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Alcohol and Gambling

Posted , 5 users are following.

jimmy61095
jimmy61095

Hi All just looking for a bit of advice. I served 13 years in the forces and throughout that time alcohol was heavily used by most of the soldiers. At the time i'd drink nearly every day in the Squadron bar and then normally end up down town with my mates. At the time i didnt think anything of it and just went with the flow. At my 12 year point i decided i wanted a break and left for civvi street after serving a years notice. That was 12 years ago and i quickly noticed that i drunk a lot more than the average person on the street. I started a new career as a community worker and then the first of my two boys arrived. I love both my boys dearly but looking back I used alcohol a lot as i felt that i wasnt giving the two of them enough time. Just before my second son was born i wasnt only drinking to excess but was now gambling and getting into great financial problems. Over the years i've been up and down but really need help with my alcohol misuse as im now in stacks of debt from the gambling, but dont really gamble until im drunk and always online where no one can see me. just wondered if there was any advice out there from you guys i'd really appreciate it as i'm pretty sure my wife is on the verge of throwing the towel in, which would mean me losing not only a wonerful woman but my two gorgeous boys.

many thanks in advance

2 likes, 11 replies

11 Replies

  • PaulJTurner1964
    PaulJTurner1964 jimmy61095

    Posted

    How much are you drinking a day Jimmy?

    Are you drinking all day or only in the evenings?

    What happens if you try not to have a drink? Do you get physical withdrawal symptoms?

     

    • jimmy61095
      jimmy61095 PaulJTurner1964

      Posted

      hi paul thanks for getting back to me. i can go weeks on end without a drink, i then gradually feel the stress of normal life coming on, debts, work etc and bang im on a bender, normally about three days, then i have time off work lying in bed feeling sorry for myself, reeking of anxiety and promising myself and my wife that it'll be the last time, but sadly it never is!! in terms of withdrawal syptoms, i get the shakes and cant eat for days, then i gradually feel great only for the same thing to occur two or three weeks down the line.
    • PaulJTurner1964
      PaulJTurner1964 jimmy61095

      Posted

      I need to say, first. Withdrawal from alcohol is dangerous. Those shakes can result in a seizure which can kill, please be aware of that. To withdraw safely from alcohol, you need medical help in the form of an alcohol detox which, scandalously, seems to be very difficult to get in many areas on the NHS.

      I think that the most appropriate treatment for you, however, would be Nalmefene. This is an opioid receptor antagonist which blocks the opioid receptors and stops endorphins attaching to them. This stops the 'reward' that you get from alcohol and you can un-learn your addiction over time by taking a Nalmefene tablet before you drink, each time.

      By coincidence, the same opioid receptors are affected by the kick you get from gambling, although Nalmefene is not approved yet for use with gambling addiction, the research hasn't been done.

      There are a couple of issues with Nalmefene (also called Selincro) which you read about on this forum where it has been discussed widely. The first is that there are side-effects which go away for most people within the first few days of taking it (nausea and sleep disturbance).

      The second issue is getting it from your GP. Because it costs about £3 a tablet, many primary care trusts are not approving it for use in their area. It's worth visiting your GP to see if you can get it, though.

      For more information, search 'the sinclair method' online which will tell you about the process I described above (pharmacological extinction) in more detail and better wording than I can come up with here smile

    • jimmy61095
      jimmy61095 PaulJTurner1964

      Posted

      Thanks again for your reply, I have an appiontment on Thursday at the docs, so ill see what she says. In your second paragraph you mention taking this tablet before you drink. Are you saying you take this pill whilst drinking alcohol? or do you mean water. I rather just stop for good but i assume that through time thats the whole point of this tablet.
    • PaulJTurner1964
      PaulJTurner1964 jimmy61095

      Posted

      Take the pill before drinking alcohol Jimmy smile It blocks the receptors and retrains your brain but ONLY if you drink alcohol with it. Basically, you take the pill before drinking and, over a period of time, your alcohol consumption will automatically reduce.

      It has recently been approved for use in the UK and NICE guidelines are recommending that it used for moderate drinkers (7.5 units a day for men and 5 units for women). However, in Finland, it is being used for people drinking a lot more, using a method called The Sinclair Method. They are seeing success rates of around 78%. 'Success' is being defined as either stopping drinking altogether or returning to controlled drinking. But you have to take the pill before you drink every time, for the rest of your life, to continue benefiting. If you later drank without taking the pill, you would return to problem drinking.

      As pmcg21 has commented, an alternative is to do a detox and then abstain totally with the help of various support groups or one-to-one counselling. It is, as he said, whatever you feel is the best way for you, which matters.

  • pmcg21
    pmcg21 jimmy61095

    Posted

    hi Jimmy as an alternative to using drugs to help with your drinking problem you might ask your DR for a referal to an addiction specialist with a view to staying sober long term- i found this very helpful in my battle with alcoholism- i have been sober since 2005- another option is to attend your local A group-this seems to work for quite alot of people- what ever option you chose i wish you the best of luck-
  • jimmy61095
    jimmy61095

    Posted

    guys thanks very much, i'm gonna stay a member of this site. therefore when it comes to the night i need a drink i can come on here and spill my beans. hopefully therll be others on that night that can give a bit of advice. paul i read that you work in this industry, your a good man to be giving up your time. PMCG thanks for the comments bud, I went to GA for a while about my gambling and that helped, the only problem was it isnt so much the gambling though as the alcolhol that takes me there, so i may give AA a go. that way i may be able to crack both
    • PaulJTurner1964
      PaulJTurner1964 jimmy61095

      Posted

      I get paid for it Jimmy smile But I do enjoy it too. I come on this site to give a little back smile
  • jimmy61095
    jimmy61095

    Posted

    hi rainbow, i drink because of life experiences, my past, my debt, my work, worry about my family. a whole host of every day life experiences and stressors that i cant handle. the more i drink the worse my life becomes and after a binge comes the anxiety, followed by the new lease of life of ill never drink again. That lease of life lasts a few weeks and then the build up of stressors pushes me back to another binge. those binges last for 3/4 days normally. what i need to find is a way to tackle my stressors without touching alcohol. dont know if that answers your question, what about you Rainbow what makes you drink
  • brian71608
    brian71608 jimmy61095

    Posted

    Hello Jimmy,

            I too have a drink problem which leads to uncontrolable online gambling when I am drunk, I am 3 months clear of all this and want this to continue, I googled my situatuion and found this, I know ithe thread is 8 months old, wondering how you were getting on or even if we could help each other? I know my demons are at bay but never too far away, be nice to hear back from you and that you are doing well or better.

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