fungus44
Bluelighter
Hi all,
Haven't been on this board much for ages, but thought I'd share some positive news and information that might help some others.
I've been a pretty much life long doper and drinker -- which is a really long time -- and can't really see myself stopping in the near future. The one drug that has caused problems for me repeatedly is alcohol. I am a binge drinker, and as time goes by, those binges do get closer together, and they can cause problems both in life and in physical and mental health. I've tried a bunch of different things to quit or slow down with not a whole lot of success -- some of them have worked for a while but with a lot of extra effort. I guess part of it is that I haven't really meant to quit and I'm not so good at slowing down.
A couple of years ago my shrink prescribed me topamax to help with moderation in drinking, and the first bit of using the medication was kind of nice as in getting a weird high from it (I'm pretty sensitive to substances) but it didn't seem to really affect my drinking much. I also had a few side effects, nothing dangerous just weird tingles and reduced appetite, and I stopped taking it while continuing to get my prescriptions filled. Being a drug nerd, I kept reading about it, thinking it might still help me but not quite sure how.
Anyways, a few months ago my drinking was starting to getting pretty bad again and I realized I needed to do something about it. I joined a gym I liked -- exercise is really good for my mood and relieving the negative headspace that can set me off on a stupid drunk -- but I also decided to take the topamax again on a very consistent basis with the understanding that it might take a month or two before it helped with the drinking.
That's been the case. I've been finding much easier to go days without alcohol, and then when I do drink I drink much more slowly, and on occasions when I do drink fast (my usual habit of many years) I find it easier to stop. I'm finding it really nice. I've had about two hangovers in the past two months, as opposed to last spring where I was pretty much always hungover. The only side effects I've noticed is a slight sedation at times, nothing big, and a bit of a strange taste in my mouth which kind of comes and goes. Certainly much better than being constantly thinking about the next drink and getting the shakes and just barely coping. The exercise is a huge help too.
I'm still drinking but probably a quarter of what I was, and not doing so at innapropriate times or in the same rush to get to the bar or to guzzle my beer and get another one. That's also saving some money which is taking some stress off...
I may stop entirely one day or maybe just learn to drink more moderately. We'll see. Just wanted to pass this on. My initial experience was not very pleasant or useful and then something in my nervous system and attitude did a bit of a change around and things are going better. As I understand it it's one of the less expensive medications for treating problem drinking and not dependent on cutting it out entirely. Mostly just curbs the cravings. You still need to make your life better but that's easier when you're not puking your guts out!
BTW -- I've used some other stuff while on it -- shrooms and hash and that's been just fine. Used to be a pretty regular pot smoker but stuff I get makes me too paranoid most of the time.
Haven't been on this board much for ages, but thought I'd share some positive news and information that might help some others.
I've been a pretty much life long doper and drinker -- which is a really long time -- and can't really see myself stopping in the near future. The one drug that has caused problems for me repeatedly is alcohol. I am a binge drinker, and as time goes by, those binges do get closer together, and they can cause problems both in life and in physical and mental health. I've tried a bunch of different things to quit or slow down with not a whole lot of success -- some of them have worked for a while but with a lot of extra effort. I guess part of it is that I haven't really meant to quit and I'm not so good at slowing down.
A couple of years ago my shrink prescribed me topamax to help with moderation in drinking, and the first bit of using the medication was kind of nice as in getting a weird high from it (I'm pretty sensitive to substances) but it didn't seem to really affect my drinking much. I also had a few side effects, nothing dangerous just weird tingles and reduced appetite, and I stopped taking it while continuing to get my prescriptions filled. Being a drug nerd, I kept reading about it, thinking it might still help me but not quite sure how.
Anyways, a few months ago my drinking was starting to getting pretty bad again and I realized I needed to do something about it. I joined a gym I liked -- exercise is really good for my mood and relieving the negative headspace that can set me off on a stupid drunk -- but I also decided to take the topamax again on a very consistent basis with the understanding that it might take a month or two before it helped with the drinking.
That's been the case. I've been finding much easier to go days without alcohol, and then when I do drink I drink much more slowly, and on occasions when I do drink fast (my usual habit of many years) I find it easier to stop. I'm finding it really nice. I've had about two hangovers in the past two months, as opposed to last spring where I was pretty much always hungover. The only side effects I've noticed is a slight sedation at times, nothing big, and a bit of a strange taste in my mouth which kind of comes and goes. Certainly much better than being constantly thinking about the next drink and getting the shakes and just barely coping. The exercise is a huge help too.
I'm still drinking but probably a quarter of what I was, and not doing so at innapropriate times or in the same rush to get to the bar or to guzzle my beer and get another one. That's also saving some money which is taking some stress off...
I may stop entirely one day or maybe just learn to drink more moderately. We'll see. Just wanted to pass this on. My initial experience was not very pleasant or useful and then something in my nervous system and attitude did a bit of a change around and things are going better. As I understand it it's one of the less expensive medications for treating problem drinking and not dependent on cutting it out entirely. Mostly just curbs the cravings. You still need to make your life better but that's easier when you're not puking your guts out!
BTW -- I've used some other stuff while on it -- shrooms and hash and that's been just fine. Used to be a pretty regular pot smoker but stuff I get makes me too paranoid most of the time.
