One good thing about me being on Meds is that i cures me of my alcholism...what can I say I have an addictive nature. When I am addicted to something I always have to go to extreme till I realize something has to change like my drinking.

I was at a point were I went through seven bottles of Bacardi Rum in a month. It wasn't to have a good time like most ppl drink, but carved the numbness of being drunk....life was to hard to deal with and depression was worse and all I wanted to feel was nothing. Dealing with ADHD and Bipolar and PTSD had become too much for me.

I can only be happy that I can recognize when I am going to the extreme at a point and say no more....i still drink but only on special occasions and for different reasons to lossen up a lil.

The meds keep me sober, but now I have to deal with this damn addiction to Pills....sigh at least that is not bad anymore either. Knock on wood that it stays that way.

Never touched a drop in my life. Never will.

I don't even eat chocolates with alcohol in them.

I didn't answer the poll because none seemed to fit me. I do tend to drink alot, but as I always say "I'm a product of a hazzardous working enviorment" (I'm a bartender :) ) When I go to work and I'm horribly stressed out and depressed, it's very hard for me not to drink. For one, the alcohol helps make me numb and temporarily forget my problems. It also helps me to put on the 'happy face' that I need to have at work. I'm supposed to be happy and sociable, which is really hard for me to do sometimes. When I'm not at work, I really don't drink much at all. Sometimes some wine at home, but not even that lately.

I remember the happiest times of my life at work was when I went to work drunk as a skunk that one day....and noone could tell the difference....and again at my second job I went around the corner and bought a long island iced tea on break and then went back to work feeling hap hap happy.....No one knew then either which i find to be the most hilarious....so i guess that means when I am sober I act drunk! I certainely tpey htat yaw....(typos done on purpose for crazy nut affect)

I can relate to the wantingness to feel numb....I did too when I was really depressed and all I wanted to feel was nothing at all...I knew the problems and pain would be there when I sobered up....but for that breif time I had those hour or more moments of peace....I also find that I was very lucky not to get fired had anyone found out...be careful hun. Take care.

i drink. i don't get drunk. i have a beer now and again, or a glass of wine. i am not an alcoholic. My father "self-medicated" - i suspect he is the one that passed along the ADD gene. Never knew he drank till he quit.

I don't drink anymore....im too broke...but when ever the chance comes up i get drunk just to get the familiar feeling of numbness...but i do not crave the drink....so i supposed I am borderline boozer.

I drink for the effect only love the effect hate the taste

very seldom drink but when I do its to get drunk and stupid

LOL are we twins I so the same way.

I picked never, but that is not 100% fact, it was just the closest choice. I drink beer only, I like the taste, usually with food. Only sometimes, like if my husband and I go out to eat without the kids or if someone else is paying.

What IS fact is that I cannot spare the brain cells. I need every last one of them.

Coolies while the kittens away the meices will play....:D

Scary stuff in this thread.
This poll doesn't have room for the mainstream.
I don't think for a moment that drinking and ADHD are connected.

Realy me either..they are a lot of morms who get drunk alot, just a thought,,,sorry to scaare ya.

Designated driver.

So you drink a lot then? Jk

I am a waitress @ a Bar,and have found that I don't really have
an interest for beer,but do like an occassional shot of something strong,as it allows me to focus(strange huh),and loosens me up,
I'm one who is in constant fear of others' thoughts about me and I notice that when I drink,I actually feel semi-normal.I also have an addictive personality so I do have to be careful so that I don't
take things to the extreme.

Dido Mel-

I use to quiet the monster within with Bacardi 151... or at least try to take the edge off of the SPEED the doctor had prescribed (aka: Ritalin ). With the "proper" meds, I haven't touched Ritalin, xanex, nor have I needed the alcohol to take the razor's edge off.

"Drinking and ADHD are not related >> but they are close cousins.."

For any ailment: The rights meds make all the difference~

I so totally Agree Dr..can I call ya Doc, I took Ritalin once and to call it speed is an understatment....maybe medications(certain types) are related to achlohol....they both can be addictive...maybe I asked the wrong question about connection...but that is to be expected..I am ADHD,,so me not so perfect.

Ashley, Love the name:) I am not a beer drinker at all, I want something that is not going to go straight through me & cause that face of eewww what the heck am I drinking, so I love the hard stuff, that the Irish/ Scottish in me;). It lossend me up to so not so strange:D

Thanks Melly!, and as a matter of fact it's been well almost 4 wks.now since I drank,(my last night @work)I was really busy and took?several shots of Tequila through out the night.It was a
very productive night for me until about 4:00am.when I slipped and fell and had to go to ER for Emergency Surg.Everyone laughed and said it was the Tequila but It wasn't,clumbsiness is
a natural for me!!!!LOL!!.Anyhoo- I believe too that the right meds. can make all the difference, it's just finding one right for me.

:o are you ok now? I am so sorry you fell! I take lamictal for bipolar and will be taking dexadrine for Adhd once I can afford it and that works very well for me:D

I use to drink socially, but doctor has told me NO drinking due to the condition of my liver.

