[alcoholism] aa anybody?

You obviously know you have a problem. Go do something about it.

I'm really sorry to hear that you are having this problem. My dad was an alchy and it is a miserable existence. I don't know if AA would work for you or not but the way I look at it is that it can't hurt. Not doing anything right now is probably the worse thing you can do.

You're a good guy Omega, go get yourself better. There are a lot of people here that support and care for you.

 

Omega,

I don't have any personal experience with AA, but I have been around alcoholics and from what you have posted I'd say you are well past the "managing" stage. My guess is that your big hurdle is going to be accepting this and I think you already know that. Maybe you just need more people telling you this to get you over the hump.

 

Sorry we had to meet under such dire circumstances Aaron. I will offer up some prayers to my God in your behalf. Hang in there buddy.

 

Hang in there. I'm not a fan of AA, but they can help if you can handle the quasi-religious nature of their organization.

If you are not yet physically addicted to alcohol (i.e. a true alcoholic who experiences withdrawals) you already have half the battle won.

Talk to your doctor, as there are several drugs on the market that can help with reducing the urge to drink and to replace your self medication.

Talk to a therapist to address the underlying emotional issues.

AA can provide a strong support group.

Good luck.

 

Never been to an AA meeting Omega, praying for you bro.

http://www.aahouston.org/

http://www.step12.com/texas.html

 

omega,
as you can probably guess, you are not the only alcoholic on this board. the most logical and productive course of action would be to quit cold turkey and seek whatever support you need to get you through. this is obviously easier said than done, i know this because i am also an alcoholic. i've been fighting it for years and i actually have managed to limit how often i drink excessively, but it is not really managed. alcoholics can't control it, plain and simple, it's a disease. i basically just make sure it doesn't affect my relationship with my family and friends. i fail to do that sometimes and it just piledrives me into depression when i "screw up". good luck, sorry you have to go through this, it ain't easy.

 

I've been to a couple of aa meetings when my drinking gets bad. never stuck with it, but I can tell you that its like anything else in life, you get out what you put in. nothing bad about it imo.

alcoholism is heriditary btw.

 

You don't need to be embarassed about it. From what I understand, Alcoholism is genetic. As long as you don't dwell on it, and do something about it, you'll be fine.

One of my best friends had severe depression coupled with major alcohol abuse. He eventually started showing off some suicidal tendencies, and that was one of the scariest moments of my life. My friend, his family and I threw an intervention of sorts, and things have been ok since. He still drinks once in a while, but he has it under control. This problem is different than yours, but my point is, you need to figure out if you have friends that can be a good influence throughout all this, and use them as a support group.

 

I was going to mention this, it maybe the one drawback. but their only message is that some people can't do it on their own, and need to submit to a higher power.

 

Hey OS, I'm sorry to hear you hit a rough patch in your life, but if this has always been with you, maybe the silver lining is recognizing the need for change?

I'm not an alcoholic, but I've been to AA meetings because the court ordered me to. Alcohol makes us do the craziest things. People use it because it does what it does pretty damn well. At AA, you will get support from those who have been there and are as scared as you are at losing control of their lives. Ultimately, it's up to you. The reason for wanting to quit the hooch in AA is because members realize how easy it is to fall back off the wagon. If you're not too aware of your own self control, cold turkey might be one of the more effective solutions.

I don't believe that everyone will see a mental rock bottom. The physical rock bottom is when you're incapacitated to the point where living no different than death. Most people I've seen recount their rock bottom when they begin to see how they'll die. I don't know if this fits your mindset, but some people patiently wait for some milestone in order to react, even if it'll never come while your opportunities slowly fade away. It doesn't have to be that way, but it won't be easy.

I have to admit that even going to meetings is a huge commitment. There's a lot of powerful emotions and stories going on, and I'm sure some of the members didn't appreciate my type, the court appointed, attending them. Even with that small minority, there's people who attend just to hook up with chicks, and more disturbing are the familiar members that quietly vanish and don't go anymore. I hate to be an intrusive prick, but can you confidently tell yourself, while knowing of your family history, that you can control your disease but not quitting?

