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[mama bear]

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Welcome Nana!

[nanaT]

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bad night

ok the doc prescribed me atavan . Of of-course I took 2 and drank.Husband says i punched him the last thing i r ember i was on the floor in a pile of glass that used to be a lamp. 15 stitches in hands and arms. I think i really need inhouse rehab. Im very frightened for my life. That will mean one month off wrk and having to admit why. Im going to look into whether blue cross blue shield will cover it. I think i've hit the bottm

[Chilipepper]

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Hi Nana,
I appreciate and have kept up with your thread on the travesties of our dreaded condition. My firm belief is that all of us true alcoholics must hit rock bottom before we can change; either that or die. For me, it was my health. For others, it's relationships, incarceration, job related problems,m or like me, for health reasons.

From your posts, and especially your last one, I agree, you may need long term care to deal with your addictive personality. When you leave though, your doctor, like mine, may say, "This (detoxing) will be easy -- the hard part will be staying off the drug."

So true. I truly hope things work out for you.

[Alky]

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Nana, you need to find a psychiatrist who specializes in addiction issues. A doctor prescribing a benzodiazepine (klonopin, xanax, atavan, valium etc.) to an alcoholic is a cop-out and irresponsible, in my opinion. These drugs affect the brain in exactly the same way as alcohol, and are again, in my opinion, alcohol in a pill.

Two words of warning: alcohol basically doubles the effects of these drugs. Mixing them is extremely dangerous. And two, alcohol and benzodiazepine withdrawals are the two most dangerous drug withdrawals there are. If you get hooked on the benzos too, you'll be fighting a war on two fronts.

Perhaps an inpatient detox and rehab is not a bad idea for you.

[SlipperyPete]

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Hey Nana,
I feel your pain, and baclofen helped me out of my misery. What I did after I read through some of the forums was call all the Addiction Specialists in my area, and asked them over the phone whether they had heard of baclofen for addiction and were willing to prescribe it to me. I think I called between 10-15 people, and one of them said he had heard of it and was willing to prescribe. That was two and a half years ago.

Baclofen helps a ton for anxiety, but what helped me with social anxiety the most was going to AA. I think baclofen + AA is an incredible treatment for addiction, and I highly recommend you do both. Good luck, and if you have any more questions, don't be afraid to ask, or you can PM me too

[K9Lover]

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Hi Nana!

I agree with Alky that benzos are alcohol in a pill. They can be very useful during the withdrawal period, but are by no means meant to be taken along with alcohol. That is very dangerous. I would look into the rehab that you mentioned. Or maybe even start with a doctor that specializes in addiction and treatments. Please keep us posted on how you are doing!

K9

[Sarah42]

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Alky;1618054 wrote: Nana, you mentioned you are alone a lot. One of the "slogans" of AA is HALT, an acronym for hungry, angry, lonely, tired. I started drinking alcoholically when my (soon to be ex) wife and I had a commuter marriage arrangement. I worked in Ohio, she worked in New England, and we met up on weekends back at our house in Florida. I remember how it started out - I couldn't handle the stress of making all those travel arrangements without taking a slug of vodka beforehand.

I'd fly back to Ohio on a Sunday night. I'd be hungry, lonely and tired, and depending on the travel day, possibly angry, too. And again, a slug of vodka (or two, or three) did the trick to relieve my stress. Long story short, it doesn't take too long doing that you build up such a tolerance that you can wake up still very drunk, and the only thing that makes you feel better is another slug. So, I'm going to leave you this article that appeared in The Grapevine sometime in the 1970s (the AA journal) about HALT:

The rule of HALT is a reminder that can help us all along the road to recovery As adjuncts to AA's spiritual program and meetings, there are clich?s, systems, gimmicks, and a myriad of other tricks that have been used by AA members down through the years to maintain sobriety. I, for one, strongly uphold the application of the foremost of these, the "RULE of HALT," not only for the new members, but for the old-timer as well. Further, I sincerely feel this simple rule to be too often ignored or passed over lightly. In the beginning, new members, as we all know, are usually confused and completely without direction. Some are sincere to the very bottom of their souls, while others are only lukewarm in their desire to "put the plug in the jug." Both sorts look to us for answers explaining how, and all too often they are disappointed. (This is understandable, for how many of us know how AA Works?)

