like 50% of the people i know smoke). Being around it actually tempted me for around a week. Looking back I would describe this feeling of temptation as forgetting the lesson I've already learned about weed. The experiences of the past 5 years of my life became overshadowed in a week by the fact that the people around me made the drug seem extremely innocent (they aren't really that experienced smokers). But, luckily, I didn't actually smoke any the drug and at some point I began remembering how horrible the drug is in the long run and I think that right now there is again a 0% chance that i will relapse.

Basically my thoughts on relapsing is that you can go a long period of time with a 0% chance of a relapse (in the short term), which it sounds like you have right now, and then over time you might forget the lesson that you learned and go back to smoking. As always I am being very careful about listening to my thoughts and I make sure that there is a very clear line drawn between me and marijuana use. If I were concerned that I had a high chance of relapsing my better half would probably get me going regularly to a marijuana anonymous group or something. The key is really to be around people that understand what the drug does to you so that people who don't understand don't make it seem like a valid idea to you.

I think that is why CannabisRehab.org is a very good place to be in my situation. I also think that I can empathize to some extent with addicts to harder drugs that make 12 step groups a permanent part of their lives.

So, good luck, and remember that everyone's situation is different. As a side note, who knows, those statistics could very possibly be inflated due to court enforced drug testing and the like.

[Cannabis Rehab Admin]

Hey abiogenesis

At the end of the day relapse is always something that is a serious possibility for anyone who is a recovered/recovering drug user, although the changes that you have made in your life since quitting probably have a big influence as to how likely it is to happen, for some it is probably more likely than others, it may depend on how much work you have done in that area perhaps. But if you have done all that you think you can or are at least trying to do so, then you just have to get on with your life and enjoy each day as it comes, yes it could happen but so could lots of things, try to stay vigilante but try not to get to paranoid, look at it like this if you stay vigilante you don’t need to be worried and just try to remember it’s you that has the power not the statistics, you can stay clean and sober if you truly want to. So try to stay positive after all it’s a new beginning for you to enjoy.

Chin up buddy and all the best.

[R3XXY]

Hi abiogenesis, let's imagine for a minute that the statistic of 50% is accurate, then this would be a sort of glass half empty / glass half full situation, because 50% of ex smokers DON'T relapse.

So it's basically 50 / 50, the same as random chance, so there would be nothing to suggest that there is anything inherent in ex cannabis users that makes them particularly prone to having a relapse.

So you can influence the situation in your favour, you always have a choice, I don't know about you but for me all the reasons I stopped are burned permanently onto my mind.

I would ignore that 50% if I were you, these things are always done on a very small scale. It would be impossible to find everyone who's ever been addicted to weed, who has stopped, and then track them to see if they relapse.

Follow your own path man, I'm in my 23rd month of being smoke free, never crossed my mind to start again and I never will, if I can do it so can you.

Peace.

R3XXY

[Detox Me]

You never recover youre always in recovery

I would go with the clasic saying "once an alcoholic always an alcoholic" I have been clean for 15 months.. and relapsing is a heavy thought in my mind. The desire to smoke again comes like waves each time more separate...but they come. I asked my therapist when I could say I was off the risk of relapsing, and he said (I think this in some thread somewhere in the forum) if you achieve to stay clean for 2 years the odds favor you to stay clean.
I would second the opinion that you have to stay vigilant but not obssesed about relapsing. Avoid someking ambiences, its hard but its easier if you dont tempt yourself, remmeber the reasons you quit, I have them in my thread and I read them when times get tough,work on your willpower teach yourself to say no to yourself. This can be by saying no to the extra desert or waking up early each day, there are a thousand ways to train yourself to a stonger willpower. And finaly work on your mind and spirit....

[abiogenesis]

Hi,

Thank you for all your comforting advices. I realize that i analyze the concept of "statiscs" in a wrong way. Statics don't tell anything about my single case; it's "me" that will determine my path; all my codings in my brain, my cognitions, things that Rehab Admin mentions, i.e.. Statics just give some clues about the nature of the addiction. "try to stay vigilante but try not to get to paranoid". That's the main point i think. Actually i'm aware that all these thoughts are part of my recovery. At intervals, i get obsessed about some phenomenon, it feels like it will never pass, but after a few days it goes away and everything seems very clear. Anyway...

I saw the light, and i'm getting closer to it each day. I will keep you posted with my story.

Thanks,