What's up Cred Forums. I need input from current or prior Alcoholics Anonymous participants.
I'm a recovering opiate addict and have been clean for a long time. I have addictive tendences in general. I still binge the fuck out on alcohol and honestly, my alcohol use has fucked my life up more due to not being able to control myself, getting blackout drunk, and doing stupid shit.
I want to stop binging, and it should be something that I can just put down, but it has not been that easy for me. I always find a way to justify drinking.
I want to try AA or something like it. Would I be welcome there despite not being a full blown alcoholic? I have also heard some AA participants do not like seeing drug users at their meetings.
I'm also a recovering opiate addict. Have been to many AA meetings and I've heard from a lot of others that AA doesn't welcome NA. Every AA meeting I've been to I've been accepted with open arms. If YOU honestly think you have a problem then go. They aren't going to shoo you out the door or downplay your problem.
Best of luck.
David Nelson
I take vivitrol for my drinking problem. Its an injection of concentrated naltraxone, which has helped my for 9 months not to drink. Ask your doctor about it. Good Luck user.
Eli Taylor
Find AA groups in your city and try them out. Not every meeting group is the same, so if you don't like one you go to, find another. Keep an open mind about what you hear in there.
Gabriel Harris
It all depends entirely on the people at the meeting. At the meetings in town addicts are completely welcome. We're just happy to see you getting help, regardless of what your particular poison is.
Henry Walker
hey man, i don't know how to help you. i'm doing some court mandated counseling for a dui i got two years ago. i was supposed to be done in july (court and all), but after an evaluation after the first round of classes, the counselor decided to bump me up to high risk (4/4 where originally i was 3/4). now i have to do 50 hours on top of the 20 i just started and instead of 6 months of [once a month classes] it's 12. i was sober when i got the dui but was arrested anyway because i admitted to [taking 1 hit of marijuana hours prior to driving](i don't even smoke weed anymore). i drink everyday. i don't even drink to get drunk, it's usually 1-2 beers afterwork. sometimes on the weekend i drink all day, but it takes me 2 hours to finish a beer. i honestly didn't think this was a problem and had talked with the counselor about just not drinking since there's no basically no point if i'm not doing it do get drunk. i thought this was progress, but the next day she told me she bumped me a level. all of this could have been avoided if i had just lied. alcohol has not negatively affected my life, i don't drive drunk and have only done so on very rare occasions. the only 'problem' i have is driving after a couple drinks when i am legally not drunk and not impaired enough to negatively affect my driving. i exercise regularly in the warmer months, have a physically demanding job, and am generally a pretty healthy person.
If you truly want to be healed of your addiction I strongly recommend you buy 5g of mushrooms and take a camping trip out to a secluded area that is somewhat safe, preferably open fields or treed area with light/no underbrush.
You can trip at home but you should really have a trip sitter with you, youll want to end up out in nature and usually this results in cops being called on you.
Weed/mushrooms are gods medic, if they don't help you then find a Ayahuasca retreat and that will really set your reality straight.
Good luck with your recovery brothers. I wish only the best for you in your goal of escaping the devils poison.
Eli Flores
With drinking just stop. If you've ever been on anti depressions it's so easy, you have to be weaned off that shit and it fucks your mind. Alcohol is just about your other problems, stop drinking clear your head and think about how to combat your issues. Shits expensive and not good for your health, theres better things to do in life.
Nathan Gomez
5g might be a lot for the first time. good post tho. most psychedelics will help in this regard if you really put your mind to it. the thing is, they help you see an answer, the trick is to follow through. see, i don't really have any addictions except nicotine and maybe mild alcoholism (i.e. not a drunk), so if i do psychs anymore, it's usually recreational. honestly though, since tripping is rather intense, i just do low doses of molly at a couple music festivals every year.
seems pretty sane to me.
Lucas Cox
If you don't drink to get drunk why do you drink ?
Parker Rodriguez
Heroin addict of 10 years, 9 years completely clean in AA, then relapsed not too long ago on heroin.
Most AA meetings these days don't care if you talk about drugs sometimes. Meetings with a lot of old timers in them might. What I used to do was call myself an alcoholic but when I spoke I just mentioned being a heroin addict. I never went into it much though. NA sucked for me.
Just go to a few AA meetings and get a feel for what others are doing.
Anthony Rivera
Thanks bros, I'm going to try out a couple.
I manage to turn everything into heroin man. My buddy thought the same thing, that mushrooms would be good for me, and I ended up doing them for like three days with no deep moments. Maybe at some point I'll try a heroic dose.
