Why It’s So Hard To Quit Drugs Cold Turkey?

Published on: 13 April 2021 Last Updated on: 11 December 2024

The endurings of life in modern society have made it common for people to develop addictions to drugs and alcohol. It all starts with one drink, one puff, or one sniff to get over a bad mood or event. Before you know it, several months down the line, you’ve lost everything.

Fortunately, some people get to a point where they feel they’ve simply had enough of drug or alcohol abuse. Now, they are ready to make the changes to get over the addiction.

However, some people choose to cold turkey. But, there are several side effects of going cold turkey on drugs.

In this article, we look into the cold turkey approach of quitting, what it means, why it’s so hard, and the risks it poses to the addict. If you want to find a rehab center to help you quit using drugs, you can learn more here.

Quit Cold Turkey To Get Over Addiction

Some people choose to go cold turkey. They feel that it’s easier to stop using their substance of choice rather than to get off it gradually. While ambition and dedication to recovery are powerful on their own, they are simply not enough to overcome withdrawal symptoms.

Quitting substance abuse cold turkey is very difficult and can impose significant risks. It becomes extremely difficult when your body develops a certain level of dependence on the drug; it’s difficult to quit.

What Does It Mean To Quit Cold Turkey?

The term ‘cold turkey’ comes from one of the withdrawal symptoms of quitting substance use. Sometimes, a person may get goosebumps that look like the skin of a plucked turkey after they cut themselves off their drug of choice.

As such, quitting drugs ‘cold turkey’ means putting an abrupt stop to drugs and alcohol use.

Most approaches are done at home without medical assistance or intervention.

People who use this technique do so in the belief that it will be easier to stop using the substance immediately. Some believe that if they disassociate themselves from the drug entirely, they will feel less compelled to start using it again.

For others, detoxing at home is the most convenient method because they don’t have medical insurance and are unable to afford treatment services.

As painful and uncomfortable the experience might be, they believe they can do it on their own without the need for specialized drug addiction treatment. Another reason for going cold turkey is that the addict prefers to do it in a familiar environment where they can feel safer and supported by friends and family.

However, quitting cold turkey should not be mistaken for detoxification. Detox is a slow process of clearing drugs from the body in a safe and controlled setting.

Detoxing allows the body enough time to purge physical cravings and the freedom to go through several uncomfortable feelings and changes brought about by the body breaking free of the drug.

Why Quitting Cold Turkey Is So Hard?

If you’re trying to quit drugs, cold turkey may seem like a fast and easy option at first. You get to go through the process privately at home without subjecting yourself to judgment or scrutiny from people.

However, the technique is very difficult to do. Factors that make it hard include:

Withdrawal symptoms.
Intense cravings.
The drug of choice.
The level of addiction.
Co-occurring mental health conditions.

The Addicted Phase

If you’re addicted to alcohol or a particular drug, your body has likely developed an undesirable mental and physical dependency on the substance. At this point, both your brain and body need those chemicals to sustain a level of equilibrium.

Withdrawal Symptoms

Once you go cold turkey, your body begins to try and go back to its non-addicted state by purging itself of the drug or alcohol substances. This purging process produces intense withdrawal symptoms and physical cravings that can affect you emotionally, physically, and psychologically.

Examples of highly common physical and mental withdrawal symptoms include anxiety, nausea, depression, seizures, hallucinations, vomiting, mood imbalances, agitation, mental fog, insomnia, irregular heart rate, and changes in blood pressure.

Drug of Choice

The type of drug involved also makes it hard for the addict to recover from their addiction through the technique. The drug your body is dependent on will determine the withdrawal symptoms you experience and the degree of severity.

Level of Addiction

Drugs such as heroin and benzos are highly addictive, and experts recommend that addicts of these drugs refrain from using the approach since they can lead to highly dangerous withdrawal symptoms.

Co-occurring Mental Health Condition

The co-occurring mental health condition of the addict can also complicate drug withdrawal and can lead to a highly unpredictable behavioral response from the addict.

