soberchic07

So I figured I would sign up here in order to post recovery related questions I may have so here it goes. I have something on my mind and figured id get some feedback on it. I have been sober almost 3 years and currently have am sick and have a cold. The other night I took some all natural alcohol free cough medicine to go to bed and hopefully sleep good and ended up being up all night feeling like crap. I remembered taking it last time I was sick and it had done nothing to help me sleep good and feel better.so I went to the store and bought different medicine that was on sale with coupons and it happened to be Nighttime Tylenol cold and it contained alcohol. I have taken numerous different brands of cold medicine before with no problems so didn't think anything of it and figured well its on sale and will hopefully help me sleep through the night. Well I took it as prescribed and it tasted so awful I could barely drink it but I choked it down. 30ml as prescribed. Shortly after taking it I couldn't keep my eyes open any longer and passed out sleeping through the night. It was kind of hard to wake up this morning but I slept through the night and was not up all night feeling like crap. I will admit falling asleep was uncomfortable because of the way it made me feel but now I feel like I did something wrong. I have a bottle of cough syrup with alcohol in it and I am a recovering alcoholic. If I took as prescribed and am not just taking swings from it and abusing it is it wrong? I do have some pill form Nyquil that I don't think has alcohol in it that I was thinking of trying tonight and see if it helps and if so get rid of the stuff but does it even matter I mean is it a big deal? The fact that I'm concerned about this worries me which is why I'm asking I mean I don't think I will start abusing it I mean the stuff taste awful I'm just worried because it has alcohol in it . I mean I recently bought vanilla extract for baking and saw it had alcohol in it and asked someone about it and they said as long as I'm using it for baking and not drinking it its fine. Yet online it says if in recovery avoid anything with alcohol in it including mouthwash. Well I don't plan on drinking that stuff either lol. What do you think? Should I avoid everything with alcohol in it if I'm using it as directed and not drinking it? I mean if I was someone that while using would drink cough syrup vanilla extract or mouthwash to get drunk I could understand that being a trigger but that was not me. Let me know :-)

Sapling

Welcome to SR...I don't mess with the stuff myself. I think whether you did something wrong or not comes down to motive. And only you can answer what that is. Congrats on three years....Are you in AA?...If so...Talk to your sponsor or a fellow member about it.

sothisisit

I agree with Sapling that motivation is important.

I'm always of two minds on this type of situation, on one hand I think we can get overly paranoid about such things and it can be counter productive. On the other hand, anything that is psychologically associated with an addiction can trigger an addiction (that's from my experience anyway). I guess all I can suggest is be cautious but don't panic.

PaperDolls

Welcome to SR soberchic!

It's a personal choice depending on your comfort level. I don't think anyone who has used vanilla extract, or mouthwash or cough medicine plans on using it to get drunk. I know I didn't. I'm one who used cough medicine to get drunk.

When I buy mouthwash or cough medicine I always get alcohol-free. That's my personal preference. I can't say that if I was sick and the alcohol-free wasn't working I wouldn't get something different though. My opinion is that if you take medicine as prescribed, you're fine BUT if that medicine being in your house becomes a trigger or is threatening your sobriety, get it out of your house!

If you're concerned about it then get rid of it. Next time you get sick you can worry about it then. No need for it to sit in your house calling your name.

oh2exhale

Hi Soberchic! I think you will find opinions on this are all over the spectrum - from people who would not consider taking an aspirin to the other end. You sound like you are using the medication for its intended purpose. If once your symptoms are gone you find yourself migrating back to the bottle for a little pleasurable use maybe that would signal a problem. I use that phrase as my personal test, "Am I using this for its intended purpose." I use mouthwash - for mouthwash (and spit it out!) I use rubbing alcohol (NEVER have put it in my mouth!) I use food extracts for cooking...etc. Sounds like youre on the right track. Take care! Hope the cold clears up!

MIRecovery

I have been told by professionals and people with long term sobriety that alcohol in any form is a huge NO NO. Things like vanilla are OK as long as the alcohol evaporates out while cooking. The one I have recently become aware of is hand sanitizer which is one more thing I avoid

iseult

You're sick, you bought it, you took it, it's done. Take the non-alcoholic forms of cough stuff from now on if you feel that guilty, and be proud of yourself for coming on here to get support and feedback.

wpainterw

Based on my own experience I'd avoid anything with alcohol in it. There are lot of alcohol free cold medicines. In case of doubt why not just ask your doctor? I would not favor getting concerned with motivation (e.g. "Maybe it's all right to do it if I have the proper motivation"). That tends to get into tricky territory. Why not just avoid the stuff. You can take care of a cold in other ways. Congratulations on all that sobriety. You've got a great investment there, probably your most valuable asset.

W.

RiverFriend

During the two years that I was sober from alcohol I wouldn't use mouthwash, cough medicine or anything with alcohol. I even stayed away from rum cakes at holidays and wouldn't eat anything that had been cooked with alcohol. Maybe it was overboard but I just didn't want to even tempt myself with the taste.

Xune

You sound overly scrupulous. Consider taking to your Doctor about your scrupulous thoughts.

I have OCD and know a thing or two about obsessive thinking patterns.

Dee74

There are many personal views on this...

I try not to use alcohol in my daily life, I aim wherever possible to use the non-alc versions of things and I'm OK with that (it *doesn't* evaporate completely in cooking btw...but don't get me started...)

Other people obviously approach the situation in different ways.
Like others have said - look to your motivations and be aware of slippery slopes...

D