I hope I am not switching one addiction for another

[ilvmakindolls]

Hello again everyone!  Boy it was one tough weekend for me here.  I was in a lot of pain and had to fight tooth and nail to stick to my taper...however, on Saturday, I did end up taking an extra half a pill which made Sunday pretty tough.  As the past week progressed, I decided in the evenings to drink a small glass of wine to help me relax...but last night I was out of wine so I had a glass of beer instead.....since I don't know much about alcoholism, I hope I am not doing the wrong thing by having this glass of alcohol late in the evenings.  A lot of people say it is good for you to have a small glass of wine a day....but my reason for the wine is to help me relax and get ready for bed...I used to take a pain pill before bed and then about a half hour later, when I still wasn't asleep, I would take a sleeping pill (prescribed ambien)....I am trying to get off these also so I have not gotten my refill on those and actually threw the bottle away....I recently discovered that ambien are also addictive....so I want off them as well....but I do worry that I am switching one addiction for another by substituting my sleeping and pain pills for alcohol.  I have only been drinking a small glass in the evenings and don't crave it or anything...It just helps me to relax just enough to where sleep comes a little easier.  What do you all think?  Is this a bad idea for me now?  I am really worried that now I am addicted to pain pills, other addictions will snag ahold of me.
Thanks everyone and God Bless  

[Addict63]

I'm not sure how long you've been using ambien. I used it for 9 months while on pain management with vicodin. I'm now off of both, but much to my surprise, the vicodin was much easier than the ambien for me to kick. I kicked vicodin cold turkey in February and started an ambien taper mid-march. I just finished with the ambien taper. Ambien can't be stopped suddenly; depending on for how long and how much ambien you've used. It requires medical supervision to taper from to avoid permanent CNS damage. Learn as much as you can about it. Wish you the best!

[ang_811]

Drinking alcohol is not a great idea. I never had a problem with alcohol but i won't drink it! Alcohol effects the same brain receptors as ur drug of choice. In order for us to get better we can't allow ourselves to use ne mind altering substance even if we never had a problem with it. I don't crave alcohol never have but i won't ever take a risk in my sobreity! If I think for 1 second that I could possibly end back up to my addictive lifestyle I won't do it!

[pattifan]

The alcohol is definitely a bad idea. You're a long way from becoming an alcoholic but it isn't a good way to get to sleep.  After a short time of use your sleep will actually become poorer due to the alcohol, then you will be tempted to increase the amount.

Alcohol also increases the effect of most pain pills (especially opiates) and will make it harder for you to come off them.

Studies have shown that the herb Valerian is as effective as Temazepam. You can get Valerian with no prescription from herbal and health food shops. It isn't addictive.  Other herbs that work well with valerian are Hops, Skullcap, Passiflora, Wild Lettuce, Wild Oats and 5HTP. Some brands bought in supermarkets have a very low dose of the active ingredients so it's best to get them from a reputable source.

Best of luck.

[laurel453]

Yes, this is a bad idea.

you are using it as a way to feel better so that you can sleep.... wrong purpose.

as addicts we have to be very careful with alcohol because it is really easy to cross addictions here as you have said and you know  so if you are using it as a sleeping substitute to the pills, red signals here. Be very careful, please :)

have you tried the melatonin ?