loulou1981

Hey everyone......I finished my night shift this morn at 7am, came home & had 2 doses of cough mixture, i didn't have it because of a cough but i struggle to sleep off nights & wanted to knock myself out.....so the supid question is.....have i relapsed....??? I didnt take it for the reasons its supposed to help, when i started to take effect i felt woozy & now im annoyed for taking something that is 'mind/body altering'.

Any thoughts or am i overreacting???

JD

Does it really matter what anyone here thinks. What do you think?

badger257

I second this. ...

Aellyce

Perhaps it's most helpful to investigate your own motives and feelings about it? I guess you do worry a bit about it since you have brought it up on SR. If taking the cough med outside of its primary purpose makes you question the act, then maybe think of something else to do in a similar situation next time, something that does not disturb your resolve.

Dee74

I don't think you're overreacting - it's really important to be vigilant, loulou.
Taking something essentially for the effect is a dangerous slope to be on for people like us..regardless of what you decide to call it (and it is your call) please be careful - maybe look at your recovery plan again - could it be better?

D.

SoberLife90

Well be careful because some cough syrups contain alcohol. I found out the hard way. Anyways, were you trying to get high? That's the real question. I take chlorpheneramine and melatonin at night to help me sleep. Chlorpheneramine is much lighter than benedryl in my opinion. Be careful.

LiveInPeace

I've listened to podcasts where people relapse using cough medicine, listerine, etc. One guy had a bunch of heart attacks because of his listerine consumption. It was bad.

Try to do something relaxing before bed to fall asleep. Google "Sleep hygiene". Try some deep breathing exercises. That helped me once during a severe panic attack when I couldn't sleep.

For me personally, before recovery whether I was using wine or Nyquil to shut off my mind and fall asleep, it was a very slippery slope.

LiveInPeace

I want to add this: My alcohol intake wasn't what I bottomed out on because I switched addictions, so although I used to drink more wine to help me fall asleep, this stuff I posted worked for me for sleep when I quit. But I just realized withdrawal from alcohol for you might have been physiologically more challenging. Apologies if my recommendations seemed too light in that regard. Listen to people who went through detox/withdrawal.

Mountainmanbob

Well for me if I did those two (shots) so as to possibly get a buzz, then I blew it. It's good to be humbled and start over with a (clean) date.

MB

Scram

I'm going to chime in here with a slightly different take...

The way I see it, you took essentially a benadryl and a half before going to bed after a graveyard shift.. right? Yeah, I'm not going to count that as a relapse. I can only speak for myself on this, and I realize that my take on may not be very popular, but I think setting extremely rigid guidelines for what constitutes sobriety can be harmful. I really do...

I'm not minimizing addiction. I have experienced withdrawals that had me honestly concerned I might be dying. I have permanent physical scars from my battle with alcoholism. This is serious, serious, scary sh*t. But when I finally realized I no longer have to be perfect, and this almost fantasy world of euphoric sobriety I heard in the rooms of recovery groups may never happen for me, I finally started to get better.

Once again, I can only speak for myself. But I think it's really important we recognize and appreciate or improvements and not utterly obsess over anything that can be considered a failure. Because to me, that makes sobriety close to impossible. This is not a black and white battle to me.

PS - and sorry about the double post, mods!

Dee74

You're not really just speaking for yourself tho Scram - you made some judgement calls about other people's approaches there.

so, in response...it's not really about being perfect for me - it's about giving the proper respect, or caution, to my addictive propensity, I guess.

Addictively speaking, if you gave me an inch I'd take a mile.
Taking things to change how I feel is pretty close to what I used to do...

like I said to the OP - count the days in whatever way you feel ok with, so long as you feel you're being honest...

but I wouldn't gloss over this as simply not being perfect, because I think it's more than that.

D

red3215

I wouldn't call it a relapse unless you know it had alcohol in it. It probably wasn't good to take two doses of something where one was recommended, though.

dcg

If I decided to smoke a J last night, then I wouldn't consider this to be breaking my alcohol sobriety (I never had a problem with weed), but I would consider myself to have used a different drug with a possible potential to move some previous traits to that one. That's kind of how I view abusing OTC meds.

Fly N Buy

When I quit drinking I quit all other drugs as well. When I'm sick now, if I take any OTC drugs or doctors scrips it's by the book.

