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Replacing alcohol with other addictions.

Old 05-27-2019, 05:00 PM
  # 21 (permalink)  
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Yea, my first sponsor called it "trading up addictions". I gave up cigarettes, the biggest battle of my life and still use nicotine gum. Started spending money recklessly so went to DA. I was standing behind someone at a meeting who said to a friend: "I'm in so many 12 Step programs I'm surprised I only have two parents." It's par for the course, I'm afraid.
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Old 05-27-2019, 05:07 PM
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are you truly sure about that? have ya asked the boss and coworkers if theyve noticed its interfering with your duties?have you asked people in in those relationship if you smokin pot is interfering with the relationships?]
I can honestly say that my relationships are the best they've been in years. My friends and family are glad to have me back after seeing me self-destruct for years. They know I smoke too...they don't question it.

I never do it before or during work. I just had a job performance review in march even noting how far I have come in the last year. When I was drinking.. I was constantly missing work or coming to work hungover/detoxing. It's a miracle I didn't lose my job. I don't miss those days...
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Old 05-27-2019, 05:14 PM
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But I also feel strongly that I needed to address my mental health issues to fully move forward. I couldn't do that until I quit drinking, but now that I have tackled some of them ( anxiety especially ) I see the interaction between them, and the need to continue to address them.
I'm struggling with this too. All my mental health issues have come shooting to the surface after years of burying them. I still have a lot of work to do and I keep learning more about myself as time goes on. It's never-ending..but it's a step in the right direction.
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Old 05-27-2019, 05:17 PM
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Scott - interesting comment about NA beer. I know some people drink NA beer when they stop drinking. I did not, I felt it would not be good for my recovery.
I've never thought about doing that...because I never liked the taste of beer...or any alcohol. I just wanted the effects.

I've also tried reducing carbs a lot for weight reasons....so NA beer is a huge no-no for me anyway haha.
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Old 05-27-2019, 11:11 PM
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the way I understand it, Rational Recovery defines addiction as the existence of a conflict regarding whether to drink/use or not. Part of you does not want to because you are aware of the negative consequences of doing so, and part of you wants nothing else but to drink/use. If you are questioning your use of any other substances then conflict probably exists and stopping doing them would be wise.
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Old 05-28-2019, 03:37 AM
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Originally Posted by ScottFromWI View Post
I personally feel that my addiction is part of me and that the substance itself is not the most important factor.
This ^^^^^ is the point for me as well.

I call trading addictions squeezing the balloon. One area goes down when you squeeze it but another pops up. The trick is to figure out how to deflate the balloon not squeeze it. I think I have had some success in deflating the balloon over the years but it's far from empty.
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Old 05-28-2019, 04:08 AM
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I am extremely grateful for this thread. 2+ years sober, and still driven by addictive tendencies around the usual suspects: food, cigarettes, porn, occasional weed...glad to hear I'm not alone in these struggles.
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Old 05-28-2019, 05:16 AM
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I think only you can say whether or not the smoking is a thing you need to quit. It is an outside issue here in this forum.
​​​I'm an alcoholic and a member of AA. I haven't drank alcohol since April 30th but a week ago I came home from work with back pain that Tylenol didn't help and I did take a couple puffs of a joint to take the edge off the physical discomfort so I could sleep, not to get high. Alcohol is my main addiction but my addiction to alcohol is not the main problem, it's the spiritual malady that causes me do you have addictions. That is what I need to correct. I don't say I start back at day 1 because I indulged or overindulged in something else.

Alcoholism is what I'm in recovery for and currently I'm not trying to replace that addiction with any other addiction but in the past when I've quit drinking I have either turn the sex or try to grab some sense of control by being very stringent with what I eat and exercising a lot to lose weight. That again is a symptom of the spiritual malady that I'm trying to fix. I'm in a 12-step program for my alcoholism but doing the steps will help me get to where I won't need to self medicate to feel good or escape from my Life.

But I would ask myself whether I use those other substances the same way that I used, whether or not it is to self-medicate or escape. it doesn't have to be to the extent that it affects my life for it to be an unhealthy behavior but certainly if you're focused on quitting alcohol, just focus on that and don't be too hard on yourself and try to fix everything at once. Could make you relapse.
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Old 05-28-2019, 06:02 AM
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Originally Posted by froscow View Post
Sorry if it appeared that way, I'm definitely not trying to promote it, just talking about my own personal experience. But I can see how it could be perceived that way..I didn't really think before I typed.. I kind of regret mentioning it now.
Yes, respectfully, this is a sticky wicket that I have a big problem with people supporting here (as in, using while being sober and sharing) for so many reasons.

It's up to you to decide what sobriety means to you.

