marce

Hi people, just wondering something, Im about to start using AVTR method..

I have a question, NA treats alcohol as a drug as well. I dont like to drink actually, even socially, nor my brain associates alcohol with drugs. I know most of the people who went with me to NA couldnt have a drink and not think about their drug of choice. That was really not my case, I rarely drink, and if I do, I go to sleep pretty soon, I dont find it attractive nor I enjoy being drunk (never did).

So my question, will I have to make part of my big plan to quit drinking at good as well as not doing drugs anymore?

ubntubnt

others will know about this than me but if you rarely drink then I don't think it will do much harm to continue with it. cross addiction and substituting one addiction for another though is common so be vigilant and be careful not to develop a problem with it

dwtbd

I was going to say about the same as ubnt.
AVRT is a great 'tool' to end an addiction. I belive they (the Rational Recovery folks) present the material and explain how to direct the method to individual substance use/abuse problems, ie a book on smoking cessation. If alcohol isn't a problem and or doesn't (in anyway , be careful in your honest assessment concerning connection) contribute to using the substance you are trying to break free of, treating it as seperate issue wouldn't be an interference.
welcome to the forum and wish you well

marce

Thanks a lot for your replays. Alcohol really isnt a problem, partying was a problem, but I could go out for a few drinks and knew that I wasnt going to go "party". I dont remember the last time I actually ended up taking my DOC just because I was drunk, I dont remember the last time I was drunk actually, I hate to be drunk. I do however remember taking my DOC and not planning it by going to the wrong place (raves). So Im pretty sure what my brain is relating and cannot set a part is raves/drugs. Alcohol, meh.

Wholesome

I quit drugs and clubbing and ended up stepping up my drinking. It doesn't happen to everyone and I'm not saying it will happen to you, but it does happen where people replace one mood altering substance for another. But if it's not a problem then why bother treating it like one.

marce

that kind of sort of passed through my mind... Im thinking, "well, since my brain recognizes what real partying means, then it dismisses alcohol, but whats going to happen when my brain realizes there is no more "partying"?

what makes me feel confident about my acohol intake (which is very little), is that there is no freaking way someone could make me drink a single glass of beer, wine or any alcohol stuff on week days, I just feel horrible the next day, its probably mentally, but it seems my body relates drinking with feeling like crap the next day, and I have to work through the day from 9-6, I have to run my own restaurant at night, I am a bjj instructor and love to do sports, there is no way im sacrificing any of my activities for drinking, because simple, is a horrible feeling next day for nothing in return, which was not the case with drugs of course.

Anyways, im not looking for any substitute to my drug intake, but it feels good that I know that I can stick to the big plan and have a few beers once in a while (specially in my country where its almost 40c 7 months of the year lol....

anattaboy

Kieth Richards comes to mind as well as many I've heard in meetings and here. There seems to be a higher than average possibility. If it takes more than a few well-placed shots then it may not be the AV you are aiming for but the substance itself. I just did this experiment with weed and it was rather short lived since getting AVRT in my bones. Monday is D-day for vaping. AVRT has silenced the "buts" and "what ifs" in this head or at least made them whiny and pathetic. Not Me.

CelticZebra

SNAP
I had a psychotic breakdown 15 years ago as as result of my drug use.
I spent 3 years seeing a shrink. She told me I had an addictive personality!
I've spent my time since then trying different ways to change my life to enable me to get 'high' or 'escape from reality'
I only ever caused more trouble for MY life, and for those closest to me.
I was a social drinker..... Cue the tape to run through the addiction process when life threw an unimaginable stress at me.....
I chose alcohol over MY life for 10 years. Now I don't drink alcohol, I will never change my mind about that.
In my head my AV (addictive voice) has been running riot for my entire adult life.
I've only realised this since I quit drinking using AVRT and I am already looking forward to having a starring part in my life rather than the shadowy being I had become.

If it's not a problem for you then that's great.
If it is a problem then I believe AVRT has a simple plan for you, me and others in similar situations.