Nowadays, there a bigger strides in medical treatment for AA. 20 years ago, people thought it was a moral issue that preyed upon the 'weak willed'. Now there's full blown evidence of genetic, psychological and physiological dependence of the drug. Just recently in the news there's a $350 Pill That Helps Alcoholics Taper Off Drinking. It's not a magic bullet, but addicts should receive all the help they want.

I hope you can find a solution, and if you want to know more about my experiences at the meetings, hit me up with an email.

 

Sounds to me like the best person you could talk to about it would be your dad, since he went through what you are going through and has come out the other side.

 

Looks like you're at a breaking point. I think that AA would help you. It seems like you believe in it. You need help, my friend, and you need it bad, because it seems like your life is about to fall apart. I'm glad you're realizing this before it does. Addiction is no joke, and not many people can quit cold turkey because it's physical and your body kicks your ass to get what it wants.

My dad had a bad drinking problem early in his life. My mom left him because of it (so she says). He would go through a bottle of vodka daily. He decided to quit. So he went to the doctor and got some Antabuse (Disulfiram) and quit cold turkey. Antabuse makes you -seriously- ill if you drink any kind of alcohol while you're on it. And if you quit taking it and decide to go on a bender, you still have to wait a couple of WEEKS before it's out of your system, so you have time to think about drinking and probably decide against it. Anyway, my dad was able to kick his addiction this way. He said it sucked, because he went through withdrawl symptoms, but he hasn't drank since, and that was about 20 years ago. He will have a beer or two a year, but that's it.

I'm not qualified to give out medical advice, but I would take it on Friday. That way if you get some withdrawl systems you can deal with them over the weekend. You should probably have a -real- friend (not a party buddy) on call to talk to/ask for help. If you decide to go this way, I'm sure you can count on this BBS to help you out to by just posting.

-J

EDIT- This is not the right thread to debate the pros and cons of AA. Bashing different treatments or therapies isn't going to help. And Omega is asking for help, so save it for the D&D in some other thread.

 

One of the hardest parts has to be admitting to yourself that you do have a problem.. Good luck Omega, keep working at it!

 

Good luck man. Hope you can fight off those demons and get yourself well.

 

uh, he did ask what we thought, so it is. omega has already taken a huge step, now he has to figure out what's best for him.

 

I'm praying for you, OS. You sound like an awesome guy.

 

There is some genetics involved in propensity toward alcoholism, and it sounds like you have something running in the family. But, that doesn't mean you can't do something about it. I'm from a family of alcoholics on my dad's side. My aunts and uncles eventually found religion and cleaned up. My father found a way to moderate his drinking (though I still worry). It'd help to have some support. My father had his wife and kids, my aunts and uncles also had the church. It sounds like you and your sister don't have as much suppport. You may want to look for it, either in the family, friends, AA or wherever.

 

Omega, as noted, you are clearly an alcoholic and need to seek treatment asap. I would sign up for AA because, at the least, they should have suggestions on other steps you can take to help fight your disease.

Do you have a roommate? Getting one might help lower your bills and have someone to make sure you aren't drinking so much.

Sounds like your sister might be able to help you out financially, too. Money and family often don't mix, but somehow, I don't think right now is the best time for you to be close to eviction and without other mind-numbing forms of passing time (i.e. - tv; yes, I know you can drink while watching tv, but now you have absolutely nothing to do if you have no other hobbies).

Also, please, please, please don't drive drunk. This is Houston (I assume you're in Houston), so you have to drive everywhere....but take a designated driver. Just knowing people and life in Houston, I'd imagine you are driving drunk more than you want to admit. I could be wrong, but if it is the case, you have to, at a minimum for the sake of other people's lives, get control of your disease.

 

I don't have too much to add.

I had plenty of alcoholics in my family. I decided I would never even give myself a chance to end up like them, so I've never touched the stuff. It helped that my parents gave up alcohol for the most part because of my dad's epilepsy and they were very happy people, so I saw that I could definitely live w/o it.

I sincerely hope you can find something to fill the void in your life that alcohol currently does OS. I'm sure it would be a little easier coping if you use this down time to devote yourself to something you find more worthwhile(friends, family, work, religion, exercise, art, significant other, w/e).