I'm doing somewhat better Melly, just tired of being limited on physical activities.I go back to Dr. on 24'th for 6 wk. post-op,@ should be released to go back to work,I can't wait!!!!!!.It's all been pretty depressing though,I'm just not one that does well with alot of down time.

I know how ya feel I am the same way....when I had my second hip surgery I would walk as best as I could, and my car accident when I messed up my knees I was not suposed to be walking on that either....but the day I start acting like an ivalid is the day I become one....hey wait a minute mentally I am one, cause I can hold a job, but as soon I get meds striaght..ADD and bipoalar won't keep me down for long. Gauntee Sha!

That sounds just like me!!!!!,everyone gets on me for moving around and they just don't understand that I have to be doing something.You say that Dex works well for you?,what others have you tried?,I'd like to try Dex or Adderall, but Dr. says they are all the same and is stuck on me taking Concerta!.

I took ritalin, ADDerall, Adderall XR, Straterra, and now dexadrine,,straterra did not do anyhing for me
But everyone body chemistry is different you just have to try them to you find right one.

Yeah Straterra wasn't good for me either,what differences did you find with the ones you mentioned above and the Dex?

the stimulants all helped me, of course ritalin was powerful, other than that it all helped me out, just that dexadrine is cheaper

Did you experience any side effects from any of them?

Oh yes could not sleep and could not eat but Hey I lost a lot of weight...thye were side effects I could live with :D

I did so good when I first started Concerta,but then developed
severe stomach bloat,cramps etc..........and having just came home from having abdominal surgery this was not good!.In addition I found that in the evenings I wanted to be completely alone,and was irritable.I stopped the meds and then went through what I call withdraw?(extreme fatigue etc..) I just didn't understand what was happening,as I thougt initially it was a blessing!.I saw my Dr.this past Mon.and explained all to him,and he asked me to try it once more as my body may have needed time to just settle down from Surg.I started back on Tue.and so far ok,just mild headaches is all.

Good Luck with that ashley...I found when I started getting side effects once my body got used to the medicine the side effects were not so severe. If you decide to go back on the meds, just give it time, trust me;)..If the side effects don't go away then tell doc you need to try a different medicine...one not so sever side effects.

Thanks I will, and back to the original post.........is it safe to say that a drink every once in awhile is ok?,(while being on meds?).

That could be dangerous if ya over do it, I dont drink while on meds...it lessons the effect of the drug

Yeah,I figured that would be the case.You mentioned that you had problems sleeping when on ADHD meds,I don't think I slept
any last night!,will this get worse before it gets better,or is it safe
to take something that will help me sleep?

That sweety You need to ask your doctor mixing meds can be dangerous. Talk to doctor about what you can take. as far that the not sleeping..don't worry that will only last awhile once your body gets used to it again.

Trust me I mixed cold madication with ritalin back in high school with cough syrup pills, and then i went to school and took a cough drop......I WAS STOOOOOOOOONDED:D

You didn't!!!!!!!!!!!!(LOL)!.You know that sounds like something I
would have done when I was younger as well!,It's amazing how we become more concious and aware of things the older we get.I think back too on some of the things I did and think I am one lucky chic,(to have survived).

Same here..aint it great being a survivor...but that is a few different thread :)

Yes Ma'm I can say it is!,and sounds like an Awesome thread starter to me!!.

Well, I have Love, Who needs It-ADDult Women
Abuse &ADD women is there a connection-ADDUlt Women
Would Dating an ADD person be easier-Relationships and
social issues
ADDults with teenage minds-

All these has to do with survial of abuse and maturity!

True!, and with that it would be nice to see some of which that
tell about Success,Peace,etc............. It's not to say that the others aren't great threads,they are!,but I always love to read the one's where someone living in "our ADHD world"battles the struggles and accomplishes great Success,etc..........

Then Check out We are Not freaks..the battle between the normies and ADDers!

I too am trying to put more weight to positive things. The negative is very easy for me to focus on. The positive is at least twice as difficult for me to stay attached too.

I don't know why this is but there are so many things beyond my control. The things beyond my control are futile for me to spend any energy on at all. I can rant I can rage, but the fact remains that much of what I see as unjust is beyond my influence.

I can change myself. I'm the only one I have any real ability to change or control. I think stories of change are the best. When someone does the most difficult thing there is, and chooses to do something differently it's good for me. This often spawns some very positive stories. Those stories are my favourites.

Drink is a formidable foe. I don't want to forget my past but I am dedicated to my future.

I'm not into battling or labelling those different from myself either. My wife isn't add/hd and we strive for harmony. I much prefer recognising the common ground over defining the differences. The "us and them" type stance is the stuff that creates divisions. It seems to me that's at the root of wars and all kinds of discontent. I'm a universal traveller and I'd hate to miss a thing.

We all are human. We all need the same loving. We are all doing the best with what we have. Blame is evil. Taking responsibility is not easy. Action carries risk. Risk is important for change.

Cheers! Ian. ADHD

From Chapter 6 of the Big Book - "Into Action"
And we have ceased fighting anything or anyone, even alcohol. For by this time sanity will have returned.

