TrueYouTrueMe

This point stood out for me big time. Both nicotine and caffeine are mind altering substances and are heavily used and accepted at A.A. meetings so there is no one there that should have anything to say about drugs used for depression or to help someone recover from any medical condition.

I am currently going to A.A. meetings and have achieved 130 days sober, I started right away with getting a sponser but that did not work out for me and right now I am running my own program and am fully responsible for my own sobriety.

When I first came into the program I would talk alot about how I HAVE to stop smoking cigarettes. What was instantly strange to me was that instead of getting support at all I would get arguments from those with time in A.A.

There was one night when I really got angry about the argument I got from one guy with a lot of time that I shouldn't try to stop smoking right now. I told him that there would be no doctor anywhere that would agree with him. It just really ticked me off that instead of getting support at A.A. many times I would get pressure from some people. That was partly why I dropped my sponser as well. He didn't seem to understand that I was seeking support from A.A. and not pressure to live up to someone else's strange standards or to try and follow advice that I did not agree with at all.

Thank God, I am right now finally 13 days nicotine free which is 100% a nessecity if I am to have chance at all to survive. That is me though, it is what I need right now. I would never try to put someone down for smoking in recovery knowing that they may not be ready and that they may need it at that time in order to continue thier progress.

As A.A. says it is about spiritual progress and not spiritual perfection. For some the insistence against pysch drugs being used to treat depression seems to be their desire to seek perfection instead of progress. Holy then Thou types. Someone who is seeking help for depression should get support and not additional pressure to conform.

The hypocrisy thou of a group of people who love the use of cigarettes and caffeine preaching against the use of medical drugs to treat depression is glaring to me though.

I also thought that some may find the fact that I was engaged in arguments from A.A. telling me NOT to stop smoking amusing in relation to the topic of this thread.

MrSilver

Personally I have not had issues with the medical situation because I have never posted, nor will I, about what medications I am taking, if any. Those conversations are private and not really the buisness of anyone other than myself and the Doctor. I would not answer any questions related to it. Just how I would deal with it, not saying it is the best way. However I am pretty sure that giving medical advice without being a Doctor is illegal. Some people might have good intentions when giving this advice, but they still have no clue. I will take medical advice from someone who finished medical school, not some drunk at a meeting. OK..that turned into a mini rant.

Anyways...I have found a few people here at SR that tend to be a-holes. Sometimes I have been talking about something I was going through and they would start to hammer on me for it. Some people think they know a lot more than they do and shoot their mouth off. Assumtions become facts in their head. This has not been on the forum so much, but more so in the chat room. It is rare though, so far most people on here have been really good and supportive. For the a-holes there is the wonderful ignore option

onlythetruth

Beautifully put, MrSilver!

gravity

I'm in AA and take anti-depressants. Everyone knows it & it's a non-issue. I still get my coin and cake every year.

wantscontrol

Have you considered going back to a different AA meeting? I am sorry that this happened to you. I have only beent to 2 meetings thus far and have not mentioned my psych meds. I take Lexapro for generalized Anxiety disorder. I personally think lexapro has saved me. I do not have a sponsor yet but I will say that if I had one that freaked out about lexapro the way yours did I would find a new one. I hope you are doing well!

NYCDoglvr

There is an AA pamphlet (AA and other Medications) that deals with this: it says "no one in AA should play doctor". I suggest finding it and shoving it in the face of some of these idiots who try to tell you not to take medication. And, don't forget that alcoholism is also a mental illness.

MrSilver

Last night I had on a talk radio show and the guest was a psychiatrist. He said that coming off your medication quickly can be very dangerous. Now again this is talk radio so take it for what it is worth. It is something to think about it though. Also just remember that someone might be giving you advice, but at the same time not looking out for you. Or they could be giving you advice because they are trying to help, but get give you terrible or even dangerous advice. That goes the same for the posts you read on this or any other form. Just keep in mind that a lot of advice is not worth taking.

jojoba

In defense of AA I have to state that the reason that these attitudes are prevalent is because few people in the program are on anti-depressants, lithium, etc. Therefore there's a general lack of understanding among the membership.

eddie73

I was advised to quit meds for the same reason. I did, and my depression came back very strong indeed. I went off them a second time recently, with the same results. Never again my friends am I putting myself thru that pointless hell.

