[bumble2u]

Hey to anyone out there.
I guess this is really for anyone who has BP , BPD and alcohol dependence.
Wondering what my approach should be. I have just started seeing someone to discuss my alcohol dependency. Over the last three weeks I've been slipping in and out of my habit. I've not been drinking excessively but never the less have been having a can a day for the last three days . Today after "therapy" I have had a large can. It would seem I have some ambivalence to quitting. Feeling under a lot of pressure recently can't get into all that here. I have been asking whether therapist can give me some techniques to deal with not drinking in social situations but whenever I ask targeted questions the answers are like mild dish soap. She asked me about another appointment and I deferred for two weeks. I feel like I'm not really gelling with this person. Am I expected to repeatedly relay events in my life to be met with "ah you seem to be hard on yourself" I know the beginning of therapy can be hard. Also having to face my emotions when I'd rather not look is especially disconcerting. I don't really want to get tearful at the same time I think what the hell do I have to complain about?
I've recently reduced my seroquel off my own back because I just couldn't get going. The other day I forgot it and it was great I was up at the crack of dawn and got so much more done. Yet my mood is stating to fail and I am feeling very anti social again and I wonder how much the alcohol and my mood are dependent on one another.
What am I asking? I'm not sure. never started a thread so I am hoping you guys can give me some pointers. Thank you Bumble

[IndieVisible]

I guess I just don't get why drinking is a problem as long as you can handle it.

[lil_better_everyday]

Bumble: Look into SMART Recovery. Its self-empowering, secular, science based recovery with free online daily meetings. If you live in a major metro area there might be face to face meetings too. The rehab I went was based on it, and the tools you learn have helped with both sobriety and generally living with BPII. Pm me if you would like details, im halfway to getting a group started in my area.

Indie: that's the thing, some of us can't handle it. Its tough to comprehend being an addict if you've never been an addict. The part of my brain that allows for moderation is irrevocably broken, one drinks leads to blacking out for days. Been there done that.

There is actually quite a high scientific correlation to untreated BP and alcoholism or other substance abuse. I didn't get treated and on meds till rehab.

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[Amelie10]

I used alcohol for many years to manage my BP II. When I was up, I drank to have fun and fuel the craziness, or to take the edge off when I was agitated. When I was down, I drank to make the time pass and to numb the pain of being so sad.

My pdoc told me to cut back for years and I could not do it. Three years ago I went to AA and it changed my life. I have not had a drink since March of 2010. It is not perfect. I really believed if I took my meds exactly as prescribed and didn't drink that I would never have another crippling depression. That was not the case. But I will say that a bad day sober is better for me than a good day drinking.

It was much harder for me to try to limit or control my drinking than to not drink at all. Check out a meeting and just listen. As people talk try to listen for similarities in their stories and yours rather than focus on the differences.

Good luck.

[MOHANAKRISHNAN]

I tried my best to keep mixed with life of BP II under Lithium and alcohol. But failed and started moderately in the beginning in spite of advise from doctor. I am sure that the consumption of alcohol will ignite the functions of brain and work as a catalyst with the medicine to create adverse impact of chemical levels of brain that causes early relapse, as I had four earlier. So my simple advice is to get out of liquor of all forms if you would like to remain a normal human being and free from the emotional tsunamis!! All the Best. Good Night and wishing you all a nice weekend.

[dubblemonkey]

this is a very important experience...

thankyou for being the one to share it...

bipolar and alcohol are very symbiotic for myself...

I am two very distinctly opposite people.

I love being functional and exposing myself to the full membership of sobriety!

it is so wonderful

and then!

I shapeshift and can go for days eating nothing and drinking vast quantities because I suddenly require another existence where my body and my brain is in total mania

it feels dangerous but I don't notice....

I am not hiding I am locating...

I guess I don't recommend it...

you gotta know what you are doing either way yep...