Addiction :: I'm Becoming Alcohol Dependent
Sep 1, 2014
I've been a moderate-heavy drinker for about 10yrs now. In 2009 I poisoned my liver which I recovered from by abstaining from alcohol & by taking Milk Thistle tabs. I have learned to listen to my body & can usually tell when I've overdone it before much damage is done. However for several reasons like my social life & stress level increasing (unrelated), I've been drinking a lot more lately. I drink every day & have started drinking from 11:00am to bed time on weekends. I always felt I could stop anytime until now. And recently I've been having dizzy spells, felt light headed, weak & tired. I've also started losing my sense of taste at times & headaches are starting to become frequent. I've always been aware of the signs so when I started having more than one at one time I started to worry. I'm trying to change my thought process to think of alternatives to drink when I'm thirsty & fight the urge but currently, the idea of a non alcoholic drink is unappealing & seems tasteless by comparison to an alcoholic drink. I also think I've become Anemic to some degree, which is what lead me to this site. I have started becoming breathless & although I'm mildly Asthmatic, this doesn't feel Asthma related. My diet hasn't been the best lately which is largely affected by lifestyle & partner but I'm slowly changing this.
I should also mention that I have ADD & take 3 Dexamphetamines daily. I was diagnosed 18 yrs ago when I was 17. I have had my thyroid checked & it's ok. A few weeks ago at my last Psych appointment, my blood pressure was high (unusual for me) & my blood sugar levels low. My psych is aware of my drinking habits.
What I want to know is what can/should I take as a dietary supplement to help my body recover & what have other people done to overcome alcohol addiction?
I'm not into AA meetings. I'm not in denial about this & I don't think group therapy would help me.
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I have been working at reducing my valium daily for several months now. I haven't always been successful but I'm still on track.
A week ago i also stopped smoking.
PROBLEM - my husband is dying due to alcoholism and I really don't understand why he has to drink it at all. He's been to three rehabs, walked out of two (pne after only 12 hours) and successfully stayed dry for six months in one. Needless to say he bought six cans on the way home once discharged.
Why?
Someone must be able to explain to me why people like alcohol. Personally I think it tastes disgusting and causes multiple social problems and violence, so what is the attraction?
All answers welcomed, even those telling me negative things about myself. I'm quite used to hearing them from my husband, anyway....
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I tend to see alcohol,drugs, bulimia as addiction. I have done all of them. Unfortunately alcohol for me is the least controllable one of all of them. I have been an addict for 40 years now. I started out as bulimic, drink started to cause problems when I was around 30.
I've been to A.A. I've done the 12 step program but I recently had a bad relapse.Only one day. It is helpful.
A.A has helped me I know I am an alcoholic.but I didn't like the idea of people phoning me every other day and I don't like the idea of sponsors - it's true they have had alcohol experiences that I understand too but I don't like telling someone I don't know about my life experiences as In Step 4 . No one there is an expert. Their analysis may be wrong.Even though it is meant in the best way possible.
I have a lot of other issues at the moment the worst being poverty, legal issues and relationship problems. A.A can help with some things and not other but none of these.These things were not caused by alcohol. Partly by addiction.some socioeconomic.
It's a very good organisation and helps many people but only 5% stay clean. It's fine if you are prepared to do all the meetings believe 100% in the program. It's just A.A can't help me with the burning issues just now.
I've done therapy which has helped with a lot of things but a lot of the therapy stuff I learned goes against A.A teachings. Therapy is about creating a life for yourself. A.A is about being dependent on A.A forever. I don't like that. Maybe I haven't hit my "rock bottom" yet and I'm not desperate enough.
Having said this A.A does absolute wonders for some. So it's definitely worth a try.
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I am a 67 year old male who had previously been drinking a fifth of straight Vodka for years and went 3 times to a clinic to detox.
I quit for many years but due to personal Family problems I started drinking heavily again about 3 months or so ago. (3- 1/2 pints of Vodka a day)
18 days ago I started self in home detox and am SLOWLY but surely beginning to feel better but not at all up to par.
I can't sleep at night and still feel woozy and unsteady on my feet! Somewhat dis oriented as well!
At the beginning of my Detox I had dark colored urine which indicated blood but a R/x of Amoxicillin seemed to take care of that and my urine is now the color its supposed to be.
I, for a few days had black stool but it has since gone away and is back to normal (?) color.
I drink about 5 bottles of water a day and sleep (or try to sleep? with a cold washrag on my head during the day and at night.
