I dried out December 8, 2010. I went to a private psychiatrist who put me on 2 mg/day klonopin, seroquel, effexor, Lunesta and I kept neurotin. I just cannot afford the scrips anywhere but the VA outside of the Kpin and I get the Lunesta from CVS. The rest I get from the VA. I made an appointment to the VA and he wants me off the Lunesta and down from 2 to 1 mg Kpin/day but I was doing well with what I was on before. I thought about still just following up with the private shrink for the Kpin and Lunesta and get the rest courtesy of the VA. Just venting as I am frustrated. Anyone out there agree with this approach or you think I should just go with the VA shrink??
Bobby, I don't have any advice for you concerning the meds, but I will be praying for you and your situation.
Being new to AA, I don't know all of the right things to say yet, and may never, but if you're not attending AA meetings, you may miss out on something special.
Welcome to MIP! Keep coming back and you'll be glad you did... I know I am!
-- Edited by Mad_Jasper on Tuesday 22nd of March 2011 01:14:48 PM
We aren't Doctors here and we don't give medical advice in AA, that is between you and your doctor, what we have/offer is a solution to alcoholism which contrary to popular opinion isn't a "drinking problem", drinking is our solution to the fact that we couldn't fit in with Life, that we suffered from anxiety, fear, rage etc and we turned to alcohol until it turned on us, and we thought THAT was our problem, but when we get sober we found drinking wasn't our problem, it was thinking, and emotions
we have an answer to that, not to who or what or how many meds you get from where, I'm sorry, Alcoholism gives us what we call "the bedevilments" the program offers us solution to those
ONLY 31 PAGES LATER THE BEDEVILMENTS
ARE REPLACED BY THE PROMISES
THE BEDEVILMENTS (page 52)
THE PROMISES (page 83)
We were having trouble with personal relationships.
We will lose interest in selfish things and gain interest in our fellows. Self-seeking will slip away.
We couldn't control our emotional natures.
We will comprehend the word serenity and we know peace.
We were a prey to misery and depression.
Our whole attitude and outlook upon life will change.
We couldn't make a living.
Fear of people and of economic insecurity will leave us.
We had a feeling of uselessness.
That feeling of uselessness and self-pity will disappear.
We were full of fear.
We will intuitively know how to handle situations which used to baffle us.
We were unhappy.
We are going to know a new freedom and a new happiness.
We couldn't seem to be of real help to other people.
No matter how far down the scale we have gone, we will see how your experience can benefit others. We will not regret the past nor wish to shut the door on it.
And, most of all,
We will suddenly realize that God is doing for us what we could not do for ourselves.
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it's not the change that's painful, it's the resistance to change that is painful
I've never done good on meds and chemicals. I've done different and never good. I had to get "chemical free" in order to get a glimpse of myself and when I did that the solutions came not from getting back on chemicals but staying within the program of recovery and following the suggestions as if they were prescription which of course they were/are.
Several years back (7) I went back on meds for a nasty problem I recontacted that I use to handle with booze and then pulled my self off the prescription after getting feedback on how I was responding to life and not knowing it. I was disturbed by the feed back because it was a continuation of the pre-program me; the drunk. I have sleep problems and will try a sleep aid once and a while to no success because the "hangover" reminds me it's not and I'm not working. There are alternatives...many of them. I need to have foreign chemicals out of my system.
We are responsible for our own choices and outcomes...best to do them without chemical interference. Welcome to MIP.
Well I am incorporating the steps into my life as best I can. I could not disagree more Jerry that IT IS best to do without chemical interference. Some of us have problems that cannot be solved with the 12 steps. I have been hospitalized 6 times without coming close to a drink. I left that out of the previous post. I had over 2 years when my meds stopped working and it was hospital after hospital. If someone needs outside help then get it. Bipolar, MDD, and schizophrenia have never been solved with 12 steps so far. They help me not hate the guy in the mirror and gave me a lot of insight as to why I was a dog chasing my tail into my 30s and acting no more grown up at 32 than I was at 16 though. List can go on. They let me know with my old thinking despite meds I was never going to have enough and not be aboe to stop worrying about the future. The situation is just hard.
RARELY HAVE we seen a person fail who has thoroughly followed our path. Those who do not recover are people who cannot or will not completely give themselves to this simple program, usually men and women who are constitutionally incapable of being honest with themselves. There are such unfortunates. They are not at fault; they seem to have been born that way. They are naturally incapable of grasping and developing a manner of living which demands rigorous honesty. Their chances are less than average. There are those, too, who suffer from grave emotional and mental disorders, but many of them do recover if they have the capacity to be honest.
If you have a living problem, we have the answer. If you have a med problem or a financing the med problem AA says go see a DR or a financial institution. And Jerry's right on.
-- Edited by billyjack on Tuesday 22nd of March 2011 03:30:01 PM
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Since it cost a lot to win, and even more to loose, you and me gotta spend some time just wondering what to choose.
