If these meds/supps work why do we still have a drink problem?

[Guest]

If these meds/supps work why do we still have a drink problem?

Let's make what I said very clear.

I am not knocking meds whatsoever all I am saying is that you shouldn't rely on meds alone. Yes they can be very useful and have/do help an awful lot of people as well as save many lives. However unfortunately it can be easy to look at a pill and think thay is going to magically fix everything. If it does then brilliant, alcohol problems more often than not have underlying causes too that require addressing at some point so the person can then recover or at least understand why it's happened. A pill can't do that.

Yes I used anti-Ds when I was diagnosed as clinically depressed and they helped me get back on my feet. Yes I had a chemical imbalance at the time too, after a while though I did get recurring symptoms despite the meds(not sure if it was my drinking or if I was drinking at that point to self-medicate). I'm now finding out what has really been behind all of this.

Sorry if anyone misread what I typed - I only meant to say meds are fine but they aren't always the answer. Yes they are very useful in assisting becoming AF but this also often requires a change from within too and to put all your hopes onto one thing could result in disappointment.

I'm not saying don't try them at all and once again apologise if anyone read it that way. If I deserve to be slated and asked for my qualification then so be it. The only quals I have is having read and tried just about everything to stop(including ?16k of money I struggled to raise on private treatment) so obviously I really do not have a flipping clue.

[Guest]

If these meds/supps work why do we still have a drink problem?

I have now deleted my posts on this matter as I would hate to think I would be putting anyone off using this forum when they need help.

I was obviously wrong.

[someone_else]

If these meds/supps work why do we still have a drink problem?

I respect your opinion, UK

[Guest]

If these meds/supps work why do we still have a drink problem?

Thanks Someone.

I've obviously offended a few people so I'm going to shut up on the subject and have taken offence as no-one knows my experiences or those I've seen of other people. I'm not in a good head space at the moment so best I don't contribute to this any more.

[techie]

If these meds/supps work why do we still have a drink problem?

Ukblonde;869533 wrote: Thanks Someone.

I've obviously offended a few people so I'm going to shut up on the subject and have taken offence as no-one knows my experiences or those I've seen of other people. I'm not in a good head space at the moment so best I don't contribute to this any more.

UKB I thought your point was extremely valid. We are all here to share what works and what dosen't based on our collective experiences. Your are correct meds are NOT the answer for everyone. I do take them. However, I value the perspective of those who don't. If those meds become ineffective or I'm unable to continue for others reasons I want to know what's working for those who don't. PLEASE continue to voice your opinion. If someone disagrees, what wrong with a friendly MWO debate...respectively John

[4MyHealth]

If these meds/supps work why do we still have a drink problem?

Another point...though I don't know what UKB said originally. Meds aren't necessarily a "magic pill" which some (me) may hope/expect they are. I thought Topamax would take away the cravings and I would magically stop drinking. Actually, you can drink "through it" just fine. UKB and others pointed this out to me and I had to make a fresh start and reTHINK things and now it appears to be working because I am using it in conjunction with willpower and positive thought/mindset. Maybe that is what was meant originally. This can all seem like a dreamy escape from a nightmare, but it does take some seriously hard work.

[Doggygirl]

If these meds/supps work why do we still have a drink problem?

tryagain;869496 wrote: I appreciate everyone sharing their experiences and thoughts on meds and find different opinions interesting, but I also think if someone is to make such a statement (in the meds section) as the post above it might be helpful to also state that "this is only an opinion?"

I think that statements such as this one could put people of even trying meds because basically this post is saying that meds can help, marginally, to a degree, but not very much. To be able to stop drinking has to come from within/yourself/thought processes.

The poster doesn't say how she/he is qualified to make such a blanket concrete statement.

I appreciate that everyone has a right to an opinion, but I would like to see it stated that it is only one person's opinion.
If I had come to the med forum and read that post first I probably would have quickly left the forum, thinking it was not the type of forum I was looking for, instead of reading all the hundreds of posts that I did read about how different meds were saving lives and sanity.

Those posts gave me hope and a direction and I now believe a normal life is in reach for me too, thanks to the meds available and to the people who have shared their experiences in detail.

