A Therapist, A Buddhist, and You
A Therapist, A Buddhist, and You
Craving Conspiracy: Unmasking Your Complicity in Addiction
The discussion uncovers fascinating insights into how you are often responsible and set up your cravings to exist! Do you ever wonder why cravings for drugs or alcohol seem to sneak up on you just when you're trying to stay sober? Imagine being equipped with the tools to anticipate these cravings and dismantle them effectively. Today, we unravel the mystery of these cravings, exploring their multifaceted nature and the various triggers. We delve into the biopsychosocial framework of cravings, linking them to biological, psychological, and social factors.
Today, we walk you through the potential pitfalls in maintaining sobriety and the importance of mindfulness in these tricky territories. By understanding these risks and taking necessary precautions, you can guard your sobriety against unexpected triggers, ensuring a smoother journey toward recovery.
Finally, we address the complex issue of managing addiction while on narcotics for medical purposes as a potential necessity. Whether you're in recovery, a supportive family member, or a professional in the field, this episode is packed with valuable insights and practical advice on managing cravings and navigating the challenges of addiction in recovery. Listen in to fortify yourself with the knowledge that can make a transformative difference!
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Welcome everyone. You're listening to A Therapist of Buddhist in you, brought to you by the Recovery Collective in Annapolis, maryland. Today's episode is a must listen for anyone in recovery concerned family members and even professionals. The MVP of this podcast is all and myself are going to delve into the topic of how people set themselves up for drug and alcohol cravings, as that sounds all sounds very useful.
Speaker 1:I think so it's. We're certainly in a time of year when there's traditions, there's holidays we've got Hanukkah, christmas, kwanzaa, and I'm probably forgetting one or two other ones that are coming up the next month or two and it's just a time of sure traditions and good spirit. But this is often a time with here in the East Coast, it gets dark quick and a lot of other things come up that tends to lead to cravings for a lot of people. So I figured it's a good time for us to hit this topic.
Speaker 2:Makes sense. Yeah, it's a very familiar word for me craving because that's a concept in Buddhism to do now.
Speaker 1:That is a thing, a human thing, isn't it to crave, to have that want, that satiated? Let's kick things off by understanding what cravings really are and why they play such a crucial role in addiction recovery. When we crave drugs and alcohol, we are in a state of anticipation we want to use, and this can be caused by, of course, withdrawal, or it can be a response to certain stimuli, like being surrounded by people who are drinking or a fond memory where using was involved. So when we crave, the effects of our bodies can be variable or even contradictory. Some may experience heightened arousal, may salivate, while others experience depressed heart rates. The point is, cravings are highly subjective and we have to learn the things that trigger our cravings and create a plan to curb them. Ultimately, cravings are not your fault, but some are. You agree with that?
Speaker 2:Yeah, taking responsibility for what we have control over.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's. I like to say that I might not be, I am, out of control or powerless over my first thought, my first emotion, my first feeling, but I'm not powerless over that second thought, that second emotion, and we may have a fleeting thought or a fleeting craving, but I am responsible for potentially setting up the conditions for cravings or however you act to that first thought or emotion. So if you want to really look at and understand the physiological aspects and among other things, please check out episode three and four. I'll put them in the notes, but the episode titles uncovering the truth about addiction the solution to recovery, and episode four, the science behind addiction, debunk and explore reality, do a real good job understanding addiction, not just as an addict or an alcoholic or someone in recovery, but for family members to just to understand how the addiction works, both scientifically and just addictively. So go, feel free to check them out. So we're not going to do a whole lot of understanding the science and how it relates to the individual or the family member, but we're going to take the healthy form of control and look at really how people set themselves up for cravings and how they can turn that around. So let's break that down, shall we?
