Originally Posted by
CaliButterfly 
Good for you to be at day 18 with no plan in place, that's some admirable determination! Not being able to go to AA meetings and being diligent about confidentiality must be stressful in addition to just staying sober. If you can't get live group support, have you thought about using the chat feature here? It's not face-to-face, but it's still live interaction. And you could possibly find a virtual friend to support each other in times of weakness. I don't have a "plan" in place, per se, but I have contingencies to fall back on if I feel my willpower and resolve waning. Perhaps that is the way to go in your situation? Also, just as a thought as far as your bi-polar. Please don't give up on meds. I think you may just haven't found what works for you. My adult son has it too, and it took trial and error before he got the right meds. I wish you the best of luck.
I’ve been actually better off meds, than on them. I’ve tried about 25 different medications and in the end my psychiatrist agreed that the side effects for me were too great in comparison to the disease itself. For example I got tremors like I had Parkinson’s disease, incredible weight gain (went from uk size 4-6 to a UK 14 in a matter of weeks without changing diet) crushing drowsiness and worsening depression. To mention a few!! So with the doctors support I came off all medications about a year ago now. I did smoke weed and that helped, but in the interest of sobriety I have banned myself from all psychoactive substances, even prescription benzodiazepines and herbals.
I hadn’t actually checked out the chat feature, that’s a really good idea, will have a look now - thank you! I hope your son is also on the path to recovery with bipolar as I know first hand that is one hell of a ride xx