Perhaps these opinions also should be voiced away from the meds section? Meds are saving hundreds of lives without added councelling, AA or other support groups.

I think soul searching and examining thought processes is done by every single person as we grow / get older, it is not something only alcoholics need to do, it is a normal part of our development to grow as human beings.

My answer to the original question posed in this thread, i.e 'Why do rehabs still exist if meds work' is too long to go into here in detail. Rehabs are a multi-million or billion? dollar business, why would they tell you to go away and take some pills?

Can you imagine the money they would lose? A whole industry would be defunct.

Also I think it is very interesting that if you look back at the old posts on this forum (that has been going for about 5 years I think, there is an older forum of you do a search) the only med mentioned was topamax, because the owner of the forum had good success with it, the other meds weren't hardly mentioned until about the end of 2008.

If there has been so much progress with meds in just 18 months, that it is not unusual to read articles on baclofen or naltrexone in national newspapers, I wonder how the situation will look in another 18 months - maybe lots of traditional and extortionately expensive rehabs will close.

Another thing I would like to mention is Rehab has normally only been available to people with money or those who are considered a danger to themselves or others. Most of us don't fall into either category, at least not in the eyes of the authorities and have been left to battle on alone.

Aren't most posts opinions or personal experiences? UK is entitled to hers, which she posted, and you are entitled to yours, which you posted. Hopefully all opinions are welcome here. Including UK's and yours.

DG

[fennel]

If these meds/supps work why do we still have a drink problem?

I think U.K. was spot on. When I first came to this site, several people advised me to read Roberta Jewell's book, which I did. I was thrilled- what I saw was a manual on how to drink moderately. I believed that Topamax would cure all my ills and life would be grand.

While Topa did address my craving initially, my body soon acclimated to that benefit and overrode it. In the meantime, I had virtually every single side-effect that goes along with Topa. It wasn't worth it. I'm afraid to go on Baclofen, as i've heard that if you forget a dose, you can have seizures. What if my next batch of meds should get slowed up by customs? I cant take that chance. I'm really thinking that for me, at least, toughing it out is the only option.

[Pink Angel]

If these meds/supps work why do we still have a drink problem?

Can i just say that depression is an illness just like diabetes and needs to be medicated. I have been on meds for 8 years for depression and i have learnt the hard way that its not up to me to decided wether i can stop them, i trust my doctor.
Something snaped inside of me the day we turned my 30 year old brothers life support off. I have been SO determined to get off the meds and tried a few times only to find myself writing goodbye letters to my family and plotting my death. Its the darkest scariest place to be that no one understands unless they have been to that place. After several close calls i have learnt and now accept that, to live a normal life and to be a functioning mother i must be on these meds because i just dont produce serotonin anymore. I am now at peace with being on this drug for the rest of my life. IT HAS saved my life and for that i am eternally grateful.
It allows me to be me without the suffering.
There IS a place for drugs in this world and THAT is life.

[fennel]

If these meds/supps work why do we still have a drink problem?

Pink Angel...I'm on anti-depressants myself. What I think this thread is about is the meds used to lessen the craving for alcohol, such as Topamax, Campral etc.

[Pink Angel]

If these meds/supps work why do we still have a drink problem?

Yes I understand that and what im trying to say is that there IS a time and a place for meds. I used no meds when i stopped alcohol but I was obviously not real bad either. It all depends on the person and the situation. Be guided by a doctor, never self medicate.

[Guest]

If these meds/supps work why do we still have a drink problem?

My DR kept me on Prozac for 5 years, just kept asking if I was ok and when I wasn't just upped the dose. It stopped working after around 12 months. Finally 4 years later I took myself off, wouldn't recommend this without guideance but I honestly didn't think they were working anyway.

Now I'm AL free I'm employing a counsellor/psychotherapist and we are at last finding out the psychological causes for my depression which I have suffered from for most of my adult life, as well as why I drink. I do believe a chemical imbalance involving serotonin was involved at the time for me(I'd already had some counselling at that point) but I hadn't dug deep into how, and why I feel(or don't feel) certain things. It's a revelation and I'm no longer suffering from depression.

