Serious Alternatives to Alcohol?

[BenTheDemon]

Many of you may know me from Firebot. That is merely my internet persona, and it doesn't really reflect who I am outside of the internet. My name is Ben Holt. I am 21 years old, and I've been an alcoholic for a while. I've struggled with anger issues, anxiety, and depression throughout my life. Though my temper has for the most part been solved, my anxiety and depression still act up. I've been on Paxil for 3 years, and when I first started, I rarely drank, only in social occasions. As time went on, I started drinking more and more to the point where I would drink every day. I've never drank so much in a single sitting that I've become piss-ass drunk, but I love the taste of booze, and I would often drink just enough to forget my problems. On January 4th of this year, my doctor told me that I have to stop drinking immediately, as the amount I drink mixes with my medicines (I take several for anxiety, sleep, muscle relaxation, and my heart) and could easily put me into a coma. Since then, three other doctors also told me to completely avoid alcohol.

Though I've been completely sober for nearly 2 weeks, I find myself missing the alcohol more and more every day. My anxiety and depression have also gotten worse. I have a lot of trouble falling asleep at night, I've avoided social situations, and driving alone makes me so tense. The anxiety builds upon itself when I know that it inhibits my ability to obtain stable employment and life partners. I found myself falling in love with a girl at a local college. She and I became really good friends, and the closer we got, the more she was comfortable telling me about herself. She also suffers from anxiety and depression. She also has very low self-esteem. It stresses me knowing that someone I care about is suffering so much. I had been advised to just stop worrying about her to avoid more stress for myself, but I've experienced abandonment before, and I would never do that to her just to take stress off of myself.

So here's my question to all of you:
Are there any alternatives to alcohol that take the edge off of life? Please let me know.

 

[OLD GREGG (im back baby)]

Ben, I'm sorry to hear that you are having all these problems.
I too have battled the demons of addiction and depression, it's a battle worth winning. You have the power to change, the choice is yours. The question is: do you want to change?
I used to have a major pill popping issue that is in the past. I found the motivation to get through those times within myself. I decided that life was worth living and happiness was attainable. Will power can go a long way if you are determined to get better. Yea, there will be times when you feel weak and you know exactly what would make you feel better, but I think if you really want to Save your life-then you will. It's up to you to make a change, the doctors can't stop you from doing anything and as long as you continue to both medicate and drink then it's only a matter of time. Either your meds or alcohol; one of them has to go or you will be the one going & once you're gone there is no coming back.


If life is too much to handle then burn one dude.

 

[Fresher Than You]

Replace alcohol with dank memes. Slightly more seriously, I started drinking at 14 e.e. Easiest way to get off it for me was to replace the drink with another type of drink, namely energy drinks. Now, getting hopped on caffeine and who knows what other chemicals isn't the greatest of things, I know. But it's so much easier getting off a caffeine addiction than an alcohol addiction. There are no immediate side affects either, no getting drunk or getting depressed. And it's cheaper. It's just a habit substitute, basically. As long as you don't excessively drink the energy drinks than it can help replace the drinking habit.

 

[veiva]

Alcoholism is a health issue, much like any other addiction. It would be best to get help from a substance abuse center. The advice and help professionals would give would be undoubtedly better than anyone on a forum can provide. You'd go to a lawyer for legal advice and assistance, you'd go to a tax accountant with issues on your taxes, and you'd go to a doctor for a broken leg--so you should do the same for any other serious issue, especially since it is related to your health and well-being.

(And are you already seeing a mental health professional for your anxiety issues?)

 

[DM]

I echo the sentiments about treating alcohol addiction like any other and seeking professional help. It is incredibly difficult for many people to kick addictions on their own, and this isn't something you want lingering in your life.

 

[OLD GREGG (im back baby)]

The substance abuse centers won't help much if you don't want to make a change. The decision to quit drinking is yours to make and nobody can prepare you for that fight but yourself. Until you are very serious about making a change for the better don't waste your time with so called expert. Going off of your eagerness to trade one substance for another, you are not yet ready to make that change IMO. You know the risks involved, if you end up in the hospital nobody to blame but yourself.

 

[Ender]

I 100% recommend seeing a psychiatrist. You have an issue that can be managed and is absolutely nothing to be ashamed of. I'm sorry that this is something you've had to go through, but you'll get the best advice and guidance from a trained mental health professional, especially initially, not random people online. Most physicians have inadequate mental health training if they aren't psychiatrists, so it's imperative that you start seeing one in addition to any other doctors you might be seeing.

 

[toshimelonhead]

So here's my question to all of you:
Are there any alternatives to alcohol that take the edge off of life? Please let me know.

Well alcohol and antidepressants are a lethal combination to begin with. To get off of one or the other requires significant life changes. I have been pretty much sober my entire life so I'll try to give advice on the depression and anxiety side of things. Depression and anxiety make simple tasks seem impossible sometimes, but I have found the simple things are what handles depression the most: exercise, eating a healthy diet, getting enough sunlight, limiting screen time, developing friendships, keeping enough meds on hand, etc. The other part of the puzzle is finding some type of job, even if it's minimum wage, that will keep you occupied throughout the day and help you gain self-confidence. Key here is finding the least stressful job possible so you know that you are employable even with your disabilities. (I should really take my own advice here.)