Yeah I hear, but I'm too weak to go on my own man. I've said "I'm done" to all drugs hundreds of times. I need something to keep me in check. I'm considering an inhibitor or whatever they're called like this user . I'm borderline desperate.
Joseph Edwards
>I have addictive tendencies in general >I want to stop binging >I always find a way to justify drinking
Sorry to tell you, but of course you are a full blown alcoholic.
Have you read up on AA? Are you down with the whole 12 step plan? Do you believe in a God? If you answered "yes" to all of that, AA might be able to help you, otherwise it will not.
AA is based on religion, not science. There are other programs like Rational Recovery that are similar to AA but cut out the "surrender to God" garbage.
Jayden Wood
Been clean since 9/14/17
Was doing heroin and cocaine daily
Clean since then- I had to try once and fail and luckily I hit a complete rock bottom. Went to meetings and even more important- I wanted it more than anything else. Selling cars now, making like 80k a year and have a girlfriend and blah blah blah. Long story short man, AA meetings work, having a sponsor works, shit GETS BETTER. You gotta fucking want it more than oxygen. I’m 24. Also never forget- you’ll always be an addict in one way or another- keep yourself in check. I literally lived in a fucking camper with no heat with a friend and I lived to get high every day....and yes it got worse than that lol sorry I’m all over the place I just don’t see many posts like this. You gotta want it man. Good luck I love u
Juan Carter
This was the only thing that ever worked for me. It fucking works
Jaxon Taylor
I've been looking into other programs, but AA is everywhere in my city and most accessible. I'm looking for something for like, tomorrow. I'll bridge out if I don't like the program but I need something ASAP. I just want to make sure I'm not going to be walking into a hostile environment. Sounds like there is a good chance no one is going to give a shit.
Colton Taylor
It's pretty gay. One does not need to read a book twice a week to. Develop control over your actions.
Wyatt Davis
Ok just dont go down the ant depressant route, I went to my doctor and got citalopram. That stuff is horrible I started hearing music whenever I put my fan on at night. It was so hard to get off it fucks your mind and doctors give it out so quick.
John Morales
> drink 1-2 beers a day > 2 hours per drink > gets labeled an alcoholic lol a counselor thinks you have a problem? this guy goes around looking to call people alcoholics. what a load of bullshit. this is what happens when stupid fucks are given power.
Caleb Myers
it's refreshing to have a beer after a hard day of work, mostly. sitting around the house it's because why not? my counselor asked me the same thing. i'm not trying to cope with anything, i don't need to have a beer. i've grown accustomed to having one cracked while i write, play video games, clean the house, cook, or do anything else around the house. i had never really thought about it. it wouldn't affect me to not have beer so we posited that i would try a week without drinking. again, i thought it was progress. then i got hit with this and said fuck it. i'm gonna do the same thing i do every winter and just drink when i want. i don't like to do stuff during the winter. i shut in. i play video games and write and when i get laid off (seasonal work) i go to the gym. i drink less in the warmer months when i can run everyday and i feel like going out where drinking really isn't on the table.
James Clark
Dude you sound like a healthy normal person.
Jackson Young
Funny, last time I used was 10/15/17. I've rebuilt my life to a certain extent since. I'm in a good college and I work hard, but I live for alcohol weekends, and I can't handle it. Everytime I empty my bank account, almost get my head kicked in, wake up with shit in my pocket that's not mine. I'm literally at risk for throwing everything I've worked for for two years down the toilet.
Two weekends ago, I was at a house party of a friend of a friend. Woke up in the morning, about 30 people passed out, and three dudes just giving me the death stare. I knew I was about to get fucked up for whatever I had done so I left.
Checked my pockets, had $50 that wasn't mine, two gold rings that weren't mine, and a thong. I just go full retard as soon as I start drinking.
So I'm in this weird position where I've made a big improvement but I still have one foot out of the cara and if I don't stop I'm going to end up flushing it down the toilet.
Robert Torres
Just drop some acid man Seriously, that’s the thing that made one of the founder of AA quit alcohol and start AA
Samuel Martin
Hi OP I'm a fellow opiate user. While It wasn't my DOC It was.. a thing. lol. Honestly fuck AA go to NA. Might take you a while to find a meeting/group of humans you like and vibe with but honestly AA is weird. NA has done good for me, It's nice if you get past the initial corny-ness of being there in the first place lol.
Hunter Stewart
AA is amazing and of course you are welcome to attend.
