Gambling... is it making symptoms worse?

[[Ra...]]

I've been doing a little gambling, today I won about £150 which is like $200 something for you americans. I started shaking a lot afterwards and having intrusive thoughts, do you think gambling could be working on parts of the brain similar to drugs? Should I cold turkey it? lol

[[pi...]]

Things like this can be very stimulating and most of us in benzo withdrawal have a highly sensitized cns that doesn't react well to excessive stimulation, whether good or bad.

 

I'm glad you won, it might have been worst if you lost that money.

 

pianogirl

[[Sv...]]

I will echo what PG just said. Simply sitting in a casino would overload my senses with all the activity. Add to it the stress of potentially losing money and it would likely be extra uncomfortable.

[[Ra...]]

Yeah you're right, no more of that. This recovery process is very very challenging indeed.

[[ea...]]

Even if you're having fun, gambling raises ones anxiety levels....therefore, its something you probably want to avoid right now. Who needs more anxiety?!

east

[[be...]]

I think one has increased anxiety whether you win or lose in gambling.

[[ea...]]

Yes. That is what I meant. Sorry if it wasn't clear. I suppose winning makes it nicer, but.........I don't gamble. My father had a gambling habit, and I believe I have the tendency, so I simply don't do it at all. Not even Publishers Clearing House!

east

[[Fl...]]

Any activity that pings dopamine probably has the potential to flare symptoms when you "come down" from the boost it gave you. It happened to me when I was dating girl briefly when I was just over a year off. The highs were amazing but as soon as it went south it had exactly the opposite effect.

[[Ra...]]

Any activity that pings dopamine probably has the potential to flare symptoms when you "come down" from the boost it gave you. It happened to me when I was dating girl briefly when I was just over a year off. The highs were amazing but as soon as it went south it had exactly the opposite effect.

 

Yeah this is EXACTLY what happened. I was in the moment gambling putting cash in and watching the reels spin and the wins pay out and the little coins fall out of the machine. There were like no intrusive thoughts at all. I was calm and happy... afterwards my hands were shaking I was twitching and had a crap load of intrusive thoughts... the brain is a very interesting thing.

[[ea...]]

It was a form of distraction......but not a great one. Hope you wont make it a habit! You might lose next time.

east

[[Fl...]]

There were like no intrusive thoughts at all. I was calm and happy... afterwards my hands were shaking I was twitching and had a crap load of intrusive thoughts... the brain is a very interesting thing.

 

Yep....there are certain things that can actually mitigate wd symptoms but the downside is that your system isn't strong enough to be able to handle the rebound that occurs when you take away whatever it is you were doing that alleviated the symptoms. When I first started seeing that girl it basically took away all of the pain. I still had cognitive issues and such but I didn't feel like I was in benzo wd. It was pretty amazing but as soon as things didn't go the way I wanted them to it had exactly the opposite effect and I crashed hard.

 

This is why we have to be careful what we take on during wd. I had a very similar physical reaction after working a ton of hours for several months at a manual labor job when I was between 18-23 months off. The busier I got the better I felt but as soon as the job ended I went into a massive fatigue wave that lasted about 6 weeks. I am positive that it was because I was artificially propping myself up by working so hard. It is good to get out and do things but you have to be careful of taking on too much because these rubber band reactions are very real.

[[ON...]]

I was having a decent day yesterday but then I went and played poker and instantly started getting heart palpitations amd burning of the skin, I lost a couple 100 bucks and last night and today I felt like I was in acute and im over 7 months out off a c/t on Klonopin. How long does this rebound effect last? I thought I was dying last night. Guess I wont be gambling again anytime soon.   

[[al...]]

I think that when we are in a window, there is something in the brain that says "I am completely OK now" and we revert to our old way of living - so many people have mentioned being quite active in some way and then crashing. I guess a middle ground is a safer route.

[[ON...]]

Yeah you are right allisonleigh every time I start feeling good I start wanting to do stuff that I've avoided the whole time when feeling bad, its like self sabotage its insanity!!

[[ma...]]

If you like gambling could you try playing online for free, like free poker, slots etc.?

[Guest [Lu...]]

Dopamine converts to Norepinephrine, which is probably why your anxiety skyrocketed. I remember back in May switching from Cigarettes (which don't bother me at all) to Skoal and that extra dopamine boost made me feel so amazing. I was calmly watching TV, so content, thinking "well I found my easy way to get through this!" The next day was an anxiety nightmare so I stopped the skoal right away.

[[it...]]

Technically gambling can be an addiction. But to anwser your question technically it can affect you mentally with the shifting moods as pianogirl said. Because when you when great but if you loose it can stir you emotionally and be a big let down emotionally and effects your reward centers. Its also tied to neurological responses and emotion which are mental and connected neurologically and the body works of that aswell and its tied to the CNS. So having a sensitive cns and extra stimuli can make you feel worse or throw your body for a rev in symptoms and take you for a loop emotionally..but it would be short lasting as soon as you stop playing. No hurt in the long run

[[ja...]]

I have been gmabling for years, and I like to gamble online from time to time, and it is ok for me I guess. I mostly play on [urlgmblsites.com/mr-bet]https://gmblsites.com/mr-bet[/url] and I don't spend too much money there. There are also some free spins which is always good... Maybe you will like it for you. I think it might even help