Glenna9802

I have been posting in the "Friends and Family" forum about my AH and how I have been trying to cope with all the stress, partly by drinking too much myself. I am going to my first Al-Anon meeting tomorrow, but in the back of my mind is the nagging question of whether my own drinking has recently become severe enough that I should go to AA as well.

There are parts of my day where I have such extreme anxiety, and I have to admit that drinking beer or vodka makes me feel better. However, I take a lot of medication for bipolar disorder, and a lot of times if I drink too much I will have a bad reaction with extreme mood swings, or sometimes it just makes me go to sleep. I don't drink every day, but sometimes I even do it before noon if the anxiety is bad enough, or if I think I need some "fun" in my day.

There is no question whether AH is an alcoholic, but the question is whether I am one as well. I don't know whether it's possible to attend both types of meetings and get all the work done, but I want to be better and mentally healthy and am willing to do whatever I need to do.

Freedom1990

I see no reason why you can't attend both. I qualify for both AA and Alanon myself. I used to attend both when we had Alanon in town, but now ride with another gal when time permits to a nearby town for Alanon. I attend AA in my home town.

nelco

Hello Glenna, nice to neet you. I love to hear my story and I was that anxious person you talk about... Glenna only you can say if your an alcoholic. I was so effected by my husbands drinking and also went to al anon for a while. My husband got sober through a treatment centre and started going to AA. I was delighted and thought my life would start.I was horrified when I could not stop drinking myself. I had to go to his aftercare group as the spouse of an alcoholic and I found myself identifing with the alcoholic and the spouses of alcoholic. I was very scared and confused. Its a long story but my drinking progressed and I eventually got sober and i remain in recovery. For me its AA but I AM an alcoholic. I was able with the The twelve steps work through a lot of "stuff".

CarolD

Why not do both for about 3 months and see how it works out?

BTW...many of my AA friends say their Bi Polar meds work
much better now that they are sober. Ask your doctor ...but
to get an honest assessment you will have to be honest with
him about exactly how much you drink.
Why not keep a notebook to show your doctor?

Welcome to SR...

Glenna9802

That is a good idea to try it for a few months and see if it's manageable. Thanks to all of you. I'm kind of worried because with the bipolar it's hard to sustain any kind of change for a long period of time. I've always had trouble with that. I'm great out of the starting gate, but poop out about halfway through. However, I do know that I drink when stressed, drink alone, drink on medication and drink to get drunk, and those are problems for me. Sometimes it feels easier to just escape the anxiety and problems, but they are always there when I sober up

Freedom1990

Glenna, I think it's great that you see where the alcohol is causing you some problems, and you're willing to try AA. I wasn't so sure I was an alcoholic when I started in AA, but I was so scared at the progression I saw in my then AH, I thought I'd keep an open mind about it.

:ghug :ghug

lizw

I attend both but was sober 5 years in AA before I started going to Al Anon too. My suggestion would be to try going to Al Anon and not drinking on your own and see what happens.

Sometimes Al Anon's seem like alcoholics but are really just 'drinking along with him' or trying to find something to 'relate to him over'. I am not saying this is you but trying to stop on your own will give you a good indication of wether you are or not.

I also suggest this because it is easy to be like a bull at a gate and go to ALL the 12 step meetings avail when one seeks recovery and granted most of us meet the membership for a few fellowships but it will just confuse you. Keep it simple I say.