The severity of the addiction also makes it difficult for addicts to achieve success from the method. The degree of dependence on a drug, as well as the amount of time you use the drug, will determine how your body and brain will respond to being cut off.

Simply put, the more severe the addiction, the more intense the withdrawal symptoms will be.

Is It Safe To Quit Cold Turkey?

Quitting cold turkey may not be the safest or most effective approach to staying sober, especially for people who have developed a dependency on a particular substance. Quitting too soon can cause uncomfortable withdrawal symptoms and a strong urge to resume substance abuse.

In certain cases, the withdrawal symptoms can be so severe that they cause life-threatening medical conditions such as seizures and heart problems, as explained earlier in this article. Even substances that pose a low risk of addiction, such as nicotine, can cause highly unpleasant withdrawal symptoms.

This is not to say that quitting cold turkey cannot be successful. The technique can be highly effective with the right support system and the rate at which the addict can overcome the withdrawal symptoms.

Withdrawal symptoms last for varying lengths, and some people can get past the withdrawal period faster than those who decide to quit gradually. But if a person is addicted to potentially harmful drugs such as meth or heroin, cold turkey may not be the best idea.

Risks You May Face If You Go Cold Turkey

There are addiction-specific risks you should be aware of if you are going cold turkey. The common ones would include –

Smoking

Smoking cold turkey doesn’t have any direct and significant withdrawal symptoms. When someone abruptly decides to quit smoking cold turkey, they won’t face any life-threatening symptoms.

However, people quitting smoking cold turkey have a lower success rate than people quitting with external support. But, the nicotine withdrawal symptoms you get from quitting smoking cold turkey are difficult to cope with.

Alcohol & Cold Turkey

Alcohol cold turkey can be really difficult. It leads the person who’s quitting alcohol to serious health risks under certain conditions. Sometimes, the effects can be life-threatening. The most serious form of alcohol cold turkey is delirium tremens.

This is something that leads the person who’s quitting alcohol into rapid onsets of extreme levels of confusion. It also meddles with how their brain regulates blood circulation and breathing.

It is common for people to do cold turkey on alcohol to get DTs within 48 hours of quitting the drink. Also, this can last for 5 days straight. They can experience severe levels of confusion and extreme levels of hyperactivity. Loss of consciousness, hallucination, fever, issues with sleeping, etc.

Drugs & Cold Turkey

Similar to quitting severe alcohol addictions, drug cold turkey can also have severe onsets of drug addiction withdrawal symptoms. It’s common for someone with a drug addiction to use more than one substance. Typically, these people use opioids, heroin, cocaine, and other stimulants.

But, if someone stops taking drugs abruptly, it’ll seem extremely serious life-threatening medical condition. These conditions include seizures, heart disease, dehydration, etc.

Drug Addiction Treatment:

Recovering from a drug or alcohol addiction is not an easy thing to do. But this doesn’t deter people from going cold turkey without any external help or medical intervention.

While it may seem like a fast and easy solution, a medically managed drug addiction treatment approach is highly recommended, drug addiction treatment centers is equipped with professionally trained staff who are committed to helping addicts recover and live a life of sobriety.

If you or someone you care about needs help with their addiction, get in touch with a professional drug addiction treatment facility to help you achieve a successful recovery altogether.

Read Also:

Essential Services You Must Hire For Your Upcoming Wedding Day

Bongs Are Still the Very Best Way to Smoke

Soumava Goswami

A passionate writer and an avid reader, Soumava is academically inclined and loves writing on topics requiring deep research. Having 3+ years of experience, Soumava also loves writing blogs in other domains, including digital marketing, business, technology, travel, and sports.

