Genie

that allowed us to drink without the consequences, would you use it?

I was musing over this today and thinking, if I was in research and development for some liquor company I'd be working on a pill that allowed drinking without consequences. I am sure this is a dream of many alcoholics.

I am very new to sobriety (just a week) so of course I've not resolved myself to never drinking again. I am working on it but I'd be lying if I said at this moment it is never.

I then thought about this in terms of smoking. I quit smoking cigarettes 20 years ago and have no urge to pick up again. So, if there was a pill that allowed one to smoke without consequences, would I smoke again? My answer was quick and quite loud (in my head)...NO! Whereas if there was a pill that allowed me to drink without consequences, well sign me up.

I am sure this says something about my addiction at this time. I'd also like a pill that would allow me to eat without consequences. Must be my hedonistic nature.

Thoughts?

Genie

Chilledice

I personally would drink if there was a pill that made sure there was no consequences to it! I love drinking alcohol but i certainly hate the consequences it brings!!

quitforme79

I don't know... In the past I would've said heck yes! But the internal issues that led me to abuse alcohol are what really need fixing & only in sobriety am I finding that opportunity.

caboblanco

I there was a pill to make alcohol not bad for your health and it wasn't 100 dollars a pill Id take it and I wouldn't have to worry about all this recovery stuff. I wasn't a hostile drinker. I got mellow and had a good time. that is all

Mirage74

Let's see, I guess the pill could cure the hangover and prevent disease. It would also have to prevent you from fighting, yelling, falling down, passing out on a bench, etc. while drunk. You'd have to make alcohol much cheaper and then revoke all dui laws. So, in all, I don't see it happening...

If youre talking about a pill that would cure alcoholism, I don't think so. The idea of just drinking one or two seems useless to me, even with a magical pill.

Someone told me one time that alcohol is really just a symptom of the problem

StevenT

I agree with quitforme... I drank, and used, to solve whatever needed solving. I didn't feel good, felt lonely, was bored.... It got to a point where I wasn't trying to solve specific things, I was trying to solve everything. Good and bad. Liquor and drugs became my way to live. It was, literally to me, more necessary to food and equal to water. If I had to pay for water, and it cost the same as a bottle of liquor, I'd buy the liquor. So I can't fathom anything that would take the consequences away. Unless it was a solution to everything and more appealing then chemical happiness. Then I'd just be substituting.

For me, the spiritual solution I've found through AA is the only thing that has ever been more appealing to me then the liquor and dope. I wouldn't risk throwing it away to look for another solution.

Genie

These are all really interesting replies. When I think about smoking - there were times when it was fun, relaxing and just kicking back and thinking with a smoke in the hand. However, over the years I've not needed that crutch. I am hoping that one day I will feel the same way about alcohol as I do cigarettes.

Yeah the pill would have to magical indeed.

G

DisplacedGRITS

so by consequence you mean we could drink and drink and not blackout or get totally wasted? or do you mean we'd just wakeup hangover free? because for me, the consequences start getting bad before i black out. i don't know that i'd be okay even getting a little buzzed because i would be drinking in the morning, at noon and at night so i'd always be buzzed. and, for me, what's the point of drinking if you don't get smashed? i didn't drink to be social and have fun. i drink to bring on oblivion and help me cope with life.

i guess if there was a pill i'd take it but i'd probably eventually end up abstaining again. i can't handle alcohol at all. it's too dangerous for me. it's my answer to every problem and that's no way to live.

deeker

the pill? nah!

I don't think so, I never would have met all the awesome folks I know in AA, or learned all the new coping skills I have acquired or would I have realized my need for God if there were no consequences.

Who needs God if everything is going great? I think God loves us so much that he uses our addiction trying to get our attention.

I wouldn't appreciate my life so much now if it weren't for those nasty consequences. Today I am grateful for peaceful, uneventful quiet days.

Michael66

There was a time I would have definitely said "yes". But now it's a definite "no". I love sobriety, and spending all my time sober, now.

Stang

No I'm a cheap ass. I would have to pay for the pill and the Budweiser.

caboblanco

oh please. I hope you don't really think that

DisplacedGRITS

here's an interesting article about rats, heroin and a heroin "vaccine."

near the end of the article: "The most intriguing test, however, involved rats that had been allowed to self-dose with heroin, which was accompanied by a blinking light. After an extended withdrawal, the rats would go right back to self-medicating if they were given a single dose of heroin or shown the blinking light. Once they were treated to raise the dynamic antibodies, however, the dose of heroin would no longer set off a bout of drug-taking (though the blinking light still would). The antibodies appeared to block the drug efficiently enough that it no longer registered in the brains of these rats."

so the rats don't need the hit of heroin to set off a binge. just blinking the light at them does that. so for humans, with our much more complex brains and emotions, consider that life itself it the blinking light. your triggers are the blinking light. even with the vaccine, as long as you're exposed to the blinking light the cravings will still kick in. you might not go on a binge but you'll still have the same cravings and take the hit even though it doesn't effect you. worse, since you're not feeling the effects, it's possible that you take larger and larger hits. last paragraph: "Vaccinating the rats required three doses within a month, and the rats still could get a hit off the drug—it just took a lot more of it." interesting stuff.

deeker

I didn't say he gave me the addiction , he used it to make me realize my need for Him. What do you care what i think?

Dee74

This comes up a fair bit.

I'm siding with the no thanks.

I love my life and I love who I am now - I've worked hard to build a happy life and I'm glad for the second chance.

and all I had to do was give up something that was bad for me....

My toxic relationship with alcohol wrecked my life, wrecked my career/s, my relationships, made me a public embarrassment, and nearly killed me.

The worst consequences were the ones noone saw tho - the self hatred the damage to self esteem, the despair, the utter inability to handle life with a glass in my hand...

There's no pill for consequences like that.

The thought of drinking again, pill or not, seems like going backwards to me.

No thanks

D

Fallow

Really don't think so. That question doesn't take into account so many factors.

Like what's a consequence? Blacking out? Vomiting? Hangovers? Losing jobs? Fighting? Jails? Hospitals? Liver failure? Kidney failure? Family destruction? Wasting money?

We could all probably list many potential consequences.

Getting drunk is the number one consequence of drinking alcohol.

If you gave me a pill that makes it so I can drink without getting drunk then what would be the point in drinking alcohol?

Just drink water.

Mirage74

I hear ya, Genie. I know exactly what you're talking about. Drinking could be fun for me too, as in "relaxing and just kicking back and thinking with a drink in the hand." It's just those consequences are killers.

soberlicious

I would not because using any kind of intoxicant blocks me from my authentic self. I like things real.

LDT

Nope.

Leshar

This says it all for me. I really want to find, be my authentic self.
My answer is no.
Thanks for this great post!