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[spiritwolf333]

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Hi Zampa -I am sorry you are having such a difficult time. Depression is such an awful condition. Alcohol use to always help minimize my depression short term but then the depression would come back worse than before. Once that I finally had three or four weeks alcohol free, the depression would lift (but not the anxiety).

I hope that you can find some Peace for your depression.

[Samandkatharine]

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Zampa,

I'm sorry you are having issues. My SEs got better after reducing my AL and ultimately eliminating it got rid of many of them.

I switched at 80mg, but that was after being AF for 3 days. A friend I made here didn't switch until she was in the low 200's after being AF for a month. She was a nightly 1-2 bottle of Chardonnay drinker. Now she's pregnant and off Bac....sober too!

Sam

[StuckinLA]

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zampa75;1690860 wrote: Stuck, have you switched?
At what dose?

I just wish this stuff were working already. It seems to me 140 is a lot for a woman, and I am not big...

No way, I'm not on bac anymore. I did experience a switch at about 240 or so, and it was like having no interest in alcohol. Try as I might, I just couldn't drink it fast enough to feel anything.

As for dose, it has nothing to do with gender or size or the amount you drink, from what anybody can tell. Ne is a tiny lady (with a big heart ), and her switch was 320. SEs don't necessarily get 'worse' as you go up, just different.

[Lostinspace]

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zampa - I'm so sorry you're struggling so hard with depression. That's (in a small sense and along with habit) why I keep going back to the bottle, even though my cravings are way down. I can't say I'm depressed at all. More just feeling down during the day for no particular reason. But I have been depressed in the past, and I know how much it sucks. It's really rough.

Alcohol, unfortunately, does lift your spirits for a short time. I hope you (and me, too!) will find the strength to undergo a brief AF period. And don't expect it to fix everything immediately. It takes some time for your mood to adjust once the alcohol is gone.

I wish you the best. Keep on keeping on. :l

EDIT: When I said don't expect it to fix everything, I was referring to the depression. I think some AF time could definitely help you to cement some new habits, especially if you're no longer craving, but merely drinking out of both habit and trying to fix your mood.

DOUBLE EDIT: After rereading others' posts and the one after mine, I realize I'm too much of a newbie, and am in no position to offer real help. I'm really sorry. I will refrain from posting on your thread in the future. Good luck to you!

[Fred_The_Cat]

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zampa75;1690860 wrote: Stuck, have you switched?
At what dose?

So Fred: it's actually possible to lose the switch?? Bummer!

It definitely looks like I could be drinking out of depression and not be recognizing the switch?? Then I am screwed. I'm so depressed right now the only thing I wait for is the sunset to have my first drink... Which is even more depressing... Yes, I am taking medication for that but it won't change the cause of my depression, unfortunately.

I just wish this stuff were working already. It seems to me 140 is a lot for a woman, and I am not big...I can't stand the drowsiness and dry mouth and inability to get out of bed in the morning anymore... the latter thing makes me feel even worse b/c I just waste my mornings in bed... damn.

I was feeling that bad not too long ago, and almost a year before and lost a job over it for being tardy.

Drinking will destroy your motivation to fight depression. Remember that. Also, alcohol is interfering with your medication and making things even worse.

I would do the following things, in this order:

1. 3 days mandatory sobriety. I've noticed that after a night of drinking I tend to let things slide at work for the next couple of days because my motivation and sense of pride are shot. That's enough time to realign, get your head on straight and let the bac be effective. Do it even if it means taking Benadryl as has been stated by someone I can't quote because I'm on my phone.

2. The boredom will crush you after 3 days, so on to step 2. Clean something. Even the smallest little sense of accomplishment will get the ball rolling. Force yourself to do it. You're stuck in the rut of "I feel, therefore I do not do". It needs to be "I do, therefore I feel".

3. 10 minutes of exercise will yank you out of 3 wasted hours on the Internet, bed or couch feeling miserable. Do not underestimate this. In fact, exercise period will destroy your will to drink.

4. Mixing alcohol and medications is making things ten times worse. Your mood is being artificially propped up by pills, and alcohol kicks you in the back of the knee. I am in no way advocating quitting meds at this point, but you won't untangle this mess until alcohol is out of the picture for at least a while. You will not even realize how bad it was until you eliminate the combo and feel how different life gets.