[Otter]

If these meds/supps work why do we still have a drink problem?

Here is a recent article published a couple of weeks ago about Ameisen. Drugs are not for everyone. However, not everyone has as bad a problem with alcohol. for some it is a matter of life and death and something that years of anti-depressants and toughing it out does not touch. It ruins lives, destroys families and KILLS PEOPLE, your friends, your family. It is just my view but I don't think it is helpful to minimize alcohol as a problem or to deflect interest in a potential cure to this problem when 2 million people a year die from the stuff

Here is the link:

The little pill that could cure alcoholism | Society | The Observer

[Guest]

If these meds/supps work why do we still have a drink problem?

I agree and yes for me it was certainly a matter of life and death - I was lucky not to have damaged or killed myself sooner and my entire life was being affected and at various points was a wreck.

[tryagain]

If these meds/supps work why do we still have a drink problem?

Doggygirl;869549 wrote: Aren't most posts opinions or personal experiences? UK is entitled to hers, which she posted, and you are entitled to yours, which you posted. Hopefully all opinions are welcome here. Including UK's and yours.

DG

I too hope so, Doggy Girl, but I wonder why when a person asks a rational question in the meds part of the forum that all the first reponses are from people who did not find any relief with meds or only half tried them, or indeed never tried them at all!

'Trying meds' is not an easy way out. Most of us when we reach the decision to take meds on top of our extreme drinking do not make the choice in a moment of lightheartedness. We are desperate, most of us don't have alot of money and in some cases getting the meds through customs is a nightmare, i.e we lose the very little bit of money we had, and our name goes on a government list.

We are already well aware our vital organs are somewhat compromised and taking meds on top isn't going to do our organs a great favour.

We generally don't think, "Oh bugger it, I can't be arsed with trying to give up drinking, might as well just spend my food money on some anti-drinking meds...Spend the last of my money on them, might make my liver even worse in the progress, hell if I'm lucky I could spend $200 on my order an possibly wont even receive them...sounds like a good deal to me."

I am not all that good at expressing myself in writing, (hence all my edits) but I have read from this forum until the cows come home. I found it after typing something like 'does baclofen really work for alcoholics' (cant remember the exact words) and came across the meds section of this forum.

I read and read and read, the posters that come to mind were zenstyle, beatle, springrider, lenagirl, and loads of others that I can't remember of the top of my head without looking them up.

Later came tiptrionic, LoOp, virgil, 8 days week and hoping for better, just names that stick out. But not the only ones, hundreds of people shared their experiences without having to inject their personalities into the posts to make for invaluable information.

They gave me hope. They did not talk about our character defects, or needing to go within (which I have been doing since I was 27, practising meditation, attending seminars, and trying to analyse myself) just a practical way to stop drinking alcohol. I am not saying 'their way is right' I don't even know if it has worked for them long term, I just know that they gave me hope and inspiration and helped me enormously in not making me feel like a great big defective part that was not useful to the human race.

My problem with UK blondes post was not her opinion, I respect that totally and appreciate that she shared, it was that is placed in the med forum (from a person who did not have success with meds, lots of people won't I guess) and it was not stated that it was only a personal opinion but it was presented as a sure fact.

Forgive me if I am wrong, but if you do a google search and the URL that comes back looks interesting and you click on it, you decide in about 10 seconds if that is the information you are looking for or not. As a random searcher you don't have a clue if UK blonde or tryagain is an expert or not. That of course is a bit naive and most people will go in a bit more, but I objected to a simple opinion being presented as fact - nothing more, nothing less.

I know this section of the forum has been the reason I am now informed enough to save my life. If I do or not is of course entirely up to me, but I would like to see people that have not have much success with meds (or no success) to try to keep their personalities out of this section for the sake of other desperados like I was.

I think there are plenty of other sections that you can talk about and discuss anything, which is cool, but posts like the UKblonde one and subsequently others, should not be part of the meds forum.

I do not want to detract from anyone else's opinion or say it was not important, but if you categorically state 'something only works if' you should also be prepared for a categorical answer.

However, "Just my opinion."