Nutraceutical Therapy for Alcoholism/Addiction

I am a recovering alcoholic that has found success staying off of the sauce by using supplements. I am starting this blog to discuss my success with others that are still suffering. The arena of alcoholism and addiction treatment is ever-growing and changing and I feel that the future of successful treatment must include supplements. I've been in an inpatient rehab which seemed more like an expensive lock-down approach to discovering free AA meetings. I've also been through a couple outpatient programs. They might say that I didn't get it, but I say the programs inherently failed me and so many others because addiciton is not just a disease to be talked away. Admittedly, I am not a very good AA by AA standards. I rarely go but generally enjoy meetings once I'm there. I've never had a sponsor. I believe the overall tenets of AA are useful for anyone trying to improve their situation in life, but some aspects have never sat well with me. I am thankful for AA, though. It has kept me sober at times when I could not on my own. I now primarily manage my cravings and stinkin' thinkin' with supplements. I want more alcoholics to know about the benefits of supplements because it makes sobriety so much easier. I have had so many discussions with alcoholics that found the supplements just took away their cravings making sobriety so much easier. This is not to say that you magically enter recovery. You're still an alcoholic so don't pick up. And, there is still work to be done on the mental-emotional planes but no more white-knuckling it to the next meeting. My take is that cravings have many origins including mental and physical urges. It's the physical urge that is so difficult to overcome. When trying to explain cravings to a non-addict/alcoholic, I liken the experience to holding your breath. You can do it for a bit but as time passes there comes a moment in your mind when you want a breath so bad; your mind becomes a little frantic; you can hold it a little longer but oh, how great it would be to take just a quick breath to ease the very physical urge. And then a point comes when your mind and desire is no longer strong enough to stave off taking a breath. Of course, we have to breath, not drink, but the urge of cravings is similar when it's peaking. Just one drink, I swear. Well, we're alcoholics and we know how that goes. Thanks for letting me share.

Alcoholics/Addicts Can Be Silly

I remember being in a van full of sober (not recovering) alcoholics and addicts on the way to a meeting. There were 12 plus a driver, so imagine all of them trying to pick a radio station to listen to while managing how hot it was in the van and talking about our least favorite counselor. Such whiners is all I could think... although sitting back, I thought it was quite amusing. Then I remembered hearing that emotional maturing slows around the time that one becomes addicted... it was a van full of angry kids with no parent. So, I bring this up because a dear friend who is trying to get off alcohol is going through the raw emotions of her sobriety. She has been trying to stop for a few weeks now and has been so edgy that people around her are concerned that something is really off. "She's never been like this!" Well, true. Socially, one might never suspect her of being an alcoholic, and maybe she isn't but she's used alcohol for a long time and it's proving very hard to do without. During the earliest stage of sobriety you are left without your emotional blanket, your means of coping with the world. And all of a sudden the world seems more difficult, your emotions more fragile yet intense... your emotions are raw; you're just on edge and it's like you're along for the ride, not in control at all. They call it PAWS... Post-acute Withdrawal Syndrome... well great, so what!Alcohol is a depressant by classification. It depresses/suppresses the central nervous system. Over years it creates a physical state that accommodates for the constant depressant input by down-regulating endogenous CNS depressants and up-regulating CNS stimulants. This creates a relative equilibrium state that includes alcohol in it's balance. Well, take alcohol away and you'll find the edge that my friend is walking on. It is a biochemically driven emotional state. Your nervous system is touchy to say the least and you have little control over the impulsive and intense nature of your emotions and sensations. At this point all of your senses are on overdrive and it's a little claustrophobic in that you can't really get away from it. Add the fact that it's hard to sleep at night and you've got a wonderful mess. The ugliest part about this for the suffering alcoholic is that the lure of alcohol is calling and if you can get it you likely will. It satiates the nerves and all is better again. We know how this story ends. This stage can last 3-6 months and is noted to sometimes cycle with AA anniversaries such as 30, 60, 90 days, 6mos, 1 and 2 years. Amino acid therapy is what I found helped me through this stage of my sobriety. I had the fortune of trying several alcohol programs based in 12-stepping and one that was a biochemical approach. In-patient is the easiest to stay sober. Out-patient preserves a little more dignity but is difficult during this early stage. Most people white-knuckle it while they are learning the rituals of AA. AA is always there for you but it can take a long time for it to work for you. I found the biochemical approach and the relief that it offered during early sobriety. I had no cravings, my nerves weren't on edge and my head was very clear. It's amazing how good you can feel when you're not drinking. With my physical self appeased and beginning repair I was able to do the other work that I felt I needed for recovery. I still work everyday on my recovery because I need to remember: one drink and I'm done. Thanks for letting me share.

