[Barreja]

Statistics show that many bipolar individuals (46-51%) use or have used drugs or alcohol to self medicate. No one talks about this on this forum that I have seen. I happen to be one of those statistics.

Are there administrative rules against this? I don't want to share past partying stories like it was all fun (cause it wasn't).

Do you think people just don't want to share their stuff? Because it is big part of support that this forum should support and not 'sweep it under the rug'.

Thanks

[Wild Coyote]

Thanks for the interesting topic.

I have seen people make reference to drinking and to drinking patterns suggesting self-medicating at some point in their lives. More make reference to having quit drinking, suggesting a past possible drinking issue.

I am not much of a drinker and have never used illicit drugs.

If my pdoc was not readily available for meds and if I did not understand my diagnoses, I might be telling a very different story now. If I start drinking, he tells me I need to increase my med instead, which takes care of the urge to self-medicate.


WC

[BeyondtheRainbow]

I agree with WC, people do talk about drinking and sometimes drugs on here. There just hasn't been much discussion of it lately.

There is an addictions thread on the forums if you think that would help. Or people here can help/talk if you post specifics of what you want to discuss. I haven't ever drank or even tried a cigarette so I'm not going to be the one to help but someone will.

[BipolaRNurse]

I've been sober for almost 25 years, but there are entire six-month periods of my life that I don't even remember because I spent much of them drunk. Looking back I think I was self-medicating to deal with mania and depression, but I had no idea since I wasn't diagnosed BP until long after I'd quit drinking. I can tell you about the time I threw a pack of cigarettes and a change of clothes into the back of a friend's truck and went down to Ensenada, Mexico over the Labor Day weekend. I got smashed on mescal and smoked some weed, and the last thing I remember from that episode is dancing on the bar with a bunch of rowdy drunks cheering me on. I woke up from that experience lying in an alley behind the cantina and vomiting into the dust while a donkey stood by, staring at me.

[hopeless2015]

Many of Oscar struggle with this. I don't do drugs bit drinking is a big issue with me. In fact I've had a dr tell me until I quit drinking I'm going to have problems but I still do it. I'm not all that vocal about it because of the shame but yes it's an issue for me

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[Victoria'smom]

I partied as a teen but that's it.

[fairydustgirl]

I was not diagnosed with bipolar until I was 43 and I found myself an anomaly as to all of the descriptions...so not everyone has those issues, I did not nor do I now have any issues with substances. I don't even like to take my anti anxiety meds unless I can see that my anxiety is not going to get better on its own.
I'm certain if I did however, this would be the place I would come to for support

[letsgogh]

I have a period where I was a drinker. It was short and resulted in a suicide attempt and I don't remember much of it other than that and a constant state of sadness and terror. Luckily my budget doesn't really allow for much drinking..

[NoIdeaWhatToDo]

I absolutely drink to self medicate. I rarely get drunk, because it's so physically uncomfortable, but I definitely drink to take the edge off of my moods (most of them). When I'm hypo, I drink because it's fun - I'm not trying to avoid what I'm feeling, but to enhance it. When I'm depressed or agitated, I drink to mellow a little.

I would say I drink 1-2 glasses of wine most nights; I use a small glass because I like to refill it eventually, but don't want to drink too much. If I'm the only person working on a bottle (like white wine - my husband doesn't drink it), I might finish it in 3-4 days if I'm drinking every evening. It's not evident to others that I'm doing it to self-medicate. I love wine (and used to sell it), so if I'm baseline I would have a glass anyway. There are some nights I don't drink at all, and some weeks, for that matter. I'm having a glass tonight, and I had one last night, but didn't for probably 8+ nights before that. I don't feel dependent on it, but I enjoy the mellowing mood and the taste of the wine, so I don't see a reason to stop.

Interestingly, my sister-in-law was over a few weeks back, and she had a breathalyzer kind of device she was testing for compatibility with a phone. We all blew into it that night. I blew a .04, and I felt totally incapable of doing anything like driving. I can't believe the limit is twice that! I don't know if I react differently to the level since I rarely have too much at a time. My husband blew .09 at the time, and he said he felt absolutely fine.

I will say that I used it to medicate away some of my more severe symptoms in college - I have a lot of evenings I don't remember at all, and many where I remember enough to regret my actions. Now, I don't like to feel out of control at all - it makes me self conscious in the morning.

[Spaceyspace]

I started smoking weed in high school and smoked in college along with psychedelic use there. After college I drank to cope with the demands of a high stress job and I degenerated into a messy alcoholic. I sobered up when I was treated for bipolar disorder and was prescribed...klonopin. started abusing that. For years. I'm newly sober off the klonopin.

[TishaBuv]

I'm not bipolar, I may be BPD and more. I'm honest on here about self medicating and abusing substances (honest to a point). I grew up in a drug culture town. I have plenty of fun partying stories I haven't posted about and plenty of not so fun ones, too.

Top ten worst drug moments: snorting lines of coke off a red luxury sports car in front of a night club with a coke head gf (and thank God I didn't have a coke problem!). It was offered by strangers. I didn't even know what I was putting up my nose, and did it anyway. Yikes!

The judgment of a squirrel...

I am one of those individuals.

I have smoked weed for years. Its very helpful most of the time. Its self medicating but in my point of view I dont see myself as a drug abuser for smoking pot.

I am planning on getting my card. We have legal medical pot here

Now when it comes to drinking , yes I have used it to cope and take myself out of my own head. I have partied hard in the past using cocaine as well.
I also abuse my meds at times.

I am actually trying to stop using alcohol and abusing meds to cope right now. Been a very rough few months for me. Drinking all day everyday

Have cut back..so thats good.