Speaker 1:We are going to look at these cravings and how we set them up biopsychosocially, meaning other ways, say what they people do physically, mentally, emotionally and through behaviors that lead to cravings, including the social, environmental aspects. Okay, I believe cravings are not just fleeting desires. I think when I talk to people I ask them hey, is this a fleeting thought? And that can be a passing by thought of a memory or having a fleeting thought of using, but it not being the way I explain it like a full blown thirst or want to use, whether it's physical or mentally, does that make sense? Like not just the fleeting thoughts, fleeting thoughts or fleeting thoughts that can be for food, that can be for sex, that can be for drugs and cravings that way? So we're going not just through the fleeting desires, but cravings are an intricate manifestation that deeply rooted in this biopsychosocial framework. Picture it like a puzzle and when we're putting these pieces together to understand why cravings become such a pivotal challenge in the recovery process.
Speaker 2:All right.
Speaker 1:Let's look at the first category. When we say biologically, we often think well, how do we set ourselves up for cravings? Basically, I think one thing that often comes to mind for most people is, well, withdrawal. So if your body is wanting substances and you're feeling flu-like symptoms or worse, your body and your mind is going to say I want to feel better, and a craving is one way to alleviate that discomfort. So I think that's an obvious one, that withdrawal is one way we set ourselves up for cravings.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Yeah, that makes sense, but you're saying there's more to it.
Speaker 1:Let's do it. That's a no-brainer one. How about consuming sugar? What happens when we eat a lot of sugar? When we consume sugar, whether it's through food or sodas and liquids you get a peak right. This can lead to a temporary high and then, after that high, what happens? A subsequent crash. When we use drugs and alcohol, what happen? You peak, you fork and then eventually crash. This is partially when it comes to sugar, due to blood sugar levels and it releases certain neurotransmitters. So let's look at the initial high. When you consume sugary foods and beverages, they rapidly broken down into glucose, sugar and a digestive system. It enters the bloodstream, causing a quick spike in blood sugar levels. When the blood sugar goes up just like when you drink, when you do cocaine it releases serotonin and dopamine. So when you get that sugar high, it is very relatable to a drug high.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I'm interpreting everything that I'm hearing from my own experience and also from some Buddhist principles as well. Seeing is this idea of we're always looking for ease and comfort, whether we know it or not, and there's something very comforting about familiar things. That has already happened and there's no problem with that. But when it comes to addiction, for me to do the same thing, I have to do more to get the same effect. So that's where this become problematic. So, like when you're talking about the crash from sugar, you know that's so because, again, an addict's mind is self-deceptive you know, and I don't think before making the decision, I think after I made a decision in retrospect.
Speaker 2:So these are really important tools or things that you're bringing up to realize that. Okay, what is it? How am I setting up to be in? This situation, so that I don't get into it.
Speaker 1:It was amazing. I used to run an 8 am morning process meeting at an inpatient. And what happens with people that are chronically using substances They've been using the night before? And then, yeah, they might be going into withdrawal, but they're certainly not at the high that they were. There was a crash. And a lot of times, when it comes to physical or even psychological dependence, well, I don't want to feel that crash. So, just like sugar, where the levels are in decline, and the insulin levels and the glucose, well, that's associated with fatigue, irritability, low mood. So what do people want to do? Well, I want to feel better, I want to get that boost. It was amazing to me.
Speaker 1:I remember looking around, there's 20, 30 people in the morning group and I couldn't tell you how many lollipops at 8 am in the morning and candy bars and chocolate milk. And I'm looking around and I'm like why are we, as a facility, encouraging these people to continue this cycle of okay, I'm sluggish, I'm not feeling good? Well, I've conditioned myself to try to get, whether it's a high or a boost, in an unhealthy way. So it was a very similar pattern that people were used to. Let's be honest a lot of 12-step meetings.
