pinktee18

A close friend has been telling me how worried she is about my drinking. Somehow I've been drinking every day and not noticing it with usually a few glasses of wine. I originally was hooked on ambien the sleep drug for the high but now I don't even crave it anymore. I don't know how I don't realize days going by to the point of friends being concerned. I'm a 24 year old recent soon to be college grad and being home has given me too much free time despite working.I don't know how I got this bad if it is even bad because the most I've done is have a relaxing buzz every now and then drunk but not all the time.

DAB

It sounds like you have your life in control for now. However, if your friends are noticing a problem with your drinking and feel they must bring it to your attention, you may be in denial. Denial is the wall that protects us from recovery.

Bubovski

It can start very minor then evolve in to something huge and stifling.
If I recall correctly ambien is a benzodiazepine and highly addictive.
Benzo addiction is no fun!

At Uni in my thirties I would take oxazepam to curb my racing heart, in the long run of life it failed miserably though I did get my degree.
By virtue of its social acceptance (you don't need a script) alcohol is viewed more favourably by some. Don't be fooled its a very dangerous drug too.

drunkyjules

If she is your friend I'd say it is worth listening to. Only you can really say one way or another.

You could take the alcohol test, I think there is a link somewhere on this forum.

doggonecarl

If you ever go to that NA meeting you've long been thinking about, you'll find they treat alcohol just like any other drug.

You've admitted to one addiction, don't start another. Act on your friend's concern and do something.

artsoul

Hi pinktee -

Could it be that you're not missing the ambien because of the alcohol? I sure would hate to see you go down that path. Are you working any kind of recovery plan?

There's always a real danger for those of us with addiction issues to trade one addiction for another. And like you said, it can sneak up on you, but being aware of it is the first step towards change.

Gottalife

What a very good friend! You are lucky to have such friends

CharlieNoogan

Benzos, like Ambien, and alcohol both act on GABA in the brain. An addiction to one can quickly lead to an addiction to the other as they have similar mechanisms of action.

You should cut your losses now and get out of the regular drinking game while you still can.

pinktee18

Thanks for all your responses I didn't expect so many my current plan is to just kick the drinking and stay away from places where I'll be tempted for now. I think I don't miss ambien because it's like who needs ambien alcohol is easy to get. I am considering NA or AA but I don't really do well in group type therapy settings. I also realized that since I take medications for bipolar that my drinking has effected my medicine working correctly.

Threshold

Most of the time, our friends don't bring it up until it truly IS an issue. If nothing else, the fact that it is impacting the friendship (not saying she's going to dump you, but if it wasn't impacting it somehow she would not have spoken up...maybe drinking makes you unavailable as a friend) IS an issue worth looking at.

I think a red flag is if we are drinking so we don't have to address life/feelings. If we are turning to it as an escape. Repeatedly choosing drunk/buzzed/high over life is an issue that doesn't usually go away by itself. And that can quickly become a chemical dependency on top of a psychological one.

It is very common for bi-polars (raises hand) to self medicate with booze.


Sounds like this friend truly cares about you. Sign off the wine for 6 weeks...see how that goes. That often answers a lot of our questions regarding our drinking habits.

Happier

Wish I would of had a friend like that. Actually now that I think about it...I did in college but I didn't listen. After that, all my so called "friends" were just drinking buddies that were riding the crazy train down with me.

Glad you are taking some action and glad you have such a caring and brave friend. I suspect that bringing it up was not easy for her! This site and many other programs are available to you if you ever feel the need for a little more support.

pinktee18

She is a great friend who has kept me in check at times when nobody else did and like I said I've been so deep into drinking I didn't notice days going by. At this point I've been cycling from addicted and abusing substances to recovery for a month then relapsing and it's a cycle. For the first time two months ago I drank so much to the point when I quit I was detoxing and withdrawling with nausea and feeling like death and waking up feeling like I was drunk almost. The withdrawal is happening again since yesterday was my last drink and it's become more serious then I thought if I'm detoxing and hurting. My therapist has recommended inpatient rehab before, but what's stopping me is my parents finances and even with insurance it's going to end up costing a pretty penny. Another thing that is stopping me is that I'm in the middle of a summer internship and job.

My plan of action is that if I don't improve by the end of summer I'll find a way to afford rehab even if it means using some type of care credit. My mom lives in her own world and can't see how bad things are and it's always on deaf ears. I plan on moving out by August if possible and when I'm on my own I can deal with my issues at my leisure without her interfering.

pinktee18

What gets me the most is my friend has hit home the point that she fears for me says she is afraid of me getting worse or dying. When a friend is worried about your life it puts a totally different spin on things and hearing that hurts my heart. One of our mutual good friends died last year of an OD on heroin and she's like what I'm saying to you is something somebody should have said to (mutual friend) a long time ago.