OK, here it is - what i have really wanted to ask for days - 100% sobriety vs just off of pills...

[banana911]

ok, i am day 5 no pills.  i am off of subutex for 2 years after hydrocodone use for almost 2 years.  have other addiction history....  you name it.  i have been sober (at another time) 100 % for 2+ years.  i am basically in my relapse from that recovery.  it has been 3 years using basically everything again.  

the optate pills are my doom.  i am on day 5 of no pills - but i drank & "partied" last night & now tonight again.  

yes, i know complete sobriety is the answer to be really free of pills.  but for the grey area - - does anyone have any comments on getting off of pills but still drinking, etc??????  

p.s.  i know what a complete *** i sound like :)  getting off of pills but still drinking & such....

[dove3053]

You don't want to go back to drinking. Having been a drinker myself it has only made me feel like s--- when I drink.

Dove

[banana911]

thanks for all your comments.  uhg, i am kinda exhausted thinking about it all.....  oh, and by the way, i will not even touch on cigarettes - it you take away my baby i kill ya!!!!!

[flmagi]

Drinking has never been a Problem for me. Have always been able to have a few on a rare occasion and walk away. I can't stand hang overs or the slow tired feeling drinking gives you. I also know at this time (being clean 33 days), if I was to drink and be around someone with pills, I might become weak and cave. Even when I was doing pills, I rarely drank, for fear of mixing them.  If drinking gave me energy and made me go, go ,go, I would probably be an alcoholic.  SO, I will continue to have a drink now and then, being cautious of my suroundings & the people, when I do.
So, maybe I'm not 100% sober,  But Iam clean of the drug that I'm addicted to (except for ciggs).  Everyone is different. Some are addicted to one specific drug and some are addicted to a high of any kind. Only the individual knows for certain what drugs will rule their life. I think if you find yourself  seeking out any particular drug or high (even cigarettes) you just may have a problem.
Thats my story and I'm sticking to it.  lol

[natalile]

hi well i'm 23 day's clean of heroin but i still smoke pot quite alot. I no that they say when your an addict the only way to beat it is to be 100% clean of every drug. But i carn't work like that i do want to be clean but one thing at a time easy does it. & as long as your not getting totaly p****d out of your head every night you have to take it easy or you might find yourself with a bigger problem than coming of pill's all the best & do what work's for you just try not to do it to execces nat xx:)

[allaboutmary]

I don't know about all of you, but pills are everywhere in my life. They are in every medicine cabinet of my customers. They are in all my friends houses( they don't abuse). I have had to learn restraint. They are in every bar.    I'm not sure where cocaine came in , in this post . I was not at all talking about cocaine.  I don't think addicts need to be shut ins.  I think part of recovery is getting back to your life and your friends.  None of my friends are addicts.  I don't encourage anyone to go out and get drunk and definatley not to use cocaine. I love to go to bars and have a few drinks and dance and socialize.   I'm a pain pill addict , I'm not dead.  I am not an alcoholic and never will be. It is not my drug of choice.

[NautyOne]

If your drinking in a bar where your drug of choice is availiable............NO NO NO  thats a totally different story.

Nauty....................

[CATUF]

Yes, you are probably crazy.

But that's ok.  EVERYONE who goes through active addiction is crazy to one degree or another.  

The more time you spend in Recovery the less crazy you will become, but I do know that we ever qualify as 100% sane.  Then again, based on the people I know who are 100% sane I don't think I want to be so qualified.

CATUF

[banana911]

you guys are great. i don't know what i am doing for sure -- 0- that is why i am here!!!!  i know i know i should be 100% sober - - -but i promise you that is not going to happen now.    so to step away from the pills (best attempt?) can't be so wrong, can it???  no pills - deal with drinking later - - if it all gets f&&&cked up then i must address everything together....  i don't know.  

i don't know....  everyone sounds so much more level headed than me.  am i crazy??

[Savas]

Whoops, I missed the two night drinking thing. :)

*shrug* Then I don't know. If you're just substituting, then you ain't clean yet, boyo.

