One Month Journey-MWO

[Steverino]

Monday, I go back to my doctor. It will be a month since I went to see him and confessed to having a drinking problem. He reluctantly prescribed Topo. I have been doing it up until Tuesday of this week. When I went up to 100 mg., the side effects got the better of me. It has drastically impacted my work this last month. I work out of my house as a commercial real estate broker which requires self discipline. On the topo, I had none. I also was not sleeping well. Yes, it did cut my cravings. Only drinking 1-2 a night now versus 2 bottles of wine. Yes, I have been taking all of the supps and have continued with them + exercise 4 times a week at the gym. I am staying to the 1-2 drinks a night but the cravings are increasing. I may go back on Topo but at a smaller dose. A lot of prescription medications have the opposite affect on me than most, topo is the same. It made me crazy, irritable, etc. Yes, I have been taking Calms, etc. I read the posts daily as well as the forums. I would like to plug into one or more of the forums on a regular basis. I have just been learning my 1st month here. However, I am committed to the support on the MWO internet support family. It used to be every morning when I would wake, I would think badly about my drinking but also think about drinking that evening. Now, I still think a lot about drinking, but I come here daily to rechannel my thought process. You guys are struggling just like me. It motivates me as I see you get up after you fall down and just try again. I will commit to plug in more for myself but more importantly to others.

[YoungAtHeart]

One Month Journey-MWO

Hi Steverino,

Some people do have the opposite reaction to the topa. You might try going up on the dosage more slowly and staying at the dosage for a longer time. There are also other medications out there that might be helpful if you really can't tolerate topa.

I'm glad that you are finding MWO helpful, and I look forward to seeing you on other forums, as well!

Good luck!
Kathy

[fsophiah]

One Month Journey-MWO

Steverino, first of all, you need some applause for what you have done so far. I think we are really good at giving that support, and you deserve it. I think that one of the things we sometimes forget is that all this takes time. In a month, you have made huge changes in your life. When I started in June, I wanted it all right away. When I had side effects from meds, I was disappointed because I wanted to be RJ's poster child. Please remember that this program is one you need to adjust for yourself, and remember that we are pioneers. For me, that's important to remember because we are all working with this together. I was able to keep my dosage of topa low, and it worked splendidly on the cravings, as it seems to be doing for you. But I had some intestinal issues. Because of my time on the boards and because of people I came to respect, I decided that what I needed to do was 30 days of abs. This did a lot to clarify things for me. I had to experience being in situations where I was accustomed to drinking and live through that self-denial and develop a habit of facing those challenges before I could go back to moderation. I understand your frustration, but we are all still a work in progress. It's going to be a beautiful landscape, though, and it's worth our effort.