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no more drugs: is it possible?
Former Member
Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
okay so my new years resolution (for my boyfriend and i) is to stop alcohol and drugs altogether. we're both young (i'm 19 and he's 21) and have done some crazy shit, him more than me, and we've decided to stop. the question is.. do you think this is realistic?
early last year, i was diagnosed as an alcoholic by my psychiatrist (in the midst of my anorexia/depression/anxiety problems.. fun!!:impissed:), i started seeing a doctor specialising in addiction, i actually managed to go 5 months without a drink! then i tried drinking in moderation, which worked well, only had one alcohol binge.
last year i also ODed on heroin twice (obviously non-fatal, but i passed out and stopped breathing so luckily my mates were there to give me CPR) and oxycodone once, passed out drunk and thrown up while asleep a few times, tried to off myself with my prescription meds, as well as some irresponsible things such as babysitting while heavily stoned, filling my drink bottle full of wine to drink at school to ease my social anxiety, selling my prescription benzos, etc. you get the point. :chin:
on top of all of this, i've been on anti-depressants (SSRIs, tetracyclics and SNRIs), benzos (lorazepam, temazepam, now alprazolam), anti-psychotics (seroquel) and sleepers (zopiclone/imovane) for the past couple of years and am still on them (lower doses though)... all-in-all, not a good combination with drugs.
so that's my background.. now, back to the question.. do you think abstaining from all alcohol and drugs (besides my meds) is realistic? would like to read some opinions
thanks
early last year, i was diagnosed as an alcoholic by my psychiatrist (in the midst of my anorexia/depression/anxiety problems.. fun!!:impissed:), i started seeing a doctor specialising in addiction, i actually managed to go 5 months without a drink! then i tried drinking in moderation, which worked well, only had one alcohol binge.
last year i also ODed on heroin twice (obviously non-fatal, but i passed out and stopped breathing so luckily my mates were there to give me CPR) and oxycodone once, passed out drunk and thrown up while asleep a few times, tried to off myself with my prescription meds, as well as some irresponsible things such as babysitting while heavily stoned, filling my drink bottle full of wine to drink at school to ease my social anxiety, selling my prescription benzos, etc. you get the point. :chin:
on top of all of this, i've been on anti-depressants (SSRIs, tetracyclics and SNRIs), benzos (lorazepam, temazepam, now alprazolam), anti-psychotics (seroquel) and sleepers (zopiclone/imovane) for the past couple of years and am still on them (lower doses though)... all-in-all, not a good combination with drugs.
so that's my background.. now, back to the question.. do you think abstaining from all alcohol and drugs (besides my meds) is realistic? would like to read some opinions
thanks 0
Comments
I have tried to give up in the past but for me it was about finding the balance of moderation rather than caning it everytime I went out.
It sounds like you've had an awful lot going on in your life over the past few years; there were a few points in your post that stood out;
1) Your mental health history.
From the medications you have listed and the experiences and traumas you've detailed, I think that messing around with ANY mind altering substances or dependency forming depressants/opiates is a BIG NO. Before Christmas you were asking about Mescaline and I didn't post because I thought it was covered.
If I (and I think I can safely speak for a number of others on this board) had known about your mental health history before now, i definately would have posted with an emphatic NO to any psychotropics. From what you have listed and stated drugs of all descriptions seem to be linked to some really horrible experiences. Especially with regard to your history of OD's, illnesses and making regreattable decisions (e.g: being intoxicated while babysitting) I think that that last thing you need in your life are any mind altering substances or dependency forming chemicals.
2) Moderate usage
Looking at your use history and following on from the above, I think its bordering on dangerous to even think about trying to attempt any more 'moderate' usage because you clearly are not using for pleasure mostly but for a complicated set of reasons including self medication of mental illness - you need to get away from this stuff.
You've been diagnosed (it appears) with several illnesses that are going to take their toll, and all of which are major no no's for drug use - in addition to a diagnosis of alcoholism, which gives more evidence for you perhaps not being in the right place for any moderate usage.
The question is, at the moment do you need some extra help with this? I see that you and your BF are going to be giving up together (more on this below) but with respect to your diagnosis of alcoholism you will need to speak to your doctor if you feel that you cannot give up on your own. This is particularly relevant if you or your boyfriend have become physically dependent on either Heroin, alcohol or Benzos - the last on in particular should be withdrawn from gradually as there are potentially serious side effects to immediate withdrawal from long term benzo use.
3) Stopping together
This is good - getting clean and overcoming mental health issues are challenging for anyone, but having someone to support you and to keep you on the path will help. If you are both serious you'll need to support each other to help prevent relapses but be supportive of any setback (i.e: if he falls off you need to support him by being there for him but staying strong in your abstanence, and he needs to do the same).
The main thing for both of you is going to be finding new patterns of living, things that you enjoy and can do together, which mean you avoid your triggers to use. In your case it could be situations that make you anxious, or people you are around who are regular users, or pubs and clubs where you are likely to drink to excess. If you can identify and avoid situations where you are likely to use, this can be a big plus. You may have to forgo one or two things or people for a while, but in the end you'll find other things to do which won't leave you depressed, scared, sad, feeling like shit and afraid.
4) Dealing with your mental illness
Anxiety and depression most commonly appear together, and one tends to reinforce the other. Neurologically, the two are thought to be related to similar neurotransmitter abnormalities (in Serotonin levels for example, the reason why SSRI's like Setraline are often effective for both depression and anxiety).
