Ananda

Thanks Anthony...that is very useful information!

AnthonyV

You're welcome. I should add, it is strongly recommended that a patient on Niaspan should not drink because it increases the chance of liver toxicity. And if you do decide to take niacin in doses larger than the recommended daily amount, talk to your doctor. A prescription is needed for Niaspan and it's only approved to be used in treating cholesterol. Over the counter niacin can also be toxic at high doses. As part of taking this drug I have to go to the lab at my doctors office every three months for liver enzyme test to make sure it's not building up to toxic levels.

But this gave me a great excuse for me tell my friends and family why I'm not drinking. "I can't drink because of the medication I'm on." It works great as an excuse. I can admit to my self I'm an alcoholic, but I hate having to say that to everyone else.

<<edited>>

CarolD

Welcome to our Alcoholism Forum

PamChowder

Beth, I just ordered the detox suppls from the Bio-Recovery website. I know your post is an old one. I just wanted to get a "progress report" on the efficacy of "Seven Weeks To Sobriety" and all their overwhelming nutritional supplements regimen. I have a tiny bit of hope, but not much ...

Dee74

It's ok to have more than one iron in the fire Pam - have you thought about what else you could do to help you stay sober?

D

PamChowder

Well yeah, I could stop buying Svedka Strawberry Lemonade. What a concept!!

PamChowder

Sorry ... I didn't mean to sound so frivolous. On the one hand, it's a "no brainer" that I all I need to do is stop buying alcohol. On the other hand, the powerful mental obsession seems to be making that impossible :-(

Dee74

I know not buying the booze is a lot easier than it sounds, but if I can do it anyone can .

I kept my sobriety by focusing on two main areas - support and change.

If you have the right support the change part of the equation gets a lot easier

D

PamChowder

So what was the "right support" for you??

Gottalife

I dont think that seemed frivolous. The idea that stopping drinking is a no brainer and seems so obvious (at least to people looking in from the outside) but is so very difficult. It is possible to have the obsession removed and have new interests take its place. That came to me through the AA program.

Mountainmanbob

Any plan to get and stay sober I would think to be a good plan. But, to tell the truth, I have seen many who sobered up in AA and or the church and especially in early sobriety ate everything and anything they wanted. True, most of these put some weight on but, don't seem to care.
Mountainmanbob

Kllme

I have the book and I take vitamins every single day. You name it I take it. Vitamin A, B, C, D, E. B Complex. Milk thistle, fish oil, selenium, Melatonin, Zinc, Grape extract, St. Johns Wort, Thiamine, Pancreatin for food digestion, Turmeric, Acetyl L-Carnitine, Calcium, Magnesium, And Amino Acids. Worst case is I **** the stuff out. and I dont always take it all at the same time. I officially take Iron too but maybe once a week to raise my red blood cell count since I stopped eating red meat. Too much iron is bad so i may have 1 pill a week.

Venecia

I encourage SRers to consider consulting with a physician or registered dietitian about nutritional supplements. There's a tendency to assume that since such products are marketed as "natural," they can only be good for us. However, there is little peer-reviewed evidence on supplements; use of some supplements can be a risk, health-wise.

By the way, supplements are a multi-billion dollar industry, one with considerable interest in promoting its products to those most in need.

Many alcoholics are nutrient-starved. (Lord knows, my body must have been in crummy shape, nutrition-wise, before I quit.) A healthy diet is the best source of nutrition. Here are some good links.

The American Dietetics Association
Home

From the National Institutes of Health
Dietary Supplements: What You Need to Know

A compilation from various peer-reviewed sources
Dietary Supplements: Vitamins and Minerals

advbike

I have that book and the author makes a good case for nutrition and supplementation to assist in sobriety efforts, especially for those who have drank excessively for years, and done a lot of physical damage. I myself took a B vitamin complex for my nervous system, and milk thistle for my liver, during the first 90 days.

However, it is pretty well established that vitamins and herbal supplements are no substitute for proper diet, as they aren't as readily absorbed. And recent independent testing of herbal supplements showed a huge range of actual purity.. some had almost none of the specified ingredient.. it is an unregulated industry, which give one pause. Especially when taking a lot of them.

I think the most important thing is to eat well - lots of veggies, high quality protein, and water. And get some exercise every day, which helps to improve sleep and stabilize our mood.

Boylan

IDK, Bean, 60 pills a day doesn't seem very healthy to me. Of course, neither does drinking.

Nevertheless

I am not Beth But I would hate to think where I might be right now without that book. I have been sober since March of 2009.
I bought the book off of amazon,and after a little reading. I made a list an hit most of the pharmacies within driving distance. I didn't get everything on the list,but I got a big part of it.
I have said many times on this forum that I wasn't exactly sure how I quit,and stayed quit. I had tried to quit many times before.
There is a very fine line when Mr. alcohol taps on your shoulder as to which side of the fence to fall on. The stay sober side,or the heck with it side. I honestly believe taking all of those vitamins helped me to keep landing on the right side of the fence.
Don't get me wrong. This was still one of the hardest things I have ever done. I also attended AA,and constantly frequented this websight.
But I'm afraid I just might not of made it if it wasn't for that book.
I didn't realize the vitamins could be ordered from the book websight,until I had already been sober over a year. I somehow overlooked that part. But I think her method is very real.
I wish you the best.

Fred

MIRecovery

There has never been a shortage of people willing to take your money promising the quick fix
Nutrition is one piece of a much larger puzzle