Expert: Caroline West - 2/19/2009

Question
i live a some what normal life but once a week i still have the cravings for coke, i used to be into coke really bad , i went through drug court , for getting caught with a small amount of cocaine, i was going through a tuff time in the beginning because it was cool to do .. i thought it was.! 22 years old, i didnt have a care in the world , well back to the question, now im diving in to these cavings again what can i do to leave this demon behind me.... anything would help? anybody with suggestions please speak up . i dont wantto go back down that road again!

Answer
Hey Mark,sorry for the lateness in getting back to you.

Even though you may not see it,which of course I will point out to you!,you are actually taking all the right steps towards giving up.

There is a group of stages a person goes through in stopping using  called 'The Wheel of Change',every addict goes through each stage of this wheel with the view in reaching the last 'stop' which is being off the substance and maintaining being off it, and at the moment you are in a good place on that wheel right now. You are at the place where you are wanting to take action to stop and you have a level of determination. (I wont go into all the details about this Wheel of Change unless you want me to at a later date).

The good thing is that you have recognized that you have a problem and you want to do something about it and want to quit. just by you writing in to me is another very positive move you are taking. As I said,you are doing the right things,but from here on it is going to take time and determination and most of all patience to kick the habit for good. Everything begins with a thought which you have had and that has lead on to doing what you can to make the 'thought' of wanting to stop a reality. Now it, as I said,is going to take all three of the above to kick it for good. You will have slip-ups along the way but that is natural but if you keep your self focused on the final goal then you can pick yourself up again and get back on track. Its not always easy but your doing all the right things.

Cravings are cravings but the longer you stay away from the Coke the cravings will lessen. Like giving up smoking-the first three weeks are pure hell but after then the cravings get less. So it is with any drug,you have to start sometime to set a date to quit and you just have to ride out the storm and I promise you after a while it will become easier. I had it with Crack-it was hard at first but it got easier because I focused on all the pros & cons of stopping and of using (which I'll talk more about in a bit). Sadly there is no easy way out but read on and there may be a way to make it easier.

One thing I will advise you to do,if you want to,is to get in touch with your local Drug & Alcohol Treatment Service and they can offer you further support and advice which is more than I can give here though if you do want some extra support you can write in as many times as you like. Your Dr can also refer you to the most suitable places for help. A Dr at the Service may,and I mean 'may' give you a short course of anti-anxiety meds for a couple of weeks to ease the withdrawals but it is only a 'may'. Unlike Heroin there is no substitute medicine to ease Coke symptoms but do ask if you can get 2 weeks of tranquilizers-negotiate with the Dr there that you only want it for 2 weeks.

You have done amazingly well of cutting down your Coke use and you are getting older and more wiser and you are leaving your youth and all the recklessness behind and I have no doubt in my mind that you wont be able to do this,I believe you can and your going the right way about it so feel hopeful. Just keep thinking about all the negatives around using such as the court appearance-I know what thats like too and its not a nice place to be at,so focus on that. Also start recalling all the other negatives associated with your use and jot them down to serve as a reminder. Also write down all the reasons why you want to stop and the benefits you will get from it-this is all powerful stuff and it really does work. It all helps to keep you focused on your stopping goal. I've done all these things myself and they really do help.

I wish you all the best and again I am sorry it took so long for me to reply,but keep well,keep hoping and keep focusing.I believe you can do it and if there is anything more you want to ask then feel free to write back in. Take care,Caroline.