Alcohol and Substance Abuse Counselling Thread

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Well I've been trying not to do this because it never actually helps.......but I'm going to walk to the liquor store and get something to drink because I need a break a break the cannabis just wont provide.

This is my first post. I got sober 12/30/91 in Seattle. I was 23 then I'm 43 now.

I was diagnosed with Aspergers last year. Basically I started seeing a Therapist about 8 years ago for depression.

The long and the short of it is the Therapist kept adding new diagnosis every year and I didn't know if I believed him or not? I just kept going because it seemed to help talking about what was going on in my life. Managing my career and my personal life. I also liked the safety net of having a mental health professional that I could check in with.

So back when I was using I smoked a lot of dope, took mushrooms, drank, dabbled with crack, heroin, meth, benzodiazapines etc. Funny thing about it was my parents rarely drank. I was an Eagle Scout.

My life really went through an ugly period back in the "grunge years". I came close to going to prison on a possession charge. I worked on fishing boats in the Bering Sea (loaded at times).

Any way the 12 Step program in AA is good stuff. I've stayed sober through going back to school. Getting a career. My Mom and Dad passing away etc.

My life isn't strictly about work and AA functions though. I'm into Mountain Biking, Snowboarding, and some other interests. I've worked with the same employer for almost 11 years now.

So I just thought I would check in.

Welcome to WP, Mike!

Yup, I know how that feels.

The thing with drinking as a last resort though, is that it's always at a time when you're in the worst kind of mood.

The break I need isn't usually the kind of break I actually get. Usually a wall or something gets the break instead.

I always end up getting into some kind of trouble, and then all I have to show for it is an even bigger headache than usual.

My last resort recently changed to opiate-based painkillers combined with sleeping pills.

Neighbours are jumping up and down on top of my head? I'm sorry, I can't hear you, I'm unconscious.



The only drawback is that it can only be done occasionally, like once a week, to avoid an opiate addiction. That is the last thing I need.

I guess the other contents of the pills are bad for the stomach too, but eh, whatever. It beats a wrecked flat and a hangover.

I got a bit drunk two nights ago. So much for sobriety...

I don't usually get into much trouble when I drink, I tend to handle it pretty well........but I recently found and have tried something called Kratom legal most places as far as I know and alcohol does not compare and in some ways even cannabis does not compare. However it is not something I should get in the habit of regularly using as from what I looked up it is addictive, not just psychologically but it is a good occasional alternative at least in my opinion.

I take kratom every day. Usually the first thing I do when I get up, and then again later on in the day just before the main meal/sleep. I have a mouth full of dark bitter goop right now, actually. People complain about the taste, but I can't swallow the powder without swilling it around my mouth for about half an hour first. Making tea would require washing dishes, and I can't say I dislike the taste anyway.

It enhances weed quite a lot when smoking afterwards.

They say it stimulates the same receptors as opiates, and there are supposed to be withdrawal symptoms when you quit, but I stopped for a few weeks once and all that I got was a runny nose.

It can make you feel sick but I've found that ginger beer or promethazine tablets help with that, so does having a good sandwich or something. Settles the stomach. I never liked ginger beer before, but it has an antiemetic drug in it, and now I can see that even weird fiery drinks have their place.

15 more days until I stop self-medicating with alcohol...

I am scared and excited at the same time. I hope that I can manage to avoid being depressed, anxious, overwhelmed, and/or sick during that time... since I use it for all 4 items... anD fun too of course...

This will be my 3rd official time quitting drinking... and this one is forever which is a bummer but I know its the only way that it'll work...

12 step programs are guilt based so I'll be avoiding that. I've overcome addictions that kill people directly so I know that I can work on this one without steps... but sheesh... its my core addiciton... :\

no matter what though... February the 30's (so essentially at the end of the month) I am quitting drinking...

now to have a vodka squirt to calm my nerves about quitting lol

Hmm it does not really cause a whole lot of nausea or anything for me and supposedly its supposed to have a hang over similar to alcohol which I have not experienced to me it makes me feel a whole lot better than I usually do and does not seem to do a whole lot of harm. I do enjoy it for sure but should probably avoid getting dependent. Though it is legal so what difference would it make.

It is strangely cheap too, especially in bulk. Alcohol and everything is more expensive.

It is nice to just have a huge sack that lasts for months, and a spoon, without needing to go and buy more stuff or answer the door for a bunch of deliveries.

I get uncomfortable trying to sleep without it but other than that it's a nice thing to have around. I don't mind leaving plastic spoons all over my house.

** exits the thread about support for people trying to get away from substance dependency where the topic is alternative substances to become dependent on realizing he should have paid more attention to the topic at hand before assuming that this thread still was based on the original topic. **

Well I had to edit my last post on account of, I re-read the OP and as far as I can tell this thread is for general issues with substance abuse....not specifically for posters who are trying to go 100% sober though I imagine they are perfectly welcome and most people would have the decency to respect that about those posters and thus not encourage them to use any substances. So if I missed something you'll have to explain.

A lot of people try to move on to drugs which cause less problems in their lives, as a means of harm reduction, or as a stepping stone on the way to stopping completely.

If you believe that there is something wrong with attempting to find safer alternatives to dangerous drugs, and that it is not helpful or supportive, perhaps you would like to explain why?

I apologize, I needed to reread the OP as well.



I see now that it doesn't mention anything about addiction recovery. I saw the words and assumed that the topic meant specifically about strategies to quit. Heck I was actually 3 drinks in when I posted it so I glossed over... I do look forward to not doing that any more and getting back to my more day-time like behavior of focusing intently on details... As a result while I still very much do not want to be a part of the current discussion after this post because of the nature of the topic at hand; I accept 100% that it is my problem and not the two of you, and hope that I have not upset anyone too much.



I did not read the conversation like that at all through the chain that has been quoted. To me it looked like a conversation about which things to use to feel impaired and how well they work compared to one another.

Where it was specifically harmful to me specifically is that I went to check to see what others were saying about their attempts to overcome substance issues assuming (thread topic in error), and instead found myself, now just over a week away from quitting drinking, looking up information about kratom which could easily be a replacement for me and would have negative effects on my addiction recovery process.

This is not my first time quitting an addiction. I've recovered from very difficult drugs in the past, each separately. The only way that I personally have been able to do so is by accepting that I will not get to do it or any alternative to it again... I suffer through withdrawl and recover physically then a year or two in I start to feel ok with the process.

For me personally, having an alternative to drinking like kratom would be the same as switching from hard liquor to beer, so when I recognized this behavior in myself I decided I wanted to go. Had I reread the OP before being a punk I could have avoided interrupting and just stopped posting quietly.

Once again I apologize and hope there are no hard feelings and will exit the thread again

Fair enough.