Then again, I used alcohol the last time I did this to get through the two week initial withdrawals. But I don't drink (beyond a quarter glass of wine with dinner a few times a month, but I was raised that wine goes with dinner, as long as it's for taste, not to get drunk).

See how it goes, if your honest with yourself, you can answer the question at the end of the day.

[Savas]

I find that you have to be at peace and realistic about what you do, what others say and do don't matter.
I would, however keep in mind that physically, it's only been 5 days. Be aware that your last two years of being sober are not the same thing as being drug free.

I personally define sobriety as the a state of not being in a mentally altered state due to use of external substances.

For example, I've been on a two year taper, and am still finishing it. So I've been sober for two years. But I'm STILL addicted physically to the drug. If I stopped tomorrow, I'd still be suffering repercussions (physical as well as mental) for weeks, possibly months after.

So I'd say you've been sober for two years, with 5 days of clean time. But that's me.

And who cares what I think? As long as you can look back at the past two years and be proud of your accomplishments... that's all that matters.

[jenny8575309]

If it's ok to drink, it's ok to smoke weed, (just sometimes, not all the time, I can do it, I've quit for a month already)  If it's ok to drink on the weekends, it's ok to chase a couple of vicodins with your drink.  Our addiction, tells us we don't have an addiction.  We have lots of practice justifing our drug use.. Alcohol could be, will be eventually just the first excuse of many, and if you let yourself slide, once, twice, occasionally, what makes you think your going to be able to stop?  What makes you think you will not abuse alcohol to replace the emptienss pills left in your life?  One is too many, and a thousand is never enough.

[CATUF]

I found that I had to abstain from all drugs in order to find Recovery.

Alcohol is a drug.

CATUF
Day-894

[beachtowel]

Your putting yourself in every position to fail.......
You go to the bar where before you even leave there will be pills there...........

You know there will be cocaine there .............

But you go anyway..........can you really tell this addict that your doing good or better because your only drinking and doing some lines of cocaine..........?
Are you really trying to tell this addict that between the two evils the booze and a little cocaine is no where near as bad as the pills?

Are you trying to tell this addict that its not a problem for you to go to a bar where you know there is Cocaine and pills but because you say no to the pills (this time) that your making progress to recovery?
Are you trying to tell this addict that drinking booze and doing lines that if you keep going to this bar where you know the pills are that you will be able to keep saying no to the pills?

banana911 can I ask you what this addict is thinking right now?

[allaboutmary]

That's really great that you turned them down. You are on your way.  You are probably much younger than I am and have a bigger social life. I went to the bars all the time when I was younger and had a great time drinking and dancing etc... Just be careful, the cravings will catch up with you.  Have a great nite.   Mary

[banana911]

you guys are great...  i mean these typed words can not express - - thanks...............

you all sound more balanced than me...  am i just being stupid???  i guess i don't trust myself that much.....  but i said no today with it in my face, i mean pills in my face at my local bar.... and was drinking and i said no (day 5 fyi) so i am having hope....  

[allaboutmary]

Made sense to me.     I'll drink to that...lol

[NautyOne]

if you dont have a drinking problem then so what.  Just because you have addiction to pills doesn't mean your an alcoholic.  Thats why people use the term drug of choice.  The drug of choice is the problem........did i make sense?

[allaboutmary]

Oh I am far from balanced. lol  I love to party and drink with my friends.  I just haven't to much right now .  I guess I don't trust myself that much yet.  The holidays are coming so I know there is going to be some drinking going on.

[banana911]

everything helps.  there is no answer - - just trying to get other peoples take on it.  i get the "weakens the resolve thing" for sure.  but i was at my local watering hole tonight & my dealer was there with the pills & i didn't get them.   WOW.   you sound very balanced.  i drink too much when i drink - an obvious difference.   but still - - all input helps!!!!

[allaboutmary]

I still drink.  I don't drink alot , but when the occasion arises. I drank wine while detoxing trying to get some sleep.  What I have found is, that early on in recovery alcohol can weeken your resolve and you might not be able to fight off cravings. Plus you feel lousy the next day if you drink to much, and at this point I want to feel better.  Don't know if this answered your question or not.    Mary