New here

[A Work in Progress]

New here

Also, 3Bot, sorry did not answer your question, lots of people take Topa, and many (maybe most? not sure) do not. I ordered it from River Pharmacy when I first found this program, 2 weeks ago, but it still has not arrived. Not at all sure I will take it, when it does. I am doing well without it. I am taking a bunch of supplements... There is a lot of info about all that in another section on this forum...

wip

[3bottles]

New here

Thanks WIP, I ordered the book yesterday and some supplements and the topamax today, so just waiting for it all to arrive now. Have decided I'm not going to drink until I have read the book, then decide. At least that will give my poor body a rest! I was interested to read on the pages about topamax that some people have been able to moderate their drinking when taking it. I would like to try that and if it doesn't work then abstain completely.

[gyco]

New here

guess it depends on what you want,o hi by the way 3,lot of wine in a day,been here 2 months some really interesting people here, people lik you,need someone you can relate to,were here for ya,we all have been where you are,just like the clampetts use to say,ya all just comom back,hahahha gyco

[vera-b]

New here

Hi 3Botts,

Good for you for digging in. Not everyone takes Topa, but according to the research RJ did, it does have some strong anti-craving properties. My Dr. put me on Campral for the cravings about a year ago, and I do find it helps considerably. According to the Campral site as well as info on this site, it's not supposed to work if you're drinking anything. I have not found that to be the case. I drink no more than 4 glasses of wine a week, generally 2 each on a Fri and Sat, but sometimes I skip them as well. Have found substitutes like tonic and lime, the hypno cd's and this site to be so key. Am very vigilant for slippage as I know THE BEAST is just waiting in the wings.

WIP - I'm with you. I think the near-universal insistence on one particular 12-step approach is shortsighted. A multi modal approach which may include an AA-type program as a component (as some people need Antabuse in their tool chest, while others do not) seems to make greater sense to me.

Gyco - you know my husband loves the Beverly Hillbillies. Still manages to watch reruns occasionally. Ya'll come back now, ya hear? You crack me up!


V.

[3bottles]

New here

Thanks Gyco and Vera-b, I had an AF day yesterday and feel much better today physically. I would like to be able to drink like you Vera, I have been thinking what my ideal drinking pattern would be. i would like to aim for four AF days a week and have just 2 or 3 glasses of wine on the others. I haven't been able to do that in the last couple of years, but I think its partly to do with my head being messed up by the 12-step programming.

When I was in AA I felt "good" because I wasn't drinking, then when I slipped I felt a "bad" person. I had the two years of abstinence, but then slipped and have been slipping an sliding the last 2 years going in and out of AA, but hating it, then drinking and thinking "well I've blown it now, I might as well get realy pissed". So I've been drinking twice as much now as before I went to AA in the first place! I feel my head is more messed up now than it ever was -- I feel like I've been in a sect and i can't get their voices and slogans out of my head arrgh!!

But I'm not slagging it of as I know it works well for a lot of people (like WIP said). It just hasn't worked for me and I really tried!

So I am feeling really positive today thanks to MWO and all you people. I stayed close to the site yesterday reading the postings, etc.

:thanks:

[A Work in Progress]

New here

Good going, 3Bot! You are describing something well-known in the professional literature about alcoholism and relapse prevention... AA tends, unfortunately, to set up a mind-set that is very much all or nothing, along with the "progressive disease" claptrap (the idea that one's "disease" continues to progress even when a person is not drinking), and also along with the strong emphasis on length of sobriety as a sort of social ranking system. What happens, then, is that the AA member often feels that one drink is the equivalent of 16 drinks... having one drink is such a terrible loss of prestige, that one might as well get hammered, and it's easier not even to go back to meetings any more... Not everyone in AA takes such a hard-line approach, of course, but there is still a lot of that there, and it has been harmful. I've said before, there are many, many good aspects of AA (it has some concepts that were really ahead of their time, back when it started... the '30's?)... I just wish it would allow itself to be updated along with contemporary research into problem drinking and relapse prevention...

OK that's my little speech for the day.

wip

[A Work in Progress]

New here

p.s. It's called the "abstinence violation effect" ...

[3bottles]

New here

Thanks o2m and wip, I had a great day today, decided to go join the gym and got a personal trainer for once a fortnight to give me an exercise plan. He is also going to give me a diet plan, but I'm desperate for Amazon to deliver the MWO book, so I can can compare. Its been despatched, so not long now! i'm feeling really positive.

Wip, I have had to look up "abstinence violation effect" on the internet - never heard of it lol!! But reading what I have so far - and there is lots more I want to read, well it certainly makes sense to me so far. Thanks.