I feel I have to have a drink to function. I never use to drink in the house but for the last couple of years I'm drinking more and more. Really struggling
That's because heavy drinking over a long period of time, changes the brain. It gets to a stage where the brain only feels normal and 'at rest' when it has alcohol. You may not even want a drink, but that constant nagging in your head drives you to have a drink and then of course, you carry on drinking.
That makes sense . I want to be normal without drink I really do. Hate myself at the moment
Apart from a select few (cue Robin) there are not many that can give up drinking with willpower alone.
Fortunately there is medication that reverses the stranglehold that alcohol has and with pretty much no side effects. There are Campral and Selincro and in your case I think probably the latter would be better. Is uses something called the TSM method and there should be some details about it in the pinned post at the top of the forum (generic name nalmefene) by Joanna.
It does require a bit of effort to get prescribe it - for which you will need help and advice on, but it does work, if you follow the guidelines.
OP I'm in the same boat! Is this treatment available in the UK RHGB?
Thank you I've never heard of either but will be booking a doctors appointment has soon as I can. Thank you. My will power is not the best .
Yes, both Campral & Selincro are approved by NICE/NHS.
If you scroll towards the bottom of this page, you will see a bit about them. Campral is acamprosate and Selincro is nalmefene.
https://patient.info/health/alcohol-withdrawal-and-detox-alcohol-detoxification
If you want to go down this route, you need advice on how to get it, don't just make an appointment with your GP. We (people here who have been on it) can advise you on the ways to get it.
Feel for you Danny. That was about my daily level until I was told I couldn't be recommended for a job I really wanted (a voluntary job) unless I did something about it. Which motivated me and I reduced drastically. And found that I actually functioned better without a drink. Now I am doing the job so there's not the motivation and the drinking has crept up - but is mostly secret. Not good. I wish you all the best in your attempts to cut down. One thing that helped me was time limits. Such as nothing before a certain time and nothing later than 9pm. The latter was very helpful as I felt so much better in the mornings. Also distractions - keeping busy. And recognising that I often confused a desire for a drink with hunger. Anyway I hope you find a way that works for you.
If you are in the UK, you need advice before you go to your GP. If you're in the US, then it is different and the medication is naltrexone.
Thank you for your advice. The time limit is a good option. Just want to get to stage of going 2 3 or four days of not wanting it. Many thanks.
What advice would I need. ? Won't they just offer me if I tell them my circumstances?
You are on the right track. 2 or 3 days booze free would great. Very ambitious. Try it. Robin
'Won't they just offer me if I tell them my circumstances?'
Not unless you are one of the exceptionally lucky ones. GPs see alcohol addiction not as a disease but a lifestyle choice of the lazy and feckless.
You're right. I am seeing people in my local addiction service currently and they've never heard of TSM nor the drugs used for it.
Hi h1954
Both you and RHGB are absolutely spot on! Neither my gp or ARC had heard of TSM. My old gp said it was a load of American mumbo jumbo!!
The ARC 'support worker' knew nothing about it and neither had her manager. All they could suggest was Antabuse ( wouldn't go near that again ever) as it's far too dangerous.
Antabuse is at least 50 years old and dangerous for certain. You are right Vicky Lou. Other medicines are better for Danny .
Well then if it's American mumbo jumbo than I am one of those Americans. I have been following TSM for about half a year now seriously and went from 20 plus shots of vodka A-day to now average 2 units a week on the weekend with some weeks of complete abstinence. I was a functioning alcoholic who had to drink all day and all night even while at work to get through the day and if I did not have it I would have massive withdrawals. This method is not just for my extreme case but for anyone who would like to change their alcoholic changed brain. I never thought I could be the type of person who could just go out with my wife and have a drink and then go home and go to sleep but I am now. I literally might have one beer Friday night and 1 beer Saturday night and then I don't even think about it for the whole rest of the week . Don't let the difficulties of acquiring this medication stop you. Fortunately for me in America it was extremely easy and cheap to be prescribed Naltrexone. I wish it were so in the UK . Don't give up.
What an achievement. Amazing.
Wonderful! Well done on taking that leap and trying something that is so very much against what many people involved in the recovery industry perceive as just an 'excuse to drink'. I tried it simply because I was out of options - I had tried everything else or well over 10 years.
Many of us know more about it than the very people who are supposed to be employed to help us find recovery.
I wish I had been told about it years earlier, and I could've saved years of struggling and pain, not just for me, but or my loved ones too.
Thank you. Everyone here supported me so much through my entire journey and keep helping me.