If not one thing, then another?

OhBoyCali

Greenlighter
Joined
May 4, 2010
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So, I've recently been trying to quit my horrendous, crippling drinking, and although I haven't been able to quit completely (despite several tries)...but I've managed to at least cut back some quantity wise, although it's still alot, and I have been getting less drunk and less sloppy.

The problem is that I find that with less drinking, I find myself doing much more cocaine. I have a tough time being around people that are fucked up if I am sober, and I feel as though the cocaine is helping me behave better when I'm drinking, if that makes sense. It's balancing everything out.

Do other people have this problem? That you stop doing one thing and end up doing more? It's terrible- I feel as though I'm trading one evil for another. Life feels so hopeless sometimes these days, I just cannot imagine waking up in the morning and feeling up to the task of getting through my day without some help.
 
I know it.

But I have some trouble completely understanding your post.

However I can draw some bits of pieces which I think may apply to my situation. My goal you see has always been to achieve complete chemical freedom - right down to cigs and coffee (this is still a debate ;)).

So it's just a chemical ride from my point of view. Fact is I am physically addicted to various substances - at the same time I need to work, legal issues to deal with etc etc...therefor just a blind c/t off everything is impossible (also dangerous considering some of the substances I am still hooked on) so, it is a matter of stepping down each one in a logical and realistic way. For example: opiates are the first out the door (the majors are out already: methadone and heroin) - I am still on very low doses of DHC. At the same time the alcohol step down is happening now which I have described somewhere else. Sometime after that it is the Z's.

Replacing one for another is so circular -hell the whole addiction dance is circular and what a rip off eh: fucked you use, fucked if you don't and so on-(swear Heller must have been a junkie =D) and so no point. You get nowhere.

Question is what do you want to do? Where do you want to be? Where do you want to be in a year/in two...? What is your ultimate goal? -these are rhetorical so no need to answer and thanks your post got me thinking about my own pile of....!...and maybe it helped some/maybe it didn't-good luck!!!

Joe
 
i did something similar, only instead of doing coke to stop my drinking i started smoking weed again, slowly in low does, helps with the rebound insomnia you get when you stop drinking, and is healthier in everyway then alcohol, except for the lungs,

some people wouldn't aprove of this aproach but medical marijuana is being aplied to drug addiction problems more and more often, sure its trading the better of two evils, although iw ouldn't really call weed evil if used properally

and weed is the most economic, unlike cocaine and alcohol, and doesn't leave you hugn voer,
 
honestly you might as well just play your bodys game and win. i had this problem with opiates and adderall... then i switched out the adderall with weed and weed isnt addicting

smoke weeeeeeed everyday.

seriously though.

EDIT
i did something similar, only instead of doing coke to stop my drinking i started smoking weed again, slowly in low does, helps with the rebound insomnia you get when you stop drinking, and is healthier in everyway then alcohol, except for the lungs,

some people wouldn't aprove of this aproach but medical marijuana is being aplied to drug addiction problems more and more often, sure its trading the better of two evils, although iw ouldn't really call weed evil if used properally

and weed is the most economic, unlike cocaine and alcohol, and doesn't leave you hugn voer,

didnt see that... you sir, are a genius.
 
Now all we need is for him turn to out to be some highly influential member in congress or a trusted presidential adviser or a powerful string puller in Brussels or some shadowy mover and shaker in Beijing and we'll all be well on our way to health, wealth and happiness.
 
Yeah, basically what my GOAL is is to be completely substance free. Maybe a little weed. But no alcohol, no cocaine, no nothing.

Struggling so far!
 
Don't stop tryin! And take things one step/day at a time.

I cut down massively on my drinking by going to the bar at a different time. I don't go out at night when everyone's fucked up. I go to the bar during the day, when the "regulars" who are like 50+ are there, I have a few beers & talk sports/fishing/boobs/whatever with them. They're actually really cool. That way I get my "bar fix" (it's not just the alcohol for me, I'll go to the bar & drink soda just to be there) and don't go overboard.
If I go out at night all I want are shots shots shots shots because everyone else is super fucked up too. And if they're doing coke, I get pissed if I'm not invited (i mean, i'll pay? i just want to be included?) & lately I've been getting excluded for that stuff.