I do drink quite a lot, but not every day. I'm worried I might drink too mucht hough. I prefer to drink beer, but I'm fine with the hard liquor. I don't know if I drink too much, honestly. I'm a 20-year old female, and I'm 5'8" so I'm not a tiny person, but this year my tolerance has skyrocketed, which is not necessarily a good thing. I'll drink a 6-pack of beer in less than two hours no problem. last night I was out clubbing and had 2 double vodka tonics, one double vodka and lime, 4 tequila shots, a rum and coke, 3 beers, 2 scotch on the rocks and I think that's all, but I didn't get drunk, otherwise I wouldn't be able to remember all of that, but I hardly had a hangover. I spent $40 myself on drinks and the rest were bought by two guy friends who were with us, they probably wanted to see when I'd get tanked. There's something wrong with that I think, and on Friday night I drank a bottle of white wine.

I don't really know if I have a problem, because I don't have the urge to drink like that except on weekends, I'll enjoy a few beers and a few glasses of wine during the weekdays but that's all... I don't know, there's some history of alcoholism in my family, I enjoy myself but I'm sure my liver's suffering even though I'm still young...

A couple of things I learnt along the way about how to tell if you have a problem.

If you can honestly not take a drop for a year.. maybe you aren't alcoholic. If you can set limits to the amounts you drink before you begin drinking and have no trouble stopping at those limits always then maybe you don't have a problem. The slick bit of the road is that addiction is as sneaky as it comes to fooling the victim.

I seriously doubt folks without a problem even ask these questions. If you are asking the questions it might be worth looking into attending a few meetings. It's a life style change that has enabled me to grow up a lot.

When I had a problem I was the last one to know much about it. Changing any fundamental element of my being is a drop down drag out fight. Or at least it's been that way for me. I'm not doing much fighting these days and my kids and dogs seem to be happier. < g >

If you think you have a problem you probably do. This is not a dress rehearsal. I've lost friends who died wondering. We need you here. < g >

I no longer attend meeting or have the primary requirement for membership but it's a way good way to get yourself on a better road. One where we begin to do for ourselves what drugs and alcohol had been doing for us before. I believe this is called becoming an adult. I don't even want to be a kid any more. I am mortal.

Cunning, baffling and powerful = liquor. It's a simple program of recovery... it's just not easy.

Cheers! Ian.

Yesturday was Father's Day and my birthday.....Kinda me and Dad's Anniversary...I was born on father's day 28 years ago..this is the first without him, God Rest him, and despite the fact that I took my meds that day.....GOD DID I NEED A DRINK! It really hit me hard yesturday.

Melly do you need to stay stopped? If so, do you have a number you can call before you take a drink? Phones were a wonderful things for for me in those moments where the need got overwhelming.

Cheers! Ian.

Sometimes I think I do...sometimes the stress and the depression get so much that I just want to feel numb...but still I do not go out and by booze....But put some hooch around me I am heading straight for the bottle and never turn it down when offered..

Hmmm... I agree with earlier post.. can you stop for say a year? Can you drink one mixed dring and not follow it with another one for say a month or two?

I had a problem chemical substances and cotrol before I began treating my ADD. I was clean and sober for two years before I discovered I had ADD... The soberity lead me to " there is still something wrong" Now that I am "treating my ADD" I can have a mixed drink like I did last week but go months before having another one. I still have a bottle of Crown I brought back from Ohio last April, I think I have had one "shot" scense I have been back.

My medications help me with the impulse thing. My boy-friend in recovery for alcololism ten years clean is the reason I don't want to get drunk. Who wants to stay clean and sober to baby-sit drunks. I don't why would he? I can say no to drinking to excess because I respect his soberity and want to support him in it. When we go to event where most people are drinking( latest example his neices wedding recption) he doesn't drink and neither do I out of a desire to support his soberity.

My brother in law can't understand why I would give up drinking for a relationship, easy the relationship is more important than drinking. If I couldn't say no because I WANT to support a loved ones program then I probably need to be in the same program.

Tammy

That paints a very clear picture meadd823 thank-you very much for posting with such honesty. Stories like yours help a great deal. I look forward to more of your contributions here and throughout these forums.

Drop by the chat once in a while and see if there is anyone about.

I too believe that the meds have had an impact of a very fundamental nature.
Cheer! Ian.

The fact tat \I take medication for both adhd and bipolar keeps me at bay from drinking cause of the cause and effect of the medication and how it can eefect you worse....\dunno if that is exactly true but somehow sometimes..I feel like it enhances the stimulant medication...It's weird.

Sounds like pretty good motivation for keeping a cap on the drink to me Melly. :^)

Cheers! Ian.

being broke and medication keeps me dry for now...put some hooch in front of me though...I dunno BOUT that...that is where the real test comes in...do I sound like I am alchoholic?

Melly there is only one person that answer wants to come from and it ain't me! eheh I've come to make a distinction between alcoholic and drunk. When I was sober I called myself an alcoholic proudly, but if I was drinking I'd be calling myself a drunk.

Funny thing about normal drinkers though. They never seem to ask questions that wonder if there might be a problem.

The b#ach of the whole thing is that it's so sneaky I couldn't see it comming. Like you said.. once money was good to go, there was no telling where the next binge might lead. I'm glad to be off the roller coaster and on the ground. At least for today.

Cheers! Ian.