Speaker 1:What do we see? Yeah, coffee, but Oreos and candy and cookies and stuff like that. Well, we may not be drinking or using substances, but hey, there's that little sugar boost that we can take. So is it lesser of two evils, of course, do I think this is the number one offender to get people to relapse. Well, it's certainly not helping. It's creating this cycle that we're used to. So, as a clinical director, I'm like why are we giving all these people this sugar? We're trying to help them regulate their blood sugar levels and not be on this peak and crash thing that they're used to. This is a big one for a lot of people that it's a freebie, it's a little boost, even though it comes with a crash.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean, I also interpret what I'm hearing from the point of view of mindfulness as well that there is a power in the awareness. So it's better to become aware when I'm in that state of craving than not, you know, because it prompts me, especially if I want to be sober and if I want the solution. It prompts me to okay, how do I get out of it? At least accept that. Okay, this is what's happening, and also something I guess the translation is attachment. There's also something that is translated as like some kind of hooking. It's hard to unhook, like that's how I feel about craving. Once it clicks in, it's like a hook is already hooked in, and from a Bidama point of view, which is a Buddhist psychology, there is an input and the sense. So when the input comes in, we know what it is. But the interesting thing about the mind since we're talking about conditioning too is that sometimes our brain or our internal sense knows what it's looking for, like choosing what's there and then picking up what it's looking for instead of what's actually there.
Speaker 1:You shared two things at the beginning that we're often searching for relief. What was the other?
Speaker 2:one Ease and comfort, yeah.
Speaker 1:I think the other thing that we often search for is an energy boost, whether it's because our mood isn't where we want it to be or we're down, whether it's depression, sadness, a different level of discomfort, and through substance use, we can change our mood quickly and boost it we are used to, whether it's either discomfort or pleasure.
Speaker 1:That's the other piece. One quick way to do that is with food and beverages like caffeine and certainly sugar. So this is a conditioned response with hey, if I consume this then I can maintain my energy or my mood quickly, even though it's a quick return in a crash. But I couldn't have been looking around at 8 am and like what are you?
Speaker 1:guys doing he lollipops at 8 am. What are we doing? So that was a big one. I laugh, as our kids are young. But as a parent with kids that are trick or treating, that is like the equivalent an adolescent or a child's version of a hangover. They're up late, they're getting sugar and then they crash, and then they have to wake up for school and they're irritable and they're tired. But they also got to there's blood glucose levels there at a whack too and it's like the closest thing to a hangover for a child that doesn't drink.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so that's biological. It also makes me think about what I usually hear about halt in 12-step meetings, hungry, angry, lonely, tired which I think can affect the biological aspect too.
Speaker 1:Hugely hugely. And I think halt covers biological, in terms of either hunger I mean, look at those wonderful marketing, those snicker commercials or was it Twix, I can't remember which one it is and the someone's irritable, are gonna go off in the someone and then all of a sudden they say something bad, but then they eat a snickers and then instantly they're not an asshole to the person anymore. Like, grab a snickers, it's the hey if you're irritable or whatever. Eat this sugar-filled snack to elevate your mood instead of, well, not an apple, healthy carrots or whatever. But it's beautiful marketing, it's hey if you're irritable, get a spike. Pretty smart of them. So that's the physiological or the hungry part of it. Yes, because what happens when you're hungry? Your blood sugar levels drop, which can lead to insulin levels and irritability. So as opposed to a spike, here's a drop. We'll hit the other four angry, lonely, tired and the other one. So we'll keep going Sounds good yeah.
Speaker 1:Talking about the biological part of how we set ourselves up for cravings. What you ingest, what you put in your body food and beverages can certainly do that. Now it's. We're just getting out of fall soon here, and getting into winter and certainly colds and our rampant where we are COVID, still going on. Children are bringing home every kind of sickness from schools and at any level, and when we're sick we often cough, and when we cough it might be hard to sleep and things like that. So what do we know about some cough syrups?
Speaker 2:There's some alcohol in some of them.
Speaker 1:Some of them have alcohol in it. Same thing with mouthwash. So I ask people listening, whether it's you, the person yourself that you're in recovery, or a family member or loved one and I'll ask you, and I want you to think about this as I ask solve this, and I'll try to say it slow. How much alcohol does it take for an alcoholic to drink alcoholically? So, for an alcoholic, how much does that person have to ingest for it to react alcoholically?
Speaker 2:That's like a rhetorical question for an alcoholic.
Speaker 1:Okay. So, whether it's, is it a beer, is it a shot? Is it a drop, is it? You see my point? Yes, but because we don't know why the hell would we risk it. But that is often what we do for some people.
