My doc stopped & reduced meds after I asked for help for alcohol...

[blackstorm]

Sorry but this shows my history to get some help, maybe too much

Hey,

I will do my history in short first:

Started alcohol about 15
Drinking vodka (A lot but just weekends) at 17
Stopped vodka and changed to cider but drinking daily until now (25)
Taking ecstasy quite a lot...a very lot really...along with speed and coke until about 21-20 (since 17 - I was fine with the ex, the coke and speed was stupid - I threw away my last bag about £60 in a bin and haven't touched it since. I was that messed up and needed to stop)
Went for help with my doctor last year for sleep problems and after a bad attack (Broken jaw..wired shut for a LONG time bla bla) , I starting having anxiety and depression very bad (Given death threats and they got very close to it twice but I got away - Just because I could identify the people that broke my jaw and would have left me for dead... I'm in Ireland..the attack was because of my religion and where I lived - A paramilitary group did it and didnt want to go back to jail)
Put on at least 7 different ssris, snris, etc. ended up on Venlafaxine ( Effexor ) - now on 275mg.


It wasnt helping me, I think making me worse. I did stop drinking, but I got more depressed. I started to drink again, I didnt want to.
I dont enjoy it. I do it to feel normal.

I never drink to get drunk. I drink to feel normal.

I told my doctor about this hoping for help. The reply was to decrease my dose of zoplicone to 3.75 from the 7.5 and stop anti-histamines that I take. I actually got the 3.75mg along with a note saying to stop taking them now.
I get the 10 zopiclone at most every 45 or so days, I only take them because I cant sleep.

I get EXTREME nightmares and normally my brain doesnt even want to turn off.

My own doctor is off on maternity leave, i made an appointment last time I got the note to stop and without the anti-histamines to know why.
I seen another doctor and he told me I should definitely be staying on the 7.5 at least! But yet again the other doctor that isn't mine prescribed the 3.75mg.

I am going to a service next month to try help with my alcohol problem, and yes, it is a problem now (again), I want to stop completely.
I have a great girlfriend that I live with, she knows I have a problem, knows I have gone to AA and knows I have even gone to hospital before just to ask for help.

My problem is that I can't sleep at night (Sometimes up to 4 nights), I can't function without having some alcohol, I get very annoyed for no reason if I dont have a drink and I can have extreme mood swings with the effexor..
Without sleep, alcohol and on the effexor, I feel so bad.
Accompany that with my non-existent sex life (Which I blame on effexor) it isn't a good combination

I'm not here for medical advise, just to get some opinions please (Doctors dont seem to give a fook)

It seems like the alcohol is the only thing keeping me sane and letting me sleep right now...

 

[Samadhi]

Moved from SO => TDS

Mods I hope this is ok here

 

[Missykins]

Well, you're an alcoholic, and it would be irresponsible for a physician to prescribe Ambien (that's what we call it in U.S.) to a patient who admits to using alcohol as you do, giving the dangers associated with mixing the two, even if you've sworn to the doctor that you don't mix them and never will.

 

[flyonth3wall]

Hi there.. sorry I don't really have any advice for your situation but would like to say a couple of things - Firstly, I know you don't feel it, but consider yourself lucky in the sense that you're not on any opiates or any benzo's ( I know zopiclone is a sleeping aid, but nowhere near as strong as say Temazepam, but I don't know if it is a benzo.. anyway you're not taking much of it, so its only the alcohol you have a problem with it seems.. ) and that they don't have those to take off of you. Also abusing alcohol is bad in itself, and I'm glad that you are seeking help, and to get a better life - so well done on that

One thing I can say is that, you say you drink to feel normal, well if you read several threads on here about us opiate addicts/dependants you will see the majority say the same thing - That they take their meds to feel 'normal'. I say the same thing, I honestly cannot cope without my Fentanyl Patches, as I am dependant on them, as you are on alcohol. But this is a trick that the drug ( alcohol is a drug too ) plays on you. At first you do not notice it, and you drink to enjoy yourself and to get drunk/socialise with friends etc etc. Eventually after long term use your body gets so used to having that drug in your system, that when you don't feed that addiction, you don't feel right/normal, anxiety starts or gets worse, and if you're truly hooked then withdrawals kick in. I'm sure you've realised this already.