Was that roller coaster like Bipolar...want one then you dont want one...One thing I notice from the poll...a lot of us used to have drinking problem more than anything.

The roller coaster was an emotional one. Up down and all around. Quick to anger, long on resentment, big on blame. These characteristics all lead me to a life full of ups and downs. Juvenile rather than Bipolar I think.

I have heard it sometimes said that a drunk sobering up is the emotional age of when they started drinking. I started when I was about 14 and that's about where my emotional development was when I sobered up at 30 years old.

My part in the relationships I had was immature in the extreme.

Cheers! Ian.

I only have a drink once or twice a moth and I have only been drunk twice. I don't like to get drunk when I drink just like a nice warm and fuzzy feeling now and then. So I didn't vote.
My grandfather was an alcholic and so were all 11 of his bothers and sisters. They say it can skip generations so I have always been careful. Oh and I hate beer. My father says its an aquirred taste. So if I drink its usually a mixed drink or shots or wine.

I know about those two times Bri....I do believe we were on voice that on time LMAO!!!!!!!!!!!

LOL...............I mean drunk enough I got sick. One was back when I was in college going out for a night with the girls and it was the first time I had ever gone out with them! The other was when Ken had introduced me to one of his friends for the first time. His friend called me barfy for a while after that!

Ohhh that drunk...well I been that many of time...never mix rum and coke with rum coke and everclear.....eeeeeyuck!!!!!!! And never drink an entire bottle of medium full of bacardi....time has taught me lessons well!

We all have an abundance of those stories.

Ahhh the lessons we learn
when the booze makes our stomachs turn.

LOL Mel! Both times I had forgotten I had taken my meds that morning. So those nights I paid for it. I didn't need much when on my meds I only had 3 drinks but man its so much quicker to hit when you took meds that morining.................guess I though the meds would have wore off by then! :p

whether they wear out or not, SILLY! they are still in system LOL

Celebrating the mechanisms that brought me very close to my death make me a tad uncomfortable.

I can't talk about those accidents and parties with such warmth as you guys are able to. I get the willies with this kind of talk. It's like it could still be fun to get whacked somehow, and it just ain't that way for me any more.

There is no part of me that remembers fondly any drunk, doped or strung out adventure. I remember lots of them but what used to be a laugh is now remembered soberly with a deep gratitude that I escaped so with my life... for today.

In the harsh light of day those were times of denial and great pain. Hind sight is 20 20 as the saying goes.

My whole idea of fun has changed. You be careful out there you two.

Mother hen. Ian.

But of curse, mes ami, we will be careful, and I am sorry you had such a hard time in the past....Hope we not offend..I have had some experiences with being drunk that I would rather not remember and now I perfer to drink alone because of it..but all I going to say on dat subject.

Never mix pepermint snops with beer!!! I barfed while trying to clean up my barf. I remember the hostess of the house telling me I didn't have to clean it up ( as the more I cleaned the more I got sick) I refused I said I hated it when drunks threw up in my house and didn't clean it. I vagely remember her handing me a trash can to drag along with me so I would get finised before every one else sobered up!! That was more years ago than I care,to remember.

Many ADDers have alcohol problems as well as other past addiction problems. I did not fit in to any of the above catagories on the alcohol, but I do have a past with other substances not mentioned. :p

Tammy

Oh My Goodness.....I not exactly stuck to just the booze myself....I have even gotten sick on those quite a few times.YIKES wheh de body says no more It's NO MORE!!!!!!!!!!!!! Blargh :eek:

This thread is headed down a road I'm not very comfortable with. Laughing at the good old days rubs me the wrong way. They weren't good old days for me at all. Of course I didn't find that out until years later when I was well into a program of recovery.

Marvaling at the miserable quality or quantity of abuse and/or the stupidity of what I did while still in the problem is fine but maybe not appropriate for a support thread for people trying to get free of some of the crap that substance abuse brings.

If it relates somehow to ADD/ADHD or you think somehow we can help others with this line of discussion please do so but I would prefer if you took this discussion to pm or modified it to suit those trying to recover.

As a general rule of thumb I try to tell what it was like, what happened and what it's like now. This tends to draw out a focus on change without missing a clear perspective on my past or my goals for the future. If I think I'm staying in one place I'm probably sliding backward without me knowing. Been there done that.

meadd823 & melanie_cartner -
I don't know how to say it any other way. I don't mean to be offencive, demeaning or in any way discouraging but I do not like drunk-a-logs, even if it's some other substance that is the subject.

If you have questions or comments or just think I'm full of bologna please post back. Anyone here is welcome to comment so please do. I'd appreciate the feedback. I'm not done learning or making mistakes. Please give me the benefit of your response if you can.

If anyone would like to comment I would encourage you to create a thread with an appropriate topic and "have at it".

Please forgive my old fogy ways. I am only trying to help.
Ian of the "I bore easily" camp. Ian.

I applogize, Ian, And You are right we are going of a little off topic with remembering the not so good ole days..but somewhat of example of how we were and how like all adhd ppl we go to the extremes and find out just how far we can take things then and how wiser we have become now..One way I can relate to staying on topic. I mean in no way to offend you, sweetie.

No worries Melly. No need to apologise.