I have lost the desire to put any of this in my system and enjoy the freedom of not being in bondage, gratefully.

If you're feeling bad about, there may be something there for you to consider.

Thanks for the post - glad you're here

Syn3rgistic

For me, I wouldn't count it. Because I'm not addicted to cough syrup. I've tried a lot of different substances. Each substance is different, and has different effects on the brain. I'm certainly addicted to alcohol, nicotine, and caffeine. I've given up alcohol and nicotine. But if I were to have a smoke this week, I wouldn't start over my alcohol sobriety date. Likewise, I'm still drinking coffee every day, and I drink a lot of coffee, but it doesn't have anything to do with my alcohol addiction. Smoking cigarettes does, I had to give them up at the same time, because I started smoking cigarettes the same time I started drinking and they go hand in hand for me....but that is only nicotine. I hate marijuana. I take a benzodiazepine every now and then for anxiety, but I've never taken them to get high. I stay away from opioids because although I've never been addicted to them, I know it wouldn't take much, I really enjoy them. I tried cocaine and I didn't like the rush, it was too much. I take melatonin for sleep every now and then. And if I really need to sleep, I'll take a diphenhydradramine. I experimented with cough syrup when I was a teenager. I probably did it 5 or 6 times, but if I get a cold, I'm taking a dose of cough syrup. I have a big bottle of cough syrup in my medicine cabinet I bought it back in Augusto when I had a virus. I have no temptation to take a dose. I think it's all about being honest with yourself, and what your goals are.

Berrybean

I think the important thing is to think about what you're going to do in future (unless you took it last night but actually that wasn't the first time you took it to get woozy).
Can you draw a line under it? Chuck the stuff out and replace it with some non-drowsy cough medicine when you next have a cough. If sleep is a problem, could you chat with your GP and go about it the right way?

Maybe you could look at your sobriety plan and make some adjustments to it today, to safeguard against any repeat of this. It's a slippery slope that you need to avoid.

Scram

Dee -

Fair enough. I probably should have worded my reply with a little more caution. You've been working these boards for a long time, and I have never seen you come across dogmatic or overly harsh in your feedback, so I apologize if it sounded like I was being critical.

This is probably a response that belongs in an entirely different thread... it's sort of a subject of it's own. But it's important to me, as I genuinely feel like it held me back from getting better...

If my life is focused on what I can't do, down to an anti-histamine as a sleep aid, then I'm pretty sure that I'll eventually break. This is such a nuanced emotion for me that I have a hard time even articulating it, but it's very real. In short, sobriety should not be my primary goal. And you know why? Because it kinda sucks. It's about as exciting as looking at a cat's litter box for 12 years. But what sobriety allows me to be - now that is exciting. That is why I keep going. Sobriety is simply a means to a better life, it is not the sole purpose of life.

I went through countless meetings, therapists, rehabs, etc... before I was able to realize this. And I realize it's not a message that all addicts would find beneficial. But for me it's critical.

ubntubnt

hi Loulou, its a good question and as you can see from the responses here some feel it was a relapse and others not. But virtually everyone is agreed that it is a very slippery slope and I would agree with that.
It could be that something seemingly innocent like cough medicine is a back door for your AV to gain a foothold. I suggest you take it as a warning sign, don't treat it as a relapse, stay positive but guarded and don't do it again.
For me I would draw the line with the question: am I taking this to feel a hit or buzz in anyway? If the answer is yes then I would not take it. Also, specifically with cough medicine whether there is alcohol in it or not I tend to find the taste quite alcoholy so just wouldn't take it right now even if prescribed by a doctor.

Soberwolf

I don't think D is being harsh or dogmatic I back up what he said

LouLou the warning signs are there for me I'm taking it this cough syrup had alcohol in it ? and if that's the case it's worrying if you knew that & still went ahead & done that

I think being cautious isn't harsh or dogmatic

Dee74

I agree completely with that - but this...not quite?

I see sobriety as a primary thing - I have to...it's the hub of the wheel - without sobriety everything else in my life - the things I love - are at risk.

Not sobriety for its own sake, but because of what being sober allows me to do achieve, and be

We might disagree on the parameters or the wording - and that's fine - I don't expect or need everyone to agree with me

sorry for the slight deviation LouLou but I hope it helped?
D