GP's reluctance to prescribe meds for alcohol problems
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Join Date: Apr 2014
Location: UK
Posts: 6,902
Sorry, I'm confused. You got to 6-8 weeks sober, but then decided to drink because you didn't get given meds? You were sober for 6-8 weeks!? Without meds!! What would you want meds for at that stage? That's when it's time to start building up a tool box of INNER resources. To get past dependency on alcohol or meds.
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Thread Starter
Join Date: Jan 2018
Posts: 449
Yeah it seems that way. The problem is I'm not really obsessing about meds, I'm obsessing about the next time I have money and I'm end up in the same boat as I am now. Feeling groggy and penniless because I've spur of the moment acted on a strong compulsion or desire to drink. The thing is I don't really obsess about drinking all that much, the urge is often there but I forget about it most of the time and accept I can't mainly because I can't afford it. Now I can't really explain why, well I have numerous explanations, I too think to myself sometimes, it is my fault, I only have myself to blame but none of them seem to matter when my habit doesn't change. I'm just desperate to stop deep down and I'm struggling to and want to try something else. I'm mean I've never been one to drink every day, my lack of money doesn't allow me to, and even if I did, I get so anxious and debilitated by days of hitting the drink hard that I can't even bare going outside to buy drink. So it's not that my drinking progressively gets more frequent, it's that I will end up picking up a drink at some point regardless of how I feel. I know I will because when I've been convinced I won't, I still end up doing so.
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Join Date: Jan 2018
Posts: 449
I don't know the answers. And I thought wanting to quit would be obvious from the effort I've put in to explain myself and from giving people an insight into my past experiences of seeking help with MH and addiction. Improving my mental health hasn't been wholly successful so far yet neither, so I suspect that I am wholly responsible for that too am I?
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Join Date: Sep 2015
Location: America
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Originally Posted by Lonewolf22 
Well I will give you an example of which I find really unhelpful advice that you find in traditional ways of thinking of alcohol. The peculiar thing is, many people who are outside the circle of recovery speak of alcoholism in the same.
So this was my conversation with a recovery Worker when I visit a recovery facility because I wanted meds and was told I had to work with a drug counsellor. I ended up being there for 6-8 weeks and still I wasn't given meds.
So the conversation went something along the lines of this:
Me: (explaining why I 'feel' the need to take meds)
Her: You won't recover if you 'really ' don't want to
Me: I do want to. That's why I'm here.
Her: Well then why do you keep picking up a drink?
Me: Well.....
Her: Meds will do nothing for you if you don't really want to give up drinking. It has to come from you.
Me: well....
Her.... Let, me give you an example. There was this guy who came in a while back and I asked him why are you here? He says (she says) because I don't want to break up with my partner. So I said (she says) so you don't want to quit? Or he replied no, not really. So she told asked him what he was doing here then? If you don't want to give up for yourself then you won't be helped.
Me: (quite shocked and dumbfounded and angry) Well doesn't everyone with an alcohol problem seeking help still kind of want to drink?
Her: not if they really want to get help
Me: yes but that guy was in a vulnerable position. His urges would have been sky high, he would have been confused as to what he wanted. He would have been wholly unsure of himself and you didn't give him an opportunity to have that chance.
Her: but he didn't really want to change
Me: maybe but at least give him a chance
Her: he had a chance, the doors are always open
Me: some people who struggle sometimes need a little push or a helping hand. I don't think convincing him that he 'really ' doesn't want to give up when he has a drink problem is helpful. It doesn't give anyone hope or a chance.
So after about 6-8 weeks of sitting with this woman once a week, staying sober (desperately doing so by telling myself after this week I will be closer to getting meds). 4 weeks went by, and I asked if I could go on Meds anytime soon? (It was my golden carrot) and she told me she wanted me to go onto a PSI class and I said haven't I already been on one? She told me no, they were just group talks and SMART groups. I said when will I be able to start PSI. She told me the guy who runs the PSI class was off (for some reason), he should be back in a few weeks. A couple of weeks go by and I'm told the PSI classes will not be going ahead for a while due to changes to the management of the facility?
