DOSE:	1 g	smoked	Products - Spice-Like Smoking Blends	(daily)
		oral	Tryptophan - 5-HTP
		oral	St. John's Wort
		oral	Milk Thistle

BODY WEIGHT:

225 lb

Quitting SpiceK2

This was my second go around with Spice type products. The first time I quit it was because they took it off of the shelves. I experienced mild withdrawal symptoms such as nausea, irritability and trouble sleeping. This lasted for about 5 days. Cravings were present but not too powerful. I just missed the buzz.

Then it went on sale again, and since I'd been such a good customer before my supplier sold it to me in larger quantities (10 gram size) at a reduced price. Just what I needed.

Soon my tolerance had returned and even though I wasn't really smoking more than before I started to notice some side effects had become more pronounced. Most prominent was the almost complete lack of interest in food. I had to force myself to eat and when I did or could it was usually a protein bar or shake. Just basic nutrition and not a very healthy way to take in calories. After about a month of desperately searching for some other reason for my appetite loss I had to ADMIT that it was the dope that was doing me in.

After about a gram a day for 6 months, quitting was much harder than before. Malnutrition + addiction = no fun. But I did it. Here's what I have to share about MY experience.

1. Did the LiveStrong diet on Lance Armstrong's site to get my stomach ready for food again. Low-fiber, high carb and small portions for the most part but doable. The site explains how it works better than I ever could. In about 3 days I was up to 3 small meals a day and several snacks. 3 days after that I resumed my normal eating habits with a keener eye towards nutrition.

2. Panic/Nervousness/Irritability/Anxiety/Sleeplessness were also a problem. I took 5-HTP (250mg time release) and St. John's Wort (450mg time release, twice daily) to start and have since tapered the 5-HTP to 50mg in the morning and 100mg at bedtime. think I will continue to take it as it is a serotonin precursor (which is something I wasn't getting enough of) and I'll stick with the St. John's Wort too as it eases my mild depression.

3. Milk Thistle (175mg 3 times daily) helped my liver with the detox.

Finally, I won't be smoking anything but the real deal from now on even if I have to wait until retirement to do it. The bullshit I had to go through to get over it makes it impossible to enjoy.

On a positive note I discovered how to treat MY anxiety and depression with herbal remedies that almost 2 months after quitting still have me feeling mentally better than I have in years.

As some of you that work in certain career fields know, we can't take much of anything stronger than aspirin without a waiver, special permission or in some cases even loss of job. The 5-HTP and St. Johns Wort worked for me and have changed my life in a meaningful way.

Exp Year: 2011	ExpID: 91626
Gender: Male
Age at time of experience: 51
Published: Nov 26, 2017	Views: 2,437
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Products - Spice-Like Smoking Blends (472) : Retrospective / Summary (11), Depression (15), Addiction & Habituation (10), Not Applicable (38)