intention

Hi Alchotag,


I would say that is the same for me, so it is good I have now quit alcohol.

Good luck with getting to AA. Keep us posted.

Wolfchild

Welcome to the Sober Recovery community.

mirage

Welcome to SR, alchotag! Yep...beer at night here, too. I don't have any brilliant words of wisdom, as I'm still workin through it, but do keep coming back here. The people here are amazing and full of great advice and knowledge. I've been away a bit lately, and I just feel better when I plug back in here. Good luck kiddo...you can do this!

mrfurley

I haven't formally introduced myself yet, but this is my first post.

I'm like you - a beer fiend. I can't get enough. Started in high school and resumed in college (BIG TIME) and it carried over to my adult life. I think I had a problem since day one. I was drinking for fun at first and then as my life tanked, I started drinking to numb my state of existence, choices, problems, etc.

I have problems doing daily items like paying bills, servicing my car, laundry, cleaning up, etc.

I would average about 8-10 beers daily along with a shot or two of vodka. I had to give up the vodka some years ago, because the hang overs were too harsh (even for me). I couldn't even drive from the job to the bar without picking up a tall can or two (the bar was only a few miles for my job). I then had to have a 'going home' tall can and then buy more beer for my place.

I've tried unsuccessfully many times to stop, but it never happened. I think the longest I've ever been sober since 1990 is about 45 days or so.

My life is a string of failures and bad decisions (partly because I hate the career I chose for myself in college. I was drunk when I chose that major).
I've recently been layed-off from my job, partly due to performance. I would leave work early to get drunk.

I pretty much spent the last 20 years drunk or buzzing. I woke up one morning and looked around and realize that this has to stop. I need to get my self together and live the type of life I was meant to live. I could never bring myself to AA, but I'll probably start on Wed.

I really want to sober up and see what type of person I really am. Since I've been drinking as a youth, I probably never really grew up.

I want to stay sober.

CarolD

mrfurley...

SR is full of information and support for you
glad you joined us....Welcome!

Have you considered checking with your doctor about
the best way for you to de tox?
That's always a wise idea...

Here is a link with info and some of our experiences

http://www.soberrecovery.com/forums/...at-we-did.html

Be both safe and sober..

Dee74

add me to the beer drinkers list - I ended up drinking cask wine because it was a bigger bang for the buck, but I was always a beer drinker. Never drank spirits in any regular way.

So yep - even beer drinkers can be alcoholics, alchotag.

Glad you're thinking about what you can do - welcome to SR
D

alchotag

Well it's been a few months since I originally posted this, and I wanted to follow up.

I found a lot of sites talking about Naltrexone, and the Sinclair Method. I know that this subject is a heated debate on here, but please read this entire post before you make an angry reply (or stop reading if you don't plan on making an angry reply). I don't think there's any reason to go into the workings of the Sinclair Method or Naltrexone since there's plenty of information here and elsewhere regarding it. Let's just say, to a person under the influence (or continued influence) of alcohol it seems like a great method.

The method does make sense when you read about it. I bought the book, read it, and decided it was going to be my "big plan".

First step, I went to my doctor. He only knew of Naltrexone as being a treatment for narctic abuse and the only type of treatment he had available was a shot. He had never heard of the Sinclair Method, or anyone using Naltrexone for alcoholism. I spoke to him truthfully about my issue, and he explained that my ailments including pains in my stomach and a 172/110 blood pressure were due to this abuse. He was fair though, and referred me to a psychiatrist to talk more about the possibility of Naltrexone. He also prescribed me some blood pressure medicine and Librium. His advice, of course, was to take the prescriptions and stop drinking, especially if I take the Librium (normally presribed for anxiety).

I did as he directed, but didn't stop drinking. Although while on the Librium, I drank less. This made my wife happy and she encouraged me to continue taking it, although I stopped. I had to explain to her that at this point I was mixing drugs which was actually making matters worse. Come to find out, I was correct.

The psychiatrist also had never heard of taking Naltrexone in this manner, and advised against it. She also advised that I stop taking the Librium completely or I would have yet another monkey on my back to eventually get rid of. She talked me into trying Campral.

I milled around on it for a week or so (buying time of course) until went back to the doctor and saw that my liver enzymes were highly elevated. I'll never forget his words "Your liver is pickled, you have to stop this before it's too late". I made the decision then and there to try the Campral. Some good news though, my blood pressure was down to 130/90, pretty close to normal.

So I took the Campral for a couple of days, and I drank on the third night. I have refrained for the last couple of nights. One thing about the Campral is, it can't change the psychological point of view I have on drinking. I still think about it all the day. A good thing it does though, is take that dead spot blurry spot out of your head that you usually get the first few days, and it actually helps me sleep a little better.

I've come to this conclusion. There is no miracle pill. There are pills that can help, but there is only one way to stop, and that is to stop. I'm going to struggle with the psychological effects with this for some time to come, but it's something that I am going to have to train myself to deal with. At the moment, I don't have a lot of faith in myself that I'm going to remain abstinent forever, but I'm hoping this gets easier and easier as time goes on.

I also can't take Campral forever, but I think after a couple of weeks taking it isn't going to do me much good anyway, it's going to be entirely up to me.

Boleo

I drank for 35 years and what you have described was me between years 15 to 25. I needed a 24 pack to get that "state of mind" somewhere around year 25 and needed a fifth of vodka around year 30 because even a 30 pack of Ice beer did not give me the buzz I was looking for.

I would go out at 7AM (a blizzard would not have stopped me either) to get liquor and peer through the gate at Meijer's till they unlocked it then rush to the checkout counter and bolt to my car to drink it in the parking lot.

I am not bragging, this is how alcoholism progresses.

NoelleR

"...The main use of naltrexone is for the treatment of alcohol dependence...controlled trials in 1992, a number of studies have confirmed its efficacy in reducing frequency and severity of relapse to drinking (with without adjunct psychotherapy)..."

I'm sorry your doctor is unfamiliar with Naltrexone's usage in aiding alcohol dependence. However, there is hope....!

My suggestion for you, in regards to finding a doctor who can help you in this vein, is........... go to the 'physicians' listings (usually titled Physicians & Surgeons Doctors of Medicine M.D.) in your local phone book yellow pages. At the end of these listings there should be a listing for doctor referrals and/or information (may be titled Physicians & Surgeons Referral & Information Serv). This may not be a very long listing, but if you call these folks, and tell them what you're looking for, I'll bet they can help you (I've found a couple of really good doctors this way). Not only do they have listings for various types of doctors, but they also usually have lots of info on the doctor's too (like schooling, residencies, how long in the work force, hospital affiliation, etc.).

I think I'll just leave this as all I'll do for this thread. I don't want to get into.........nuttin' hunny------ (o:


NoelleR

armaviva

for what its worth i read a post on here from someone else who had recognized that feeling good was actually a trigger for them. i dont have much advice but i think that's something worth thinking about

alchotag

Armaviva, yes it's definately a trigger for me. That is something I should probably dive deeper into.