I was at a meeting this morning where a mentally ill person attempted suicide last night because he was advised to quit his meds. He skipped an injection that he was supposed to get every fortnight. His sister walked in on him as he was trying to fix a rope.

We all think that our rock bottom is the worst in the world. I get nervous when I hear in the rooms 'if I got thru this, anyone can'. Mostly the statement of a person who has achieved recovery, but without the duality of a mental illness. Believe me, If you have a mental illness and alcoholism, you need all the help you can get to stay sober and not create a hell on earth.

If it were written in the big book that we should not take meds, i would leave in the morning. As it doesnt say this, I think i will stay

Mo S

Dual Recovery Anonymous has saved my sobriety and life. Not alot of meetings everywhere tho. They do have a "big book" which you can order thru Amazon I believe. VERY helpful for those of us who are dually diagnosed.

shockozulu

I've never had experience of people saying I'm not sober. Have heard some Medications are not for me shares. When I hear this I will make sure to bring up the Medications pamphlet and point to the literature rack at the meeting.

In the mid 90's I had a horrible experience in NA over this. I was told I wasn't clean and so on. I heard the meetings aren't so bad here anymore but I wouldn't want to bring it up to find out. Now I just don't say a word.

Abstinence

Well, it seems as though the individuals that were arguing with you are uneducated, ignorant morons. Escitalopram (Lexapro) is a Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor (SSRI) drug that is designed to block the neurotransmitter "serotonin" from being reabsorbed back into the presynaptic terminal. It is a drug specifically designed to combat depression (a type of depression specifically caused by serotonin depletion). Escitalopram has absolutely zero recreational value, it is not addictive and does not induce cravings, urges or compulsions to reuse the drug. Like all SSRIs, patients become physically dependent on the drug, but this is VERY different from addiction. Avoid this AA group like the plague!

aloneinthis

I am only 7 days sober, but I can tell you that I could not have done this without my meds. I am on what my doctor calls the bipolar spectrum. I don't have the extreme highs and lows of a true bipolar person, but still have many of the same issues. I take Lexapro and Lamictal. I am a very angry person without meds, and I am not sure that I would be able to cope with everything without them.

Many people with mental illnesses self medicate. I think that is part of the reason why I drank. I just wanted to feel good...feel better about myself...not worry for a while.

Threshold

alone, glad you are here and sober. My extremes in my bi polar have intensified with age, but, as you say, I drank and drugged as self medication. Thought I was making myself more functional...not so much.

Keep posting, your contributions are valuable on this forum!

Wellsc61

So ridiculous I don't even know what to say. I am 52 days clean and I take Cymbalta and it is my business and no one else's....I would try and find another meeting and get a new sponsor because that one sounds like an ass...

