Is anyone there?

Posted , 17 users are following.

I think that I messed up my original post as I can't see it on here.

After going to the doctors today and admitting honestly how much I drink all I got was 12 step program, Russell Brands book 'Recovery' and a prescription for Thiamine. I had already researched the 2 best types of medicines to stop drinking and tried to explain that this was an ongoing issue, not a result of loosing my baby boy after 12 hours in March. I feel like he didn't 'hear' me. This is a new doctor having moved in December.

My partner and I have finished a box of wine already and now he is in bed I went to the shop and bought another 2 bottle: I hate myself and know I will regret it in the morning but I just don't care!

S x

1 like, 53 replies

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  • Posted

    Absolutely agree with what I71207 said - GPs are simply not trained or not experienced in dealing with alcohol issues.

    Can you tell us what medications you were looking to be prescribed?  And also, did your doctor do any type of assessment with you in terms of asking you how much you drink and did he/she advise you to contact your local alcohol recovery service?

    Doctors have a procedure to follow, sort of like a flowchart, which is called an AUDIT assessment.  Depending on your score (based on how much and how often you drink) that would indicate to the doctor what your risk is - high risk, medium risk, low risk - and then he/she should follow their procedure based on your score.

     

    • Posted

      Hi Joanna, thank you for your reply.

      I had researched online there are 2 types of medication: 1 that makes you as sick as food poisoning, the other that removes the chemical reaction to help loose the addiction. I honestly hoped that I would have received a prescription from either one. I live in the middle of nowhere in North Devon, England.

      S x

    • Posted

      My reply to you needs moderating.  I think because I put the phone number of the specialist doctor organisation in your area.  Give it until tomorrow and hopefully the mods will pass it and you can call up for an appointment.

      )
    • Posted

      Hi S ! I live in North Cornwall and found help very difficult. GP said he would support me but couldn't prescribe Nalmefene which was what i requested. I summoned up a lotta lotta of courage and went to Addaction and I felt like an absolute freak . It was a weird place in a back street in town near me . When I finally saw someone I was more or less told I apparently didn't drink enough to warrant their help as I didn't require detox. Anyway beyond that I found my way in the end with the brilliant support and advice here . In the end I bought my meds privately .Had I not found this site though I dont know where I would be today , the support was and still is a absolute godsend 😘

    • Posted

      Hi Nat. How sad that you were drunk enough at Addaction! Crazy! We offer better advice 😂 we do not mis judge anybody. Never too late. You seem to be on the right path.

    • Posted

      Hi Nat, thank you so much for your reply - it really does mean a lot to me.

      Is Nalmefenethe one which makes you stop having the chemical reaction to alcohol??

      I do not doubt for a second how much courage it must have take to go to addaction! My partner went there once on the advice of a doctor and he felt exactly the same, plus we already knew everything that he was taught in the sessions he had. 

       Can I ask where you bought your medication from privately? There is only one practitioner in the UK who can give a prescription of TSM and that is at nearly £200 a week - I simply cannot afford that price. xx

  • Posted

    Feel like I am in the same situation, I have been going to my doctors for years and all I ever got told was to cut down and buy a book offline, at my worst, drinking 15/20 cans of larger a night at the age of 19/20, my doctor told me 'it was OK because I wasn't drinking spirits'!! They do make you feel helpless and as if you shouldn't have wasted your time going,its so frustrating! Do you mind if I ask how old you are and how much you normally drink a drink? It will be hard if your boyfriend is a drinker as well, my drinking seriously increased when I was with my ex partner who also liked a drink x

    • Posted

      Sorry, how much you normally drink a night
    • Posted

      Hi Jade, that is insane!!!! Just because by the age of 20 you are not drinking spirits yest does not make it OK. You are so young and I want to ask... did something / many traumatic things happen to you? I only ask because I had an extremely traumatic youth and wonder if that has influenced who I am now. x 
    • Posted

      Sorry Jade, I realise I didn't answer your question. Between 1 and 3 bottles of wine per night at the moment which is the worst it has ever been. I am 33 years old and currently on maternity leave so holding off until my partner returns home everyday feel like a massive achievement. Although as he wakes so early I often come down of a weekend and find him already drinking.....

      S x

    • Posted

      Sorry to hear about your youth, mine was very far from the best but nothing to traumatic happened as such, have u spoken about your past before to anyone? I do sometimes feel if I could open up to someone and let everything out I have bottled up it may help but I'm such a closed person and really don't like discussing things, plus I have one no to discuss it with. Do you think it may be your youth that's has triggered the drinking?

      I'm so so sorry to hear about your baby boy as well, i cannot imagine the pain you must be feeling which I'm sure will not be helping the drinking.

      Both you and your partner have had a traumatic past few months but working together to reduce may help, I mean I can't say anything or really give advice because I'm now drinking on my dinner at work otherwise I'm suffering severe withdrawals!

      I have looked online the same as you at the medication but there's no way I can afford it either! You should try as hard as you possibly can (ino it's harder said than done and I get frustrated when people say that) but to maybe have 1 glass less a night. I work as well and the withdrawal, especially in work is awful and I sure drinking 1/3 bottles of wine a night you will experience it.

      Sorry I'm of no help but happy to chat if you need anyone to talk to xx

    • Posted

      Hi Jade, I am so sorry to hear that you are now resorting to lunchtime drinking whilst at work. I am worried as my current trigger time is 1pm... do you mind me asking what and how much you drink?

      Please feel free to personal message me at anytime, everyone has a story and I am convinced mine isn't as bad as the PTSD I have been diagnosed with.

      Thinking of you

      S x

    • Posted

      Hi, sorry for the late reply.

      I didnt have the best youth, far from it but nothing traumatic happened as such. Have you ever spoken to anyone about your past? I do think if I could discuss mine and let everything out I have held back for so many years I would feel a weight of my shoulders but I'm a very closed person and don't like discussing 'my life and drinking' plus I have no one close to talk to. It may be worth trying to discuss your past with someone and see if that helps in someway? I know it's harder said than done because I would struggle.

      My drinking- I always take a bottle of coke with vodka in and a bottle spare just in case, I typically go to the pub on my lunch, I'll have 2/3 pints, if I cannot go, I'll drink my vodka (I never used to have to do this but gradually my withdrawals have got worse and worse and I can't go the day without it), after work I normally have around 4/5 pints of larger and 5/6 cans when I get home, some times it can be less, and weekends it's more. Please don't compare your drinking to anyone else's though, everyone is different, for 5 years I persuaded myself I didn't have a problem again because some people could drink a litre of vodka a night and I couldn't.

      I struggle bad in work, and I presume, if you are drinking 1/3 bottles of wine a night, when you go back you will experience withdrawals, (which are awful especially when your in work). It may be worth both you and your boyfriend trying to cut down together, even if its 1 less glass of wine a night.

      I have had a look online at medication like you have and I'm in the same situation, I just cannot afford it! Sorry I'm off no help but I'm here to listen if you ever need it xx

    • Posted

      Sorry, had to many and forgot I replied last night.. But my drinking is included on the message, we are all here to help each other as much as possible x

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