Posted by Simcha on August 29, 2003, at 19:47:11
In reply to Re: I am an alcoholic on Lexapro, I need help please, posted by Panic_attack on August 29, 2003, at 11:11:05
Wow, I have so much to say about all of this.
Lexapro and alcohol generally do not mix. Drinking alcohol for many of us who have depression makes depression worse. My psychiatrist has explained to me that alcohol, used regularly with my Celexa (the predecessor to Lexapro and in the same family of SSRIs) will cancel out the effects of the Celexa.
That's the bad news.
The good news is that I hear that you are nearing a bottom. You can choose to get off of this elevator now, or you can choose to go lower. This is your choice. AA is a good place to start. It sounds like you know that you are an alcoholic. You are the only one who can make this determination according to AA. This is fundamental to Step 1: We admitted we were powerless over alcohol, that our lives had become unmanageable. I hear that you are taking the First Step seriously.
I have found the twelve steps very useful in my recovery from Sex Addiction, growing up in an alcoholic family, Surviving Childhood Sexual Abuse, and most recently Over-Eating. No twelve-step meeting is perfect. I have found that at least having the willingness to go to a twelve-step meeting and making it there helps me.
I have to make the choice to continue to go to meetings, go to regular therapy (weekly), go to a psychiatrist (quarterly), and see my medical doctor (quarterly). There is so much that can help with my journey.
I started with the Twelve-Step journey when I was 25. You are a little younger than I was. I applaud you for your awareness at your age. It will save you more years of suffering, in my humble opinion, when you choose to use the help that is available in your area.
My brother who is a Recovering Alcoholic is three years sober and he attends somewhere between 5 to six meetings a week. He also suffers from Depression and he gets medication from a psychiatrist while going to weekly therapy. He started his journey when he was suicidal, with a gun in his mouth, calling the police, the police talking him out of doing the deed, and they got him into a mental hospital. He found a good social worker and she got him into a rehab center. Then he went to a half-way house, a three-quarter-way house, a depression support house, and finally he has been able to get into an apartment and begin to live more independently.
This did not happen overnight for him. Finally at three years of sobriety and recovery, he has been able to take a full-time job with full benefits. He has had to slowly rebuild his reputation with employers over the past two years while being sober because he too was fired because he was drinking on the job.
I know that you want all of this "fixed" right now. I did too when I was 25. I'm 33 now and I'm not using my addictions to medicate. It's taken eight years to get here. I am a grad student and I have a full-time job working as a Mental Health Counselor for Severely Emotionally Disturbed fourth and fifth graders. I would have not been able to do this when I first entered recovery when I was 25. I really needed to go through my continuing process for the past eight years to get here today.
All that matters is today. My past is gone. Tomorrow is not here. All I can handle is the present because that is what is real. I can only change my present. One day at a time, is a real useful slogan for me still from the programs I use. It reminds me to keep things simple by reminding me to focus only on my recovery today.
Please know that you can "start over" every day. Slips and relapses have been part of my journey and my brother's journey. This is normal. This is expected. Coming back is the real heroic act that sustains me even if I have used.
For me it takes medication, meditation, meetings, phone calls, working the 12-steps, going to therapy, and living my life in a more healthy manner to remain sane. I know it sounds like a lot right now. Do not concentrate on all the rest of it. Work on what is killing you right now. I believe you know the answer to this. Also, if you do suffer depression please get treatment even early in the recovery process. Your chances of staying sober will improve if you treat depression if it is present.
Blessings On Your Journey,
SimchaP.S.: You may email me at simchaland@yahoo.com if you would like some support. I'm not an alcoholic. I am an addict and I believe that addiction has a common thread that makes differences only subtle. I don't pretend to know the exact suffering of your personal situation. I can tell you about my suffering and what has helped me to opt out of it. In Al-Anon, we have a saying, "Pain is necessary, suffering is optional." (Growth does entail some pain, it's the continual process of suffering that we can avoid.)
> Thanks you Guys.. I decided to attend an AA meeting today, hoping to meet others struggling like me. I go at 7:00 PM. I live in Florida, and its not easy to find help out here for drug/alcohol addiction. Trust me, I have tried several times. This is not my first. Actually, this is an ongoing pattern. I have been to every mental health facility, hospitals, etc. and it might help me for 1 week or maybe 2, and then I end up back in the bars. My mom always tells me "Well your father was a serious alcoholic and too bad you took like your father, and not me". This sucks. I want to be normal. I hate being a drunk. I always feel like crap. Im always sick. I am going to the AA meeting tonight and I am going to tell them everything. I want help, I want a sponsor, and I want to meet other people who struggle with this nasty disease. I will keep you posted on my *updates*.
>
> THanks You all
poster:Simcha
thread:255123
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20030828/msgs/255468.html