dsmaxis10

It got bad anuff I had to fire my first and last sponser. He said people who take medication and collect money from the goverment are the lowest forms of human beings. So I was hangin around his house after a meeting me him and another former sponse of his. Talking about whats the best definition of humilty and all of a sudden my old sponser started verbally attacking me. For twenty minutes I listend to him then he accused me of taking my mood stabilizer and antipsychotic to get high. That was it I walk up to him all six foot 3 two hundred and sixty 3 pounds of him stuck my finger in his face and said your a stigma spreadin mother bleeper he hit my arm I didnt even think I just started swingen. The fight didnt last long he got me once in the face it just made me even madder I got him in the nose he turned his back I tried to put him in the rear naked choke hold I learned as a teenager but he was to tall and big so I let go and just left and went home. Turns out he had to stitch his own nose and it took twenty paper towels to clean up his blood all I had was a little mark under my right eye. Funny thing is one of his favorite lines was you can always kick someone a## and make amends later. Thats what I did he doesnt want anything to do with me and I dont care. Went to all the same meetings so I quit goin to 95 percent of the meetings I attended. Another horrifec accounter I have had over a hundred in and outside of a meeting is a tight rope walker old timer that I walk with everyday told me people like me are the reason why the goverment goin broke. And at a meeting the hole table people Ive seen never talk to all geared there shares towards me about taking medication that I was not sober and to quote one of the spiritual miggets medication attrack evil spirits. How would they even no I took medication everybody was out to harrass me. So I have been hospitalized 8 times since I quit drinken and taking drugs(NOT MEDICATION THAT I NEED). So I have tried everything not to take medication but I always get shackeld to a strecher, I cut my medication in half in december by january all the way to march I went to five ER and five mental hospitals. I have schizoaffective bipolar disorder and after tryin everything not to take medication I take it every night lamictal and risperdal its more important then AA meetings with a succes rate lower then spontaneous recovery !!! Well after not goin to a meeting for six months I went to one this week Its the only meeting I like in a fifty mile radius its a lead discussion meeting and a bonuse no one harrasses me so Ill come back and its close to my house. I no what the big book says on page 114 and 133 but thats not what I hear at meetings and threw all this I didnt drink cause its no longer one day at a time. And yes my mood stabilizer and antipsychotic are mood and mind altering and so the LSD Bill W took when he wasnt cheatin on his wife all the way to his death bed when he was whynin to the nurse to get him a drink. And Im not bashin AA just tellin the truth I dont owe my life to AA I owe it to GOD Ive been threw alot my first three and a half years sober and couldnt of done it without HIM. Anyways the problem has been removed it does not exist and throw ciggerates in there to atleast I no Im not goin to die from smoking like Bill W. Im a recoverd alcoholic and I have S.A.B.D when people are out to try to make you fail in recovery from alcoholism thats complicated by other disorders like stigma spreadin spiritual miggets it forces you to really on GOD a 100 percent not hiden out in meetings walking a tight rope like the overwhelming majority of AA members. But meeting the requirments (struggle surrender cycles) to make a connection with GOD that takes away the obssesion to drink and with HIS help in a process of S.S.C to develop a program that becomes part of unconscious competence and then its no longer one day at a time. Bill W said it best AA is spiritual kindagarden and it is worshipping the founders our AA spiritual kindagarden books is kindagardism. It says GOD omnipotent and theres only one GOD that what it says in the bb. Not a bunch of made up mape believe. Turning your life over to a fairy tale you get what the majority of AA members get habitual relapseism. Turning your life and will over to a omnipent heavenly FATHER like the bb says not even spiritaully sick stigma spreadin miggets can get you to fail.

NYCDoglvr

Just because someone is sober doesn't mean they aren't stupid. In the first place, this is an anti-depressant and not considered a slip. Have you ever heard of anyone trying to score Lexipro?

It says in AA literature that NO ONE SHOULD PLAY DOCTOR. That's why I don't talk about my meds and depression in meetings. It's very common for alcoholics to also suffer from other mental illnesses such as depression and bipolar. I wouldn't be alive without medication; I wouldn't be alive if I wasn't sober.

I suggest going to another meeting, getting a new sponsor and not discussing these issues in meetings. It's no one's business!

bryangt

If you had high cholesteral and were taking Lipitor, would you want to stop taking that because someone advised you to? Whatever works to keep you sober and keep sane. The program has it's boundaries are different for each individual and it is our job to respect those boundaries and your right to do what is working for you. Sad that has happened to you.

Tiggy

Im so sorry this happened to you, I know I shouldnt take any thing positive from your experiance but it somehow makes me feel less guilty. I stopped going to AA because of something similar and now Im in trouble with booze agian. My own fault I know but the hostility I found at AA about needing to take prescription drugs for depression really frightened me. Get all the strength you need on here and do what is right for you.

NYCDoglvr

Your experience is why I never talk about anti-depressant medication at AA. Unsolicited advice is terribly wrong. They are wrong, listen to your doctor. In AA we talk about alcoholism but mental health issues aren't relevant. I've been sober 20+ years and on anti-depressants the same length of time.