Speaker 1:I've had people that this has been their relapse pattern, that they didn't. They either went to the grocery store or their significant other did, and then they got that mouthwash and they look and says it says alcohol right on the bottle, right. And the person looks at it and goes shit, well, I'm not gonna swallow it, so I'll be all right. And they mouthwash it and it burned a little, and they do all that and they spit it out. And then do they necessarily have a craving right away? I'll say most likely not for a lot of people, but every time I've had someone come to me and say I've relapsed and I have no idea why, there's been multiple things that we can look at biologically, psychologically, emotionally, socially and even spiritually that go oh, here are the things not just one, but multiple things that has led to your relapse and we can look at the anatomy and break it down. And for one gentleman it took him two weeks of mouthwash before he realized he started getting cravings and after looking at all these variables and things, and other things happened that we'll probably talk about later in this episode or the next that he goes. Man, it might have started with that mouthwash, because is it touching his tongue? Is he accidentally swallowing some? Yeah, absolutely. Here's another question.
Speaker 1:People like to cook with alcohol. Scientifically it's in the acidic, it's a tasty acidic that changes the complex flavors of food, which is valuable for cooking. So one question I often ask people well, you go to a restaurant and you say, ah, man, I really want this pasta dish or this meat dish and the sauce has wine in it. So sometimes you may ask, hey, can you cook this dish? Can the chef not use any wine? And what's the first thing? People often say, ah, the wine is cooked out. Now, I don't know about you, but I know a lot of chefs and cooks in recovery and yeah, maybe if it's to order and all that. But if I'm a cook, I'm not gonna care if that alcohol gets to the temperature and the time it needs for all that alcohol to burn off, because alcohol and wine only makes food taste better.
Speaker 1:I am not willing to risk my sobriety when someone else Now, let's say it even cooks off all the way. Let's say it burns all the way off and there's no more alcohol in the sauce, but the flavor is, Huh, flavor. That's one of the senses. Right Now I'm tasting alcohol. What other drug do we do, that we no longer do, that we accept to allow one of our senses to ride with it?
Speaker 1:Do we all of a sudden, like man, my drug of choice was cocaine and let me chop up tic-tacs or Tums and let me snort it. That's insane. Why? Because we don't want to activate the physical sensation, the smell. If someone does heroin, we're not going to all of a sudden syringe, puddle water and shoot it in our veins. We wouldn't do that. So why do we potentially set ourselves up for a craving with alcohol? If this is life and death for you, why risk it? Why risk tasting? We're in Maryland, crabs with beer in it hey, I just don't want it with beer. You don't need to boil it with beer, Put vinegar in it and do whatever it's. My point is why risk your sobriety on the taste if you're not getting the effect? Thoughts on that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean, it's actually very humbling to know that, and also from my own experience too, is that the reason why I don't drink is not really a moral issue, because it's a liability that once I start I cannot stop.
Speaker 2:So, like I don't want to risk it, right, it's not because I'm against it and I don't need to go live in the forest or live in a monastery and eliminate alcohol 100% out of my life, but there is something very respectful about doing my part. So if I risk myself into this kind of situation and if I relapse, then my side of the street is not really clean, but I can take all the precaution and then set the condition and then do it that way. And also the thing about the craving that you're talking about, there's also a sense of pull, right, I mean, I might not be aware of the body taking it, but then throughout the day I'll be like attracted, like I'll be pulled towards all those and I'm like what's happening? You know I'm sober, right, there is also that contradiction within because, yeah, that the physical part of the body, and you know the phenomena of craving once it kicks in, you know it's hard to get out.
Speaker 1:Yeah, the phenomena of craving in another way, it's an obsession of the mind, allergy of the body. At some point the brain of an alcoholic and addict, which you can check episode three and four for how and why that works is that there is an obsession, a desire, even though there's an abnormal reaction to the body and allergy. So, even though adverse, negative things happen, somehow the mind and the body goes I want this, I need this. So if that happens, even without the taste of alcohol, why would you set yourself up with a potential craving? So get non-alcoholic cough syrup, get non-alcoholic mouthwash. Other cough syrups have things like codeine. So codeine or DXM can be potential triggers for individuals in recovery because it's opiates. Right, coding is an opioid and DXM is a dissociative drug with some similarities to opioids and higher doses.
