Opinions - Kicking gear/becoming an alcy

[mickey_bee]

At the moment swim's trying to get off the gear, via methadone. Although he's able to get by relatively happily without the gear if he's got his meth.....he also finds he's starting to really need the booze more and more as the methadone goes down.

Swim wonders if anyone else has this predicament when they're trying to get clean.

Sober life just seems so fucking difficult to swim. He and his liver would prefer to just stay on the gear, but finances do not provide.

So anyone else have this problem with being sober? Or is swiys problem generally confined to swiys DOC?

[beena]

SWIM has recently come off methadone, heroin and crack-cocaine and for now is doing ok, although she does enjoy a drink now and then but alcohol has never really been her drug of choice.
That said, about eighteen months ago SWIMs boyfriend was in rehab getting clean and at that time SWIM was also trying to get clean on her own at home (she ended up relapsing that time), but being on her own and trying to live a totally clean life was damn hard and SWIM started going over the shop regularly and buying a bottle of cider, which she would drink on her own at home.
This turned into a daily event and it was only when SWIM relapsed and tried to get into a detox (they wouldn't take her because she was truthful about her alcohol intake: they accused her of being an alcoholic) that she stopped. SWIM knew she wasn't an alcoholic because drink was never her drug of choice, but nevertheless it can creep up on you and many people end up replacing drugs with alcohol (which of course is a drug in its own right anyway). So there is a definate danger there.
SWIM's indignation at being accused of alcoholism was what woke her up to what she was doing and she immediately stopped. Unfortunately she did relapse in a bad way with crack and heroin again that time but this time around she has her boyfriend at home with her to support her.
SWIM thinks one of the worse things about trying to stay clean is the inevitable boredom that follows. Try and find something productive for SWIY to do (not drinking). It's ok of course to have a drink now and then (unless it really is a problem for SWIY) but make sure you don't do it every day - try not to drink at home - that seems to be one of the danger signs of becoming an alcoholic - drinking at home regularly.
Also, SWIM's drug-worker told her a while back when she was discussing her alcohol intake that it was unfortunate that although drugs were the 'problem' that were preventing her leading a normal functional life, that it was actually alcohol that was more likely to kill her in the long-run. SWIY is obviously aware of the dangers as SWIY mentioned his 'liver would prefer to stay on the gear' and that is exactly right. Long-term drinking will have a way of fucking up those internal organs! SWIM wishes you all the best in SWIY's efforts to stay off the gear though - just make sure SWIY doesn't replace one addiction with another.

[Junkhead23]

Originally Posted by mickey_bee

At the moment swim's trying to get off the gear, via methadone. Although he's able to get by relatively happily without the gear if he's got his meth.....he also finds he's starting to really need the booze more and more as the methadone goes down.

Swim wonders if anyone else has this predicament when they're trying to get clean.

Sober life just seems so fucking difficult to swim. He and his liver would prefer to just stay on the gear, but finances do not provide.

So anyone else have this problem with being sober? Or is swiys problem generally confined to swiys DOC?

Yes SWIM has the same problem.SWIM need something to relax with or something to get wrecked on. Unfortunately the list of things SWIM can get wrecked on without feeling depressed or anxious is a very small list indeed. I think that in most cases swapping one drug with another is a bad idea but sometimes it must be done but in moderation

[snapper]

SWIM can relate.
SWIM has in the past had serious habits with meth, narcotics and coke. SWIM has since been a serial polypharmacy abuser with various habits including benzos, barbitualtes, GHB, alcohol, pot and many other things. Alcohol has an ability to dominate since it is legal and consistently effective. It is an insidious and clingy habit which in the end is much harder to remove oneself from than dope or stimulants since it is always there. SWIM has been learning this lesson the hard way, and has additionally been more likely to binge in extreme ways like SWIM did with the aforementioned powders. SWIM used to think that just because SWIM had drug habits, SWIM was not necessarily an alcoholic. SWIM feels more and more that they are the same side of the coin.

[mickey_bee]

cheers for the words people.
This is a pain in the arse, and as stupid as it sounds, swim thinks swims just gonna have to go with the 'moderation' option. -Bear in mind that my idea of moderation is quite different to the actual definition..... (hence stupid).

But swim thinks he has to go by what gives him a quality of life that is the best possible.......which means monkey-barring from one drug to another, trying to keep the bastard from actually catching up with him.

[Infinite I]

Swims cousin ahs the exact same problem. He buys the meth from a guy he knows and take it quite reguarly, he used to be a heroin addict for like 7-8 years but hasnt used it in around 5 years, well part from twice, but not addicted to it.

When he got out of jail he used alcohol all the time, and anything else that was going now the last year and a half or so hes been on the meth reguarly, on it straight for a few weeks then off for a week or so tho recently hes been on it more than off it. He was also drinking a lot on it, so getting in a right state a lot of the time. The last 2 weeks hes been getting back into hash and doing the meth less often, but hes still on it, and hes better smoking rather than drinking.

[scuzzbagz]

its apparently a well known thing to happen to opiate users who have,or are trying to get clean,that they use alcohol as what they perceive as a less harmful pick me up,on a daily basis,and before they know it,theyve been drinking a couple of cans of tenants a day for months,and in the same way that heroin creeps up on you addiction-wise,when one day they dont drink,and realise theyre having withdrawal symptoms,which can include seizures in some cases,and so theyve ended up just replacing heroin with alcohol,which,although legal,can be much more damaging to the body.

[EyesOfTheWorld]

SWIM is a longterm opiate addict whose scripts ran out 2 weeks early, cannot find any gear in his/her hometown (it's dry here in the States, too), is unwilling to shell out the cash for street OC's and also unwilling to shell out money for the amount of kratom it would take to hold off his/her wds until refill day. SWIM has found him/herself drinking incredibly heavily to cover for the wds. SWIM takes benzos regularly as well but cannot up the dose for fear of running out early. SWIM has been drunk steadily for 1.5 weeks. Fortunately his/her scripts are due for refill soon, the old liver cannot take this much longer.
So yes, SWIM thinks alcohol for opies and vice versa is a very common substitution.