taking your mind of alcohol

Never thought of that one! Probably because I'm taking acamprasite!!!

Why what's that for/ do?

Its to stop you craving alcohol but side effects can somewhat damen ones ardour shall we say.

Jcee

Can't win can you! As Shakespeare wrote, drink giveth the desire but taketh away the performance!viagra? I don't believe it has any drug-drug interaction check with your doc I have stopped drinking on several occasions. But never crave the stuff with me its, I'll just have glass of wine then it snowballs although I've been pretty good since  09 but fell off the wagon about a month ago but managed to get a grip of myself I had a few librium pills left over and used them to help me detox but it was tough but I wanted to suffer to remind me how bad it can be sweating and rattling bad dreams.

Couldn't have put it better myself! lol See my rather lengthy posting below and you hit the "nail" or whatever on the head

Tina: I too have been prescribed Campral and soon after starting the 2x 3 times a day, started feeling groggie most of the day so cut myself back to 1 x 3 as first directed and am doing much better now...hope this method works for you for now.

HI Steve

Well done and you certainly have the right frame of mind. Exercise, cinema, playing the piano and I wish I could! Yes, stay away from people who may not fully understand and grasp what you are doing and how hard it is. Just leave before they get drunk and then less presssure on you. Keep going and WELL DONE!!!

It's great to be away from the grip of addiction. It is very powerful and when you think you're in a good space it can get you even then. Yesterday I was having a coffee near some bars that I used to drink every day at. Even though I have not had a drink in 2 Months now it has been on my mind a lot. I wound up in the bar and was about to be served and was going to have a beer. I say this because it might be helpful to others. I'm not condoning walking into a bar. That's not the message I want to give out but it was interesting to note the rationale and the thoughts that were going round in my head at that time. The voice was telling me that it was ok to go and have a beer like it used to before I quit smoking 14 years ago. Thank god I got shot of that one! I used to hate what I was doing to my body with smoking and now the same with drinking. It was almost like when I walked in to the bar my brain was purposely blocking out all the sh*t that happens when I got drunk and was making it "ok" for me to go and pick up a drink. Denial? I guess so. Well, the barman walked away to serve someone else rather than to me and I walked out and went home. Not to be recommended for anyone at all as it would only have led me back into active addiction with all the hardship and pain that goes with that. And who is to say that I would be able to get back out of it. It took me 3 years again until recently to stop. I have been telling myself that I can try and moderate for a long time and it hasn't happened. I can drink heavy but I also have the ability to have a glass or two from a bottle of wine and leave it in the fridge. On other nights out I can get through 8-10 Stella Pints in one night. I don't believe I'm "powerless" over my addiction as many recovery programs say we are as I think that prevents us from being empowered and taking responsibility for our lives and our actions. If I pick up I believe I make a choice to pick up. Yesterday proved that for me, I was about to make a choice and I had the ability to change that and I did. Not an ideal situation but I wasn't totally powerless as I walked away. I don't know about anyone else as everyone is different but speaking for myself when I stop drinking and stay stopped I have to learn how to cope with life. Other people do that anyway but have not become accustomed to medicating to get through everything. And I also believe that once I learn how to live life I can move on and not sit in a life of never being recovered, always sick and always an addict. For me those are unhealthy associations and I want to move away from that and not stay in it. Also I have heard in recovery that people say they are unwell even after 10 years of sobriety and that they will always be sick and unwell. And in recovery programs I have heard so often "keep coming back" and relapse almost becomes an acceptable part of recovery in that if you do it's ok because you can always go back to meetings. I have read some articles about relapse and brain chemistry and they have educated me. I have learnt that I will go through days at a time where I want to drink and that's ok and it does pass. It feels uncomfortable but it does change. I found that very encouraging and it made sense to me. I don't want to dredge down to find all of my faults and then approach people for harms done to make amends where I believe most of the harm done was to myself in my drinking. I now need to be kind to myself and give myself a break. And as drinking has taken away a hell of a lot of time from me and was extremely boring on the whole I can now fill my life with all things I stopped doing years ago before drink took over. There is a whole life out there and I don't want to spend it sitting in 3 meetings a day for the rest of my life talking about drinking and using. I'm not saying that meetings are not useful or helpful the people that go. I think it has saved lives and I have great admiration for an organisation and a program that offers that for those that need/want it. But I guess my conclusion is that it's not for everyone and there are other ways of moving away from active addiction and living enjoyable and serene lives without being called a dry drunk.