Speaker 1:But that can be a danger for a lot of people, a lot of people. So it's what am I willing to do to protect my sobriety? And I happily buy non-alcoholic mouthwash, I happily can. And a lot of chefs said, yeah, the wine is great, but you can use anything acidic to replace wine for the meals. No, it's great. So far, so good.
Speaker 2:Right, yeah, so far so good. I feel like we're unpacking, or you're unpacking, the craving very well and it's really good. The other thing that I think of is craving is like the opposite of spiritual fitness right.
Speaker 2:Like once that again, that hook, the attachment, once it's clicked, like I'm not present anymore, all my senses are so consumed by it and it is as if I've already done it right. That's also another powerful thing about craving, and in that, you know, 12 step literature talks about there's no first offense, so, like, once I get in there there's no way of getting back out, and it's so isolated. That's all I can think about, you know.
Speaker 1:I remember her very well and she got a lot of time and sobriety and I remember her saying I can't fathom not having my grandmother's pasta la vodka, because it's a pasta sauce and had vodka in it and things like that and it was like and it was a great group discussion. Okay, one aspect is what length are you willing to go? Okay, you can make it this, this weighted pasta la vodka recovery. How much? What is your risk reward for that? Some people choose to not worry about wine and their sauces and food, especially for people in early recovery. Why would you even consider?
Speaker 2:that.
Speaker 1:Let alone for many years for a lot of people. So what length are we willing to go that we actually have control over, to minimize risk or not set ourselves up for a craving?
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:This is one where I don't know the statistical numbers, but I always felt comfortable saying if you're in the room full of 20 to 30 people, there's gonna be multiple people that are gonna be in this exact situation. Whether you're an addict or an alcoholic or not, in the room full of 20, 30 people, there's gonna be multiple people that are gonna be in a situation where there's a catastrophic accident or a planned surgery and or repair that can lead to what Bain bills, oh yeah. So this is a big situation that I let's do a couple scenarios. Let's say your drug of choice is oxy-cotton or heroin and you've gotten to a point that if you ever consume it again, you know you're gonna have that obsession and you're gonna be off to the races. So here's a hypothetical. Let's say you throw your back out and you've got back spasms and you can't move it and you're in pain and you go to the doctors and they're willing to give you a narcotic for it. What would you do, zal? What would you do?
Speaker 2:I would have to disclose that I'm an addict.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 2:And choose other options.
Speaker 1:Okay, seems like a no-brainer. Let me give you another example. So I worked at more than one facility and this facility that I treatment facility that I used to work with was part of a hospital, so it wasn't on the main campus of the hospital but this hospital owned this inpatient now patient facility. There is this lady that had gigantic like a club hand from injection and it was infected and it was very painful. Her drug of choice was heroin and she was in a lot of pain. But she was very fearful and she said I don't want narcotics, I don't want opiates for my hand. Totally understand, she's still an inpatient, but we have to get her hand checked out. I drove with her to the emergency room. The nurse is called over. Hey, we're bringing Luke and the client done it all. Just, sure, no problem, we get there, get checked in.
Speaker 1:And the hand was bad. It was the size of a softball, really painful, and she said she didn't want any opiates. And guess what the doctor said Well, you have to have them. So you can imagine what I did. I looked at her and she gave me the. Okay, she was scared to death and luckily I was there and.
Speaker 1:Then she looked at me and I said you good, uh-huh. And I looked at the doctor and I said what the fuck is wrong with you? She is in an inpatient for opiates. And she said she doesn't want a narcotic. And you say she has to. What the hell is wrong with you? The doctor was shook. Now, this was probably eight years ago, ten years ago, probably longer than that now. But how could this doctor? She had support.