My question I guess is this:
I am on day 18 now and still feel as I described as above.
I have read for hours on the NET regarding as to how long these feelings will last and I can't find a definitive answer. Most have said that the feelings will pass after two weeks but could take 3 weeks or longer! Can someone please verify?
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He recently was in hospital due to his drinking problem. He almost died literally, he has fatty liver, swelling of leg and hepatitis too. He was a binge drinker and has been developing a bleeding nose now. He says about headache always , but never been ready to leave this drinking. What should we do? Will admitting at an alcohol addiction recovery centre help him? Any suggestions?
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I am thinking about getting pregnant. I have type 1 insulin dependent diabetes. My mom says I better not get pregnant or I will die from carrying a baby. I think that is bogus. I don't see women dying on the news from diabetes, or do they and we don't hear about it? I will do anything to have a baby. My boyfriend is very supportive as are my friends. I am afraid to say anything to my doctor because he might say somethign about it to my mom. I am 20 years old and my mom can't stop me but I want to make sure that I can carry a healthy baby. Any one know taht for sure?
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I am possibly thinking of paying for a private home detox. They have suggested it will be using valium as opposed to Librium. I was just wondering if anyone else on here had been through one?
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My boyfriend takes 30/500 co codamol and he takes 20-30 a day, you may think this is a lot but that is because my boyfriend has been addicted to them for the past 6 years after being given these tablets following his tonsillectomy.When he wakes in the morning he has bad cramps and my bed is soaking wet this is due to the fact that he's an addict and the codeine has worn off. When he has tried coming off them he has the same symptoms as a heroin addict in cold turkey. He is now gets a daily prescription and is down to fifteen a day but he now takes codeine phosphate as the paracetamol in the co-codamol causes constipation which can't be good on the bowels. He is only 26 and this addiction has made his life sometimes unbearable. I know that if he could turn back time he would never had taken co codamol.
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i m addicted to mastrubation, can anyone help me to leave it?
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Have been taking methadone for a few years now and got all the way down from 40 mgs to 10mgs a day. I can't seem to get much further down. Does anyone know the best way to just stop taking this med all together?
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I'm 25 years old my dad is 50 and has been on a methadone maintenance program for the past 8 years before that he was a heroin addict for about 12-15 years the past year me and my family have been trying to convince my father to kick the methadone he always says how its a deadly withdraw and when he does taper down he always goes back up sometime higher than he was before which really makes me think he just like the way it makes him feel (gets him high for free) recently my mother has went with him to his program and talked with counselors about him getting off my father has hepatitis and he was always a thin man ever since the methadone his stomach has gotta very large i feel the methadone is killing my father.
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Im psychologically addicted to diphenhydramine since 4 years now...Anyone has been or currently addicted to this stuff? It seems to be an extremely rare addiction..
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I'm 44 yrs old and i have been using Viagra for 12 years for recreational use, how do i wean myself off, i have tried having sex without Viagra but i can not achieve a full erection or an erection at all if i don't take the pill, i have been to my GP and to my urologist and have done blood test and had my testosterone check and all is normal.
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i am 19 year old boy. i am masturbating since i was 10 from past 9 years , i am so addicted that i masturbatethrice a day. i want to stop it completely. i have tried to stop it but i can't stop it for a month.
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i recently went on a bit of a bender on weed this week. i don't normally smoke it, maybe once every 2 months or whenever i get offered some, i stayed round my mates and we did a fair bit, i had about 10 or so cones (that doesn't really sound a lot does it).
i got home later that day, and just started freaking out, i felt sh*t, and then i kept on thinking 'im gonna stay this way forever' and 'you've changed permanently, you're not you anymore' i started sitting on the computer and started telling my friend my problem and got even more freaked out, even now im freaking out, i was shaking thinking im gonna stay like with this sort of paranoia.
is this normal?
i stopped taking anti-depressants a couple months back as well.
is there anything i can start taking to stop me feeling this way or will i get over it in a couple days, this is eating me from the inside.
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It's been about a year now that we've moved to Germany. At first I would try one beer a night 2-4 times a week. Slowly it's gotten worse to the point that every night I now drink at least 4 half liters (17oz each) every single night and I can't remember the last time I didn't drink. It seems like everyday I wake up and promise myself I won't drink today but I just can't not drink.... The beer is just so damn good I can't get enough of it; and it's super cheap too.
It hasn't caused any problems with my family or daily routine aside from me being tired all the time.