View all posts

5 Reasons You Should Have A Platinum DJ At Your Wedding

Platinum DJ services can make all of the best parts of your wedding even better. From creating tasteful, heartfelt moments at your ceremony to masterfully blending tracks at your reception, a platinum DJ is uniquely qualified to elevate your wedding in a meaningful way. Here are the top 5 reasons why a platinum DJ is the perfect pick for your wedding. What Is A Platinum DJ? A platinum DJ is an elite DJ who has performed at many weddings, comes highly rated, is an experienced public speaker, and has their own event insurance. Platinum DJs blend experience and expertise to give you the perfect wedding-day service. When it comes to your special day, a platinum DJ can deliver an experience like no other. Top Reasons To Hire A Platinum DJ For Your Wedding: 1. Quality One of the first trademarks of a platinum DJ is quality. As mentioned, they’ve got a fair bit of wedding experience. That means no stage fright when they announce your first dance or fumble the track in between dance-offs. If you want a specific song, genre, or event at your wedding, a platinum DJ has the track record to ensure they execute their performance to the letter. A platinum DJ brings their own sound equipment, so you don’t have to worry about whether your venue’s setup is compatible with your DJ’s equipment. They’re technical wizards regarding audio equipment, setting the tone, volume, and mix to the perfect level for the acoustics in the room. All in all, platinum DJs deliver the highest-quality experience you can expect, and they often double as makeshift coordinators if something isn’t going according to schedule. 2. Pacing A critical aspect of your wedding, particularly during the reception, is the pacing. You might have the perfect schedule outlined in your head for every little event, but when it comes to the wedding day, you might find that your best-laid plans go astray. That’s one underutilized skill set of a DJ—especially a platinum DJ. They know the game well, which grants them plenty of familiarity with the structure and natural flow of a wedding. As a result, not only can they help pace your background music, dances, and partying based on their intuition, but they can also emcee for you to make sure everything stays on schedule throughout the evening. The last thing you want is to overstay your welcome at the reception and have an angry venue staff trying to usher out the guests. On that topic, these special invitees—in the politest possible way—often need coaxing in the right direction. A platinum DJ can emcee your important announcements, let the party know when dinner is ready, and give the audience a heads up when they need to sit down or get on the dance floor. You can expect every aspect of a platinum DJ’s role to be executed with flair and professionalism, giving you time to focus on enjoying the moment. 3. Peace Of Mind Weddings are joyous but stressful. Planning a wedding is a logistical nightmare, and whether you’ve got a planner or not, odds are you’ll be nervous when the big day arrives. A platinum DJ is peace of mind exemplified. All you need to do is explain what type of music you’d like, tell them what to wear, and give any other specific instructions. You can rest assured they’ll show up in appropriate attire, kitted out with all the necessary equipment to make your wedding run as smoothly as possible. Coordinating your own music and planning who will emcee each important wedding event is an additional hassle that you probably don’t want to deal with. Handing over the reins to a trusted platinum DJ is extremely helpful to ease your mind. Remember, weddings aren’t an everyday occurrence; it’s worth the extra expense to ensure your big day is memorable for all the right reasons! 4. Perspective Some moments in your wedding are intimate to your wedding party, such as the toasts. Others require a careful, professional approach to unfold at the right pace. Such is the case with a wedding DJ. The difficulty with impromptu DJs—besides the fact they may not know what they’re doing—is that they may be too involved or invested in the wedding events to carry out their duties properly. A relative or friend might forget when they’re supposed to emcee or be too bashful to interrupt and let you know when the party is off schedule. A little perspective helps. Platinum DJs bring a cordial, detached approach to everything they do; their reputation depends on your approval, after all. That’s why some distance between your party and the professional managing your music is a solid step of faith in the right direction, ensuring that the reception stays on track through the watchful eye of a professional third party. 5. Variety Lastly, platinum DJs offer unparalleled variety in music. Depending on how you want to structure the night, they can line up just about any song you or your wedding party want to hear so that you can dance the night away. You can set this up beforehand, too. Just let the DJ know what genre you’re into and a couple of specific songs you’d like played throughout the night, and you’re all set to enjoy the variety and creativity of your DJ. Better yet, a DJ knows how to read the room and can cue up the right song for the right moment, making your special day one to remember. The Bottom Line A platinum DJ brings professional etiquette and musical know-how to bear in their services, delivering a premium quality service to make your wedding even better. Music is an integral part of celebrations around the world, and marriage is one of the most exciting and meaningful human traditions—all the more reason to invest in a professional who can bring that aspect of your wedding to fruition in the best way possible. Whether it’s keeping your wedding party on track throughout the evening or cueing up the right song at the right time, platinum wedding DJs are well worth considering for any wedding event. Read Also: Wedding Planners in Berkshire How to Organize an Eco-Friendly Wedding with Zero Waste? 6 Tips For Having A Perfect City Hall Weddings!