Obviously professional advice is more useful than this thread, but one thing that might help outside of professional help is to research on your own what meds you are taking and what they are designed to treat. Lots of info out there on pretty much every commonly prescribed drug and it's very important to know side effects and interactions with other meds. Good psychiatrists are very tough to find and the bad ones can screw you over with a terrible medication.

Last thing is to make sure you have as many resources to succeed. Probably a list of the following: psychiatrist, mental health counselor, a substance abuse counselor, Alcoholics Anonymous group, gym membership / yoga center, accupuncturist, a temp agency office, etc. I've given you a lot of ideas, but the easiest way to implement them gradually.

 

[OLD GREGG (im back baby)]

AA and a psychiatrist are both good advice. If you can get some one to talk to who can provide moral support and help you understand better your triggers for depression/the urge to drink you may be able to better cope with the desire to drink.

 

[Jordanious]

There's always staying up late and listening to overly dramatic music like me sometimes. Or you can.... oer. AND THEN. AND THEN
Anyway then there's religion, the one I recommend. Like seriously, addiction is from the brain, and depression is from life. As obvious as that sounds, what I refer to here is the ultimate provision toward both.

 

[iPRODiGY VGC]

I've never experienced what you're going through. But at the risk of sounding like a 420blazeit kid, have you tried marijuana? It could help with your anxiety problems and the dt's if you're having those. Barring that I would just say sheer willpower. I've been trying to quit smoking, but I can't compare the experiences of the two as I've never had a problem with alchohol. What I DO know is that no matter how many times you relapse you have to pick yourself up and keep trying. As corny as the saying is, you really do only fail if you quit trying.

 

[Adamant Zoroark]

I would never recommend AA to anyone - any program that says you're helpless and must accept a divine entity (steps 1 and 2 in their 12-step program respectively) is not worth recommending. If I had to go to AA, I would actually feel worse.

I'm saying the following as someone who just turned 21 a few weeks ago and already drink relatively excessively, never enough to get black-out drunk but still more than what's recommended, go see a psychiatrist. These are people who are trained to help you through whatever anxiety, depression, etc. that drives you to alcohol in the first place. I don't care enough about how much I drink to change it (and also am not on any prescription drugs that would interfere with my ability to drink alcohol,) but if I did, that's what I would do. You should be seeing someone who will make you feel better, not worse.

If you really need to substitute alcohol with something else, then I guess try pot, if you can get your hands on any. I've never smoked weed in my life, but it will help with the anxiety and is far safer than alcohol; you could smoke all the weed in NYC and you'd just want to eat as many tacos as Taco Bell can make you, while you can have 585 milliliters of anything 80 proof or higher (that's 13 shots of vodka) and you're dead. As far as I can tell, it shouldn't cause any potentially lethal mixing with the medications you take either.

 

[Bad Ass]

@ the dude who recommended pot.

for some people it can help with anxiety. for others, it can cause anxiety. a not-insignificant number of people smoke too much weed one night and end up having a panic attack. or, god forbid, do waaaaay to much of an edible and basically go into a bad-trip-esque headspace. tread carefully.

 

[vonFiedler]

I would never recommend AA to anyone - any program that says you're helpless and must accept a divine entity (steps 1 and 2 in their 12-step program respectively) is not worth recommending. If I had to go to AA, I would actually feel worse.

Maybe crippling life-threatening alcoholism is more important than this fedora tipping reddit vendetta bs

It's true that AA is structured much like basic Christianity: Realize you have a problem, will always have a problem, and use humility to overcome it. But the only sin is "drink more alchohol", it's non-denominational, and no wars are fought over it. So maybe you're just being a prat.

And if you really can't wrap your head around it, just choose Kamina for step 2. Don't believe in yourself, believe in he who believes in you.

From what I'm reading AA has a nearly 50% success rate, and the odds are better if you aren't forced into it. So it's definitely an option.

 

[TheRationalDove]

I am so sorry to hear about that. Substance abuse is an unfortunate and crippling thing to deal with on top of everything else. Like many others on this thread, I would recommend seeking professional help. If you are not interested in AA, there are other support groups you can try. This article has a couple different ones that may look helpful for you-->http://www.rehabs.com/pro-talk-articles/if-not-aa-then-what-alternatives-to-12-step-groups/

It is always important to remember two things: a) doing little things and making little changes slowly can do a long way and b) don't get discouraged. If you relasp, that's okay. We are all human and breaking addiction is very hard. But you are capable of success if you keep working at it.

I wish you the best and if you need to speak to anyone one-on-one, feel free to PM me.
-TheRationalDove

 

[Gabe]

I would not recommend replacing habitual abuse of a substance with habitual abuse of a different substance.

The most progressive step you can take is seeking professional help, maybe visit with different psychiatrists and make a decision to move on from there.

On a non-professional note, try escaping into something productive and generally esteem boosting like exercise, art, music, etc. If you really want to help this girl, give her a model to beat this and transform into a stronger person. Good luck.

 

[Vubon]

you dont need to quit alcohol entirely just dont drink on a regular basis, save it for the weekends but dont have more then a peg no matter how impossible that may seem, you gotta keep your health and medication in mind.
address the fact that why u rely on alcohol and dont tell me its for the taste. workout and run a little, getting into better shape always helps reduce alcohol dependency.