Ideas to help my wife - OCD / Alcohol
Occasional poor taste poster
Join Date: Jul 2005
Posts: 2,542
Originally Posted by Pelican 
Just my personal opinion, based on my experience with anti-depressants and alcohol.
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Thread Starter
Join Date: Oct 2010
Posts: 9
...just been looking at the helpguide.org dual diagnosis page which seems to be a useful resource too? (I am too new to post the link)
TeM very sorry to hear your story, it does sound familiar - I wish you all the best!
TeM very sorry to hear your story, it does sound familiar - I wish you all the best!
Awakening
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Beautiful Texas hillcountry
Posts: 1,272
My axw was prescribed AD's for PPD after LMC was born. Bad idea, AD's seemed to super charge the effects of the alcohol. Three beers and AD's rendered the same effect as about a 12 pack. Nice.
She had a Doctor, we called him Dr. Script, would give her anything she asked for. Karma did bite him in the azz one time, she drove to an appt. and passed out in his examination room. Imagine his joy upon finding her, hope that caused him MUCH anxiety!
At the emergency room down the street, where she arrived by ambulance, her BAC was almost a .4. That's lethal for all but the most "seasoned professionals."
Thanks and God bless us all,
Coyote
She had a Doctor, we called him Dr. Script, would give her anything she asked for. Karma did bite him in the azz one time, she drove to an appt. and passed out in his examination room. Imagine his joy upon finding her, hope that caused him MUCH anxiety!
At the emergency room down the street, where she arrived by ambulance, her BAC was almost a .4. That's lethal for all but the most "seasoned professionals."
Thanks and God bless us all,
Coyote
Occasional poor taste poster
Join Date: Jul 2005
Posts: 2,542
Originally Posted by coyote21
My axw was prescribed AD's for PPD after LMC was born. Bad idea, AD's seemed to super charge the effects of the alcohol.
Climbing hills, flying down...
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: By the Sea
Posts: 565
Hi Look,
to SR! You will find a lot of support and help on this forum, so please keep posting and know that we all understand what you are going through. I relate to your post, although the alcoholic in my life is my sister. But I have an anxiety disorder, and my sister also has that same disorder in addition dealing with her alcoholism. For me, I have found that medication combined with therapy has helped my anxiety tremendously. I tried meds alone, which helped the symptoms but didn't help me understand why I was feeling anxious. The therapy helped me to understand the reasons for my anxiety, so I would say that in my experience, I need both.
I don't want to sound harsh, but alcoholism is a progressive disease and this is very common--spending less and less time with the family and more and more time with the bottle. In my experience with my sister, she chooses alcohol over her family every time. I am actually no longer in contact with her, and she is isolated from most of the rest of the family because either she has chosen to isolate herself or people have set up boundaries with her drinking (as I have).
Alcohol, in most cases, cancels out the efficacy of medications prescribed for anxiety or other mental illnesses. This is the case with my sister.
Alcohol is also a depressant and will worsen the feelings of depression or anxiety.
It is good she is trying...but unfortunately she has to be the one to decide to quit once and for all. My sister is in the same situation; she will not quit drinking to treat the anxiety.
How are you coping? How are your children coping? Do you have an Al-Anon program you can go to? Keep posting and know we're here to listen to you and help you.
to SR! You will find a lot of support and help on this forum, so please keep posting and know that we all understand what you are going through. I relate to your post, although the alcoholic in my life is my sister. But I have an anxiety disorder, and my sister also has that same disorder in addition dealing with her alcoholism. For me, I have found that medication combined with therapy has helped my anxiety tremendously. I tried meds alone, which helped the symptoms but didn't help me understand why I was feeling anxious. The therapy helped me to understand the reasons for my anxiety, so I would say that in my experience, I need both.
Originally Posted by looking4help1
She is anxious every waking moment. We have two wonderful children but as time goes by she is less and less capable to be part of the family.
Originally Posted by looking4help1
She has prescribed meds but these are proving ineffective and alcohol seems to be the only thing that gives her relief.
Originally Posted by looking4help1
She has tried rehab several times now, and this time has managed less than a week.....we are back to square one again and she is very depressed.
Originally Posted by looking4help1
The docs all say she needs to stop drinking first and then they can work on the OCD and anxiety but she cant cope long enough to move to the second stage.
How are you coping? How are your children coping? Do you have an Al-Anon program you can go to? Keep posting and know we're here to listen to you and help you.
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Thread Starter
Join Date: Oct 2010
Posts: 9
I am lucky to have support from other people around so doing OK, and the support here is good too, a big thank you to everyone! I am managing to keep working and generally keeping things going as normal as possible. Children are doing well considering. They pick up on more than you might think, so I make sure they have time to talk about how they are feeling too, not only with me but with others too. No secrets here.
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