Can You Dye Wet Hair? Here Is The Reason For It

Many questions are arising associated with washing the hair and drying, but now the most frequent question that comes to your mind is, can you dye wet hair? Yes, it sounds a little bit different than the usual hair fashion-related question. But the answer indeed is yes, you can. Some hairstylists think dry hair dyeing can improve your hair texture naturally, and the end result is more natural than coloring dry hair. The wet hair dying technique is called wet balayage. This is a similar hair-dying technique to dry balayage techniques. Only here is a simple difference. It only applied to wet hair. Why Do You Want To Dye Wet Hair? The dying of wet hair may not be a common practice, but when we are talking about the comparison with dry hair coloring, here are some positive effects of wet hair dying. The dye of the wet hair is the best to work for achieving a subtle result. The hair damage is less than usual dry hair coloring. If you want to apply any semi-permanent hair color, then this technique is the best. The hair color promotes better absorption on the wet strands. The semi-permanent hair colors are more Ammonia-free. This type of coloring is becoming less harmful to your hair. Wet hair coloring promotes the natural hair look. This dying wet hair is a more user-friendly approach when you are dying your own hair at your home. These all are the basic positivity of applying the color on the wet hair. When you want to dye your hair at home, wet hair dying is the most user-friendly and time-consuming procedure. All you have to do is just apply the color in the middle of the bath; after that, wash it off. Benefits Of Dying The Wet Hair When you are applying the hair color at home, wet hair colorings are the best possible way to get the desired result. If you have any queries about you can dye wet hair? Then here is the list of multiple benefits of dying wet hair. 1. The Wet Hair Strands Are More Absorbent The wet hair strands are more absorbent than the usual dry hair. The hair color easily melts into the hair, and more easily, you will get the desired color look. The equal distribution of the color is also an attractive part of the wet balayage coloring. The color of the hair is distributed equally after the applications. The color change is quite simple. The hair color does not give you a drastically changing look. But if you want a good coverage color or anything which is a permanent hair color, then this color is not for you. The temporary and the demi temporary colors are working best as the wet color. Both of these colors have very less harmful substance init. 2. Best Hair Colour When You Are A Beginner When you are a just startup color applicant, then the wet color is the best-suited hair color. The beginners are more prone to make a mess when they are applying the color. The wet color is just covering all messes. First, shampoo your hair and then apply the dye to the wet hair. This will give you a more subtle result. These semi-permanent and semi-permanent hair colors are not working well on greasy hairs. This technique is quite easy and time-saving rather than the other coloring techniques. The working professionals and the people who do not have much time to go to the salon are more comfortable using this technique. 3. Gives You A Natural Flowy Look When you are asking the question, can you dye wet hair? Then the first answer which comes to our mind is yes. Not only yes, but the more natural and flowy look is also given through this type of coloring. The implementation is simple, and the drastic change of the hair color can not be found with the use of these temporary hair colors. You can expect mild color and a soft texture change of the hair. The distinctive funky colors are better to work as the wet hair color. How Can You Dye Wet Hair? We all call this dying technique the wet balayage. This technique is simple and effective, and long-lasting more than your expectations. Here are the four simple steps of applying the dye to wet hair. Step1 Wash your hair by applying the shampoo. Step2 Do not use the conditioner, serum, or any oil after washing the hair. Step3 Then just pat dry the wet hair. Step4 We need a damp surface to apply the hair color. Step5 Check the ingredients list before applying the hair color on your wet hair. As wet hair is more fragile than dry hair. Better to use semi or semi-permanent hair color for your hair. When our hair is in the wet state, the hair’s inner cortex layer is also open, promoting better absorption. Step 6 Read the instructions which are written on the package before starting the hair dying application. Step 7 Then wear a pair of gloves. Step 8 And take an amount on the small bowel as per your requirements. Step 9 Then apply the hair color with the applicator brush. Step 10 You can apply the color to the small sections of your hair. Step 11 You can also apply the hair color just like any hair care product. Step 12 Apply a good amount of color because, with every wash, it will become lighter. Conclusion The wet hair dye applications are easier to apply on the hair. These hair colors are less harmful with respect to the other type of hair dyes. The wet hair colors are more for the hair’s benefit and for improving the texture of the hair textures. Can you dye wet hair will no longer be a worry for you if you follow the mentioned points. But it also has some disadvantages. You have to choose the correct hair color for you, which has a less harmful substance within it. If you need simple temporary hair color, then these hair colors are the best time-saver for you. Therefore, I have tried my best to give you answers on how can you dye wet hair and the reasons for the same. You can also mention some more in the comment sections below. Read Also: How Many Jobs Are Available In Real Estate Investment Trusts? How to Download Game Of Thrones Putlocker Online for Free? 0123Putlockers And Servers – Watch Movies Online Is Real Estate Investment Trusts A Good Career Path? Which Type Of Portfolio Might A Young Investor Who Is Not Afraid Of Risk Choose?

