Alcoholism and Problem Drinking

Jon Stark

Hi lads,

Just wondering if anyone has experienced the above? I'm only 28 but I've had my problems with alcohol for 10 years at least.

This isn't a personal issue for me as I'm actively seeking help. I have my slips but I've more or less have it under control. I'm well aware of my patterns.

So I guess I'm asking if anyone has had similar experiences and what you've done to counter act it?

Also, I'm sure most people know an alcoholic or "problem drinker" so I'd welcome your input as well.

Again, this isn't a personal issue so please do not move.

the evasion_kid

i was a pretty severe alcoholic,few relapses under my belt over the years,how do i counter it? simple really i dont have the option of drinking,its a choice of living or dying really.i fill my time reading,going to the gym and stay out of bars,the old hang around a barbers long enough and youre sure to get a haircut rings true for me.fear of withdrawal scares me straight too,my last binge left me shaking,ringing ears,hallucinations of falling coins and just general confusion and anxiety.

Jon Stark

the evasion_kid wrote: »

i was a pretty severe alcoholic,few relapses under my belt over the years,how do i counter it? simple really i dont have the option of drinking,its a choice of living or dying really.i fill my time reading,going to the gym and stay out of bars,the old hang around a barbers long enough and youre sure to get a haircut rings true for me.fear of withdrawal scares me straight too,my last binge left me shaking,ringing ears,hallucinations of falling coins and just general confusion and anxiety.

The confusion and anxiety is particularly bad for me when I'm drinking. If I'm drinking over the weekend my anxiety usually lasts throughout Monday and Tuesday.

I go to the gym as well but I'm not the type to spend hours working out. I've tried reigniting my talent for writing as another hobbie.

the evasion_kid

Jon Stark wrote: »

The confusion and anxiety is particularly bad for me when I'm drinking. If I'm drinking over the weekend my anxiety usually lasts throughout Monday and Tuesday.

I go to the gym as well but I'm not the type to spend hours working out. I've tried reigniting my talent for writing as another hobbie.

its a vicious circle,anxiety from drinking,drinking to get rid of anxiety from drinking,i also found i was suffering from anhedonia after drinking which made picking up new hobbies or interests harder if not impossible.basically i became a hermit for a year,but in that time i did plenty of reading on alcoholism and did my own soul searching on my drinking,but try fill your time doing stuff that takes your mind off it.....the devil makes work for idle hands!

Jon Stark

Aye I've been kind of isolating myself as a means to resist going on benders.

It's not easy in this country where drinking is such a big part of the culture. I know that the professionals say you should cut ties with your old life of drinking but that's easier said than done. Of the people that would have encouraged my drinking (and look I'm no angel, so vice versa), I don't see anymore.

Still, it's not easy sitting in a pub with friends and family who have a hold on themselves, but I guess that's part and parcel of what has to be faced. Especially when, and it's old and young a like who do it, people don't fully understand the struggle and say "sure you can have 2 or 3."

Nah, that's never going to happen!

I've said easy a couple of times and that sums it up, because quite simply it's not meant to be easy. I know that.

the evasion_kid

Jon Stark wrote: »

Aye I've been kind of isolating myself as a means to resist going on benders.

It's not easy in this country where drinking is such a big part of the culture. I know that the professionals say you should cut ties with your old life of drinking but that's easier said than done. Of the people that would have encouraged my drinking (and look I'm no angel, so vice versa), I don't see anymore.

Still, it's not easy sitting in a pub with friends and family who have a hold on themselves, but I guess that's part and parcel of what has to be faced. Especially when, and it's old and young a like who do it, people don't fully understand the struggle and say "sure you can have 2 or 3."

Nah, that's never going to happen!

I've said easy a couple of times and that sums it up, because quite simply it's not meant to be easy. I know that.

alcoholism is cunning in that after a while sober it tries convince you youll be ok to drink again,thats why you have to be ever vigilant and stay away from pressing the fcuk it button,i watched an interview with alice cooper who after 4 years sobriety made the mistake of having a sip of his wifes wine at dinner and within hours was hiding bottles around the house,spent the next year on a drinking binge that almost killed him and ended him up with a stay in a sanitarium.

normal drinkers will never completely understand the alcoholic mind unless they cross the invisible line,even during times of sobriety its doing push ups in the backround in whats called alcohol deprivation.it can be observed in alcoholic lab rats when the source of alcohol is taken away and then reintroduced a few days later,they binge even harder.though if an opiod antagonist is administered to them their consumption drops sharply daily until they stay abstinent.

im pretty convinced its learned or conditioned behaviour from strengthening the reward system in the brain,kind of a pavlovs dogs effect when they would hear a bell ringing they would know dinner is on the way and would salivate,take away the food and eventually they ignored the ringing bell.like the lab rats if an opiod antagonist like naltrexone or nalmafene is adminstered to an alcoholic human there drinking drops dramatically eventually down to moderate levels or abstinence.why? it blocks the rewarding effects or euphoric feeling from drinking,blocking the endorphins from binding to the brains receptors.in a process called pharmalogical extinction,over time the same reward pathways youve strengthened in your brain become extinguished.

youre right on your first point,alcoholism and dependency is rife in the country,i spent 5 years delivering the stuff to various parts of ireland and got to see it in all its glory.

the evasion_kid

just thought id come back on this, and its in no way medical advice but if it helps anyone out there or a loved one ill be happy as alcoholism is fatal,im in thailand at the minute were naltrexone is sold over the counter,i decided to basically make myself a human guinea pig.the aim was to de-addict myself from alcohol,to tell you the truth i wasnt looking forward to the lifetime of cravings that were ahead of me or chronic relapses,so decided to begin the process of drinking while taking naltrexone an hour before drinking to begin the pharmalogical extinction process.or the breaking down of the reward pathways that get strenghtened from the brains reward system,that create the cravings

im not going to lie i was scared with that first drink in front of me,felt a bit like the russian roulette scene in the deer hunter,i knew if it didnt work id be on a serious bender.first sip was like tasting beer first time as a kid,two bottles down and there was absolutely no pleasure or "ah" feeling from it.i set myself a limit of three beers a night over the last weeks and often walked away leaving the third half finished,you can still feel the alcohol and still be coming up with the solution to the worlds problems but still have your wits about you just without the euphoric feeling from the booze.ive also noticed the mental obsession and cravings are gone,basically i can take it or leave it with alcohol without the maddening cravings and mental obsession,feels like i evicted an unwanted lodger from my mind.its been two weeks so far and theres been no return to the bad oul evasion days of having to get in somewere off the road coming back from the off licence to neck vodka straight and throwing it back up all over my shoes.
my friend whos an active alcoholic is travelling with me has tried it and says its nearly works too well.....anyhooo thats my two cents...hope it helps someone or someone close to them out there,maybe the ones that are in and out of rehab and a.a like yoyos over the years,my plan after this once the process is finished is to never touch it again but ill always have the option of drinking at a function like a normal person as long as i follow the golden rule of taking the tablet one hour before imbibing,feels a bit like smoking a cigarette without nicotine to tell you the truth.