the OFF switch

[spuddleduck]

ive recently read a few people talk of the off switch. this magical thing that tells us when we've had enough booze. thinking for ages that i was the only person in the world that felt like this i thought i had made the phrase up myself (ha ha). if i ever had this switch i lost it very early on in my drinking career. i remember 15-20 years ago i used to go out with a friend. we both led similar lifestyle, very healthy, very active etc... but when we went out drinking ... oh how different. i always was the one who got pissed. we talked about this and i used to use her as my off switch. we drank the same drinks... usually wine and soda, and she always had a point where she had enough or would have a couple of soft drinks. i followed her lead but could never understand how she knew she had had enough. obviously later i stopped following this lead and ended up where i am today. im just rambling but i guess this will be familiar to many of us here. this magical off switch.... ANYONE KNOW WHERE I CAN BUY ONE?

[Tabbers (a.k.a. KTAB)]

the OFF switch

Hi spuds, I did try buying a new one on eBay but I am pretty sure the guy I got to wire it in was a plumber. Now I know that the seating in the brain where the switch fits gets irrepairably damaged too and once the switch goes we have to learn to live without one. Hope this helps.

[mama bear]

the OFF switch

my switch is a very pissed off husband!!

[spuddleduck]

the OFF switch

oh yes mama. i know about that one. trouble is it makes me more determined to drink..... errrr thats sensible.. NOT

[spuddleduck]

the OFF switch

so true sheri. i know the stupidity of it all. even when i have been drinking moderately (very rare of course) i forget to test my sugar levels and take my meds. all of which plays havoc with my blood sugar and as we know that plays havoc with our cravings (sugar/alcohol). yep, the madness has to stop.. NOW

[Mish]

the OFF switch

I don't have an 'off switch' either. Goodness knows I tried to find it often enough, but it was an exercise in futility. I really only started to get well when I accepted the obvious, simply that I just can't drink. Ever.
Baclofen has given me a new, effective switch. I'm completely disintereted in alcohol and can't even understand how I was terrified by the idea of never having another drink. That fear kept sucking me back into the vortex but now all the struggle and effort of staying sober has been taken away from me. It's totally amazing. Have you tried Baclofen?

[sapphire1]

the OFF switch

Same here Spuds, no off switch. I have followed the "Seven weeks to sobriety" plan to the letter by Dr. Joan Larson. Its premise is to repair the damage done by vitamin, mineral and amino acid depletion that alcohol creates not only in our brain but the whole body. Its a mega vitamin program similar to one that I used to get my son off anti-psychotic meds and totally out of psychosis after eight horrific years. I firmly beleive in the rebuilding of our bodies when giving up al. There is so much damage done.

I have reduced my drinking thinking to almost zero now and would not hesitate to take Baclofen if it ever flares up again., Mish and some of the other undies are doing really well with it. Relying on willpower, psycho-analysis, psychological intervention on its own cannot heal a sick body. Even antabuse, whilst a Godsend for lots of people is really a stop-gap. Until we address the whole of body, whole of mind wellness, I think our lives are always going to be a struggle. I wish you love, strength and grace Saffxx

[Zeppie2]

the OFF switch

I think what makes us alchies different from everyone else is that none of us have an off switch. I was chatting to my boss today about things I've done (not alcohol) and he replied "wow you certainly don't do things by halves" he was right, that's the trouble no bloomin off switch.

[mollyka]

the OFF switch

I never had an off switch Spuds. When I was young it manifested itself as lack of money. When I was a bit older it was young kids. When I was older still it was falling asleep, and now if I drank it would be an angry husband. NONE OF THESE THINGS WERE FROM INSIDE ME. I agree with Saff, it's a whole body and mind repair and an understanding that if I drink that is my decision, nobodys fault but mine and the consequences are also mine. I think I may be finding a little switch - deep inside me.
Molly

[Stargazerlily]

the OFF switch

Over the holidays I told some friends, no, I will not have a drink, I am having a problem with my off switch. Reply, I don't have that problem. But I was respected and no one encouraged me to drink. Any addiction, alchohol, ciggarettes, food, gambling...no off switch. Once we come to terms with it, understand that we are different, it helps. Then comes the hard work, planning, getting support, and the healing. Best wishes to us all.

[Popeye]

the OFF switch

Stargazerlily;1035373 wrote: Over the holidays I told some friends, no, I will not have a drink, I am having a problem with my off switch. Reply, I don't have that problem. But I was respected and no one encouraged me to drink. Any addiction, alchohol, ciggarettes, food, gambling...no off switch. Once we come to terms with it, understand that we are different, it helps. Then comes the hard work, planning, getting support, and the healing. Best wishes to us all.

Well said indeed

[brightlite]

the OFF switch

I also asked that question on another thread. Where is my off switch? Did I ever have one? Is it broken? Can it be repaired?

If I ever had one, it was a very weak switch that broke very easily and I believe once broken...it can never be repaired. Is that a genetic defect of sorts? Weak off switches? .....oh I'm sorry your baby was born with a weak off switch.....

Where is that dmn off-switch repairman when you need him! Dr. OA has found a way to get to a temporary off switch with BAC, but willpower is need to keep the switch off.

[ladyjan]

the OFF switch

I think the "off switch" you refer to, you may have a bit confused ...coz people that use baclofen find the "off switch" as in for the amount that they are taking, coz it really is like that..you reach the "off switch" & you just don't think about or want AL...

If the "off switch" you mean is when you think you might need to switch off from drinking, is a very personal one, and one which only the individual can decide to turn it off.....
when you realise what the poison does..and want to turn it off...coz nobody, or no drugs can do it for you..
there are only aids to help you..
at the end of the day it's up to YOU...
to switch it OFF.....:l

[medic]

the OFF switch

Do I know anywhere you can buy and off-switch, Spudd?

No. What I can say though is I think there is two off-switches on the market and not always available to all types; the first is your social off-switch and it works in tandem with your intuition in a kind of pleasure/pain principle (I can tell my friend from the continent thinks I'm an alcoholic because she disapproves that I've ordered a third drink and therefore I will make this my last because I don't want her to not like me)

; the second is your personal off-switch and it works in tandem with your intuitive self-esteem (I can tell I have had lots to drink, I don't feel like I want another because I have to be up in two hours for work)...

These off-switches are primal in their strength, like the desire to drink in the first place I suspect. They act as survival barriers in a functionally alcoholic sense (they allow us to keep binge drinking because we know that to be able to keep up this binge we must fold to their parameters). This of course is the exception to those with a habit which omits any parameters.

What I'm trying to actually say is our alcohol dependency is sometimes assisted by the exact parameters that limit our behaviour, as opposed to the unfortunate souls who throw it all away in complete disregard of any restrictions, losing their home/partner,etc.

In short, maybe the off-switch is not what you need. Maybe what you need is to pull out the wiring of the power unit.

med+c