So, just by going out at a different time of day, I've:
1. cut down on my drinking.
2. pretty much stopped my coke usage.
3. kept myself from getting too fucked up/pissed off.

But if you're doing coke all day just to get by, err...
weed really helps.

All I really do now is: have my glass of wine/beer & shot, smoke some pot.

But yeah, take it easy. Be confident that you can do this.
 
Yeah, basically what my GOAL is is to be completely substance free. Maybe a little weed. But no alcohol, no cocaine, no nothing.

Struggling so far!

You have to accept that you may not be the type of person who can use just weed and not abuse it, or use just weed and not go back to using everything else. You might be, but you might not be. For a lot of people who've had substance abuse issues, they can't ever go back to using anything. That isn't the case for everyone, though. I know people who can go out with friends, have one beer, and leave it at that. These are people who used to be polysubstance abusers. I also know people who, if they have one beer, they end up using something else again, too.

Replacing one substance with another is very common, and it's pretty easy to fool yourself into thinking that you have things under control if you stop using, say, heroin and switch to just using weed. It's pretty easy to reason that you're fine when you replace one substance with another, but if you find yourself switching from alcohol to using cocaine more, as is your case, you could probably replace the cocaine with anything else and I have a strong feeling you'd abuse the hell out of whatever you replace the cocaine with.

I used to do the replacing thing all the time. If I wasn't smoking pot all the time I was drinking every night. If I wasn't drinking I was tripping on various psychedelics too often for my own good. It was like an endless cycle for me, but every time I switched from one thing to another I thought I was doing well.

The problem with feeling like you need help, specifically help from a substance to get through the day, is that you begin to rely solely on that substance, or those substances, to get by and to deal with anything. It's a very bad cycle to get caught up in and, if you've been trapped in it for long enough, you completely forget how to deal with things all on your own; you have to totally re-learn how to deal with problems and your emotions without putting something into your body. It can be a bitch to overcome.
 
its all about the lesser of two evils,

and if used properally, and with the right genetics, cannabis can be used with alot less effect on your dailey life then other drugs,

rehab and 12 step programs from what ive heard only teach the aproach that you HAVE to be sober off everydrug, which i don't really support,

also cannabis is an easier drug to quit then alot of the more serious physical addictions, sure htere is rebound insomnia and loss of apetetite,

im surprised you use of psychedellics didn't help you quit drugs, when i was drinking to much and in selfdestructive stage of my life, my trips were so bad that it helped me cut down
 
its all about the lesser of two evils,

and if used properally, and with the right genetics, cannabis can be used with alot less effect on your dailey life then other drugs,

rehab and 12 step programs from what ive heard only teach the aproach that you HAVE to be sober off everydrug, which i don't really support,

also cannabis is an easier drug to quit then alot of the more serious physical addictions, sure htere is rebound insomnia and loss of apetetite,

im surprised you use of psychedellics didn't help you quit drugs, when i was drinking to much and in selfdestructive stage of my life, my trips were so bad that it helped me cut down

Everybody is different. What works for you didn't work for me. I just wanted to make sure that I covered everything that I felt was important to say. I know that some people can use pot for a while and then be responsible with it, but I know even more people who just can't. A lot of people who switch one thing for another have the tendency to abuse the shit out of anything.

Oddly enough, I can still go out with friends, have a pint of beer, and leave it at that. I can have one drink when I see my family on the holidays and stop at that one drink. I just don't drink a lot though; I think the psych medications I am on help because after one glass of wine I am so drowsy and tired I couldn't think of having one more sip, and one pint of beer is usually more than enough for me. I can't even do shots or mixed drinks they have too much alcohol in them.

I always abused the hell out of any psychedelics I had on me. They were my DOC. It was also very easy for me to rationalize using them because I felt I was "using them to address issues" and stuff.

So just to sum up again: everybody is different, but it's always good to hear from different people about what works for them :)
 
story of my life, I've been switching substances for years. when I quit drinking and abusing adderall I started using small amounts of adderall (like 10mgs) and while it helped me stay off other drugs it did make non sober people really annoying to be around. although some people wouldn't call me sober if I was on adderall but it was sober for me compared to my past drug habits.

I still can't imagine getting all the way through the day without some chemical help.
 
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