aasharon90

Hi Im Sharon and Im an Alcoholic.

By the grace of my HP and people
like you here in SR I havent found
it necessary to pick up a drink of
Alcohol since 8-11-90.

For that and you I am truely grateful.

You have a doctors appointment. You
are sick with a horrible cold. Or u have
migrains that are unbelievable painful.
Maybe Advanced Arthritists like I just
found out. You are in so much pain
that a trip to the doctors will cure
everything. Right?

How much sobriety do u have? Is ur
sobriety important to you? Are u at the
point of ur recovery that there is
nothing so important that will come
between it and u?

When u get to the doctors office do
u have a plan in mind of what u will
discuss with him or her? Is the thought
of ur recovery in ur mind when u
reach the office?

Are u planning to discuss with them
right off the bat that u r in recovery
and that it is important not to presc-
ribe medicine that is narcotice or habit
forming?

How important is it to tell the doctor
or not about ur addiction and recovery?

To tell or not to tell? That's the question.

The floor is open to you to share ur
own experiences, strengths and hopes
here in SR that could possibly help someone
new in recovery.

Thanks for letting me share.

Mark75

Good question...

I think that MOST docs don't understand alcoholism any better than the population at large... There are exceptions of course.

They do know that certain meds could trigger cravings and relapse.

I do not intend to be "right up front" about it unless it is relevant to why I am there. If there is to be a prescription for pain, cough, emotional/depressive/anxiety, etc...... then, yes, I'll bring it up. If it is a complete physical, yes... If asked, yes... If I even suspect that it may be important, yes, I'll mention it

But I don't want to be defined, every time, every where, by my alcoholism. I am in recovery, do not have any physical consequences from my abuse, thank God, and I want to be a normal person, and be treated like one.

So, I guess it depends...

Mark

Horselover

I told mine and she said she would keep it in her notes for future reference, but it would not be reported to the insurance company. Unfortunately, the insurance company is who I feared. I thought about my rates skyrocketing and being "labeled." I also thought that in the future if I needed medical attention and couldn't communicate that at least she would know this beforehand with regard to medicine and the way she might treat my case differently.

Freedom1990

Every doctor I've had is aware I'm a recovering alcoholic/addict since I went through rehab in 1986.

least

I told my doctor and my shrink and was taken off benzos cause of my addiction potential. I'm lucky too cause my shrink is certified in addiction psychiatry and my doctor is very good at understanding addiction.

Texasblind

There is a special certification for doctors that make them addiction specialists. I've always searched them out, because I was so scared that I would end up with someone who really didn't understand what I was going through.