I sure would like to hear how it is that you are coping with this stuff and what tools you are finding useful or not.

Coping is a big game. I'm still playing but whoa some days.. ;^)
Cheers! Ian.

I use the MD method.....Mental Disapline(spellin) I remind myself that drinking kills brain cells and Being ADHD/Bipolar I need my medicine to work to help my brain to cope not booze to destroy what I am working so hard to do...it's easier not having the means to get it and not having it around me...the test (like I said before) is having it there infront of me ....Free!

I didn't have much luck in the long term with the MD method. Glad to hear it's working for you.
Cheers!

It helps cause I have a mother constantly looking over my shoulder cause she knows I like to get drunk as well and reminding me constantly why it bad idea.

I didn't vote, as I am an impulse drinker, just once in awhile.
I guess I have never been an alky. But I drank a lot in my teens and twenties.
I suffer for days afterwards, low energy, get sick. I have a lot of foul phlem.
(gross yah?) This happens even with 1 or 2 drinks.
I have always felt great when drinking as long as it is continuous and I don't mix too much. I rarely got drunk, could outdrink the big guys. But the sacrifice of my vitality was just too much. I slowed way down on my drinking a few years before pregnancy. And after that I have hardly drank as I have a very hyper child. (got to stay on top of things)
I thank my child.
Occasionally I drink a lot a few times a year, but it is getting less. Right now I have a bunch of bear and wine in the kitchen, left over from a party a month or so ago. Other people brought it. I drank only a glass of vino. I am always tempted as I am free of anxieties during the drinks, but know too well the price. Plus I become very promiscuous. Oh and nowdays my fingers get drunk before the rest of me. Not good for musicians.
If it wasn't for my week constitution I would be an alky. So there is something good about my tendency to catch everything.

Yeah I confess!!! I jumped off the wagon myself a while back and this time did not know when to say when with 150% Vodka straight.....worst experience ever..OMG I have jumped back on wagon w/ both feet.

Maybe you should be sure this "wagon" comes equipt with straps. Temptation and ADD mix like sugar and water. I don't have the drinking temptation as much as I have the promiscuous problem. Too bad I can't have that problem only when I drink, of coarse let me get tipsy and I go from promiscuous from down right nepho. Guess one addiction just makes all the other addictions more intense!!!???

Kinda true..when I am drinking I want to smoke more...Promiscuous is not a problem for me anymore...too many ***holes cured me of that :rolleyes:

Ok, I answered "never touch the stuff", because that's the closest answer for me... but, really, I'll have 1 or 2 if I'm on a night out, or more if it's a night in. :) I like both the taste and the effect of being a little drunk. I don't get stupidly drunk unless I'm involved in playing drinking games. :D

I had a very heavy alcoholic period about ten years ago. Vodka. I was a very anti-social drinker. I never went to bars. I always drank alone at home. This didn't affect anyone but me because I haven't been married since 1989 and I have no kids. I feel my chronic symptoms of ADD and dysthymic type depression contributed to the progression of my relationship to alcohol.

Before getting legitimate treatment here in the USA I went to Tijuana in 1999 where I could buy Ritalin over the counter. I was still relapsing with the drinking. I had done the AA route and it wasn't working. I'm a stubborn intellectual and an atheist. I tired of the repetitious meetings and the basic philosophy of "believing" in something to get rid of the disease. I looked my drinking as a mysterious physiological malfunction of the brain. Getting drunk alone in my pad was relief from this feeling of being absolutely alive without purpose or anything to look forward to.

I would relapse after two weeks to two months of sobriety. I could never get more than that. I would get healthy. I would feel happier because I would detox totally. Then I would start to feel depressed and bored and inattentive and purposeless, behind the sobriety. And the meetings did nothing about this. And I would buy a bottle of vodka and it would be on again. I could "function" drinking about a fifth of vod a day, mostly at night, with a little in the morning to take the hangover anxiety away. I would drink like this for maybe a month. Then I would just be feeling so sick all the time, shaky, acidy stomach, blotchy and puffy in the face, I would somehow stop. This was my pattern.

I read about antabuse at some point. The drug you take that causes your liver to not metabolize alcohol. If you don't drink, it has no effect. Zero. If you drink, though, you get very very sick.

The reason I would relapse was basically because once I got healthy again after a run, my mind allowed drinking back in as an option. Because the sick feeling wouldn't come for a couple weeks. Knowing how I would feel two weeks later after buying some booze on a given night was not a deterrent. Not enough of one.

I bought antabuse in Tijuana and started taking it. I have never drank since. I take it every two or three days. Knowing that drinking at all will make me sick immediately is the deterrent I needed. Psychologically it works for me. It never occurs to me to test it, see how much I can drink before I get sick.

I go to bars all the time now. I love bars. But I don't drink. I can't. And since I never went to bars when I drank, I don't associate bars with drinking. There is no connection between the two. I am able to now go out and socialize in clubs and bars because I don't drink, which probably sounds weird. If was drinking again, I wouldn't leave my bedroom.

If you are intellectual and more or less agnostic and a rationalist and also having a problem with alcohol, you might want to consider antabuse. The moment I took it, the option to drink left my head.