3 Characteristics of The Best Wine Clubs You Can Join as An Avid Wine Drinker!

One way to sample various international and domestic wines in the comfort of your home is through a quarterly or monthly wine club membership. Since most wine clubs concentrate on featuring small boutique vintages and wineries, you will get to experience really unique wines that you never would find in a local wine shop. Below is a discussion on the 3 characteristics of a good wine club: Offers Multiple Options for Membership: Besides providing flexible shipping schedules, most wine clubs offer several membership options without any minimum purchasing requirements. Nearly every club also will enable you to cancel at any point without incurring cancellation fees. Based upon your budget for wine, you’ll initially be choosing between membership to a premium wine club or a value wine club. Costs greatly vary depending upon the club you select and your membership level, yet the least expensive clubs begin at about $30 for a 2-bottle shipment. A premium wine club may cost as high as $700 for a 2-bottle shipment, learn more about wine clubs. The kind of wine you need to receive will narrow down your search further. If the membership includes two or more bottles per month, the best wine clubs will enable you to select if you want to get shipments only of red wines, only white wine, or a combination of the two. The best wine clubs will provide various international and domestic wines, while other ones only concentrate on specific varieties or regions. The Best Wine Clubs Are Selective About Their Wine Selection Process: Something to take a closer look at is how a wine club makes its choices every month. It’s important while researching the value clubs since you may not want a discount or bulk bin deals. Usually, the best wine clubs have a panel of specialists who pre-screen wines for value, quality, and uniqueness every month before sending the best bottles out to members. Some wines have a numerical rating assigned to them. While the point system is a helpful guide while judging the quality of a wine, remember that those ratings are subjective, and you should always consider the source. Are Able to Reorder Favorite Wines: Unfortunately, some clubs do not provide a convenient re-ordering system online if you want to purchase more bottles of a specific wine you like. Liquor laws differ depending upon what state you reside in, so it may be really annoying if you attempt to re-order wine directly from the winery or from a different distributor. When you’re reviewing the best wine clubs, you definitely should verify to see if you will have the ability to reorder specific bottles and what type of discounts are given. Occasionally those discounts may be as high as 50 percent off direct winery prices. Wine club memberships are the ideal gift to provide yourself or any wine lover in your life. Since most clubs just feature boutique vintages and wineries, it’s a suitable method of discovering incredible wines that you’d never have otherwise had the chance to try. Read Also: What Species of Wood is Right for Your Wine Cellar Furniture?

Why It’s So Hard To Quit Drugs Cold Turkey?

Quit Cold Turkey To Get Over Addiction

What Does It Mean To Quit Cold Turkey?