As for advice about your Dr's and what they have done, I cannot comment, you need to try sort this out with them and let them know that you need those occasional sleeping tablets to help you at night when you're struggling, but half the problem is, as said by Missy above, using sleeping tablets in combination with alcohol can be dangerous, and they are only trying to help you ( in their own way ) and protect themselves should anything ever happen to you as a result of taking these combined.

Keep going to AA, and see what they can do to help etc. Its great that you have a loving and caring partner, that helps loads too. You know you have a problem, and so you're attempting to do something about it. Its the first step of many, but it is a step in the right direction. Keep it up man, and I'm sure with time you will kick this habit, and eventually, you won't need alcohol to feel normal Good luck and all the best.

 

[n@nn@]

Just wanted to say Effexor was one of the drugs I tried for anxiety/depression and it made me feel much worse. I stopped taking it after only a few days, it was that bad. I'm now on Zoloft with no side effects. Good luck mate.

 

[effie]

Thank you Samadhi, it definitely is okay here

Thank you for posting too blackstorm, and I am sorry that this happened!

Doctors tend to panic if they know a patient is drinking a lot as well as being prescribed any downers (especially in England and I imagine Ireland is the same..) It is a valid point as combining CNS depressants can be very dangerous, but unfortunately it is often taken too far - if you have been on zopiclone for a while as well as drinking then there is no need to reduce the dose as far as I can see. I am really not sure why they stopped your antihistamine. Are you able to get a second opinion? Do you feel that the venlafaxine is helping?

Have you considered therapy of some sort to help you with this difficult time?

I would recommend checking out the alcohol thread in the TDS directory (in my sig) - it has a lot of good advice and support for people who use alcohol to feel normal or to cope with reality.. you are not alone. It is so common to use drugs to patch up the holes we carry inside, but ultimately it is not sustainable and will make you feel worse - more depressed, and with an extra issue to deal with on top of everything else instead of it being an escape. How do you feel about your alcohol use? I am really glad you are getting help for that. I am so sorry about what happened to you too

 

[RedLeader]

Alcohol's effectiveness on sleep following something of an inverse-parabola - it works really well when you first start using it, but after a while it starts to feel like it has no effect at all, and then the physical dependency kicks in and you start being unable to sleep well for longer periods of time. But the drinker is still in denial because Alochol helps me sleep, and you're stuck in the "I drink because I cannot sleep...I cannot sleep because I drink" catch-22. You have to have a little faith in the idea that your sleep will greatly improve if you quit drinking. Sure, it will be worse for a week if you have to physically withdrawal, but once you quit drinking you will notice that you're getting better sleep. Actually falling asleep sober, when you've been using for so long, can be a trip in and of itself, but once you do fall asleep, you're out for a while.

As for the doctor, you have to understand that doctors see a lot of patients and realistically they cannot get to know every situation beyond a shallow assessment during your appointment. They have learned a lot of things about combinations not to prescribe or situations into which certain drugs should not be added, and if they're not making their conclusions out of genuine concern for your safety/health, they're making them to avoid possible lawsuits. There's just no realistic way for you to convince your doctor to prescribe you a z-drug for insomnia when he assumes that you'll be mixing it with alcohol, or that one will still be in your system when you turn to the other. If you really want to be on this sleeping med so bad, then that's another reason to quit drinking, right?

Getting off Effexor should be a good thing, though make sure you taper off and don't quit cold-turkey (especially from that high of a dose). I hated being on it years back, and for every person I know who does like it, another 10 hated it as well.

Getting treatment for alcohol cannot really make your situation any worse, and might be able to provide you with a few more trains of thought as to why drinking like you do isn't a good thing.

With the girlfriend, just be honest with her about everything, because when we deny anything about the realities of our conditions, we end up pretending to be someone we're not. And this sets us up to feel lonely and such in our relationships.

Good luck!