Of course this will take effort, but nothing worthwhile in life is free. I can tell you are in a low place right now and I absolutely do not want to see you getting to the point I did where the things I did above were literally the last resort because easier methods had failed.

[Samandkatharine]

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Fred_The_Cat;1690978 wrote: I was feeling that bad not too long ago, and almost a year before and lost a job over it for being tardy.

Drinking will destroy your motivation to fight depression. Remember that. Also, alcohol is interfering with your medication and making things even worse.

I would do the following things, in this order:

1. 3 days mandatory sobriety. I've noticed that after a night of drinking I tend to let things slide at work for the next couple of days because my motivation and sense of pride are shot. That's enough time to realign, get your head on straight and let the bac be effective. Do it even if it means taking Benadryl as has been stated by someone I can't quote because I'm on my phone.

2. The boredom will crush you after 3 days, so on to step 2. Clean something. Even the smallest little sense of accomplishment will get the ball rolling. Force yourself to do it. You're stuck in the rut of "I feel, therefore I do not do". It needs to be "I do, therefore I feel".

3. 10 minutes of exercise will yank you out of 3 wasted hours on the Internet, bed or couch feeling miserable. Do not underestimate this. In fact, exercise period will destroy your will to drink.

4. Mixing alcohol and medications is making things ten times worse. Your mood is being artificially propped up by pills, and alcohol kicks you in the back of the knee. I am in no way advocating quitting meds at this point, but you won't untangle this mess until alcohol is out of the picture for at least a while. You will not even realize how bad it was until you eliminate the combo and feel how different life gets.

Of course this will take effort, but nothing worthwhile in life is free. I can tell you are in a low place right now and I absolutely do not want to see you getting to the point I did where the things I did above were literally the last resort because easier methods had failed.

Fred, do you mean mixing AL with AD's?

[Fred_The_Cat]

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Samandkatharine;1690984 wrote: Fred, do you mean mixing AL with AD's?

Yes- but I was being deliberately kind of vague on that. I've mixed alcohol with AD's before, but mixing alcohol with an atypical antipsychotic is what got me in huge trouble. If I pushed it hard enough, very bizarre things would happen that just could not be explained by alcohol alone. I think the 3 years I mixed alcohol and AAP's were a black hole of naive, immature behavior because I was doubly impaired and hadn't the capacity to know any better. I look back and realize all of the people I alienated from horrible lapses in judgment.

If an AD is built up in your system, destabilizing that balance is going to destroy your mood really, really fast if you mess with it.

[Samandkatharine]

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Fred_The_Cat;1691028 wrote: Yes- but I was being deliberately kind of vague on that. I've mixed alcohol with AD's before, but mixing alcohol with an atypical antipsychotic is what got me in huge trouble. If I pushed it hard enough, very bizarre things would happen that just could not be explained by alcohol alone. I think the 3 years I mixed alcohol and AAP's were a black hole of naive, immature behavior because I was doubly impaired and hadn't the capacity to know any better. I look back and realize all of the people I alienated from horrible lapses in judgment.

If an AD is built up in your system, destabilizing that balance is going to destroy your mood really, really fast if you mess with it.

Thanks for clarifying. I see Abilify all over the magazine pages now. An adjunct to ADs that aren't working. Sheesh.

[skullbabyland]

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Just a quick note to jump in here and say that I second much of what Fred the Cat has posted. I don't have much knowledge around the AD meds/alcohol issue but it does make sense. But all the other stuff he's posted seems right on, in my experience.

[Fred_The_Cat]

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skullbabyland;1691204 wrote: Just a quick note to jump in here and say that I second much of what Fred the Cat has posted. I don't have much knowledge around the AD meds/alcohol issue but it does make sense. But all the other stuff he's posted seems right on, in my experience.

Skull,

Look up Peter Breggin's rant on Abilify. He's aghast that they are using a profoundly disabling drug meant to take the wind out of a schizophrenic's sails for vague depressive symptoms or ADHD in kids. My best friend from high school is legit schizophrenic and that medication has completely destroyed him, even if it's kept him out of jail.

AAP's are just as damaging as the old neuroleptics, and alcohol could only make them worse.