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I am concerned about getting addicted to these oxycodone. I had back surgery and was told to take 1 to 2 pills every 4 to 6 hours. I am a recovering alcoholic also. I take 1 pill every 6 hours for the past month and in my mind I know when its been 6 hours. I have been reading a few of these posts about people on these oxycodone. I feel like I am hooked on these things already and I do not need that problem. It sounds like these are bad news. I still have back pain and need a painkiller. So my question is am I just paranoid by reading all the other posts or should I ask my doctor for another pain killer and get off these now?
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large bumps appearing after injections. One particular area of injection seems to be getting larger, swelling up the last two days and turning a brighter red in the area of injection. I cannot go to dr. must keep low profile. The funny thing is it doesn't hurt CAN AN ABSCESSED NOT HURT? I have never heard of one being painless. Do hot packs make a big difference and how often should I administer one? Also, what over the counter medications or remedies can I do myself?
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So I made the big plunge yesterday and went through with something I'd been tossing around in my head the last couple months. I went to a clinic and got a prescription for Suboxone.
Since I'm a school teacher, one of my biggest worries was actually walking into a Suboxone clinic and someone recognizing me. It would come as quite a shock to some (in my mind) to see Mr. B____, the local English teacher, lined up to get a prescription for his opiate addiction. Just goes to show that addiction doesn't pick and choose whom it affects. But I overcame my ridiculous fears and went on in today.
There are actually two clinics in the small city where I live (at least nearby). One clinic as open on Saturday, looked to be a nicer looking facility, but they don't take insurance. It would have cost $500 for the first visit, without even considering the cost of the drug itself. So I went with other clinic that did take my insurance, and I was only out 35 dollars (My prescription copay was to be $40 for the name brand strips, but the clinic gave me a discount card that took care of my copay, which was a pleasant surprise...this wasn't a one time deal...it will cover my copay each time I get the med). Being a teacher with a wife and three kids...every dollar helps for me. For those interested, the card will help those who are either pay in cash or use have insurance other than Medicare. The card pays up to $50.
The clinic is only open two hours (two days a week), so I was a little curious how they handled so many patients in so little time. The answer came to me as I was shuffled through the clinic cattle at a sale barn. Though there was a thick stack of papers to sign, some of which asked detailed questions about my addiction and health history, I got the feeling I was getting a product wrapped up and sold for the masses, not for me as an individual. It is sad for me to think of those who don't have the ability to educate themselves on what it is they are taking. Even I, after months of research on the internet, am still confused on quite a few contradictory opinions and ideals regarding Suboxone.
The clinic is located in a less than desirable part of town, and the waiting room did not exactly make one feel comfortable. It was hot, and everyone in there looked pretty miserable. I was comforted, though, by the fact that there were no familiar faces. It also gave me comfort knowing that we were all there for the same reason, and none of us had anything to hide. I could go into more detail about this experience, but I have jabbered too much already.
Long story short, I peed in a cup, the results of which I was not told. I knew coming into the clinic that there was no dispensing medication at the clinic, so there was no worry for me to stay clean for 24-48 hours. I took 40mg of hydrocodone at 7:00 the night before, so I wasn't completely miserable at the time of the appointment.
Strangely, my vitals or any other normal "clinic" methods were practiced. I went straight from peeing in a cup to talking to the doctor who was sitting behind this big beaten up wooden desk in a stale smelling office. The doctor thumbed through my file and asked basic questions about how much I was using and where I was getting it. I was in and out of his office in less than 5 minutes.
I didn't lie about my drug use, and I was prepared to share much more. I pretty much told him that I got hooked on opiate painkillers after multiple operations that required them. Also, I have had two DVT blood clots that required me to be on blood thinners, and thus not able to take most standard OTC painkillers such as naproxen or ibuprofen. I had been fed hydrocodone for years with few questions asked. My problem is that I like the way they make me feel and have spent the past ten years trying to get my hands on enough to manage my pain and feed my addiction.
I believe it us by the grace of God that I have not found myself in a worse predicament than I currently find myself. I have never injected anything, but I suppose that would have been the next stop for me. I had been doctor and pharmacy shopping for years and I knew how to work the system pretty well. Even in my heyday though I wasn't able to get my hands on quite enough. I was always counting pills and worrying about when I would run out. I soon found myself "borrowing" from my mother and other friends. I found myself doing things I never imagined I'd be doing. Shameful things to feed my habit. My wife discovered my problem years ago as and threatened to leave me more than once. To lose her and my children would have devastated me. One would think that I would turn my back on the pills considering all I had to lose. But that was not enough to stop me. I guess if my wife didn't love me (a lot) she would have left me tears ago.
