Reachtylerhere

I tried getting my first sponsor. It turns out he didnt count days on medicine as sober days. I am on lexapro for depression. Everyone in the meetin started arguing with me about how it is a mood an mind altering substance and I shouldn't take it. I just got out of rehab. I am scared and don't know where to get reliable information.

milo88

Hello!
I probably shouldn't be replying because I have no idea what Lexapro is!! But if a doctor prescribed it and it's helping you, then I don't think those people should be telling you not to take it! Especially if you are just out of rehab and feeling vulnerable.
Which is a weird thing for me to say because I really don't like psych drugs, but I have taken antidepressants when I've been really bad and known that it's better than throwing myself out a window! And they did help me through a really bad time. I s-l-o-w-l-y weaned myself off, whilst also initiating good things into my life like exercise, meditation, eating better, cutting out bad habits etc etc etc and now I don't take them any more and I feel ok.
I know also that I will always probably be prone to depression, but I don't want the drugs unless I'm in a really dark place and then I'm grateful that they exist!
They have a place! I needed to take antidepressants to be able to stop other unsavory behavior I was partaking in because depression was keeping me there.
So drugs helped me to get out of a bad place, and if they are helping you also in breaking free from an addiction then I say that's a good thing!!!
It doesn't mean you'll be on them forever, and it doesn't mean you're weak either! It means you're trying to improve your life, and using what's available to help you do that.
Bah! A lot of ex-addicts are extremists! Find a different meeting!! Or wear ear muffs xxxx

Dee74

I'm not in AA - but I very much believe what prescribed meds I might be on is no one else's business.

Personally I'd be looking for a new sponsor Tyler - and perhaps a new meeting.

Welcome to SR - you'll find a lot of support here

D

Freedom1990

The one thing I leave out of AA and with sponsors is my mental health treatment. Unfortunately there are those who think they have the right to play doctor, and they don't. I discuss my medications and mental health issues with the professionals.

Find a new group and sponsor. I am so very sorry you had such a bad experience with AA. Just don't throw the baby out with the bath water.

Nightsd

If your antidepressant truly helps with your depression and possibly anxiety, then it is probably helping you stay clean too, since you don't also have to fight depression as badly as before.

I doubt I could stay clean without the antidepressant medication I take, which has helped me tremendously with soul-crushing levels of anxiety and depression.

You can disagree with those in AA. The fact that they may have more sber time than you does not make their medical opinions any more accurate. Consult your physician for medical advice, not AA!

soberlicious

This is not for him to decide. It seems he has lost sight of his "program". People like this can be dangerous to someone who is vulnerable.

If you and your doctor have decided that this is necessary right now, then it is. As you get some clarity and begin to sort things out you can continue to decide what is right for you. If find that that continually changes as I continue to grow. The beauty of not drinking is that you get to make decisions about your life. You get to build and create. You have choices.

This would actually be funny if it weren't so dangerous.

I was scared in the beginning too because I didn't trust myself to begin making good decisions for myself. I hadn't made good decisions in the past. In early recovery people kept reinforcing that to me. I found that to be very detrimental to my progress. The sober me can and does make good decions for myself. Do not let fear drive you! This was the single most harmful thing to my recovery. Cut the white noise, focus on the things that are working for you, continue to read and learn, see your doctors, don't drink. ever. period.

You can do this, tyler. You really can.

onlythetruth

If you have chosen AA as your support group over the other choices available, then you should at least know AA's true position on medications. Here is a link to AA's pamphlet on this, from the AA website:

http://www.aa.org/pdf/products/p-11_...ersMedDrug.pdf

The bottom line is that your sponsor and the people at that meeting were absolutely, 100% wrong to try to influence your medical care. Not only were they wrong, but their advice was dangerous, not just to you but to other newcomers who are undoubtedly experiencing the same thing.

I would suggest not only a new sponsor, and avoidance of that group, but also that you report the experience to your rehab so that they can be aware that this group is a dangerous one.

soberlicious

I couldn't agree more with OTT. This situation could be potentially very harmful to you and others.


and as a side note, tyler....some people don't "count time" and are very successful, so take it with a grain of salt. I enjoy celebrating my clean time, but please know that the idea of couting time is not a necessary thing for everyone across the board to stay sober.

totfit

How many of these idiots that were telling you that you weren't sober because you were taking Lexapro out smoking after the meeting. AA still has smoking meetings. Duh. Don't listen to any of them.

onlythetruth

Soberlicious makes an excellent point here, too, tyler. Many don't count clean time at all, and those who do so don't always make a big deal about it. As this experience with your sponsor (who presumably has some time) shows, time is not necessarily a good predictor of emotional health.

Photonic

Hi Reach,

It is unfortunate about the encounter that you had. Sadly so few people, and especially ones that should, know so little about recovery and depression. It is VERY common for people that have been using alcohol and other drugs to be chemically depressed. I mean alcohol and many of these drugs are depressants. I am a doctor and I can tell you that Lexapro is a great SSRI and a vital tool that is used to combat dpression in many forms. I agree with what other members here have said. It is absolutely none of these people's business what yourself and your doctors are doing for your personal health concerns. I no longer make use of the AA program but I did for years and this is one of the reasons that I am a former member. Now it is important to know that they are by far not the only game in town, so to speak. There are many other diciplines of recovery, one simply has to search recovery on any web browser and a whole world of information will open up at your fingertips. I firmly believe that each and every individual battling with the disease of addiction must find what works for them. Now for many over the years it has been the AA program so I by no means attack them or say it is a bad program. I am simply saying that it is by far not the only one. Do a little research, try some others out and see what seems to work for you. I have been sober 22 years now so I have a little time to back up what I am saying. You CAN stay sober and find happiness without the use of the AA program. Good luck to you and if there is any way that myself or anyone else here can ever assist you please do not hesitate to ask. We are the greatest asset to our own recovery.

