Addictive personality?
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Join Date: Jul 2014
Posts: 6
Addictive personality?
Hope everyone is doing well! Since I’ve stopped drinking (almost on day 10), my head has been clear (or at least clearer). I’ve looked back and thought that maybe alcohol was not the only thing I was abusing. I never was addicted to any drugs or prescription meds yet… not that I haven’t tried them, but luckily never stuck to me.
Thanks in advance!
Nasal spray (Afrin) – to such an extent, nose was bleeding on daily basis until I was off of it.
Cigarettes – quit smoking awhile back, but still chew gum/lozenges. Have been doing it for a year now – don’t seem to be cutting down either, but that’s doable; done it before, but drinking gotten me back to smoking. Figure if I quit drinking, I can probably quit the nicotine addiction soon. In addition, I am more addicted to having something in my mouth than nicotine - i often replace the lozenge with a tic-tac and that seems to work wonders.
Coffee – oh boy! I drank triple shots of espresso every couple of hours for most of the working day. Now I slowed down to two cups of regular coffee a day, but only because I started considering that a dependency…. And it turned out to be one… headaches, lethargy, etc…
Sleeping pills – nothing major, the hardest I ever took (and still take) was diphenhydramine (that’s the same thing as Advil PM w/o the painkiller part; my doc says it shouldn’t hurt any organs as long as it’s under 400mg a day; I’m at 50mg, but still….) In addition to 50mg of that, I take valerian root and 10mg of melatonin every night to fall asleep. At this point I think it’s a mental dependency, but still a dependency!
Vitamins – I’ve never been diagnosed with any vitamin deficiency, but I still take some other vitamins (in addition to one-a-day). I probably don’t need half of them, but it’s one of those “just in case” kind of things. Having said that, I think the fact that my system was full of them possibly contributed to minimizing AW symptoms, or at least some of my online research pointed to that.
Most of my hobbies I’ve been obsessed about, blew a lot of money on. It’s not necessarily a bad thing – none of this has put me close to being financially under, but still might be a red flag of some sort.
All this leads me to believe I may have addictive personality and/or OCD. I realize that a lot of these are very socially acceptable, and probably a non-issue but still would like to get some opinions if someone has been in the same boat or sees any red flags…. Or am I just over analyzing this due to my GABA receptors being over excited?Cigarettes – quit smoking awhile back, but still chew gum/lozenges. Have been doing it for a year now – don’t seem to be cutting down either, but that’s doable; done it before, but drinking gotten me back to smoking. Figure if I quit drinking, I can probably quit the nicotine addiction soon. In addition, I am more addicted to having something in my mouth than nicotine - i often replace the lozenge with a tic-tac and that seems to work wonders.
Coffee – oh boy! I drank triple shots of espresso every couple of hours for most of the working day. Now I slowed down to two cups of regular coffee a day, but only because I started considering that a dependency…. And it turned out to be one… headaches, lethargy, etc…
Sleeping pills – nothing major, the hardest I ever took (and still take) was diphenhydramine (that’s the same thing as Advil PM w/o the painkiller part; my doc says it shouldn’t hurt any organs as long as it’s under 400mg a day; I’m at 50mg, but still….) In addition to 50mg of that, I take valerian root and 10mg of melatonin every night to fall asleep. At this point I think it’s a mental dependency, but still a dependency!
Vitamins – I’ve never been diagnosed with any vitamin deficiency, but I still take some other vitamins (in addition to one-a-day). I probably don’t need half of them, but it’s one of those “just in case” kind of things. Having said that, I think the fact that my system was full of them possibly contributed to minimizing AW symptoms, or at least some of my online research pointed to that.
Most of my hobbies I’ve been obsessed about, blew a lot of money on. It’s not necessarily a bad thing – none of this has put me close to being financially under, but still might be a red flag of some sort.
Thanks in advance!
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Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: USA
Posts: 872
Most of those substances are addictive for everyone. I wouldn't get too caught up in trying to label yourself. Sleeping pills and nasal sprays can be dangerous so I avoid if possible. Cigarettes are also not good either. I wouldn't worry about drinking coffee.
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Join Date: Apr 2014
Location: Oregon
Posts: 1,536
That's a lot to think about. I know I can see what some may call addictive tendencies in some of my behaviors. Like with the hobby thing you mentioned, and coffee. I think I'm just passionate about them. I am also passionate about healthy eating. My thoughts are that I am feeding my body what it needs. . . so I don't see a problem with that either.
Once in a meeting I heard someone say that we had to "almost" use our alcoholic nature to attack the program at first. I understood what they meant. . . we go after the healthy things in life with the same passion we had about our drug of choice.
Just thinking while I'm typing. Yeah, lots to think about. It will be interesting to see what others have to say about it. hmmmm. .. .
Once in a meeting I heard someone say that we had to "almost" use our alcoholic nature to attack the program at first. I understood what they meant. . . we go after the healthy things in life with the same passion we had about our drug of choice.
Just thinking while I'm typing. Yeah, lots to think about. It will be interesting to see what others have to say about it. hmmmm. .. .
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Join Date: Jul 2014
Posts: 50
Hi VantagePoint,
I agree with ANewDayNYC, don't get caught up on being addictive. Everyone has some kind of vice some considered bad and some good. Just focus on your sobriety and be proud that you are on day 10. I'm lucky I'm on day 6. Just take it slow one day at a time and only focus on the present. Good luck. :-)
I agree with ANewDayNYC, don't get caught up on being addictive. Everyone has some kind of vice some considered bad and some good. Just focus on your sobriety and be proud that you are on day 10. I'm lucky I'm on day 6. Just take it slow one day at a time and only focus on the present. Good luck. :-)
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Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: in the city by the bay
Posts: 605
Originally Posted by VantagePoint 
Sleeping pills – nothing major, the hardest I ever took (and still take) was diphenhydramine (that’s the same thing as Advil PM w/o the painkiller part; my doc says it shouldn’t hurt any organs as long as it’s under 400mg a day; I’m at 50mg, but still….)
I would ignore the comment that anything under 400mg is safe, and stick to no more than 50mg.
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Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: Midwest
Posts: 1,450
Vantage point - what you wrote could be me. I even go overboard on my hobbies. I stay with things long past when my peers move on. I've never understood why I'm like this. I've considered it a weakness and character flaw. Maybe it would pay off back when we were hunters and gatherers, but the modern world wants brevity and diversity of behavior. I'll let you know when I figure it out!
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