Can't go to the pub without wanting coke - I desperately need help

_SG

Greenlighter
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Dec 24, 2010
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I LOVE charlie, but too much. It got to a point last year where I was taking it whenever I went out and now I can't enjoy a night just getting pissed down the pub without feeling the need to have some, otherwise I get anxious and feel tired which I know is psychosomatic - I'm not actually tired.

I feel like my life is ruined because I can't enjoy the simple pleasures of alcohol on its own, and I desperately want to. Has anyone been through this and come out the other side?
 
If the two are strongly associated for you it may be beneficial to avoid alcohol until you break that link. People who associate coffee/alcohol with smoking don't necessarily need to avoid these beverages for the rest of their life after quitting smoking, but some find it easier to avoid at first.

How often do you go out and get drunk, if I may ask?
 
^Exactly what I was going to say !! :)

When I quit smoking I avoided coffee for many months because it was triggering to me. BUT I was able to go back and drink coffee.

When I quit coke, I stopped going to clubs b/c that was a place I partied.

You might just try to stay away from it for a time......Later on down the line, you may find its easier, and if not, giving up both is only better for your health anyway :)
 
I would say skip the pub. Hoinestly is it worth it to get pissed on overpriced drinks and then end up spending loads of cash and wrecking yourself on such a useless drug as coke? The 2 drugs go together well and ive seldom met a hardcore coke or crackhead who wasent a heavy drinker as well.
 
Agree with the above, I had to quit hash when I gave up tobbaco because the association was so strong.
 
And cut off all connections; delete everyone's number. Stop talking to the people you associated it with as well. I used to have the same problem! As soon as any sort of alcohol touched my lips, I just HAD to have some. I would go through any and all lengths to get some, even when I couldn't afford it. Honestly, the only reason I got over it is 'cause everyone I was doing it with moved away (this was my senior year in high school) and eventually the cravings went away.

If not...rehab is always an option. Or hypnotherapy LOL. Jk. I'm seriously jk, don't.
 
Alcohol & charlie go hand in hand. I had a friend that did charlie like I drank water every day. Him & his gf did it all the time, especially when they went out drinking but they stopped doing charlie after they stopped going out drinking. So maybe thats your answer.
 
And cut off all connections; delete everyone's number. Stop talking to the people you associated it with as well. I used to have the same problem! As soon as any sort of alcohol touched my lips, I just HAD to have some. I would go through any and all lengths to get some, even when I couldn't afford it. Honestly, the only reason I got over it is 'cause everyone I was doing it with moved away (this was my senior year in high school) and eventually the cravings went away.

If not...rehab is always an option. Or hypnotherapy LOL. Jk. I'm seriously jk, don't.



Yes, great information! You can not be associated with the people that you hung out & got high with.
 
I never had a drinking problem; I was the lightest drinker in my crowd. But I loved coke, and often did it without drinking. When I went to rehab 5 years ago because I couldn't quit coke (while still drinking) they suggested that I quit drinking for 90 days and see how that went (the first 30, of course was in rehab where I didn't have access anyways). I was very resistant at first because I always did coke by myself, but drinking was a big part of my social life.

Then I reasoned that if drinking was no big deal to me, and not a problem by itself, it would be easy to quit for 90 days. If drinking was a problem that went hand-in-hand with my coke addiction than it was probably a good idea to quit. Either way I came to the same solution; quit drinking.

That was 5 years ago this March, and I haven't had a drink since. I've gotten high on coke a few times since then, but presently have 11 months clean time. I go to AA meetings regularly and introduce myself as "an addict who is powerless over alcohol". The AA folks accept that and are happy to have me there. What that means, in essence is that I don't lose control over my drinking and when I want to stop, I can but that alcohol will take me back to my drug of choice (or no choice), which is cocaine.

Best of luck to you.

FC
 
FC, It's cool you found something that works for you, but don't you feel a tad strange going to AA meetings and pretending to have a drinking problem when you don't?

I question this, not to judge you, but to object to the notion that you have to admit to problems you don't have, in order to feel accepted.
 
FC, It's cool you found something that works for you, but don't you feel a tad strange going to AA meetings and pretending to have a drinking problem when you don't?

I question this, not to judge you, but to object to the notion that you have to admit to problems you don't have, in order to feel accepted.

Not nearly as strange as when I go to an NA meeting where half the people in the room "got high that day, but really want to quit . . . soon".

All kidding aside, there are certainly AA meetings (or the people in them) that would make me feel uncomfortable, but not the meeting I go to where a substantial number of the regulars are alcoholic / addicts.

When I first started going 5 years ago, I introduced myself as an alcoholic / addict, and that did feel strange pretending. After 3-4 months of that with absolutely no craving for alcohol whatsoever, I dropped the "alcoholic" part and lots of people in the room had a problem with that. One guy (who is now a friend btw) even shared his opinion that "AA does not stand for Anything Anonymous". I felt threatened by his intolerence at first, but eventually got it, and understand where he is coming from.

An addiction counsellor and AA / CA speaker named Mark Huston suggested that there are in fact lots of people in AA that are not true alcoholics - people who don't know where the first drink will lead them, and who try to stop drinking (by themselves) but can't.

So when I introduce myself as an addict that is powerless over alcohol - that is code for someone who goes looking for drugs once they have a drink or two, that is close enough to the truth to suit me. Even though I rarely mixed the two, I believe that alcohol will over time lead me back to coke (which is a very dangerous place for me).

Sorry to derail the thread, but I thought your question was thoughtful and deserved more than a curt answer. I think there are far too many people in AA (and maybe in NA as well) that don't spend enough time with their first step to truly understand the exact nature of their disease.


FC
 
True, true and true, Legerity: kicking the cigarette habit for me only worked when I stopped drinking both coffee (@ noon) and beer (@night) for at least 6 months.
 
i used to be like this with mephedrone. i still am sometimes, few pints and i want a line. the price i paid for mixing alcohol and meph every weekend. what makes it worse is going to raves on just alcohol, always makes me want a line of something stimulating
 
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