Welcome to our Substance/Alcohol Abuse Support Group

hi kim, and welcome to this forum!!!

I am a recovering heroin addict. Been clean for a year and only came close to relapse once. I am lucky.
My problem lies in now its just sobriety is a problem for me. I'll drink, or take a couple valium or smoke some pot just to not be sober.
I'm a regular pot smoker, but if I'm out of pot, I go to other things. I don't want to quit weed entirely; I love it, but I do want to cut back and I want to quit with the valium and drinking. That isn't healthy.

zyklonP, hi and welcome!

Congratulations on the year--it's not luck, my friend. It's you doing what you needed and wanted to do. Your gratitude is obvious and that is an absolute necessity for staying clean.

I applaud your honesty about the weed, valium, and alcohol...dangerous combo no matter how you take them.
Using them, though, is akin to still being lost in the hell of addiction.

zyklonP, perhaps you have traded addictions and are now becoming aware of it. Many of us, myself included, are dual-addicted.
I stopped both at the same time, but others tackled them one at a time. Sometimes it's the only way we come to understand addiction encompasses many things.
Taking care of one opens our eyes to the others we have...

I don't know your situation/details, but maybe you could stop the Valium and alcohol first. You may have to wean if you've been consuming them for awhile and the amount has to be considered, too.
Are you in any type of recovery program?

Please keep posting and let us know how you are doing, ok?
We Care
I Care

Cap

It would be grand if you start your own thread in the regular addictions forum. It won't get "lost" here so you'll get more replies which means more support...

how do you get the days,hours etc? can you teach me.?soberbuzz78...07/16/1978???after i was sober i quit useing all drugs. switched to cream aftershave.liqued splashon made me sick and nauseous after it was applied. a friend went out after 9 yrs because she started swalowing her green mouthwash. i dont use any products with any chance of alcohol in them..silly dont you think..just the same i havent relapsed so far. i got the urge to smoke weed after 5 yrs,i ask a friend to take me to na. it saved me to learn about addiction.i knew about the izem of alcohol.when i read the little white book of na.i havent used ever . i got the black book of na now. i stay clean and sober just like all of you today at midnight i started sober ,,the same as all of us do thgether we can do it. i still go to meetings like i started...90 meetings in 90 days. my sponser now that you did this just do it three more times the rest of your life...oh i get it 90 daye times 4 equals 1 year. still do it when i am in a big city.the left over depression attacks are where i need help now and for several if the last mounths. just looking for friends who are getting help too.thank you for being here. buzz..in burien,wa.

I found this website last night, never thinking that I could find information, support, and others dealing with the same issues
I have been dealing with. I go to my NA 12-step group, but after work
Im tired, its just nice to relax, read other peoples opinions, feelings, and
inspirational works. My day had peace because of my new found refuge I found in this web-site last night!

Thanks, pam

I hope i can withdrawal for good this time. I really hope so.

another day clean

Hi, I'm new here, and I am addicted to opiates as well as having schizoaffective disorder. I have not used in 24 hours. I'm really struggling right now. I attended my first 12-step meeting last night. I'm taking it one day, one hour, one minute at a time.

new member here, i have a son that is suffering from alcohol and drug abuse, don't know how to help him anymore. need some help dealing with this and need some suggestions on what to do.

HI chelle68

What age is your son?

Paddy

I am here... because of unforseen circumtances... s--t happens. And it makes me drink more wine... than I should... and it is begginning to affect not only my life but those closets to me.... Need support.. Hugs

Ex meth user here. Daughter of an alcnholic and many other alcohol and drug abusers in the family. It's hard to stay clean but it IS possible.

I am suffering from my closest friend's alcohoilism. I have cried so much. I can't bear it anymore I need help from you all. Please help me........I am male, 31 years old and my friend male, 37 years old.....

38 years of every drug abuse and finding it very hard to stop even aafter overdose and reab

Struggling to stay off of Atavan I have 18 days so far.

Nice to have a place to go to ... 1month and one day sober!
One day at a time.