Speaker 1:Can you imagine when you're in pain and the thing that you want least in life is to no longer be suffering in the pain, and you tell a doctor that Please, I'm an addict, I'm an alcoholic, give me something in narcotics and the first thing they say is Okay, now, if I wasn't there, she and I both know she would have said okay, you gave me permission. So if you ever are in this situation, if you're ever in this situation, go with support. I had a sponesy of mine through his back out, so we went to the the docs and looked at him and he could have a whole lot of narcotics with his muscle spasms. He literally couldn't straighten his back. Luckily I was there and he says I don't want any narcotics. So he gave him a muscle relaxer. If I wasn't there, it could have been easier for his, his addictive brain or or not wanting to suffer. Hey, I know it really works for this, but having an advocate and a support for these situations is really important.
Speaker 2:Really important. Yeah, yeah. These are all good stuff and I don't know if this is like Kind of too much for somebody who's new to recovery, but those cravings really less than over time, and that's been an essence of recovery for me too, which I always look forward to. Now that Recovery or sobriety is not about as people know already who are in the recovery process is that it's not about abstaining right. It's not just about not just doing right, otherwise it's just a ticking bomb, it's gonna come back, you know.
Speaker 2:So there's a lot of emphasis on the character development, right, like what is it that's gonna make my life more meaningful? And I'm just being doing, doing, I'm just busy doing those things, and then the craving has less control. You know, for me that's like a setup for success, for, you know, long-term sobriety. Yeah to be chasing after things that makes life meaningful.
Speaker 1:Absolutely.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we'll go over in a quick set at very soon potential ways to deal with pain or surgeries that are not narcotics. But I'll give you one more example now. I worked with a guy that had old-school and a guy had, when I worked with them, you know, 15, 20 years of sobriety, and he was one of these guys that, no matter whatever happens to me, I'm never taken a narcotic, and so much so in recovery he got one of those really long nails penny nails boom, went right in his eye. He pulled the nail out of his eyeball, drives himself to the emergency room and he says I need to cease, see someone, I need to see someone. And the person said, Uh, please take a seat. And he says I got a nail, go through my eyeball, I. And then he's like, yeah, come away with me right now. I imagine the excruciating pain and and he didn't take any narcotics during that whole time. I don't think I could do that, meaning whether it was my drug of choice or not. There might be a position where I Am on opiates and narcotic medications, whether I get an accident or a surgery. I don't know if I have that ability now. I would hope that I would have people help me decide if that's true, if it all possible, or or it happened and I'm on a morphine drip or whatever. Okay, so let's do that.
Speaker 1:Hypothetical You're on narcotics, you got out of surgery, you got a rod in your leg, whatever it is, and Now you're in narcotics, you're on a medication that Is your drug of choice or could trigger you or he could become addicted to it. What do we do? This is important. One, one question I always ask people it's is this a relapse or not? I don't think it is Meaning. If you have your support, your recovery network, it's deemed appropriate, healthy, essential right now. It's not a relapse. That's my personal opinion, without all the context, based on what people are thinking in general, I don't think that's relapse. Now, what you do here on out is vitally important. So one thing I always recommend if you have a plan surgery, you talk to the doctors.
Speaker 1:An addict to abuse substances, especially opiates, or I don't want to take it. I don't want to abuse it, but you have to, or it's deemed appropriate. My recommendation is okay, you give me a script for one, two, three days before you see me again post-stop, because that means here's the medication It'll get me through I see the doctor again. Narcotic pain medication at one time was giving to Minimize the pain, make the pain bearable, not alleviated. How is it prescribed now? To not only get rid of the pain but feel good while you're doing it? That's how it's given now, but medication was initially to make the pain bearable. That would be my recommendation. I don't have to feel nothing For three days, but I'd like to make it bearable till I see you again. That'd be my first recommendation.
Speaker 2:Second recommendation would be to tell as much people as possible in your recovery network why it goes back to whether I relapse or not, or whether I'm living in the addiction or not, is determined by how much am I hiding? Isolation, absolutely so that's I mean in 12 such terms that they say it's taking the wheelback or running the show Right. So when you're sharing and being open, you're more like what should I do, as opposed to I know what to do.
