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- Sep 11, 2021
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"Social drinkers" who have a lemon lime and bitters, move along. This is not the thread for you.
Social drinkers who feel pressured to drink more than they're comfortable with, tell your story.
Everyday drinkers who have a glass of wine with dinner, or a beer. You're welcome here.
Self-confessed alcoholics (like me) you are most welcome here. Your advice may help others.
I was a multi-drug user for years, and alcohol was way down the list of my preferred drugs. Just above opioids to be frank. But while I still had drug-using friends I had no problem scoring weed or even better drugs. But then I abandoned my city friends and went to live on a commune where there was plenty of pot, and limited alcohol, but none of the really stimulating city drugs. When I left the commune (bored, but also not welcome) all my city contacts had dried up. A disturbing number of them dead (by suicide more than overdose, as fate would have it) and some gone straight. Then I entered into my alcoholic phase. I wanted no contact with anyone, so the only drugs I had access to were alcohol, nicotine and caffeine. The alcohol got a hold of me, drinking three or four bottles of red wine a day, and but for the internet alcohol would have killed me.
Of course I sought medical advice. But all I got was a referral to Alcoholics Anonymous, and some sleeping pills (benzos, my long experience with drugs told me right away that they were dangerously addictive). Again, nothing in my experience suggested I would take to AA and their total abstinence prescription, I was looking for something more gradual. So I found a contact and started smoking pot again. This worked to greatly reduce my alcohol consumption, but had predictable effects on my employability and prospects for making friends. After a year or two smoking more than drinking, I fell out with my one and only dealer, and was really up against it. Drinking heavily every day would kill me, I knew it in my bones. I had to find an alternative.
So about two years ago I made a resolution never to drink two days in a row. And that is still working for me. I drink about 30-40 standard drinks a week, which isn't great but isn't catastrophic either. I have a strong constitution for my age, for any age really, and at this rate I should at least make seventy.
It shits the living whiskers off me that I'm not allowed to take any drug of my choice. I know I could do better, for my physical and mental health, than still being a heavy drinker. Should I break the law? Should I doctor shop? What is the next move for a life-long drug user who has no power nor intent to give up all drugs, but is stuck with the dumbest drug there is?
Feel free to share your stories, but I'd like this to be a "safe space" thread for those who struggle with alcohol and other drugs. If you're one of the lucky people who don't need drugs, spare the condescending advice or the judgement, and just move along to some other thread. Thanks.
Social drinkers who feel pressured to drink more than they're comfortable with, tell your story.
Everyday drinkers who have a glass of wine with dinner, or a beer. You're welcome here.
Self-confessed alcoholics (like me) you are most welcome here. Your advice may help others.
I was a multi-drug user for years, and alcohol was way down the list of my preferred drugs. Just above opioids to be frank. But while I still had drug-using friends I had no problem scoring weed or even better drugs. But then I abandoned my city friends and went to live on a commune where there was plenty of pot, and limited alcohol, but none of the really stimulating city drugs. When I left the commune (bored, but also not welcome) all my city contacts had dried up. A disturbing number of them dead (by suicide more than overdose, as fate would have it) and some gone straight. Then I entered into my alcoholic phase. I wanted no contact with anyone, so the only drugs I had access to were alcohol, nicotine and caffeine. The alcohol got a hold of me, drinking three or four bottles of red wine a day, and but for the internet alcohol would have killed me.
Of course I sought medical advice. But all I got was a referral to Alcoholics Anonymous, and some sleeping pills (benzos, my long experience with drugs told me right away that they were dangerously addictive). Again, nothing in my experience suggested I would take to AA and their total abstinence prescription, I was looking for something more gradual. So I found a contact and started smoking pot again. This worked to greatly reduce my alcohol consumption, but had predictable effects on my employability and prospects for making friends. After a year or two smoking more than drinking, I fell out with my one and only dealer, and was really up against it. Drinking heavily every day would kill me, I knew it in my bones. I had to find an alternative.
So about two years ago I made a resolution never to drink two days in a row. And that is still working for me. I drink about 30-40 standard drinks a week, which isn't great but isn't catastrophic either. I have a strong constitution for my age, for any age really, and at this rate I should at least make seventy.
It shits the living whiskers off me that I'm not allowed to take any drug of my choice. I know I could do better, for my physical and mental health, than still being a heavy drinker. Should I break the law? Should I doctor shop? What is the next move for a life-long drug user who has no power nor intent to give up all drugs, but is stuck with the dumbest drug there is?
Feel free to share your stories, but I'd like this to be a "safe space" thread for those who struggle with alcohol and other drugs. If you're one of the lucky people who don't need drugs, spare the condescending advice or the judgement, and just move along to some other thread. Thanks.