If your drinking is lonely guy drinking like mine was, that is another reason why it might work. If you drink in bars and it's heavily associated with social activity, it might not work.

If you hate drinking and every relapse is a stay by yourself shame experience and you're doing it secretly, antabuse will probably work.

If you truly love drinking and you're always with people when you start, and you end up sloppy or even in a blackout or wake up naked in bed with someone you don't remember meeting, it probably won't.

I used to drink heavily, and was dang good at it to...now I'm sober. Don't intend to touch it again, for a whole slew of reasons. I actually quit for spiritual purposes, not because it bothered me.

I never really bothered to take stock in what effect it had on my ADD...it had a definite effect on my anxiety.

Good info DB. Thanks.
ian

So it's a Mind Over matter Kinda enhancer? Pardon Em Moi if I seem DOY!

I never understood how people could laugh about the time they were drunk. Almost every drunkin episode I has was a complete disaster. Oh, let me count the ways:
1. having fight with my best friends boyfriend
2. hitting my best friend
3. car accident
4. DWI
5. Fighting with other friends
6. Putting myself in dangerous situations
7. being sick for days at a time
8. Sitting at light and wondering how i got there.
9. Black outs
10. Embarrassing my self, friends, and family many times over

I HATTED THE WAY I WAS WHEN I WAS DRUNK. I JUST DO NOT REMEMBER ANY GOOD TIMES WHILE DRINKNG. Just the tought of it gives me the chills. I no longer enjoy the feeling of not having total control. Yes, I still have a glass of wine from time to time but, even doing that scares me. I do not miss those days at all. :o

In a way I happen to agree with you, cause many a time I have had bad experience with drinking...especially my last time I got drunk...Just didn;t know when to say when...But I can live my life with for my short comings or laugh and chuck it up to experience....Not laughing at the horrible time I had...but laughing at myself for being so silly....It beats being Pi**ed off at myself..now I can be mad sometimes If I repeat a mistake. But yes I do see yer point....

I am sorry you had such a terrible experiences with it....I guess some have different reactions to drinking....but I had experiences just as bad with other forms of substance I rather not repeat that have taught me valuable lesson to stay de hell away from it.....I would be scared to do such a thing again but I think glass of wine, taken In moderation, is not in anyway as terrifying compared to 5 glasses of straight vodka..:eek: Dayz I'd rather forget. So I'd say you are doing pretty good ;)

Maybe you should be sure this "wagon" comes equipt with straps. Temptation and ADD mix like sugar and water. I don't have the drinking temptation as much as I have the promiscuous problem. Too bad I can't have that problem only when I drink, of coarse let me get tipsy and I go from promiscuous from down right nepho. Guess one addiction just makes all the other addictions more intense!!!???Hi Meadd, I am curious about your statement of having a promiscuous problem. I find that when I take all my meds and or when i drink I do not have any interest in any physical contact. And since I am single consider this to be an added benefit of the meds. Do you have non stop cravings, like someone looking for a high or is this something you do just because? Ask because I have always wished I had strong interest in that area of my life but, I just don't. ;(

I didn't answer the poll because none seemed to fit me. I do tend to drink alot.... I go through periods of drinking what seems like a lot, to hardly drinking at all. My booze of choice is wine, though. Tonight I am on my third glass. It just goes so well with meatballs....:D Some other times I drink nothing but water, and I remember a time a long, long time ago ( I was in my early 20's) when I drank a bottle a night, because, like Draga, I craved the numbness it induced. My life seemed empty (pre-diagnosis era). My parents were getting divorced and I had a boyfriend who was s****ing anything he could on the side. I could not tear myself away from him. If I only knew then what I know now..:o

Pemmy.....3 glasses?? :eek: Tsk tsk...:p Share?

OMG I can't believe someone actually finally answered the first option....Ha Ha!

You're on Draga - our local package store has an endcap where they always run a wine special - fairly decent wines up to 75% off the original price. Hubby just filled my wine rack for me, becaue he played Keno and won.... your place or mine? Or maybe we could meet halfway, and if we ever make it to Nawlins again, I am looking you up, woman....

I Drink wine with my wife, Beer with my son;)
Never to a drunken stupor.

You're on Draga - our local package store has an endcap where they always run a wine special - fairly decent wines up to 75% off the original price. Hubby just filled my wine rack for me, becaue he played Keno and won.... your place or mine? Or maybe we could meet halfway, and if we ever make it to Nawlins again, I am looking you up, woman....

Woohooo We hasta meet in Nawlins...aint no other place like it :D

That's cool ya know when to say when :)

I'm a few days into giving it up, I think it'll work. It's an odd case for me because I rarely drank to sloppy drunk or make a fool of myself & eventually got used to or didn't feel the hangover. I can't drink during the day (I even tried once when I was depressed) I just drank in the evenings & was able to function OK, have more animated conversation with my wife or get into whatever on the computer with little disabling effect until later.

I had begun to embarass myself at social dinners, not because I got sloppy drunk but just at the sheer quantity I'd consume & the fact that I didn't want to stop when everyone else was ready to put the bottle away & have some coffee. My most obvious alcoholic trait is that I could not stop once I got going. I tried just one to three drinks per night & that just left me really unsatisfied, though some day I'd like to think I could do that occasionally.

