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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
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Posted by Dr. Bob on October 9, 2003, at 2:25:27
In reply to Re: Westhroid vs. Armour thyroid » BarbaraCat, posted by katia on October 6, 2003, at 17:21:38
Re: Westhroid vs. Armour thyroid » katia
Posted by BarbaraCat on October 8, 2003, at 1:27:37
In reply to Re: Westhroid vs. Armour thyroid » BarbaraCat, posted by katia on October 6, 2003, at 17:21:38
Hi Katia,
I haven't heard of Life Ring. Heard of Life Spring but not Ring. Please let me know? Yes, this alcohol jones is a tough one. I always wish I hadn't done it the morning after and then I forget how sickly and ashamed I felt a few days afterwards thinking 'Oh, it wasn't so bad. I can handle it.' I've been doing pretty well but without an ongoing support system it's very hard. After all, it's the support system we find in alcohol that makes it so hard to resist. You have to have some kind of incentive to stay on track.BTW, are we on the substance board? I never know anymore. I feel like a file clerk sometimes with all these folders to keep track of. Anyhow, I had a hard time with AA. Although, like you, we share similar spiritual paths and I certainly believe in a Higher Power, it was difficult to sit in a room with all those Higher Powers of the fundamentalist persuasion - I kept praying 'God, get me out of here'! Also, the snappy little slogans really annoyed the living crap out of me. My eyeballs kept rolling up and smashing against the top of my skull and I spent most of the time fighting against snorting and sniggering. Oh well. I know it works for many and worked like a miracle for a friend of mine who has been sober for 5 years now. She's found a loving community of friends who will go the distance for each other. She says that finding the right group is the key and sometimes takes some work to find. She goes to meetings everyday, not because she's still in a delicate place, but because she loves it. She's someone I love and respect dearly, so her opinion means alot.
I live in such a small rural community where AA is the only game in town. I know that confidentiality is stressed, but this is not realistic in a small town where gossip (besides drinking) is the favorite pasttime.
Have you heard of Women for Sobriety? I looked into them a few years ago and it really appealed to me. They don't subscribe to the disease, helpless philosophy but target self esteem issues and a bond of sisterhood and support. So, good luck, my friend. - Barbara
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Re: Westhroid vs. Armour thyroid » BarbaraCat
Posted by katia on October 8, 2003, at 15:09:13
In reply to Re: Westhroid vs. Armour thyroid » katia, posted by BarbaraCat on October 8, 2003, at 1:27:37
Hi Barb,
yes, the sniggering, rolling eyes that was almost me, but I kept thinking "it's only semantics"....
And when it came time for me to talk I voiced my concerns to see what the response might be and so many people came up to me afterwards and said that a lot of people have these troubles with AA including themselves and the main point was it's a support group to stop drinking.
I haven't been again, but will this week to Life Ring. I think they have one in Salem and Portland. I can empathize with the small town stuff. It's easy here in the Bay area b/c there are so many people you can hide easily and most people don't really jibe with that "Him" crap either.
It was trully hell the past two nights at work and not drinking (even one glass makes all the difference). I was irritable and sulky - this pouty side came out like "I'm gonna sulk cuz everyone else can have fun but me....". It's interesting what comes up. This beginning bit is not easy, esp. b/c I've made somewhat of a statement by going to AA. Now it's like I can't really break my pact and just forget about it. anyway, it feels different - more permanent and WAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH! I don't like it!!!!!
It's cyclical because some of the irritability may be due to my mood or to Lam. and what I normally do is have a glass of wine and it disappears (esp. at work). It seems so easy I don't understand why I can't!!!!! This feels stupid and confusing to stop.
Katia--
Glugg of D » katia
Posted by BarbaraCat on October 9, 2003, at 0:43:23
In reply to Re: Westhroid vs. Armour thyroid » BarbaraCat, posted by katia on October 8, 2003, at 15:09:13
Hi Katia,
Yeah, oh boy, yeah. It's not fair. I look at revellers at warm cozy bars imbibing they're jolly relaxers and think 'Well, sh*t!!'. But I wonder what it's doing to them in the long run. All that sugar. That's probably why I long for it. Sometimes it's enough to remember those wee hours of the night sucky feelings 'oh I wish I hadn't why can't I remember how bad this feels?'. And then I feel so much clearer and energetic after just one night away. But many times I do remember how sh*tty it feels and think 'oh screw it, anything's worth it to feel better NOW, dammit!' Alot of it is simply the nose thumbing 'you can't tell me what to do, so bug off' - even if the 'you' is really 'me'.I don't know if you have a specific time that triggers you. For me it's around 6-8 pm. I love to cook dinner and have a bottle of wine for, uh, cooking, yes that's it, cooking. If I can only make it until 8pm or so I don't have any desire for it anymore whatsoever. Maybe it has something to do with dropping blood sugar. Tonight I hung on and said 'thank you for sharing' to that insidious little voice wheedling 'oh c'mon, wouldn't a nice little tequila taste good with those enchiladas?' Sure enough, 8pm rolled around and the thought of booze made me queasy. Interesting, huh? SO, I made it through another night!!! Yaaaayy me!!! Now, that's not the case if I'm out with friends. Then, I just give in and pray to have just one and tell Bacchus to leave me the hell alone.
Oh yes, before you go on Antabuse, ask your doc to look into Naltrexone. Antabuse as you know makes you sicker than a hungover skunk if you drink but does nothing, nada, zilch, for the craving. It's also not good for your liver, and with all the other meds you don't want to add anything that interferes with cytochrome P450 enzyme. No sirree. That's the one that metabolizes so many of our meds and Antabuse is very bad here. There are other more effective ways that aren't so violent or white-knuckly.
Naltrexone, on the other hand stops the craving. It doesn't make you sick like that skunk, but it takes away the desire, which is really what we want. It's used for heroin and other opiod addiction in that it's an antagonist for the opiod neuropeptide. It works for alcohol too. It's not great for the liver either, but much less bad than Antabuse. The other one is acamprosate, but I don't think it's available here in the US, but your doc may know about trials. Anyhow, you really don't want to go the Antabuse route. Plus, you usually have to show up at a pharmacy and drink it up there. Very inconvenient, humiliating, and a royal pain in the arse. I do not have personal experience with this, but know people who have and they say no way. - Barbara
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