Subjectively as well, the patterns of behaviour they give rise to can often lead to vicious cycles or things spiralling out of control, e.g: you feel anxious, so you drink and/or use, then this puts you in a frame of mind where you do something or end up in a dangerous situation or doing something you otherwise wouldn't - then you feel bad, scared or depressed about this and yourself afterwards, making you more anxious in more situations, so you end up using more and it starts again...
I have lived for all of my life from childhood with chronic anxiety, and in my teens and early 20s experienced major depression and a nervous breakdown. There are many others on here who will tell you the same, but the key thing is that people can and DO recover (I did, and I have a nice, reasonably successful life with nice friends and am quite happy).
There are a number of things instead of substance and alcohol use that can help understanding anxiety; one of them is to understand what happens when you feel anxious (physiologically) and then learn techniques to help control it (there are psychotherapies such as CBT which can help with this -
http://www.mind.org.uk/Information/Booklets/Understanding/Understanding+anxiety.htm
Is a good place to start researching.
I think given your post history the only sensible response here is going to be one of reducing your use to nothing as quickly and safely as possible, and then concentrating on getting better and enjoying life.
Take care,
MB
it definitely is do-able and it will be a lot easier having someone to do it with
i went off near enough everything for the best part of 2 months and while i felt a lot better for it and got a lot of praise for it, it completely bored me
my problem was i couldn't/can't break away from my social circles, and the social settings i'm usually in... which meant i was sitting by myself most of the weekend etc, which i didn't enjoy one bit
i'd love to be able to just give everything up but i know its not happening anytime soon, and deep down i love it all too much!
a bit of time will tell if its right for you, personally reduction is the most senisble and realistic approach for myself, and finding other things to do/different hobbies
i couldnt turn my back on my friends for anything, which is probably my major weakness!
good luck with it anyhow and make sure you get back to let us know how you're getting on, im interested to hear and im sure others are too!
If you're just a general nutter then I think it's possible, I went off pretty much all drugs at the drop of a hat myself. Alcohol is the killer because it's such a social drink, all your friends and the whole of society do it so naturally it's hard to walk away from all that.
But you have a partner so I'm sure you can motivate each other and what not. Good luck anyway! :thumb:
OK, this is going to be a LONG post
definitely not doing mescaline or any other psychedelics. never have and i never will, after seeing the effect it has had on my boyfriend from abusing acid (he's had a couple of drug-induced psychoses)
true: i never really use substances for pleasure any more, just as an escape. i have recently, however, enjoyed a cocktail with dinner with friends, and stopped after one, which is much better than 9 months ago when i downed 8 cocktails in 2 hours!
Extra help- I don't think so, as I am seeing my physician that specialises in addiction once a month now, as well as seeing my psychiatrist every fortnight to regulate meds and catch up on things, as well as seeing a dietitian fortnightly for my anorexia nervosa recovery (which is going well!:thumb:)
Neither my boyfriend nor I are physically dependent on heroin or alcohol, but we are both addicted to benzos (lorazepam+temapezam, now only alprazolam for me, clonazepam for him) because we have been on them for anxiety/panic disorder for over two years.
My boyfriend is cutting off contact with his "friends" who are users and/or addicts, and we have come up with a few ideas of other fun things to do such as seeing a movie, going to the beach (it's summer here!), going camping, going to a theme park, having a picnic, being couch potatoes, sexy time;), shopping (more for me:p), etc.
first of all, I am glad to hear that you are going well!
many people close to me have noticed a massive change in my mood since I last came out of hospital 3 weeks ago (3 months of refeeding), being a healthy weight for the first time in my life has made me much more upbeat, I am able to enjoy things more, have less suicidal and eating disorder thoughts, and am able to manage anxiety better. As such, I agree that it is definitely something we can overcome!
Thanks for the rational advice; it's so simple to understand, yet so easy to forget!
So true! Within the past few weeks I have been trying alcohol in moderation, because it is such a part of many people's lives and I think I can one day be able to enjoy it in a healthy manner. Out of the past four times, three have been a success (4 or less standard drinks!)
It does indeed sound like things are going well - the only thing I would say is that if you run into any difficulties don't get caught in the trap of assuming that all is lost, just look around at what you can do to make things better or get yourself on track again.
The one bright light at the end of any period of suffering is that, having been through such times you are going to be more likely to deal better with future challenges and to view them in a more constructive context.
It certainly sounds like you have much of what you need for your recovery already in place - I'd just like to echo what's already been said and say that I hope you continue to feel better
Total abstinence for me personally lasted aboout two years and i was uncomfortable with it everyday.
I had moved on from heroin addiction and seemed to be surrounded by the total abstinence crowd ...i found it very irritating and to be honest ...unrealistic.
The addiction was the extreme of a a pendulum swing.
Totla nothing seemed to me to be as extreme on the pendulum.
I wanted normality ...control ...i settled for the middle ground and have been on that ground for many years happy and comfortable.
Some of those who went to the opposite extreme seemed to live in fear of falling off the wagon ...taking one codiene or one glass of wine was a disatser ...i couldn't do that.
But ...millions do at Alcohol meetings and narcos annonymous.
Finding balance in my life has been fantastic.
Taking street drugs for mental conditions leads to disaster.
Learning to live with how you feel and learning how to change or deal with those feelings is a lot more sensible ...and safer.
Street chemicals as medicine is madness.
good luck