Anyways it was just a way for me to feel relaxed and comfortable and that was very nice & will be hard to give up. I just decided that at the quantity I was up to every night, it must be bad for me even though I couldn't see any real obvious direct effect. See my other post here 'Intoxication Sucks My Energy Away' for more details.

One good thing about me being on Meds is that i cures me of my alcholism...what can I say I have an addictive nature. When I am addicted to something I always have to go to extreme till I realize something has to change like my drinking.

I was at a point were I went through seven bottles of Bacardi Rum in a month. It wasn't to have a good time like most ppl drink, but carved the numbness of being drunk....life was to hard to deal with and depression was worse and all I wanted to feel was nothing. Dealing with ADHD and Bipolar and PTSD had become too much for me.

I can only be happy that I can recognize when I am going to the extreme at a point and say no more....i still drink but only on special occasions and for different reasons to lossen up a lil.

The meds keep me sober, but now I have to deal with this damn addiction to Pills....sigh at least that is not bad anymore either. Knock on wood that it stays that way.
I am not a drinker for a few reasons:
1.) I am a control freak ... being drunk = not in control.
2.) I have an addictive nature also
3.) My best friend died due to alcohol

I know that I have an addictive type personality, so I steer clear of all drugs (with the exception of Adderall and cigs). I don't take my adderall every day because I am affraid that I will get too hooked. There is no gray area with me - I either go balls-to-the-wall with it or not at all.

*hugs the dwaggy*

I have faith in you Draga. You seem like a strong woman, and with the support you find in these forums - we can help you through those rough spots life likes to slap us with.

*smooches*

I don't know how old you are but age has a way of displaying your drinking habits as moving past a line where what used to be mostly pleasure and a little bit of pain hits the fifty/fifty point then rapidly goes to the other side of the dynamic and it is mostly pain and only a little bit of pleasure.

My drinking was always a drag because I always drank alone in my bedroom and drank about a pint of vodka. It was ritualistic single guy loser bare lightbulb in the center of a water damaged ceiling few sticks of furniture twin bed with a sag and the bedclothes sending puffs of stink spores into already stale air with each butt shift as I upturn the flattish curved bottle of Popov of Kamchatka or Fischer's or some other vicinity of four to five bucks a pop to my mouth...and soon there would be a few drops in the corner of said bottle and I would drop it to the floor and blearily look at the clock, perhaps eight or nine in the evening...and then I would be awake around five-thirty in the morning and yet hugging the false security of my narrow bed and though awake my mind would be sort of distracted and stillborn and anxious...a couple of weeks of this and it would be about this time I would get and go to work but would also get to know which liquor stores were early to open and I would get a half pint on the way and drink about half of that, equivalent of what, three drinks? And I would feel okay but not okay, because I was now round the clock, functional, but round the clock.

A few weeks of this then a few weeks of sobriety, back and forth, back and forth, and then I found antabuse and if you've read my other posts on this part of my history you know that that is what I used (use) to stay out of that cycle.

Funny that something so empty and unpleasant and negatively predictable could be so hard to break away from.

Since being diagnosed and now fairly settled with 20mg of dexedrine a day and some trazodone for the night, all that seems quite far away.

I'm 52 and it took me until 47 to at least discover antabuse as a long term solution to this ugly yin yang of alcohol use. Remarkably, I have none of the usual problems with my health from it, probably because it was never truly "continuous," and the amounts were very controlled. I bought the small bottles literally to control my intake, and never went to bars.

I never drank to be more sociable. I drank to be anti-social, to be okay with being alone, a status I could not seem to end because of the nature of my kind of ADD.

My ADD has kept me cut off from people, kept my world small in terms of number of friends and associations, yet made my imaginary world, the world in my head, many times the size and dimensions of non-ADD people.

Anyway Paul, I hope you stay off it. It always gets worse, never better. You're always thinking about it, regulating it, or thinking you're regulating it, but really, you are simply always watching yourself get slightly worse and more ineffectual, and becoming a master rationalizer of where you are at with the "problem."

It is a substance that is the most available with the least control, totally legal and socially acceptable, and also addictive to at least 30% of all who use it...it is unique in the way it attacks every single organ in the body, makes the mind think everything is okay when the complete opposite is true, is the main factor in violent incidents that often result in death, sends more people to ER facilities with toxic poisoning or the DTs, and the withdrawal of which if not treated with tranquilizers or barbiturates, can be fatal.

Dexedrine has a party "rep" mainly from the 50s and 60s, and seemed as hard to get as legal permission to sniff glue, but you'd have to look long and hard to find as many red flags about it as good old alcohol.

I'm 41 & was always very steady drinking at home with the wife only in the evenings (she didn't drink as much) no ugly sick feeling, just pleasant numbing domestic somnolence once I got used to the hangovers. Certainly it's caught up with me though even though it doesn't seem that bad, it's got to be having an effect.

I am reminded of that song......I drink alone....& I have my reasons why that i wont go into. Hugs Ana.....I have been proud of me lately...all this time I had money to spend and I never once bought any boooze..:D been too busy here.

