Posted by shelliR on August 9, 2001, at 0:20:15
In reply to Re: Update -- Shelli et al., posted by Elizabeth on August 7, 2001, at 15:46:31
>> > Once I start, I can't stop, unless I am at someone's house or at a restaurant (and embarrassment saves me) and I even throw things out so I won't eat them.
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> It sounds like there might be something wrong with the mechanism that tells you when you're full (I think the hypothalamus is supposed to be in charge of this sort of thing). I experienced something similar on Nardil, and I do think it gave me a sense of what it's like to be an addict.No it's not about being hungry or full. Because I might not eat it all at one sitting. When I'm full, I'll wait until I'm not full then start on a cake for instance, again. And I won't eat anything else, no meals, just cake.
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> > The difference between sugar and say alcohol is that if I don't have sugar, I don't crave it.
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> Cravings are an essential feature of anything that is truly an "addiction," IMO.
Well there is something than other than habituation. It's sort of like the alcoholic can't take one drink thing. I'm sitting here not craving, sugar, carbs. But if I start on sugar then the cravings begin. So yes there is craving, but it's got to be set off.
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re therapy terminations.I was talking to my therapist friend today about whether she would terminate a patient, who lets say, can't control her drinking, won't go to any support groups around it, and no therapy work is really being done. All the time is spent just cleaning up the damage in her life because of her addiction (relationships, drunk driving etc.) You could either work with this person with the hope that with your influence and support she would finally get into a program for her addiction, or you could feel like this is a losing battle and I'm not going to waste my time. We both decided we would probably choose the later, because it is so frustrating to work with addicts who won't admit, or do anything about their addiction.
So I think my therapist believes that if I self-medicate, I will go straight downhill, sabotaging any therapeutic work we could do. Except I've been self-medicating for almost four years now; premenstually only for the first three; more often in the last year. And I have not as yet gone straight downhill. It must be hard for her to give up a presumption that she has invested so much in, apparently.
> I wonder why she believes that so strongly? I really do think she's crossing a professional boundary by making threats like that to you, even if it is only around that one issue. It seems to me that she might have personal issues of her own surrounding addiction.
I very much doubt that she has her own issues, but maybe in her family. Or she is just very opinionated ; on my
behalf:-)
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> > She thinks if you're with a doctor you do exactly what he/she tells you to do, or you leave and find another doctor.
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> See, I think that regardless of whether or not it's necessary to follow your doctor's orders to the letter, that's an issue between you and your doctor, and it's not your therapist's business.
I agree; but pdocs seem to want to communicate with therapists and vice-versa. Sometimes I think it's social, or networking., rather than a necessity for the benefit of the patient. My last pdoc and this therapist had lunch together (my pdoc told me this, not my therapist). And I thought, how nice, perhaps they'll become friends. And how odd they didn't invite me. < g >
Also, I think at this point she thinks I choose pdocs who will give me opiates and she is right. So there is some question on her part about my choices :-)good night, all.
Shelli
poster:shelliR
thread:67742
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20010804/msgs/74281.html