[birdnesthair]

I have a drinking ritual and I absolutely hate it. In my head, it always seems like a brilliant idea, that I'll be happy, relaxed.. but once I start to fulfil this ritual (a bottle of wine on the porch) I end up feeling miserable, tired and drunk.. not in a jolly way either. I'm so used to this ritual from when I was undiagnosed and unmedicated, that it seems to have stuck even though it does nothing for me. I waste immense amounts of money on wine, and there's no point.. I don't even get happy drunk. There was a time when drinking sent me absolutely manic, but since starting Seroquel a month ago, this has since ceased.

Has anyone ever developed a drinking ritual that has found it hard to kick even on the road to recovery?

[Perna]

Yes, it can be very hard to kick those habits, especially if we practice them alone and don't try to replace them with anything more healthy.

I would start with your head and remembering the miserable, tired, drunk (not in a jolly way :-) part? Actually, I would start with not buying the wine in the first place. I would also think of a project or for finding a way to relax in the evening that is more healthy; maybe an evening yoga or exercise class? Get to know a few people?

[madisgram]

good question birdsnesthair. alcohol is a depressant. taking MI medications mixed with alcohol is not recomended except in small doses. i drank on MI meds and went into a semi coma. also being a recovering alcoholic i learned that problem drinkers over time will note no benefits of drinking. meaning not gaining any response from alcohol intake. i hope this info may help you.

The use of neuroleptic agents is contraindicated in patients with acute alcohol intoxication exhibiting depressed vital signs. The central nervous system depressant effects of neuroleptic agents may be additive with those of alcohol. Severe respiratory depression and respiratory arrest may occur. Therapy with neuroleptic agents should be administered cautiously in patients who might be prone to acute alcohol intake.

http://www.drugs.com/disease-interac...l_Intoxication

Quetiapine/seroquel has been reported to potentiate the cognitive and motor effects of alcohol. The mechanism of action is not known. Alcohol should be avoided by patients who are receiving quetiapine/seroquel.

http://www.drugs.com/food-interactio...,seroquel.html

Alcohol and Seroquel

In most cases, people being treated for schizophrenia or bipolar disorder are advised to not combine alcohol and Seroquel. Taking these two substances together can increase the side effects of Seroquel, especially drowsiness or low blood pressure. A person's tolerance for alcohol may also be affected. If you decide to drink anyhow, talk with your healthcare provider about alcohol and Seroquel, including how it affects your specific situation.

http://bipolar-disorder.emedtv.com/s...-seroquel.html

[SophiaG]

you could reduce what you drink. pour a bit down the drain before you drink on the porch, pouring out a little more each time.

Then you'll have to find something to replace it like Perna said.

My ritual too included a bottle of wine, not a small one either. I didn't always finish it as it often put me to sleep. The first glass was always heavenly and I often felt creative, talkative, enthusiastic about things but from thence on it was just pure drinking to get blotto. Generally several large glasses would put me out. Then I would get up in the wee hours, put up the water for coffee, determined to make a fresh start but would inevitably instead reach for the remaining cupful of wine and drink it rapidly down. Sometimes this bought me a little more sleep but invariably, I wanted more. Since I was actively trying to quit drinking, I never had more than one bottle in the house at a time, so at that point I was screwed. Then the cycle of going out to buy another bottle began all over again.

You must find some way to break the cycle. Exercise, dance lessons, yoga class, anything to get you out of the house, the more vigorous the activity the better. The first few months will be the hardest but as your body recovers, so will your mind and your mind will be seeking the things that used to be yours until drinking obliterated them. Go gently on yourself at first, don't sweat it if you slip up, just keep reminding yourself that the madness has got to end at some point if you don't want to be condemned to misery for the remainder of your years.

You're already ahead of the game, now that you've recognized the problem. You also know the solution. Be pragmatic about it, don't make it into something it's not, some insurmountable problem. Nor should you take it lightly. Once you have some sobriety, you have a beachhead and can gain strength from your body's lessening dependence on alcohol.

We're all pulling for you. Good luck.

[Justme_55]

I was going to post something similar to this. I admitted to my husband last night after an entire BIG bottle of wine alot of angry hurt feelings he's given me, which I've expressed sober. The only happy day in our entire relationship was when we had our kid. He's gotten sober and doing really well. I don't drink to hide anything in fact it brings it screaming out, he said he was worried and wanted me to slow down on drinking after I had a blubberfest explaining how much hurt he's caused me. What he doesn't get is that I drink because I'm bored, I have no social life, no job, not in school and feel I'm depressed. I sometimes start drinking at 2 o clock you know a glass with lunch, the bottle is gone by the end of the night. I don't feel like I need it or entirely want it, I just like to drink I think maybe I drink to feel if that makes sense..? I dont know but I do agree with slowing down, the 4 am dehydration and pees are no fun either.

[madisgram]

Justme_55-I don't feel like I need it or entirely want it, I just like to drink I think maybe I drink to feel if that makes sense..?

it certainly does make sense. they say if we drink to gain a feeling or rid ourselves of a feeling we may have a drinking problem. before i got sober i couldn't rest til the bottle was empty even if i didn't want any more. sounds nuts but i did that. the end result for me was active alcoholism. you can avoid the same fate as me.

...the bottle knows my name...I know where to get close enough to hear it called...

we....me and the bottle,...have this peculiar understanding.

I mean?....it's not as though I am even thirsty!

...once I begin the intoxication adventure, my world inverts with interplanetary force and the emotional whirlpool I flap about in gets sucked into a galactic vortex all immediate and violent and gentle.

I like to drink to 'watch' a single channel in my television head.

I cannot focus on the blurry pantomime of fundaMENTAL daily living...

...not for long

the chemical seduction overtakes my regular habits and becomes my 'ritual'

...once in this condition I appropriate all the management skills I can manifest...into subjugating myself to this 'brand new' experience!

....as though I forgot what happened last time?

my image has transcended...utterly...like a solar flare burns the crap out of anything within 700 thousand miles...

the invitations keep arriving!...I have subdued the black beasts enjoying rambunctious folly in my head!

I accept the invitations....and ARRIVE at my very own party....like an undressed clown released by accident from a despicable little room in a huge asylum!

...the illness soup of liquid dis-satisfaction enters not only my mouth....but my very creation....and determines my fate with such ambivalence!

...it does not ask me to care for it...and expects not even my best qualities...it sees me panic ...from a distance self re-generating..

that bottle

I have one in my hand now

my only intention is to empty it!

INCREDIBLE!