Need to fix my plan

[nancy]

Need to fix my plan

I think one thing that helps is to lay down the law with yourself whether your goal is abstinence or moderation. Honestly, I have been coming here for two years and I finally a month ago got tough and just stopped my routine of drinking alone and drinking at home. It's a habit that is gone but granted it hasn't been that long. I am so much happier though and I still am pursuing moderation.

Meditation really helps me. Have you looked into that much? Work In Progress did a whole thread on it. Even a few minutes a day helps.

In terms of the hypno, I think if you got off track I would not blame yourself. I could not for the life of me stick to them-- it's such a complex time-consuming program. One idea is to simplify it by listening to all of them at first, then just do one, the hypnotic tracks for example, every day.

I think the hypno CDs touch on crucial parts of the process that you must address in some way: positive affirmation, visualization, self-esteem and relaxation. The CDs do all those things but you could address them yourself through meditation breaks throughout the day.

I thought it was interesting recently, to look at the Women For Sobriety Group and see how much attention they pay to positive affirmations. The book You can Heal Your life is also great for that. Thank God for women who like RJ and these others who pioneered programs or philosophies that are bettter-suited to our gender.

As for meds, i have no experience there. Naltrexone via the sinclair method (meds on an as needed basis) really appeals to me as someone who wants moderation but I have not tried it yet. Topa you could try at a low dose but those side effects would scare me off really fast. Chantix is another one that some have written about, used for smoking. Oh and anti-depressants are being studied too.

I know there are lots of physical aspects to addiction but the truth is that for some people making the choice to change and having willpower to stick to it are really important. Lay down the law with yourself AK Girl. You know what you want and now go get it.

Nancy

[julie001]

Need to fix my plan

Hi Nancy,

It looks like were on the same page...I just layed down the law with myself too this week about drinking alone at home. Only difference is that I'm taking the Topamax, and it has helped tremendously so there's no reason why I can fight any cravings that I may have in the evenings now when I'm home alone. Just wanted to say good luck.

[nancy]

Need to fix my plan

Wow Julie. That is really great-- no cravings! I think the drinking at home alone habit has to be one of the most pernicious.

Topa does seem to work for a lot of people. I didn't take it due to fear about side effects.

I get cravings but they are almost always linked to some sort of emotion. They are not really physical urges. And I decided not to soothe negative emotions with alcohol. We will see if I have a problem with positive ones but it's going to be a lot less frequent.

Let's hope we all make it!

[A Work in Progress]

Need to fix my plan

Its so stupid of me cause sometimes its not even cravings, just habit and routine. I get cravings but they are almost always linked to some sort of emotion. They are not really physical urges.

AK, there's nothing "stupid" about being in the grips of "habit and routine." It's important, I think, to remember that all these things are closely related: impulses, desires, wishes, wants, cravings, urges, and impulses. It is not really accurate to think of some of them as "physical" (and, accordingly, somehow more powerful) and others of them as emotional, or habit-based. All of these phenomena arise in the mind because of activity in the body (including the brain). Think of them like the desire to scratch an itch. This desire is a mental response to a physical phenomenon arising, from the peripheral nerves in the area where we feel the "itch." The desire to scratch is a mind phenomenon, but it is based on something that is entirely "physical." The same is true of the urge to do whatever we might be in the "habit" of doing. When I sit down at the computer, I have a desire to immediately check my email (or go to MWO!). Refusing to allow myself to do so creates discomfort in me. This is a mental phenomenon, but/and it is based on the physical connections that have developed between certain regions of my brain that tell me what I "want" to do, based on what I have done before that has been enjoyable (for humans, it is reinforcing, or enjoyable, to open email, because it is "intermittently rewarding," much the same way that gambling is).

When we stop drinking, a lot of different things happen in our brains, including the very much uphill process of undoing habits (and this is something that is a brain-based, or "physical," process), as well as the re-structuring of the reward circuitry in our brains (and this is a process that can take months, or years). The latter processes include the gradual re-calibration of several neurotransmitters (serotonin, dopamine, norepinephrine, and many others we do not even vaguely understand, yet), as well as the pathways between nerves and brain regions.

Probably the most important lesson in all of this is that it is our minds, and the way we direct our attention, and the way we CHOOSE to respond to urges, cravings, desires, etc., that CHANGES OUR BRAIN. We are not the victims of our own urges/cravings (although it feels as if we are); we can become their masters, if we choose to do so. This is the underlying truth behind the conceptualizations many people use of a "Beast" that lives within our minds, or a phenomenon we can actively choose to defy and control.

A FANTASTIC book that explains all this for folks not formally trained in neuroscience is Sharon Begley's [ame=http://www.amazon.com/Train-Your-Mind-Change-Brain/dp/0345479890/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1221133904&sr= 8-1]Train Your Mind, Change Your Brain[/ame].

best wishes,

wip

[Ripple]

Need to fix my plan

The longer one can go without AL i find the key to eventual change. One must keep trying, over and over...use any tool available to achieve some time out to clear the head. ....

I love Topa personally having all the other choices .... one a day and i am on my way!!! routine and schedule is so important too. Sleeping is another biggie .... takes a long time.. CD's sound so good for calming ... whatever works .... keep trying ..... better days are coming..

Rip... :l

[Larisa]

Need to fix my plan

Hi, akgirl, sounds like you're on the right track! Was just wondering...did you actually have any side effects from the topa, or were nervous about getting them? Some people don't have any, and for some people, they're pretty minor. The worst I had was getting sleepy and very occasiona foot tingles, and that's only when I got up to 300 mg. Of course, lots of people have also quit without it! My best to you either way!