Speaker 1:I hope that answers your question yeah, yeah, and and other people are going to see my addictive behaviors or manipulative behaviors or maladaptive behaviors quicker than I am. I might not see my irritability or all of a sudden I I Want this medication, maybe more than I should, or the irritability or the thought processes that are going through my head because I'm living it and Experiencing it, that maybe I haven't had for months or even years or decades for people in recovery. Other people know what I'm like sober. They're going to notice a difference in me in an altered state, quicker than I am, and potentially getting how I think, how I feel, how I act and react is more addictive and Maladaptive than I am because I'm in the middle of it. I've got Tunnel horse vision right. So being able to tell people and your support network is so important Because they're going to see the thoughts, emotions, behaviors in a way that you from an outside party, I suppose to me living it and experiencing it. Another thing I'd recommend double triple your meetings. If you're a meeting goer, what more time do you need the support than now? Right, it's hugely important, hugely important.
Speaker 1:I had a client of mine that's drug of choice was alcohol. Never had a taste of desire to use opiates ever. He had a major knee surgery and he instantly had the strongest cravings in his sobriety for alcohol. So this is a different substance than his drug of choice. He never liked opiates when he was in active use but because he had this mind altering, mood altering substance, he wanted to drink. So he told his wife that please go get me alcohol, please go get me booze. This guy was in my last prevention group and you know what his wife said I will get you alcohol, but if you drink this alcohol I am putting up the for sale sign. Wow. But my point being, even though it's not your drug of choice, these are mind altering, mood altering chemicals and sometimes it's the disease of addiction. And even though it might not be your drug of choice, he never liked it, but it changed his mood and it created a desire. And he said in the real last prevention group when he came back from when he could crutch around, if I wasn't gonna split open my knee, I would have crawled to that liquor store. That's how strong his craving was. So the need, or the proactivity, of having a support network is so important.
Speaker 1:One thing I'd recommend, as we're talking about, you can't avoid the pills that you're, these opiates that you're on, whether it's your drug of choice or not, give them to someone else. Hey, I appreciate your support. I don't want or need to trust myself and doling this out myself. It says every six hours. Do you mind giving it to me when it's ready, as opposed to me doing it myself Because you're putting yourself in a position of taking more than prescribed.
Speaker 1:Here's another thing I say we can be really manipulative, especially in active use, and taking these pills for people can put them in a position and some people say I'll give them to my spouse or I'll give them to my parent, and then I do this mommy, honey, please give me another one, please, just one more. I swear I'll just take one more. And we can manipulate out of fear and suffering, and sometimes our loved ones, whether it be our spouse or our parents, will enable us. So sometimes I recommend okay, who should you really be giving these medications to? Maybe it shouldn't be the people that you know that you used to manipulate or wouldn't manipulate, moving forward. So maybe it can be a friend and sobriety, maybe it can be a sponsor, maybe it can be a next door neighbor. But if it's not healthy to be you, then don't do it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, this is a really good message that you're saying, because essentially what we're saying is that for cravings for addiction, the solution is not to outbeat it but to ask for help, and I feel like that's a really good. And then, if you can do it by yourself, that means, yeah, you're not alcoholic or an addict, but like that's also. One thing that's very touching and humbling about people in recovery is that we're like we need help and that's the only way I'll get through anything, you know, and and that's it takes a lot of courage to admit that.
Speaker 1:Let's talk about non opioid pain medications and other solutions because sometimes, whether it's the medical field, whether it's the marketing, whether it's the business behind these pain medications, like it's the only way to go and we have to use it Bullshit. Here's some other examples. So non opioid pain relievers, such as we know there's Acida, mediphin and Tylenol, and NSAIDs, which is nonsteroidal anti-inflammatories, and Advil, ibuprofen and, believe it or not, these can manage really mild or moderate pain successfully when you are no longer addicted to pain pills and neurologically your pain receptors are like, oh, I need this as dependent on it. And after you go through that rebound effect and you're past that withdrawal stage. Not for chronic pain clients at first, but for the majority of people these things work very well if you don't use them regularly. That's one thing.
