I used stimulants for 20 years (about age 20 to 40). The first ~17 years were "occasional", i.e. a few times a year. During Covid I fell into a deep and horrifying addiction that I could not get out of by myself that lasted for 2.5 years. Hundreds of nights without sleep.

When I got clean in early 2023, I remember reading here that it takes about 18 months for a brain to fully recover from a serious stimulant addiction.

That scared me. Because I thought it meant that I would feel like shit for 18 months.

That's not the case. It did not take 18 months for me to get to a point where I considered myself "safe", as in "I don't want to go back to my drug". I arrived there much faster.

But seeing improvements LONG after I started to seriously wish to never use stimulants again, has been extremely motivating.

I am happy to report that I don't ever want to use stimulants again. I don't ever want to go back to square one.

What a horrible state to be in. If you're reading this and you have been considering quitting for a while, I can honestly tell you:

IT IS SO EXTREMELY WORTH IT!

You are suffering right now. Quitting WILL improve things in the long run. Not immediately, but it won't take 18 months. I was fine enough after a fraction of that time, and my life has steadily been improving since.