[SickCycleCarousel]

I used to go out every weekend the past couple of years or so & drink myself to the blackout point, just to be free of the prison that is my mind, i havent drank or been drunk for a year now but may have a drink for the first time this weekend. I have self medicated with weed & my drug of choice - painkillers, especially morphine over the years, now its just on the very odd occasion, weed does help my anxiety & slows the racing thoughts in my head & i end up feeling clearer in the mind. Morphine i use for the emotional & mental pain, when i've had enough & just want to feel numb. But now being on new meds, things have changed slightly, i've only used painkillers today because of a horrible migraine because i cried so much the last 2 days, other than that, i havent really had the urge surprisingly!

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[venusss]

I drink, but not to "self-medicate".

I drink to forget temporarily. Or because I am Eastern European and that's what we do with our free time lol.

I know alcohol is not the answer (put it sometimes makes you forget the questions...).

I normally need to function and be alert and bright, so I just drink only on time off and occassions when I can afford to be slightly less alert.

I smoked weed in the past, but that is about it. I don't turn to drugs as solution to my inner state.

I do like my vodka though. Because what else are we to do in imploding part of Europe? And I like drugs that are out of my system by the morning and don't act like solution to problems that cannot be solved.

[Unrigged64072835]

I used to abuse alcohol a long time ago but I don't anymore. I still crave it and cigarettes from time to time. I can't with my meds and my liver being messed up, though.

[scatterbrained04]

I have abused alcohol during a couple of my episodes, and I smoke cigarettes

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[GGChar]

Hi Barreja, I've been sober I guess for 2 years now. I was a 2 week binge drinker. Lots of sobriety in between. Like 5 years, 7 years etc.... Then I would just go into a liquor store and from there I couldn't stop. Had to go into detox 3 times. Crazy to even think about it now. But it forced me to really do something about myself.

I think I drank because I have an addictive, MI genetic makeup and also to self-medicate. It's too bad bc it got me into some trouble. It's interesting bc now I can't even imagine taking a drink and have absolutely no desire to. I guess it's all the meds I take???

BipolaRNurse, 30 (and more) years ago I too used to go down to Ensenada, Mexico to party. Papas and Beer? My experience wasn't quite as colorful as yours but you definitely brought back some memories and a big smile to my face!

[ComfortablyNumb5]

Originally Posted by Barreja

Statistics show that many bipolar individuals (46-51%) use or have used drugs or alcohol to self medicate. No one talks about this on this forum that I have seen. I happen to be one of those statistics.


Are there administrative rules against this? I don't want to share past partying stories like it was all fun (cause it wasn't).


Do you think people just don't want to share their stuff? Because it is big part of support that this forum should support and not 'sweep it under the rug'.


Thanks

Incase no one mentioned, there is an addiction sub forum here. I'm one of those people that abuse substances. I was almost a year clean off booze until a few months ago. Then a drunken night landed me in IP about three weeks ago. I haven't drank since and I haven't touched a suboxone in a week and a half. I went through a little withdrawal and still have craving which cripple me at times. I know I'm so freshly sober but my new med combo is helping a lot too.

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[Treyfrancis21]

I used all the drugs and alcohol I could as a teenager. Managed to sober up for nine years. A couple years after my son's death the ptsd and bipolar started acting up. I ended up medicating to the point of overdose on super strong opiates. I started smoking weed again to get off the pills, and have been using it to self medicate for the past 7 years. Before my diagnosis I definitely went overboard and spent all our money on it, but now that I'm somewhat stable these last few years I use it in a more controlled way. I'm trying to taper off and learn to deal with episodes by using my skills from therapy, but it's slow going so far.

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[Row Jimmy]

BPN, was it an actual donkey or a man you're referring to as a donkey?

I have that same story in a different form......many of us have been there. I'm sober over a year now. For me, drugs and alcohol weren't so much something I used to self medicate more than they were used to enhance the mania. Or, perhaps they were used because of the mania. When I was in a good mood, there wasn't much I wasn't interested in doing. Booze was my main thing, but cocaine found its way in there now and then. As many have suggested, it is nothing I am proud of and wish it never happened. I missed a lot of opportunities in my life but at the same time, I'm getting stronger and trying to enjoy where I am now. I'm glad I finally know, after 30 years, that I'm bipolar. Knowledge is power.

BP -----> drugs/booze -----> missed opportunities -----> regret -----> rebuild

Originally Posted by Barreja

Statistics show that many bipolar individuals (46-51%) use or have used drugs or alcohol to self medicate. No one talks about this on this forum that I have seen. I happen to be one of those statistics.

Are there administrative rules against this? I don't want to share past partying stories like it was all fun (cause it wasn't).

Do you think people just don't want to share their stuff? Because it is big part of support that this forum should support and not 'sweep it under the rug'.

Thanks

I self medicated all the time with alcohol before I knew I was bipolar, I was a major alcoholic

[WorkhorseDVM]

I started drinking and drugging when I was 12. Been clean and sober close to 30 years. I was told in rehab I was self medicating but not properly diagnosed until 2 years ago.

[boogiesmash]

To be honest I haven't drank since xmas. Not because of docs order or because I felt better (not really). I just lost touch with stuff I enjoyed. I always enjoyed having a ber or three after long day. Not to get drunk but actually enjoy it. I use to also enjoy drinking scotch and having cigars ( I guess this was my manic 20's). A while ago I posted a thread about drinking and meds. Doc doesn't recommend it because it is a depressant, but, I haven't used it to forget (to forget I lock myself in my room and sleep days away).

[bioChE]

I'm a recovering alcoholic and addict. I certainly drank and used to self-medicate, and I'm not proud of it either.

[Yoda]

Sometimes people post here about previous experience using recreational drugs and that seems accepted.

But once somebody started a thread for those of who currently about smoke weed and admin said that we could not have the discussion here because weed is illegal (in most states).