Speaker 1:Local anesthetics so for certain procedures, local anesthetics can be used to numb a specific area, reducing the need for systemic pain. So it can be beneficial for minor surgeries and procedures. It can be a local anesthetic. Make sense, right? Why would you need a narcotic when something like that can work for a vasectomy and other things that need local anesthetics? Regional anesthesia techniques such as nerve blocks or epidurals can be employed to block pain signals to specific regions of the body. These approaches can provide really effective pain relief without systemic effects of opioids. It's regional, so far, so good.
Speaker 1:Right, physical therapy. Physical therapy can play a crucial role in managing pain and promoting recovery. It's okay, here's the surgery, but sometimes a long-term beneficial effect is the action after the procedure, because that can set up the conditions for healthy healing and recovery. More so than just the surgery. It's hugely important, and what do people often slack on after a surgery? It's the physical therapy that can lead to long-term minimizing or reducing or getting rid of the pain, even more so than the potential surgery. Non-pharmacological interventions, integrative therapies what do we have here? We've got acupuncture, meditation, a lot of these things. Chiropractic care may offer relief from pain and discomfort and there's a lot of research that says this is really beneficial for a lot of people. We've got episodes on classical Chinese medicine and acupuncture and chiropractor and all kinds of things that you can look at in our episodes that highlight this for pain and all kinds of stuff.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah again. Everything that I'm hearing from this episode as I'm listening without any clinical background, the way I'm interpreting everything, is pretty much the power of honesty, the power of truth, and people respect that and the universe respects that.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Like, when you are in a situation, you mention everything about you, you know that has happened and then the solution comes. You know, there are just always ways to overcome anything. Yeah, and I feel like everything that you have listed are all as a result of I cannot do this. Help me, you know, as opposed to, oh, let me just sneak this in, you know.
Speaker 1:The mind-body connection and these practices are so strong, especially when, just like we can manifest a craving and it can become even more intense when we obsess over it. We'll talk more about that in the next episode. The Psychological but man things like mindfulness, meditation, yoga, relaxation techniques can really help manage the pain. But for a lot of people intense or chronic pain is like a trauma response. So the psychological and the belief of the pain can manifest and make the pain that much more worse. So things like CBT and thought-stopping to reduce the stress is really important for a lot of people a whole lot of people.
Speaker 1:Over-the-counter topical treatments, creams, patches and gels containing ingredients like menthol, nsaids can be applied directly to the skin, a painful area, for localized relief. I mean, it just keeps on going. But often we hear a lot of times the medical, our current medical model is oh, here's a symptom, oh, let me treat the symptom and get rid of it very quickly, as opposed to, here might be some healthier ways that can be just as effective, if not more effective, for pre or post, you know, op and long-term relief. Man, how's that for the physical piece?
Speaker 2:Very informational, very good stuff.
Speaker 1:So we're certainly talking about how we set ourselves up for cravings and potential relapse and hopefully you guys are seeing this will be part one of two-part series when it comes to how we set ourselves up for cravings and, most importantly, in the next episode. All right, we've got a full-blown craving. How do we reduce it and get rid of it?
Speaker 2:Yeah, on that note, one message that I want to end with, from the point of view of life coaching and mindfulness coaching, is that our minds are so powerful for either way. The thing about craving is that once I made a decision to get high, nothing can stop me, and same is true for recovery, too, that once I really want recovery and be sober, all these doors open up, and then there is a way. That's my experience. Yeah, I love it.
Speaker 1:Well, thank you guys. We're going to give you guys a cliffhanger and then we're going to do part two of how we set ourselves up for cravings and how do we minimize and reduce the cravings after we potentially set ourselves up for them. Whether we set ourselves up for them or not, how do we get rid of the craving and minimize it? All right, please like comment. Subscribe. Appreciate you all for joining in and listening, and my name is Luke. This is all. See you next week, see ya.