Like that is my frustration with the attitude of old traditional methods of recovery. It's like when you are struggling with faith and you've tried so hard to reach God but can't and someone says, well you can't be trying hard enough?
It relieves the adviser of any responsibility for your recovery. It made me think, why am I even here or why does recovery programs even exist if they just have this attitude that it is down to you? Why on earth are they even in a the job of recovery? It is monumentally frustrating and ignorant and arrogant.
So this was my conversation with a recovery Worker when I visit a recovery facility because I wanted meds and was told I had to work with a drug counsellor. I ended up being there for 6-8 weeks and still I wasn't given meds.
So the conversation went something along the lines of this:
Me: (explaining why I 'feel' the need to take meds)
Her: You won't recover if you 'really ' don't want to
Me: I do want to. That's why I'm here.
Her: Well then why do you keep picking up a drink?
Me: Well.....
Her: Meds will do nothing for you if you don't really want to give up drinking. It has to come from you.
Me: well....
Her.... Let, me give you an example. There was this guy who came in a while back and I asked him why are you here? He says (she says) because I don't want to break up with my partner. So I said (she says) so you don't want to quit? Or he replied no, not really. So she told asked him what he was doing here then? If you don't want to give up for yourself then you won't be helped.
Me: (quite shocked and dumbfounded and angry) Well doesn't everyone with an alcohol problem seeking help still kind of want to drink?
Her: not if they really want to get help
Me: yes but that guy was in a vulnerable position. His urges would have been sky high, he would have been confused as to what he wanted. He would have been wholly unsure of himself and you didn't give him an opportunity to have that chance.
Her: but he didn't really want to change
Me: maybe but at least give him a chance
Her: he had a chance, the doors are always open
Me: some people who struggle sometimes need a little push or a helping hand. I don't think convincing him that he 'really ' doesn't want to give up when he has a drink problem is helpful. It doesn't give anyone hope or a chance.
So after about 6-8 weeks of sitting with this woman once a week, staying sober (desperately doing so by telling myself after this week I will be closer to getting meds). 4 weeks went by, and I asked if I could go on Meds anytime soon? (It was my golden carrot) and she told me she wanted me to go onto a PSI class and I said haven't I already been on one? She told me no, they were just group talks and SMART groups. I said when will I be able to start PSI. She told me the guy who runs the PSI class was off (for some reason), he should be back in a few weeks. A couple of weeks go by and I'm told the PSI classes will not be going ahead for a while due to changes to the management of the facility?
Like that is my frustration with the attitude of old traditional methods of recovery. It's like when you are struggling with faith and you've tried so hard to reach God but can't and someone says, well you can't be trying hard enough?
It relieves the adviser of any responsibility for your recovery. It made me think, why am I even here or why does recovery programs even exist if they just have this attitude that it is down to you? Why on earth are they even in a the job of recovery? It is monumentally frustrating and ignorant and arrogant.
Member
Join Date: Feb 2018
Posts: 274
There is not much I can add, but from personal experience I can say that meds did not help me, other strategic tools did. My GP prescribed all of the, including monthly injections so that I could not cheat. It's very individual though! Just don't use the unavailability of meds as a crutch to continue drinking.
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Join Date: May 2012
Posts: 1,981
Originally Posted by Lonewolf22
It made me think, why am I even here or why does recovery programs even exist if they just have this attitude that it is down to you? Why on earth are they even in a the job of recovery? It is monumentally frustrating and ignorant and arrogant.
Sticking with a program is essential, be it AA, SMART, an addiction therapist,.. Medication can be helpful, but it's not going to be a cure-all that is seems like you may be looking for.
I'm sure if you get a solid addiction therapist, start attending meetings daily or close to it, then they likely would be much more open to prescribing medications.
Member
Join Date: Dec 2014
Posts: 2,966
Hey,bud..If you were to use this 2wks to really do some work on getting/STAYING sober, you'll be 2wks ahead of the game. You kinda have the ultimate 'pill' right now w/no money to drink,so use that to get some legwork done on what you CAN do.
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