We have precious little to give our "babies" save encouragement, fellowship, and living proof that the program works--at least for us. Why not, then, pass on whatever practical information and instruction we can to each newcomer to make his beginning more palatable and to enhance his chances of success should he choose to follow these instructions? We are certain that most members of AA are aware of the Rule of "HALT," but to what degree we cannot be certain. To scrutinize the rule briefly may be helpful to the reader and will certainly be so to the writer who has proved in reality that violation of it in part or in total can, and often does, lead to relapse. Here, then, is the meat of the rule

H
Don't get too Hungry. For a reason we cannot explain, there seems to be in the alcoholic a peculiar psycho physiological relationship between hunger and the urge to drink. On some occasions, we would eat a big dinner and then find that it literally destroyed our desire to drink afterwards. Conversely, and eventually more often, we avoided eating because we knew it would interfere with our drinking. Years ago, my sponsor told me that if I had a physical urge to take a drink, I should go out of my way to drink a milk shake. If that didn't work, he said, I should drink another. And another. I can testify that if you can drink liquor on top of two or three milk shakes, you aren't an alcoholic. You're nuts! And so, when you are hungry, eat. Simple and important. (This writer eats little at one time, but may eat something as many as five times a day.)

A
Don't get too Angry. Wow! Of all things to tell an alcoholic! But we don't have to be on the program very long to realize that anger, righteous or not, is better left to those who can handle it. Borrowing from Father John Doe: "Let the other guy get mad. If somebody calls me a SOB, either I am or I ain't. If I am, So What? If I ain't, why should I make myself one by getting mad about it?" We can't afford to get angry--especially at people. Kick the wall or the TV if you will, but "Let the other guy get mad!" We know too well where anger leads: to resentment. and brother, do we know what resentment brings! Rule of thumb? Well as the young folks say in this age, "Cool it, baby. Cool it."

L
Don't get too Lonely. Nonalcoholic members of the psychiatric profession tend to equate loneliness with boredom, and we are inclined to agree. If there is any one thing that must be included in the alcoholic's life before he can once again become a whole man it is worthwhile activity. This may be Twelfth Step work, his vocation, his avocation, or anything else. But we feel such activity must be present in order to fulfill his existence and eliminate loneliness. We must also consider the loneliness brought about because the newcomer lives alone. But this is easily rectified. It takes only a phone call or a visit to an AA-oriented social club. Or, for the AA Loner, far other members, the Big Book or a letter to an AA pen pal may suffice. Under any conditions, Loneliness is the mother of self-pity and the ultimate end is resentment and drinking. The rule of Thumb? Do something!

T
Don't get too Tired. In its effect, the last ingredient or direction in our rule is not too different from the first. Physical fatigue will affect both our bodies and our minds adversely and will thereby lower our defenses against the urge to drink if there is any possibility at all of such a desire being present, consciously or subconsciously. And there the rule of thumb is "When you are tired, put the body down!" (How many times have we read and said Easy Does It?) So there it is: HALT--Hungry, Angry, Lonely, Tired. This rule, when coupled with meetings and living our day-by-day lives according to AA principles, will make things much easier, not only for the newcomer but for the old-timer as well. Once we recognize that these four conditions are dangerous if succumbed to, we should avoid them as carefully as we would that first drink for any one of them could be the first step to a drunk. Dr. John, San Diego, Calif.*
Thank you for this! This helps me alot.

[Sarah42]

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Nana...good luck to you (to us)!!!

[paulywogg]

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Yeah,i knew what HALT stood for but having it explained in such detail helps,thanks Alky,btw if (ok when)im tempted to drink again,i am gonna drink a huge milkshake,no way can beer and milkshake mix,and Sonic is right across the streetbtw how are you nanaT?

[Alky]

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Pauly, as ridiculous as the milkshake thing sounds, it works. I was craving a slug of vodka after work and went to an ice cream place instead and got a chocolate malt, and it quashed the craving for alcohol.

[Alky]

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Hey Pauly, I was jonesing earlier this afternoon after my shift at work ended. Went out for some frozen yogurt instead. It really works!

[Dila]

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Sarah
Thanks for the post...going to try to follow!

[RedJib]

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H-A-L-T. I've never been to an AA meeting and have never heard that acronym before.....but it really does make sense. Those are exactly my triggers, the little 'hiccups' that will turn an abstinent day into a roller coaster from hell. I'm Hungry all the time (no joke, my whole life has been like this, and I've never been overweight. Most people think I'm lean/skinny, though I eat and drink huge amounts....); and Angry?--a stupid little thing will get me furious when I'm somewhere between 24 and 48 hours sober; I work aLone in a job with huge pressure to make the right judgment call, then I often avoid people when I'm not working; and finally, I'm Tired... nearly always tired. Ridiculous insomnia (last night was five hours of fitful sleep, which is what I'd call a normal night). Meds, AL/no-AL, herbs, supplements, hypnosis....I've tried them all, with minimal success.

Somehow, I just have to get a couple of sober weeks behind me. I know that the sleep issues don't get resolved, but hungover-tired is still better than plain ole sleep-deprived tired.

I think the next time I can wake up feeling half-way rested, I'll be up to this challenge.

[Mick]

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nana ...youve done the first steps..realising that your world is skewed by booze...there is loads of advice and some very knowledgeable people on here..take whatever works for you..was going to say good luck but that doesnt come into it!