Jonathan Martinez
while i'm glad you're quick to jump to my defense, i do drink a lot. the emphasis is that i'm not a drunk (frequency over intensity). i don't view it as a problem because i drink when it's appropriate and can abstain when it isn't.
Jace Martin
> of course you are welcome to attend. you just have to grovel, abandon your self dignity and constantly tell everyone "you have a problem", and if you aren't christian that'll be a huge problem.
Oliver Lopez
I nearly fucked up work because of drink, everyone liked me I was the dependable person everyone came to if they needed help, I didnt think anything of it. One week I had on my own I got lonely drank a shit load and text people at work a load of wierd shit. They then all treat me differently, I hated it I was the wierd fuck in the space of a week. After that I worked to get back to where I was. I'm there again now and the thought of drinking is a no go, get things in perspective.
Isaiah Cooper
I'm the person who said fuck AA -- Yeah idk. As a drug user ive always felt more welcome at NA. NA recognizes alcohol as being as much of a problem as any other mood altering substance without the SUPER HARDCORE jesus acceptance shoved down ur throat. U can even find some NA meetings that remove religious language from their texts. Many do however reference a "higher power" or "god" but really it can be taken very vaguely or ignored if ur halfway fucking intelligent to see kinda what they mean. Just have faith in yourself outside of what u can immediately control basically..
Ethan Cox
The only requirement or membership is a desire to stop drinking.
Not a full blown alcoholic? What does that even mean? If you can't quit drinking on your own accord then you probably are an alcoholic. You don't have to reach a certain bottom until you qualify.
In my meeting hall, a lot of NA members who also struggle with drinking attend the same meetings as people who have only drank. Listen to the anons in this thread and check out some meetings. If you like what you hear, then consider getting a sponsor. Nobody's life ever got worse because they quit drinking :)
Kevin James
This is not true, Bill did acid a few times in the late 60s, and he co-founded AA in 1935.
Evan Fisher
1-2 beers daily is not a lot. some people recommend drinking 1-2 drinks daily for health benefits.
I will go by the script. I don't even care. I just need some kind of support structure of people with similar experiences that isn't a bunch of family members breathing down my neck.
Yeah dude I've pulled the weird text trick a lot as well. Reading those texts the next morning is a special kind of hell. Congratulations on your clean time and I will keep that in perspective. I'm tired of being the maniac drunk. Ty bro.
Ian Robinson
You don't have to believe in God to successfully work the program of AA. I know atheists and agnostics who got sober through the program. You just need the openness and willingness to conceive of a power greater than you to help overcome your urge to drink. Lot's of people use something like the concept of time, or music, or even the fellowship of AA it's self as their higher power.
Aiden Rivera
OP here. THANK YOU for being cool with this. I was expecting 95 percent troll posts but I wanted immediate feedback as I'm going to a meeting tomorrow morning. Wish me luck, I think with a "safe space" of people that get this I can nip this in the bud pretty easily. I kicked heroin so I bet I can stop this stupidity too. Good luck to all other Cred Forumsros going through this and may you find sobriety and happiness
Angel Garcia
it all makes sense in my head. i should have known anyone adjacent to the state wouldn't understand/approve, but i trusted them anyway. i'll learn from this what i can. foremost to keep an eye on my drinking just in case. [alcohol is not my friend, but it's not my enemy, either]. more importantly to be more careful with what i tell people and who i trust. that sounds pretty edgy, but this isn't the first time i've been fucked for assuming i wouldn't get fucked.
Jason Reyes
The only requirement for membership is the desire to stop. Dont worry about other people judging you for being a drug addict, not just an alcoholic. This ain't the 1920s anymore we got all kinds of crazy shit out there now, everyone in those rooms have more than likely used drugs too. Also, you are a full blown alcoholic. An alcoholic is someone who has an allergic reaction to alcohol, making them behave abnormally ie tearing you life to pieces, going to jail, blowing through your savings... stuff like that. You are an alcoholic because when you take it you react abnormally and cant stop like a normal people. So dont trip on not being welcome there, it will really help your reckless behaviors and turn you into a respectable productive member of society over time. Personally I go to heroin anonymous meetings, they are awesome. But even there we read from the big book (pic related)
Jonathan Young
Bill kept getting major flak for telling people that lsd was an excellent way to form a connection with a higher power. If you know AA at all you know one of the most important if not the most Important part is your higher power. His controversial opinion was directly towards the atheists or those who struggled with spirituality.