I take pain meds for pain but seems like when i get them refilled i always always always end up taking more than needed cause i get a buzz then i end up running out early and then hurting the next few weeks till i can get more. i buy them off the street too when i'm out and it's really causing financial trouble. i will not absolutely will not tell this to anyone professional because i don't want them to cut me off for good cause i do need them for the pain but i'm just so tempted when i have a whole bottle to take more than needed. i could get by with 2 a day if i did it according to my pain level but i end up taking 6-9 a day or more sometimes. are there any suggestions for what i can do to try to get a hold on this. every single month i get my refill i say i'm gonna take them right this time and every time i get them filled i over-do it. i've thought about giving them to my husband to hold and let him give them to me when i need them so he could kind of regulate how i use them but then i'd have to tell him why i need him to do this and i don't want him to know i'm a "pill head"

I'm new to this site, but am happy to see this kind of help. I want to stop drinking but can never seem to do it, or find the right tools to help me. I hope I can find those tools here.

I have been recently drinking more than I'd like to admit. I smoke already, and feel badly about it, but don't want to quit as I fear life without them as I get really anxious and I find they calm me down.

Lately though, life has become unmanageable and I am slowly imploding as I watch myself without feeling much inner strength or hope. I am really hurting, yet can't cry, or even seem to be in touch with my feelings. I am like a catatonic robot these days, and the thing that hurts the most, is that I know I am hurting my loved ones. I care more about them, than I do about myself.

The only thing I feel on a regular basis is guilt, and when I am triggered, then I feel the pain of my self loathing. When triggered, I need to sleep as it's the only thing that can calm me down. I am losing my motivation and drive to succeed, as I am simply avoiding life, living and going out anywhere unless I absolutely have to. This is no way to live, as I want very much to be happy.

I did the same thing only with meth. I have been clean for 15 months and the only thing I can tell you is to hang in there. I still have strong desires to use and the only thing you can do is take it one day at a time. Hell, one minute at time if you have to. As long as you make it through the day clean.

If I didn't drink and smoke, I'd be pretty nasty. I use these things to stop me from taking the anxiety from my issues out on others around me. I am taking responsibility, but in the wrong way, and I don't know how to live nicely without them.

Anyone else have this problem too ?

Dear Doc,

I am very excited to find this website and I need some direction on where to start. I have 30 plus years in d & a recovery... I even helped to start one of the first ACOA groups in PA over 20 years ago. I have lots and lots of recovery in many areas of my life and have met numerous challenges along the way ... I have always found a way to love me along the way.

Recently, for the first time in my recovery I have been experiencing severe PTSD symptoms; As a result of being re-exposed to my childhood traumas and new information about a murder commited by my primary perp when I was still living in the home.

I need a regular group on line meeting to discuss the problems and feelings I am experiencing. I did find a local group but it only meets once a month and is very small.

Could you give me some feedback on where to begin to navagate this site and find the support I need to recover myself again.

Jofseattle

Hey gang, I am very new here but would love to join the support group. Do I just need to post here or is there something else I need to do?

Thanx

FYI- In a substance abuse class I took, I learned that after an extended period of opiate use....the body builds up a tolerance and needs more and more of the drug to get the same effect....hence addiction/dependence. But another thing that was interesting is that after using opiates, you can develop a hyper-sensitivity to pain....meaning, your pain receptors feel pain at a level that without the opiates, you would not feel pain. The pain is real....not all in your head....but it's worse because you have become tolerant to the opiates. Then comes the cycle of feeling more pain and needing more pills to ease the pain and then the addiction and then depression and so on and so on. What you can try it to stop the pain meds for a few weeks....you will feel rotten and may even feel like you have a case of slight flu and you will feel your pain but....it will pass if you can get thru the phase. Then you will know if your pain is due to hypersensivity or injury. Google non-medication pain methods to help get you thru it but it won't be easy. Just an idea.

Hope it helps some.

Missy

Hey Window

I am in the very same boat as you. I am fully aware I'm a raging alcoholic and am not doing much about it. I'm at least admitting it but I don't want to stop-- YET at the same time want to stop. Hence I'm on this forum. I need help. I know I need to find a meeting and I need to start the process but I don't want to be an alcoholic.

I know what I need to do.

I'm a gigantic MESS and I am happy to find your post. Its nice to see everyone's posts -- its helpful to know we're not alone.

I need some strength -- I don't fully know how to find it myself. I've been making a huge *** out of myself for too long, and tired of being painfully hung over. I really need to clean up my act.

Hope you're well/better/sane/found help etc. It'd be nice to know how you are.

lkc