Drinking after quitting drug use

[worried878]

How many of you quit drinking after quitting your DOC...I am a light drinker but am a little worried about substituting....Just wonder what others did as far as drinking goes?

[Clarityrocks]

Omg, I had to comment, because that was exactly what happened to me. I can totally relate to your story. I started drinking to avoid withdrawl from pills too, and before I knew it I was drinking vodka all day. The months before I went to inpatient are a complete haze to me. It was scary how quickly alcohol can damage your health. I learned a lot about cross addiction in treatment, and I think a good portion of people are unaware that if you are an addict, you are an addict, regardless of the substance. I mean, I never took Xanax, but there are days now, where I think, hmm, that would be nice. Bam, I'm probably gonna have a problem with that. Sorry I am rambling. Thanks for the post:) Hope to see you around here.
Allison

[Rockmama5]

I know this is a very old post but thought I'd add my two cents anyway. I was on prescription Oxycodone for degenerative disc disease for several years, also morphine, heavy stuff. I tried so hard to get off it, as I felt it wa controlling my life. I had gotten to the point where all I thought about was making sure I had my pills. In and out of the hospital constantly because I'd take more than prescribed and run out. So I started drinking to take away the withdrawal symptoms. At first it was a few drinks out with my friends, a glass of wine at home. Then I was drinking vodka as soon as I woke up. I didn't have enough money to keep seeing my Dr. and paying for pills, so alcohol was my next choice; much cheaper and obviously easy to get. It got so bad,  My husband left me, CPS took my kids and gave them to my ex husband, and I am lucky I didn't kill anyone driving around drunk all the time. I met a new guy, eloped with him in Vegas(don't remember any of it), and went to detox for a week. The nurses there told me they had never seen anyone so close to death. I used to model and was a beauty queen and by that time I was covered in bruises from head to toe from the drinking. My point in telling you my story is please don't use alcohol while detoxing from drugs. It won't be pretty and will only lead to another, probably worse condition. The only way to get through this is to check into a detox/rehab facility. If you don't have insurance, apply for state DES coverage, it will cover your rehab. Please do it, it's the only thing that works.

[worried878]

alcohol can be a quick..legal and easy substitute..old post,,,but memories came swarming in
an addict can not be a drinker..not succesfully for long as a rule...and vice versa
An addict is an addict...includes drinkin..pills and all of the addictive behaviors addicted people do

[DeeJaye45]

I was a drinker 20 years ago, but it was not a problem for me to quit when I had to start meds for a chronic cond. But I did become addicted to opiates later on in life. Now I'm in recovery BUT I did substitute alcohol. I did have the cravings for alcohol afterover 20 years of never drinking. I KNOW I cannot drink. It will lead me down a dangerous road.

[Chi_Chi_Lover]

Us southerners call everything a coke. Even sprite, Dr. Pepper whatever it is. It is all coke to us:-) And of course we like our sweet tea.

I drink a beer, glass of wine or have a margarita from time to time. If you find yourself drinking when your depressed drinking to get drunk or drinking every day I think that could be a problem. I think as addicts we have to be careful with any drug or alcohol. I gave up the pills and just about everything else. I finally like to go out again (not like I use to) and I like to have a drink with my husband and other couples some weekends or tailgating at a football game. If I'm horrible for that I guess I am. Alcohol was never my problem though it never did and still doesn't do a lot for me.

[worried878]

Hangovers are a trigger for me and I know this...Hangovers have always curbed my drinking habits as I get them very easily...so does my sister...she rarely drinks...When I was younger, I would get so mad as I would have drank less than anyone the night before and felt the worst of all...so it has always been a built in mechanism to keep me from drinking too much.....I will go have a few and go home early when I go out...but you know you can get carried away one night...always a possibility and alcohol is a depressent...just really looking at it...hate to quit...but may do so...I never took pills at night to party or drink...it is the hangover that would be cured with a pill....i just know i gotta be careful...i guess at over 2 weeks clean I am looking at things...you know at first all u r doing is focusing on getting thru WDS...now it is alot of other issues to focus on....thanx

[gizzy32]

now that's some great advice, lol. i'll remember that now, no more coke altogether, pepsi it is. i still hate saying, do you have coke.

[GoingToMakeIt]

I switched from drinking to DOC. Drinking for me would not be a good move.

Gizzy, try Pepsi instead of coke! LMAO

[Flutterby111]

I dread the day I get a REAL bad hangover and have no percocet to ease the pain!...now the logical solution to that would be, don't get that drunk-right?  Right!  

