episodic alcoholism
 

Do you know there is a link between episodic alcoholism and mood disorders?

There is a link between fluctuating levels of alcohol abuse and hypomania/dysphoric hypomania

If you are staring at this please get an assessment or you could waste years of your life like me.:a043:

Welcome to my world.

Add cocaine to the mix and you have me. Bipolar II, drank when depressed, coke when hypomanic. I also drank episodically my whole life...which is why I didn't have a "problem," there were periods of relatively sobriety in my illustrious drinking career. My psychiatrist was the start of the road to sobriety for me.

Not sure what you mean by "episodic alcoholism"?

Do you mean "binge drinking"?

It is also known an epsilon alcoholism. There is loads about it on Google. Sufferers spend nearly as much time sober as they do drunk but they will drink to the point of passing out when they do drink. This nursery rhyme describes the drinking pattern very well.

There was a liitle girl who had a little curl right in the middle of her forehead and when she was good she was very very good and when she was bad she was horrid.

How are you doing today mindful man? Did u find it hard to get diagnosed?
Do you mind me asking what meds did they give you?

I'd been diagnosed Bipolar II for years, but I stopped taking the medication because it was making me stupid.

When I got sober they sent me to rehab, then put me back on lamotrigine (Lamictal) and Wellbutrin. Unfortunately the lamotrigine makes me really stupid/cognitive issues, but since being sober I've been on Wellbutrin and buspirone and it seems to be managing the symptoms quite well.

Caveat...this is what works for me, everyone is different. Do not take this as medical advice.

Glad to hear you are doing well. Getting diagnosed was a nightmare for me. Im still not happy with the diagnosis because they have told me I am type one and Im 100% convinced Im type 2.(mixed state)

Anyway on a happier note the meds have worked like an absolute dream. Abilify injections were like a magic bullet for me and Sertraline/ Lamictal worked really well too. Im in a very good place now.
I didnt need rehab or dual diagnoses treatment. I just needed those meds and then I paddled myself to a good place.

Something weird happened to me. After I got the meds I drank normally for months which my doc doesnt understand because Abilify doesnt do that. I was considering staying in that spot but I was a physical wreck after 20 years of drinking so I took another bunny hop and Im now AF.

Episodic alcoholism makes about as much sense to me as Transient Self Medication - just sayin ;)

(don't Google that I just made it up)

I'm glad you have decided to be AF sammy :c014:

D

^Dee! I'm going to remember that one.

So I looked this up and realized why this sounded vaguely familiar- it's from Jellinek, as in the "Jellinek curve" ... the pioneering of the disease model of addiction.

Used here, it sounds like an odd way (to me) of commingling mental illness - since you are talking about meds - with alcoholism and its last/end stage as I've heard it commonly called. I certainly was at that stage by the end. I also find it interesting that his research was considered counter to AA's model which in a nutshell identifies all us alcoholics as the "same kind." So, while I was at the far end of the spectrum and a cusp-of-death alcoholic, and my husband was what people (annoyingly, bc it is a misnomer) call a very high functioning alcoholic....we are both the same, at the end of the day.

It's also interesting to me (and, incorrect IME and IMO) that he was actually creating a limiting model where some of the types are "not diseased."

I'm a huge believer that we have to have the alcohol completely out of there to be able to truly assess what/if mental health meds are needed. I also find it interesting that his research was considered counter to AA's model which in a nutshell identifies all us alcoholics as the "same kind."

Like MM said, some worked for him and not others; I get quite leery when folks talk about meds working miracles, to paraphrase you Sammy. Hope that the not drinking will be coupled with a foundation of recovery action, not just the meds for your mental health needs.

(In case anyone is interested -
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E._Morton_Jellinek)

Dee Thats how I feel about people who sip all day every day. I dont get those people either because that was not my drinking style. Thats why I stay well away from posts that talk about stopping drink safely/tapering down etc etc.

I only understand people who drink every few days/weeks. I understand them better if they tell me that an untreated mood disorder is behind their drinking binges.

Episodic alcoholism is real. I Am a real person who battled this for over 20 years. Im just reaching out to find people like me. If you dont drink this way you dont have to talk to me.

Attracta I dont know anything about a Jellink curve. Im not sure what you are reading.

You said you believe alcohol needs to go before you can assess a persons mental health. In theory I agree with you but some people are too sick to stop drinking without the help of psych meds.
I was sectioned under the mental heath act. Obviously they were going to treat my mental illness when they had me in there. Once I got stable I was able to go back and look at my drinking.

That way was best for me.

I started as an drinker who binged hard and ended up 20 years later as an all day everyday drinker so I'm not poking fun at anyone Sammie :)

I just called it binge drinking, man.

I understand that someones coined the term and used it academically but 'episodic alcoholism' as a drinker that sounds like an attempt at downplaying or trying to diminish the scope of the problem - which I did a lot of as a drinker.

'Binge drinking' is a less abstract and less verbose but more apt descriptor for me.

If you want to use 'episodic alcoholism' to describe the same thing cos that makes more sense to you then have at it, Sammie :)

No offense or arrogance intended - we can both agree we're better off not drinking at all, right? :)

D

See the link, Sammy. It's Wikipedia. And it uses the term "epsilon."

Dee Im sorry your drinking escalated. I always worried that mine would progress but it didnt. I could easily stay sober for days at a time when my mood disorder was going through a stable phase...then the electrical storm would start in my head and out would come the bottle.
They were drinking binges so binge drinking is good too.!
Anyway call it what you will it nearly ruined my life and I had no hope of recovery until those psych meds killed the electrical storms in my head. I dont miss them. They were horrible things and I wouldnt wish those episodes on my worst enemy so definitely not down playing them. I was arrested during one of them so I know exactly how dangerous they are.

Anyway they are gone now. I just wish my first docs were educated enough to treat them but they kept pushing me into AA. They did that until they nearly pushed me to suicide. Thats why you will never find me in the AA section of this forum.

Attracta thanks.

After getting into recovery I've ended up up in a really good place so its all good Sammy.

All the best to you and your recovery,,

D

Thank you Dee. You can tell you are in a good place because you sound well. Its good that we are both hopeful about the future.