Take Care
Nic

JimE

Hi Tyler, That happened to me when I unwisely told my sponsor and shared at my home group that I finally went for help for my depression and was taking medication for bipolar. I was 7 yrs sober at the time. My sponsor told me to "get off that crap" and I received some shite from a few members at the meeting. Not good.

I'd recommend finding a new sponsor and a new meeting....that's what I did. The situation did change my outlook on going to AA and my attendance dropped off quite a bit. I'm sober 20 yrs now. The folks in AA mean well but they are not doctors and shouldn't act like one on TV. My 2 cents....

onlythetruth

I take Lexapro for generalized anxiety disorder. I have found it to be very helpful, but years ago when I was going to AA, I too was told by people in AA to stop taking it. Fortunately I ignored that advice, but I know of others who took it seriously and actually stopped taking their meds--resulting in relapse and even suicide. That is why I say that this is a dangerous situation and should be reported to your rehab so they can warn other treatment graduates to avoid that meeting.

Reachtylerhere

I am just going to work NA from now on. Thanks a ton for the support.

NYCDoglvr

I am sooo sorry you had such a terrible experience. I've been sober many years and also on anti-depressants. I've learned not to talk about depression & meds in meetings because I don't want unsolicited advice. Too many people in AA stupidly comment on this topic and they know NOTHING!!!

Fine another sponsor .... a good one can be a life saver.

esyla

i had the same experience with na...

Zencat

Unfortunately I can not share the full truth about my situation in AA because I take mood elevating medication.

I take all advice and feedback with a grain of salt I get in AA. I remind myself that I'm talking with people that may simply don't know what their talking about. Living a good deal of life in active addiction in not conducive for knowing about healthy living.

nandm

I wish I could say that these types of things are rare in AA but unfortunately they are not. It is getting better though. More and more people are speaking out and standing their ground on the fact that AA is a treatment for alcoholism and not a cure all for mental illness. I listened to those well meaning but ill informed people when I was in early sobriety and nearly wound up locked up in a psych ward because of stopping my meds. One has to realize that there are a lot of misconceptions, half truths, myths, misinformation, and most of all fear surrounding mental illness. That is no different for those that are in AA. People fear what they do not understand. They minimize it because many times their experiences are based in situational depression which got better when they changed their circumstances. So in their minds it is all "pull up your bootstraps", "mind over matter", etc... They can not conceive a depression that blindsides you when life is going better than it ever has for you. One that sucks the life out of you. They fight against acknowledging that mental illness is real because if they admit to themselves they are real then they then have to realize they are vulnerable themselves. Too often people in AA are also addicts so they have the mentality that a "drug is a drug is a drug" and can not conceive that there are many useful medications out there that do have the potential for abuse that people often take as prescribed without abusing them. They get stuck on the idea that since they are drug addicts everyone is a drug addict in the making. They ignorantly believe that a mood stabilizer or an antidepressant elevates a persons mood. They do not understand the pharmacology behind the medications and would not likely listen if someone tried to explain it anyway. They have to see things as black and white to survive otherwise they have to acknowledge that mental illness is real and when they do that they have to face the fact that they are not immune it could easily happen to them.

I have learned over the years to not let these people get to me. Personally, I do not hide the fact that I take psychiatric medications. The reason I do not is because I know there are others in AA just like me that need to hear that it is ok to take medications to treat mental illness and it does not make one less sober to do so. It is simply treating a real medical condition, no different than treating diabetes, cancer, high blood pressure, etc... Someone needs to help educate and inform people about mental illness and AA as many times it seems the two do go hand in hand. I feel that by letting people know that I treat my alcoholism by following the program of AA and I treat my mental health illness by following the advice and treatment of my mental health providers. I have to treat them separately as they are separate issues. I know many people are not comfortable sharing about these things within AA and that is ok. I do not judge them as it took me many years to get to this place in my life. It took watching people commit suicide because they were told they were not sober taking mental health meds. It took watching a friend who was stable on her bipolar meds stop taking them because of these well meaning but misguided people. She wound up locked up, has had shock therapy, has gone through multiple medication changes, and has not been able to get stable since. She had been in the program for 8 years before she stopped taking her meds. Now she can not work, she lives with her parents, her life is a mess. But I guess those well meaning people can be rest assured she is sober......for all the good that does now that she has wasted the past 5 years trying to get stable again without success. Those are the reasons I speak my opinion and experience on mental health medications in AA. I do not want to watch more people suffer because of ignorance.

twilli59

What I found was the same inconsistency in AA. Finding the right meetings and sponsor are crucial, yet so random! Once I did, and read the book(s), read what the literature says about doctors, meds, etc...I felt that at least I knew the truth. The jerks who fancy themselves "hard-core" or whatever, just fell off my radar - except maybe for $1 entertainment! lol Now, "hard-core" in terms of some of the stepwork, working against ego, seeing the value of humility, acceptance...this is the stuff I can hang on to. I just see so many people throw the baby out with the bathwater, so to speak, and it sucks - because I understand it so well! AA is weird if you don't get the right mesage. Good luck to you - you'll find your way if you stay honest, open and willing - whether AA or not. Going directly to the literature may help, too. Keep the faith!

twilli59

And...quick clarification - some of the people who sugggest abstinance from all meds, etc...happen to have had such powerful spiritual experiences that they assume we can all have the white-light encounter. Not true, unfortunately! Most of us on meds would love to have a higher power relieve our symptoms! Maybe someday.