[luvmyfrogs]

i used to drink not everyday but probally every weekend.. then i started my pills, i didnt drink hardly at all in the last 4 years.. i have wondered if i quit my pills if i would go back to drinking.. i hope not.. my daughter gives me hell when i drink , not worth going throght hell with her, then being hungover and no pills to help.. hubby drinks everyday, that is hell enough for me.. diane

[gizzy32]

although i drank a lot in college, i rarely drank the past 5 years, but now i have had to quit altogether as a few drinks is by far my biggest trigger when it comes to coke. i can't take that chance now, so i don't even bother. i don't miss the booze anyway. i have to admit that i do miss coke from time to time, but the bad outweighed the good by far and i have absolutely no control with coke.

[Flutterby111]

Oh, I should add...I did wah wah wah about the pills more when I was drinking....but a key point about this for me is that I didn't get them off the streets, always from the doctor, so unless I got drunk enough to hold up a Walgreens I'm probably in the clear to relapse while drunk....

[BigWill79]

I have only had one drink since October of last year.  This was after my first withdrawal and attempt to quit.  I have relapsed twice since then and still have not had a drink.  I'm two weeks clean now and don't imagine I will be drinking anytime soon.  I just figure why do anything that alters my mind.  It will probably make me want to take pills.  Clean living is all I can do at this point.  

[susieq87]

My experience has been drinking will and soes lead you back to your drug of choice.  It was all about self medicating or getting high and both does that and starts a addictive way of thinking and your mind changes and alters and tells you it is ok.  So I found, the drugs and alcohol wasn't so much the problem as me and my thinking.

[avisg]

ohhhh i have crossed addictions many times ,i am very aware that  can happen . Keep you eyes wide open all of the time ....plus it really helps to get some type of after care .
get to the root of why you use ......

[VicUser]

I didn't drink while taking vicodin, if I knew I was going to a social event that served alcohol and wanted to have a drink or two, I would stop taking the vicodin the day before and wait until the next day to take them again. Since stopping the vicodin I have been having a glass or two of wine in the evenings, mostly on the weekends. I am concerned with trading one drug for another and will stop altogether if I start needing or wanting a drink every day.

[dove3053]

I stopped drinking several months ago, so I was concerned I would go back to drinking when I stopped the pills. In the past I have traded on addiction for another. But so far so good I have no urge to drink.

Dove

[worried878]

I went out friday night and drank and did not feel too good saturday...I had 4 beers...I dont think I want to feel bad right now from alcohol when I still recovering....difficult when single sometimes tho to avoid social drinking...I will probably just lay low for a while and play it by ear

[Flutterby111]

I too drink on occasion, I went out the other night and had 3 drinks with a glass of water in between each drink and apps too.  The entire next day I felt so horrible.  Typically 3 drinks wouldn't make me feel so dog sick, but for some reason just whooped my butt.  Not that I was that drunk, just really hungover...I don't know what my future brings with alcohol-I've never had a problem with it, but I think it was WAY too soon after the pill addiction to put anything in my body.  Like Avis, in high school I would've chosen herb over alcohol ANYDAY.  I'm not too concerned with substituting, not a huge licquor fan....that's just me.

[avisg]

yeah i did ,not because i was worried about crossing addictions because drinking was never a big deal for me , in high school I would have smoked a joint over a drink any day .
I have never sat here and said I will never drink again it just does not hold any interest to me . .....

[toxictome]

Hey worried.....you know my stand on this...I think it's replacing one mood/mind altering drug w/ another. I'm a recovering alcoholic and after 15 yrs.started pills, because I DIDN'T HAVE A PROBLEM WITH PILLS.....well...now i have a PROBLEM w/ pills too....so now I'm a recovering alcoholic/addict.......i guess it's up to the individual...but I used both so i didn't have to "feel" the emotional pain i was in....  just my 2 cents worth

Have a great day!!!!!!!

[oxyaddict420]

Hey there.. Personall outside of being a lush when I was a teenager I have never been much of a drinker.  I NEVER mixed pills with booze NEVER!!! Since I havent quit yet, I cannot really say.. The times that I have quit though and there was weeks and even months before relapsing, I never really drnak much at all.  I figured that my liver was pretty abused by my abusage of the pills(tylenol mostly) but all of it.. So even thinking of drinking would make me cring.. The time or two that I did drink a couple beers after being clean, it hurt my kidneys for some reason.. Best to stay away if possible.. GLAD TO HEAR YOU ARE STILL CLEAN AND GOING STRONG MY FRIEND!

KEEP IT UP

YOU CAN DO IT

I HAVE FAITH IN YOU