I've drank for too long. I take naltrexone, sertraline,

Recovery
#1

I've drank for too long. I take naltrexone, sertraline, lamotragine, trazadone, hydroxazine, oh and I'm still an insomniac and a drunk. Any advice other than "you'll get through this" Don't mention God, BTW.

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#2

I started meditating…
Like really meditating and I can’t even tell you how much it has helped with everything. It’s something you have to invest time in but it works!

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#3

It works if you work it. What recovery program have you been to? I am not a godly or religious man but AA saved my life. There are definitely other programs that are not religious, but I can not speak intelligently about those. My advice is do whatever you can to get clean. Maybe rehab. Obviously you need help. And that’s okay, we all do. Hope you find the peace and serenity you deserve.

#5

I only recently learned that there are agnostic meetings. If you need to start somewhere and don’t feel as though you can do it on your own, AA is really helpful, at the very least to be around people who understand what you’ve been struggling with. If you want to leave the ‘God’ part out of it, you can look at it as “Good orderly direction,” the group can be your higher power, something/one that you hold yourself accountable to. I envision my higher power as my favorite departed musicians, and that’s enough for me right now.

#6

Not agnostic, and I'm 46k in debt. But it's worked for over 100 years. When I find the right meeting, this site, and the people on it will have changed my life. Thank you forever.

#7

You kinda hamstring a lot of us by limiting us to not mention G od. Most of the wisdom I can offer comes from biblical lessons. I can also is a bit of Buddhism and hindu but most of my advice will be religion based.

#8

So, a belief is great, but I personally think an idea is better. You can change an idea, but a belief is trickier. And Buddhism is great, have you ever read the mahhabrata? Or Siddhartha? Beautiful imagery, without the fire and brimstone. I think being a jiinist would do lot of people a lot of good.

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#9

Holy smokes! Steve, I didn't know you were restaurants, I didn't creep, just a 3 second curious. I did it for 12 years followed by 7 years of CS. Props brother. Respect with a capital P, bc you should have pride.

#10

If you don’t already…start playing the guitar. If you do play…play more. Teach yourself a new style. Either way…it’s time consuming, goal setting, and works your brain. Plus…after awhile you’ll be another a**hole that knows how to play “Wagon Wheel”

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#11

Oh the the tangled web we weave, I played bass with my buddy Gary and Mikey. I got good, then mikey...

#12

I'm waving a white flag at Steve. I think he and I can be buds, just like so many amazing people like all of us!!!!

#13

We're long past the original post, but I can't help thinking about the psychopharmacology behind my medications. Insomnia is most of it, then seizures, then mood, then heart (100% genetic) and I'm still 38k medical services debt.

#14

Detox, rehab and surround yourself with other sober people.

#15

Then what

#16

Idk, I’m not big on the god aspect of AA either, but on particularly bad nights it does help just to be around people that get how hard this is. I guess when I went to rehab, I chose the 13 year old version of me as my “higher power” because I’d like for her to look up to me and be proud of who she has become. Kinda cheesy, but it helped.

#17

Thanks Ashley, that's the most genuine response I've ever received on this app. I guess I'm looking for a overwhelmingly different approach to sobriety, and I hope it takes less than a lifetime to figure it out

#18

Working steps and staying connected to nature and friends.

#19

I'm just waiting for an outside the box answer, not something someone hears on a corporate retreat. And something in the textbooks I kept from college.

#20

What advice are you looking for? It’s a bit unclear. How to sleep better? How to stop drinking? Recovery/sobriety in general?

#21

I take a plethora of medications too and a lot of the same ones you take, and let me just tell you when I stopped drinking that stuff actually started to work it’s crazy.  I honestly would say have someone help keep you accountable in your sobriety whether that is a sponsor or whatever. I know AA seems scary because it’s God-based but you don’t really have to believe in God to be a part of AA, I sure don’t believe in it. And what I did personally was fully immerse myself into the program because I could really lean on the people in the rooms and there’s just something about AA that makes you not want to drink after you go to a meeting. My sponsor says nothing changes if nothing changes. Something has to change if you can’t stop on your own so I really would recommend just being insanely proactive with staying sober the first few months because if you don’t put all your energy into it you’ll just go back out.