I was fine while on my hydros,though, but when I ran out and became sick from withdrawals, I was miserable. I felt miserable , and I was miserable to be around. I made and broke more promises than I can count to my wife, mother, and father, friends, and family.
I have had many of those moments of enlightenment where it became clear that I could no longer go on with this. There have been months at a time where I was able to stay clean. But some kind of life event always drove me back to the pills. I would have a surgery or other physical problem, or life would become so stressful that I would choose to hit the exit door and insulate myself from the world around me by delving into the world of pills.
There is another component yo my story that is important to share. In 1995 I had a bad auto accident that broke several of my bones and kept me in the hospital about a week. Worse than the physical wounds, however, I found myself battling emotional wounds. By the time I turned 22 I found myself battling terrible panic attacks that marked the beginning of my struggle with chronic depression that has lasted until now (I'm now 41). I have tried. nearly every antidepressant known to man. In the end I settled good old Prozac and Klonopin. Neither of which has done a great deal to relieve my depressive symptoms. I currently take 40 mg of Prozac and 2 mg of Klonopin in the morning and 2 mg at night. No, I have never abused Klonopin in the way I have hydrocodone. I don't feel blissful on either medication. I only notice them in their absence. I have tried to quit both and have experienced hellish withdrawals with each. My sub doctor indicated that he would like to see me come off of both quickly. I understand that taking benzos with Suboxone is a dangerous combination, but quitting cold turkey, especially with the Klonopin can be equally dangerous. He said he would like to see me off of both within six months. I don't see this happening but maybe Suboxone will allow it?
Getting to my main point. I have not been drawn to opiates because of recreational use. They were, as I've written, prescribed for physical pain. But the best aspect about opiates to me was their positive effect on the symptoms of my depression. Nothing I've taken comes close to making me feel "normal" as do opiates.
Hydrocodone, oxycodone etc... do make me feel "not depressed" but they are a kind of fools gold. My body and mind quickly build up a tolerance for them, and I find myself taking more and more to feel "not depressed". So when I started reading more and more about Suboxone, I became very interested. The medicine might be able to help me break the cycle of pill addiction, and help me as a type of antidepressant.
There seem to be two opposing camps on this issue. Some believe it is ridiculous to even consider Suboxone as a long term treatment for depression. Some might say I'm making the same mistake as I did with hydrocodone...expecting a band aid to heal a much deeper disease. There others who see Suboxone as a type of synergistic agent that might be legitimate weapon to combat depression. I can understand the viewpoints from both sides, but as for me, I'm willing to at the very least give Suboxone a few days to see how it makes me feel. I can tell you this, that I can already feel the positive effects of the Suboxone on my depression. There was an initial semi state of euphoria a couple of hours after I took my first strip, but I don't exactly feel " high". I feel rather normal capable of doing things that I would ordinarily struggle with (like typing this ridiculously long post that most people won't have the patience to read!)
I'm not sure how things will go from here. I'm not sure how I will sleep tomorrow or how I will feel with my next dose. But I will say that it feels good to have some hope. I have been worrying all summer how I would be able to gut out another year in the classroom with my raging depression and addiction cycles. I don't know how it will end, but at the end of the day it is nice to be able to look back and say that I did the right thing, that I tried to make the right choice.
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My mother is a 54 year old woman whose life is controlled by the use of her computer. It's affecting her performance at work (I've seen it) as well as her relationship with her family. She neglects her family and many household chores are left undone or half done. Her personal hygiene has also become vile. Recently, while sitting at her computer I've noticed her falling asleep, only for a few seconds, then waking up again. This happens frequently. So, to be specific, can a cyber-relationship addiction cause narcolepsy?
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I'm currently in prison, been taking methadone for about 6months 2 or 3 a day no more than 30 ml but I decided to quit because not the best thing to do in prison, ( I'm not even prescribed to it) it's been 3 days since I took my last one and honestly I'm not having any major WD , yeah of course I feel weak and uncomfortable but I still manage to eat and sleep so far, I just been reading other's post and most of em saying methadone WD takes weeks even months to feel normal, I don't wanna be stack in my cell for weeks and not be able to protect myself if needed, anybody knows how long does methadone WD takes.
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