Progress, Progress, Progress

aI left a meeting the other night with a few reminders for myself. It was primarily about progresss not perfection. We have a disease that is always at work whether we were born with it or grew into it. I read a passage about how AA was developed out of struggle. Bill W. and Dr. Bob had no rules when they started AA but they must have ultimately seen their struggles as an opportunity for growth. Adversity forces you to push yourself. A good wrestling coach will push you to your limits to show you the depth of your strength and this is obviously for your benefit. Our disease is one that leaves many of us hopeless, impossibly hopeless often many many times before we begin the road to successful recovery. It is often at these times that we wonder where our higher power is and why life is so difficult; why am I suffering, so? It is in this time that your higher power is doing the most work for you. Showing you the depth of your strength and stripping you of that which is negative in your life. Your suffering is not happening to you but for you. This is so hard to take in while in the midst of so much change and strife but clarity will come. You will see this suffering as your opportunity for growth and change. So progress, not perfection, as surely your life will continue to be filled with adversity to challenge you. Thanks for letting me share.

Don't Trip Over the First Step

Look out for the first step; it's a doozie. The first step is first for a reason. We have to completely submit to the reality that we are powerless over alcohol. How many times had we forgotten this before we got it right? Many of us are still trying to rewrite it a little bit to make it fit more into our lives... good luck with that. We read the first step and, of course, you often get to read the passage that you're meant to hear; the one that fits into your life at that moment. As soon as we get some good things going, a few positives strung together, even a significant life victory, we have to look out. This disease, so cunning, is quietly snickering as it knows how to use our egos against us. We forget that it is by the grace of God that we succeed; it is not of our own hand. And it is when we're feeling good that we may overlook the first step feeling as if we can manage anything. At this moment, you're either on your way to a relapse or a meeting. It's the first drink that kills you. It just takes one. When a you step in front of a speeding train, which is going to kill you, the Locomotive or the caboose? Thanks for letting me share.

Powerless Over Alcohol

Last night was a speaker night. As usual it was great to hear an inspiring story of survival by another alcoholic. He was a textbook alcoholic. It took him a long time to admit he was powerless over alcohol even though he found himself in rehab 15 times, did time in jail, and attempted suicide once. He had his first drink at 9 years old but figured he could have used one a couple years earlier than that. He was probably 40 now. One time he managed to make his last day in jail also his first. Having sworn off alcohol, he left jail in the morning and before the day was over he was back in jail drunk having assaulted a police officer. One time while in rehab he had a spiritual awakening. He felt as though God's grace had filled him. He didn't tell anyone because it was his gift and thought the staff would only think it was another attempt to get out of rehab. He shaped up, though. Stopped watching television, began eating organic food, was in the gym 4 days a week, even took a vow of celebacy. Four months later he was the healthiest homeless drunk in town. So, he was back in rehab again. He grabbed the Big Book and the 12 and 12 and began trying to figure out why he was an alcoholic. Opening the 12 and 12 he skipped to the 2nd step because he knew his life was unmanageable. Here in his story he takes a deep breath as he remembers his current sponsor explaining to him why he was an alcoholic. He was powerless. This construction worker, known for his bravado, wildness, extremeness and lack of fear had skipped over half of the first step. Left it as a glance of truth and never thought on it. He was powerless. Today, he wakes up every morning sober, not in jail, and before getting ready for his successful job he prays to God for power. The power that he does not have and only God does. Thanks for letting me share.