I indeed relate to the whole addict mind thinking....I'm still engaged in "a sugar thing" here at 3+ yr sober. It doesn't affect my life but it does affect my waistline and connected to my activity level I'm making habit changes now (er, again).

I have about 3 drinks on hand at any given time- right now, actually, just two with one waiting in the fridge. My ubiquitous sparkling water with lime, a diet coke, and a diet lemonade (that one takes me thru the day) in the fridge. Obsessive and anxiety provoking when I'm without? has been, tho recently I've actually been choosing to be out and about with just one drink. It really doesn't bother me to have quirky "addictions."

I do take a benzo for anxiety tho - and it's something I'm re-assessing right now as I believe intent is the key in using anything substance-wise.

As far as NA bevs- most beers still have some alcohol so there's that. There's also the habit-connection. People differ for all kinds of reasons on this one. This newish "Fre" wine? I can't imagine a good reason (as in, one that supports my MENTAL as well as physical sobriety) to put fake chardonnay in a wine glass (or any vessel!) and have it with dinner. I also don't cook with wine/liquor, and only around yr 2.5 (so, not quite a yr ago) did I become ok if a restaurant dish arrived with an unexpected ingredient- I do still stop eating it, and once I realized at 7 mo that was a boundary for me, I still know what to order/not most of the time so I don't ingest alcohol. I also only order a zero proof drink at one of the restaurants in the company I work for, and do that rarely- our owner is sober and I'm a leader of our recovery group so I am 100% sure there's not even bitters containing alcohol in the mocktails.

Addiction's a slippery slope.
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Old 05-28-2019, 06:02 PM
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Originally Posted by August252015 View Post
Yes, respectfully, this is a sticky wicket that I have a big problem with people supporting here (as in, using while being sober and sharing) for so many reasons.

It's up to you to decide what sobriety means to you.

I indeed relate to the whole addict mind thinking....I'm still engaged in "a sugar thing" here at 3+ yr sober. It doesn't affect my life but it does affect my waistline and connected to my activity level I'm making habit changes now (er, again).

I have about 3 drinks on hand at any given time- right now, actually, just two with one waiting in the fridge. My ubiquitous sparkling water with lime, a diet coke, and a diet lemonade (that one takes me thru the day) in the fridge. Obsessive and anxiety provoking when I'm without? has been, tho recently I've actually been choosing to be out and about with just one drink. It really doesn't bother me to have quirky "addictions."

I do take a benzo for anxiety tho - and it's something I'm re-assessing right now as I believe intent is the key in using anything substance-wise.

As far as NA bevs- most beers still have some alcohol so there's that. There's also the habit-connection. People differ for all kinds of reasons on this one. This newish "Fre" wine? I can't imagine a good reason (as in, one that supports my MENTAL as well as physical sobriety) to put fake chardonnay in a wine glass (or any vessel!) and have it with dinner. I also don't cook with wine/liquor, and only around yr 2.5 (so, not quite a yr ago) did I become ok if a restaurant dish arrived with an unexpected ingredient- I do still stop eating it, and once I realized at 7 mo that was a boundary for me, I still know what to order/not most of the time so I don't ingest alcohol. I also only order a zero proof drink at one of the restaurants in the company I work for, and do that rarely- our owner is sober and I'm a leader of our recovery group so I am 100% sure there's not even bitters containing alcohol in the mocktails.

Addiction's a slippery slope.
I agree, I just think that Sober Recovery needs to be a safe place to land. By normalizing any use of a substance, it means the person coming here with that specific addiction and struggle (because there are scores of people with all sorts of addictions filtering through here) gets triggered.

We all know what it’s like to get triggered. It happens at work, when people talk about drinking. It happened at band practice last night, when I was terrified singing for the first time and someone handed me a cold one and I had to remind everyone I don’t drink, it happens every time we go to dinner, every time we attend a party, or vacation, or a holiday gathering....its simply everywhere.

If I come to SR, I get people lifting up sobriety and consistently communicating what a bad idea it is to drink. It’s a breath of fresh air in a world saturated with alcohol.

I’d like to think now that there are marijuana messages and feel good posters about it and so many people on the weed bandwagon, that the person who knows marijuana is interfering with quality of life and just wants to come here to have their quit supported, can do that.

I think if we keep teaching abstinence consistently and keep showing people we can have a good life without getting high or drunk, we will all benefit.

Like I said, while reading this thread, I got way too excited thinking I might drink n/a’s again. My AV knows what N/A’s will lead to, which is why it starts jumping up and down when someone mentions they can drink N/A’s without incident. I’m not saying no one should talk about n/a beer, I’m saying that’s just how easy it is to get triggered, and a person with less sobriety might just make the wrong choice.
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