I have not had a drink for almost 2.5 months now, and I have stopped before for 3 to 4 weeks at a time, always meaning to drink moderately in the future. This time since I have a broken knee, and I cannot get out to buy alcohol, and I am not about to ask any of my friend to bring me any. This additional hiatus from alcohol has given me the time to really think about and examine the when and why I drink, and what I have discovered is that I am primarily a self-medicator:
? I would have a drink when my blood sugar was low and I was feeling too lazy or did not have enough time to fix or go fetch myself something healthy to eat. This type of alcohol craving is easily fixed by my discovery of protein fruit smoothie shakes which I make up every morning and keep in the fridge.
? I am very ADHD, and coming off a period of hyper-focus I often feel very hyped up like I am bouncing off the walls, a very unpleasant almost anxiety attack type of feeling, and it is also what I believe is feeding my lack of ability to sleep. This is NOT easily fixable and is especially horrible. The immediate impulse is to do something to BURN OFF the excess energy, but due to my broken knee I can not do jumping jacks or take a brisk walk around the barrio. Although in my past experiences as much as it feels like this sensation could be dealt with by exercise, it never really helped all that much, I still felt like I want to JUMP OUT of my own skin when it occurs. So I am considering asking a doctor for an ADHD medication I can use instead of alcohol.
When I am drinking regularly I do not drink until the bottle is gone, and I do not drink until I am drunk. I drink just enough for the hyperactivity to be quelled and then just enough to maintain that, so I am thinking if I were to find a medication that is LESS damaging than alcohol and not addictive to neutralize the hyper feeling, I will have a much easier time overcoming my dependency on alcohol.
Has anyone else who has used alcohol for self-medication (for anything) found that once they were able to treat the reasons they were drinking that the cravings for alcohol went away?
? I would have a drink when my blood sugar was low and I was feeling too lazy or did not have enough time to fix or go fetch myself something healthy to eat. This type of alcohol craving is easily fixed by my discovery of protein fruit smoothie shakes which I make up every morning and keep in the fridge.
? I am very ADHD, and coming off a period of hyper-focus I often feel very hyped up like I am bouncing off the walls, a very unpleasant almost anxiety attack type of feeling, and it is also what I believe is feeding my lack of ability to sleep. This is NOT easily fixable and is especially horrible. The immediate impulse is to do something to BURN OFF the excess energy, but due to my broken knee I can not do jumping jacks or take a brisk walk around the barrio. Although in my past experiences as much as it feels like this sensation could be dealt with by exercise, it never really helped all that much, I still felt like I want to JUMP OUT of my own skin when it occurs. So I am considering asking a doctor for an ADHD medication I can use instead of alcohol.
When I am drinking regularly I do not drink until the bottle is gone, and I do not drink until I am drunk. I drink just enough for the hyperactivity to be quelled and then just enough to maintain that, so I am thinking if I were to find a medication that is LESS damaging than alcohol and not addictive to neutralize the hyper feeling, I will have a much easier time overcoming my dependency on alcohol.
Has anyone else who has used alcohol for self-medication (for anything) found that once they were able to treat the reasons they were drinking that the cravings for alcohol went away?
I am doing a phd at the moment and I am so much more focussed off the plonk. Cheers Cashy xx
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