When you are going through an addiction recovery from prolonged substance abuse, symptoms of drug withdrawal or the detox itself can wreck your system from the chemical balances it causes. These are often called by rehab experts as the ‘rebound effect’, which points to the process of your body maintaining its homeostasis. Intense drugs like cocaine or molly can leave difficult cravings to fight through alone. A lot of patients going through recovery can also experience negative mood changes, fatigue, and constant sleep problems that mess with their daily schedule and responsibilities. It’s important to arm yourself with tools to learn about how to get through the “comedown” that a drug detox or binge crash cycle brings.
What is the Binge-Crash Cycle?
According to the Center for Substance Abuse Research, this cycle characterizes the physical and emotional dependence that regularly consuming a drug brings. A person who abuses stimulant drugs on a consistent basis eventually find themselves trying to take as much as possible in order to prolong their high. During their high, they will be extremely talkative, energetic, and feeling euphoric as the drug creates a short-lived effect on their mind. As a result, the user will often go through a type of withdrawal after and they will feel intense and detrimental side effects that can last for several hours or days. These are due to the swift chemical imbalances that occur in the brain from the strong substances interacting and being absorbed by the body. Emotions like severe depression, anxiety, or extreme fatigue can plague their mind and cause a craving for even more drugs to get by.
Some telltale signs of experiencing this cycle would be to seem extremely energetic or aggressive at one moment, and intensely lethargic and down the next. Swings between these moods can come and go with extreme severity but in a consistent pattern if the drugs are taken consistently. A person can also never show any obvious signs of being in between their lows and highs and may only show the actual downswing or upswing between their states of mind. If you do ask a person about their drug use, they may respond with anger, embarrassment, or hostility. If they seem to gain or lose a lot of weight as well during a short period of time, there’s a strong likelihood that they are caught in a vicious binge-crash cycle and need a drug detox immediately.
Managing the Comedown
If someone is stuck in this cycle, they should attend professional substance abuse treatment and learn to stop abusing drugs to manage their moods as soon as possible. When the severe withdrawal symptoms that comes with this halt, they will require medical treatment at times to minimize the damage and avoid relapse. In the meantime, there’s a few tips for the person to keep in mind the next time they experience an extremely disturbing comedown. Every drug has its own unique after-effects, and different people have various responses as their body is trying to process the drug. To only sure-fire way to not have a comedown is to abstain from drugs in the first place. Alas, that type of discipline can be hard to keep so an addict will need to be prepared to make their withdrawal more manageable. First, they can distract themselves by hanging out with responsible friends, watching funny or action packed movies as a distraction, or listening to a podcast that’s entertaining until they feel somewhat normal again. Another piece of advice is to not chase the life changing feeling that drugs provide in the moment by redosing or consuming more drugs, since the build up of after effects will inevitably catch up to you and only make you feel absolutely terrible in the long run. Along with distraction, takw it easy to give your body rest, stay properly hydrated, and eat healthier than usual to prevent losing too many nutrients or minerals. Unfortunately, a comedown can last for up to one or two days so the healthy tips are vital to staying afloat throughout the whole process.
Cure in the Long Run
If you feel like you may need serious medical or psychological help, please remember to not hesitate to seek a dual diagnosis treatment facility. If you are just tired of feeling lousy and wish to understand more about why your withdrawal is so severe, look out for reputable resources online and in your local community to teach you more about handling the process. Your own happiness and health is your responsibility, so taking action now than later will be a choice you will definitely not regret.