Driving my wagon of hope through beautiful views on my road to myself

SDH73

FWIW, I was a pothead when I was younger. Didn't like alcohol, the taste, the way it made me feel. Well, I quit smoking weed and it was hard, but I did it.

Fast forward a few years and I was drinking every day. Not bingeing, but drinking daily, often until I was fully drunk.

Fast forward a few more years and here I am. Wondering where the last 10 years have gone and fighting to regain control of my life.

Cross addiction is very real and dangerous. Only you can decide whether you should cut out alcohol completely or not, but if you don't really care for it and you drink rarely then it wouldn't be much of a problem to erase that option, right?

marce

thats a good point.

doggonecarl

If you rarely drink, don't find it attractive, don't like being drunk, I would think you'd have no problem adding it to your big plan.

Unless you are leaving the door open for...a party fallback plan?

marce

well, I believe my problem is not wth alcohol but drugs, im not asking If I can get hammered instead of high, I dont like to get drunk, and since my problem isnt going out, drinking a beer and ending up somehow in a motel with a couple of grams of coke and 5 hookers hanging on the rooftop just by accident (this Ive done it quite a few times n the past years, but neither time was by "mistake" well, everytime I went out I told to my self that this time I wasnt going to do it, I would just take a couple of pills have a good time and go to sleep when I come down... but everytime I did end up in the same way, deep inside I know that when my mouth feels my DOC, my brain wont stop till I end up in my favortie place, doing my favorite things... this has never happened to me in the past I dont know, ever may be, only by drinking (I DO NOT WANT TO SOUND ARROGANT, I am by no way meaning that I wont in the future)

I DO however understand that this may seems be like a party fllback plan, and of course my mind is thinking, well, I can quit drugs, but it would be nice to still have a taste of normal life (normal for non addicts).. Which is why I am asking, I havent read the whole book, im on page 31 as now, so Im asking the most experience people in this subject if,because all I know is what Ive been tol in NA, where they tell you that you cannot drink even in a social way because it will lead you to drugs (which I can totlly understand, since it will to most addicts) this program allows you to identify the problem and isolated...

CelticZebra

It sounds very risky to me. I think the point about wanting a taste of normal life (normal for non-addicts) is what kept me on the merry-go-round of addiction for so long.
IMO The brain of an addict/alcoholic changes enough to keep us addicted to our DOC and therefore will be drawn (like a magnet -weak or strong) to other addictive substances, the changes that take place in the brain aren't fully understood but it takes a long time to re-educate yourself into understanding that, by the addictive nature that we now have, due to abuse of a substance, doesn't shrink instantaneously, and requires a good length of time being 'reprogrammed'
AVRT appears to help with that re-programming of the brain in a simple way but each individual will require their own coping skills, life skills and change their lives, to find those natural highs without chemical dependence
If I'd have understood this back then then I wouldn't need to understand it now.
I hope you understand what I'm saying (sometimes wonder if I do?!)
Congrats of stopping using & read the book, I'm sure your answer will be made clear in time

Driving my wagon of hope through beautiful views on my road to myself

marce

thanks for your answers guys, I guess is really upto me, some can do it, some dont. Im starting to use AVTR now for drug usage and smoking. So far I havent smoke a cigarrete, although, Ive stopped sominking for weeks before, it was normally after getting a horrible flu or something, and I couldnt even smell smoke from others smokers, normally it took me a week to start feeling ok again, so I took advantage of these and quite normally for 3 weeks, then again, for some stupid reason, I came back smoking. Now Im craving like mofo for a cigarrete, specially after eating, but im using AVTR and so far, it works

CelticZebra

I'm quitting smoking on Monday, using AVRT
I used to have loads of 'relapses' when I was on the booze until I made my big plan:
"I will never drink alcohol again. I will NEVER change my mind"
I've just ordered the book and am planning to learn more about my "beast" and how to separate my AV from me, thus enabling myself to extend upon my BP and quit nicotine too.

Driving my wagon of hope through beautiful views on my road to myself