I think you know best. I think you need it when your coming off. Especially the sleeping pills. It will help you make it through the night to avoid the kicks and withdrawls. You will then be fully rested to beat withdrawls during the day. Drinking- Did you look for pain pills and do more pain pills when you drink? If that's the case, I would back off. I can't get wasted like I used to, because I look for cocain. But I do have a couple of drinks he and there and enjoy the buzz. You are trying to kick an addiction, and the worse way is to replace it with something else. All the expersts will tell you that and they will tell you not to do it, that's probably the best way to go. I'm being honest with you that not everyone can quit cold turkey and I don't want you to be discouraged and slip back if you get drink here and there. The second you see it becoming a problem, STOP. Really keep an eye open for habbits developing.

I personally am gonna continue to drink.. I rarely do and when i do its a glass of champagne or a beer on a hot day.. I don't feel its a addiction.. I don't use it as a release or anything like that..

I was just talking to road2recovery about this earlier. And the alcohol vs. pain killers is just such a social lack of information that it's rediculous. I used to drink when I would go out on the weekends when I was in my early 20's. At about 23yrs old I just didn't feel like drinking anymore. And I would take a little more of my meds than prescribed to get a little high. And what is so twisted is that some are so against the meds but have no problem drinking when going out to a club or bar or with dinner. A 12 ounce beer is going to do more damage than taking pain killers for years. Some say they are so concerned with health, and you can't take meds forever yet don't see anything wrong with drinking. I don't see anything wrong with drinking either, but to have an issue with someone taking meds that a doctor prescribed and not think anything of drinkink is completely backwards. People take meds their entire lives and are healthier than drinkers. Those meds aren't killing ten thousand brain cells that cannot be regenerated with every glass. The meds are not sucking your body dry of its nutrients and hydration. The meds won't get you a ten thousand dollar fine (in some states) along with jail time if you're driving on them.

If you are recovering from pain killers and you like to drink then there is no problem with that (safely of course ;) but you should be careful with alcohol after opiates. There is some pretty amazing research (fairly recent) with the two. It is very common for those withdrawing from opiates (especially heroin) to drink excessively. And even though alcohol is a central nervous system depressant like opiates are, it does not increase endorphins to take away withdrawal. However, at some point, alcohol begins to have the same effects on the brain as do opiates. This is why those addicted to opiates are so much more susceptible to alcoholism vs. other drugs. When looking at the brains of alcoholics and opiate addicts post mortem, we literally cannot tell the difference between the two.

Every addiction stimulates the same pleasure center in the brain (gambling, alcohol, stimulants, etc etc) This is something I meant to mention to Lizzie Lou several days ago in her post to me. She mentioned "an addict, is an addict, is an addict" And that phrase is medically based on the fact that even though different drugs work on different neurotransmitters(serotonin, dopamine, endorphins, norepinephrine etc.) every addiction stimulates the same pleasure center in the brain. That phrase is not psychologically based or socially based it is medical fact but not everyone acts on this stimulation of the pleasure center in the brain the same way And it is important to understand the difference between addiction and dependency.. Sweetie if you want to still drink, you are an adult, you can drink. Alcohol is just so different from opiates and certain other drugs in that when you take opiates on a regular basis (daily or even every other day) it is not a question of "if" your body will become dependent, it is only a question of "when." At some point, the body WILL stop producing its normal amount of endorphins and you WILL withdrawal if you don't have the medication. The same is true of benzodiazepines. This is not always the case with alcohol. Some people become physically dependent on alcohol and some don't. I drank every single night for months when I was younger, and then I didn't want to drink for a while, no problems. There is pretty extensive research into the differences in brain chemistry and genetic markers of those who become addicted to alcohol because of this. If anyone in your family has had problems with alcoholism(meaning dependency, not just liking to drink all the time) or if you have ever had any problems with alcoholism then I would just ask that you be very careful with drinking after recovering from opiate dependency. Those that are against taking any substance at all, there's nothing wrong with that. There is also nothing wrong with having a drink to help relax or help you sleep, or taking sleep aids especially in withdrawal. If you are worried about it just monitor its use very closely.

xoxo- D.

If you don't have a problem with booze, I see nothing wrong with having a few drinks to relax you. I am on day 3 and plan on having a couple of beers. I know the pills will eventually kill me and I wouldn't be quitting if I thought otherwise.

my best intentions go out the window when i drink.

Well put justlikeyou!  That's me for sure!  However, I started out as a person that drank alcoholically and by every secular definition and alcoholic.  I found the hydros 3 years ago after a shoulder operation and thought this is the perfect drug! NOT!  When, (and it will happen to everybody), they stop working completely, I tried the alcohol to come off of it... best thinking got me into detox cause nothing worked besides that... I am reading lately that colidine is having remarkable success with WD's and you might look into that?  I'm on the 7 day patch and 4 days off of suboxone and doing very very well, (27 days off the hydros!)

wow,i had a stalker to,thank God they couldnt do the program and it was just a phone and e mail stalker

guess who's back????????????   had a funny feeling about this one.