If I had never gotten a sponsor and worked the steps, I wouldn't know how much they could change my life, reading about and "trying to incorporate" the steps has little to do with actually working them
I know many of my friends in AA, long time stand up guys and girls who need to take meds who would still be crazy if they didn't address their alcoholism with the same due diligence that they apply to their schizophrenia and/or bi-polar issues, the sad thing is a cure for alcoholism doesn't come in a pill, it comes in a program of action, the scary thing about alcoholism is it manifests as other things, like anxiety disorder, panic attacks, clinical depression, narcissism etc, so without working the steps frequently doctors mis-diagnose because untreated alcoholism can "present" as all these other disorders, out of all those I know in AA that take meds, the only ones that maintain anything like sobriety and sanity work the steps FIRST
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it's not the change that's painful, it's the resistance to change that is painful
Following the path Billy Bob and not taking the meds will land me in a hospital. I speak from my own experience. Thanks for no understanding from this board. You guys have a good one. If any of you were bipolar you would understand. Instead you just act like I do not do my best with the 12 steps and dismiss. I am too angry to go any further.
I have to go back after that LinBaba. The steps incorporate themselves into my life. I live them and have done the initial footwork with a sponsor. I was sober for 2 years before I got a diagnosis as I could not stay out of a hospital and according to me, my group and sponsor no more could be done on the steps. My old Sponsor(would still be my sponsor but he moved to Florida) has the same diagnosis.
I have to go back after that LinBaba. The steps incorporate themselves into my life. I live them and have done the initial footwork with a sponsor. I was sober for 2 years before I got a diagnosis as I could not stay out of a hospital and according to me, my group and sponsor no more could be done on the steps. My old Sponsor(would still be my sponsor but he moved to Florida) has the same diagnosis.
Then I agree with his "diagnosis"
I am not saying "no meds" I am saying "Do what your MD tells you and work the steps too", and working the steps more then once is beneficial for me, I have done them 8? times "formally" and learned more each time
Doing the steps frequently has the benefit of helping define what is alcoholism, and what is Bipolar/schizophrenia/clinical depression, it makes your docs job easier and your life better, that make sense? I am simply saying the answer to untreated alcoholism isn't more drugs, only your doctor knows the answer to your other illnesses, it's best if we don't confuse the two, and if the alcoholism is untreated there is no way not to confuse them, I hope I am being clear and you understand I am not saying "no meds", I would never do that as that is asinine, dangerous, stupid, playing God, and could put your very life in danger, only the truly ignorant in AA pull that stunt
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it's not the change that's painful, it's the resistance to change that is painful
God and the steps do not keep you free from meds. Not having a mental illness does. Only a person that doesn't have to take meds would repeat that argument again and again. Being "Anti-Med" is like being a christian scientist. Hope you have fun in jail denying your kids penicillin when they have an easily curable illness. I'm anti child neglect and anti human cruelty so that would trump being "anti meds." Also, the folks who say they are "anti-meds" are usually the ones sucking down packs of cigarettes and whole pots of coffee a day - (2 of the worst mind altering chemicals around)... Ugh. I will avoid coming back to some of the ignorance in this thread.
Before doing so tho...Bobby: Lunesta in combo with Klonopin might be a bit of overkill, even though they are different categories of medication. The only thing about reducing the Klonopin that is beneficial is that the longer you take it the harder it is to get off of and it can cause liver damage. That is part of why the doc probably wants you to go down from 2 mg to 1. Also, I'm sure you know the Klonopin is addictive, but that does not mean it is always abused...it's a tricky drug for someone in recovery cuz the potential is there to abuse it and that may be a good reason to go down on it too.
I am not a doctor but I do know a lot about this stuff.
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Keep coming back. It works if you work it. So work it. You're worth it!
My medication needed a lot of tinkering after I quit drinking. I never thought my antidepressants (20mg a day of Celexa) really worked that well for controlling mydepression and panic attacks, but surprise surprise, they worked a lot better once I stopped ingesting a depressant that aggravated panic attacks every day. :) So your medication may need tweaking as your body adjusts to being sober, but obviously only your doctor can make that determination.
Going from 2 to 1 mg on the Kpin has been easy thank God. I believe it will work itself out with the sleep. Things just went bad last year and it has been a struggle. It is funny you mention Celexa 12. After I stopped drinking in 2006 and stretched together some time they put me on that and that only for years. No sleep meds and I was fine. Last year sober for over a year (One day relapse in 2009) I could not sleep the Celexa and then the Zoloft made me uncontrollably jittery and has been a struggle but now it seems to have balanced but the VA will not prescribe the sleep meds so I am going to another doctor for those. I talked it over with my sponsor and maybe I can get off of them soon but I am doing the best I have done in years now and do not want to change much despite my VA doctor. The other doctor does not see a problem.
I know we are not doctors I just need to talk about crap in my life from time to time. I still disagree with Bimbda or whatever. I don't just work the steps they are incorporated in my daily life. At times I am searching for God's will. Somethimes I am remembering my last drunk and realizing I am powerless apart from God. Sometimes I am recognizing my defects and asking God to take them or I see an opportunity for an amends and continuing to take personal inventory. Man they are there all day. Lord willing I can just be sober today along with just a little better with my steps than I was yesterday. Very grateful I did not wake up hung over in a hospital.
I would suggest you consult with any doctor, in the VA or not, who would provide you with the right medication that would be beneficial to you -in the long run. Stay close until then. We will be praying for you -as always.
-- Edited by Mr_David on Wednesday 30th of March 2011 02:01:04 AM