Hows dat 4 irony LOL

Hey Draga, how do you get all those ribbons and awards or whatever all that stuff is on the right side of your posts?

When do I get mine? Do I have to do 50 posts a day or something?

Where is the healthy answer? I drink about a glass of wine 5 days a week. Too much makes me sick, and Strattera makes me intolerant to alcohol.

That doesn't sound like much and I wouldn't call it a problem. You would know if it's a problem or not, it's not something you really have to wonder about. I'm curious about how Strattera makes you less tolerant to alcohol. What kind of side effects are happening that did not happen before you started on Strattera?

Its interesting, I get nauseous and hotflashes the next morning, and its definatly not hangover cause I never got drunk! and the same thing happens if I take too much tylenol (I have arthritis) so Im thinking my liver? (especially after the liver warnings) Im not sure, Im going to doc on wednesday.

I used to drink alot, a friend had a house mate who did his own home brew moon shine, powerfull stuff. I got kicked out of college alot for being drunk, my tutor would tell me to come back in tomorow when i was sober. I got suspended after a wile because of my substance abuse and told that i would be let in after the holday as long as i saw one of their drug councellours. I did and went to those sessions drunk, i was nervouse mostly of facing the woman and fessing up that i was in a mess so i just went balls to the wall the night before. Another friend of mine had a student house share and i spent alot of time in their basment, wich was set up as the living room, just getting wasted with other people there, and when there was no one else to get wasted with the *^#% it, ill get wasted alone.

Somtimes i miss the life i had, it was ****, i got in alot of trouble, hurt alot of people and caused alot of hassle. Im still paying back the just over 2grand (UK sterling) i owe to the bank for my decisions. On the other hand though i did have alot of fun, when i was wasted, no matter what combination of stuff i was on, i loved it, nothing matterd but that moment wich i wanted to make last forever. Thats what i miss most, that feeling of being care free, I never got that, not when i was a kid, not when i started college, not ever except when i was wasted. I also kind of miss the bad side of it, the running from the cops, the ill feeling i had everymorning, the feeding the stray cad weed crystals. i miss the danger and excitment that i used to have from it.

Ive been dead sober now for just under seven months, i turned 18 last november and will know if i get a college place befor february. I cleaned up in the end because i realised i couldent go on, waking up at 3pm in dingy basments and appartments with damp patches on the ceeling. I just had a moment of clarity i guess you could call it. I mooved to australia with my family after i patched things up with them, it turned out to be somwhat a blessing, all the visas came through at just the right time and we came out. If i get caught using any hard drugs or commiting majour crime then ill be deported beck to england, wich i dont want, and that helps me stay sober and normal. Coming to australia forced me out of the circles i was in and wilst i find it very hard somtimes to try and intigrate into this new culture it is slowly hapening. I can also look back now, and think '%(*! i cant beleve i had become that unstable'. It scres me just how much of a mess i was in, a part of me know i was in trouble but the other part of me said that alchol and meth would sort out any problem. Now i have somthing to gauge against, if i ever get close to how i was ill end it there and then. Ive sworn not ever again and its one promis i plan to keep.

Somtimes i miss the life i had, it was ****, i got in alot of trouble, hurt alot of people and caused alot of hassle. Im still paying back the just over 2grand (UK sterling) i owe to the bank for my decisions. On the other hand though i did have alot of fun, when i was wasted, no matter what combination of stuff i was on, i loved it, nothing matterd but that moment wich i wanted to make last forever. Thats what i miss most, that feeling of being care free, I never got that, not when i was a kid, not when i started college, not ever except when i was wasted. I also kind of miss the bad side of it, the running from the cops, the ill feeling i had everymorning, the feeding the stray cad weed crystals. i miss the danger and excitment that i used to have from it.

I can soooo totally relate to that part....I miss the feeling of depression just lifting away at the instant of a Buzz and for those moments of insobriety I didn't have a care in the world. But yeah...like you I still won't go back to drinking hard core like I used too......even though I did not realize it at the time, I was making more problems than solving them. Good Luck stick'n to it. :)

When I take my medication I can have a mixed drink or two and stop there. But when I don't take my medication I remember the same drink or two then three, six... after six mixed drinks well no more memory. I am good about taking my medication..sence my boy friend has experienced me drunk (he is 10 yrs sober) he makes sure I take my meds. He hates baby sitting..I am a friendly drunk----. according to him I am WAY TOO FRIENDLY when I drink more than two... I don't to beer (UCK) nor wine/champane (Head aches Ugg)

This is an interesting thread. I agree that if you think you might have a problem, then you probably do.

I pretty much drank every day from the day I started college to the end of last year (18 years). I did stop for a year or so, thinking that my problems concentrating and getting things done were due to alcohol. I was dismayed to discover that they actually got a little worse when I stopped drinking so I started again, even heavier. I quit again at the beginning of this year, knowing that I still had problems that were unaccounted for. Nevertheless, I knew that I could not drink in moderation and I could choose to continue drinking heavily or quit completely. This pattern runs through both sides of my family, as well.

Being sober allowed me to finally ask the right questions when my marriage started collapsing. I finally took action to get to the root of my problems and discovered that I had been suffering from the bad aspects of ADD for most of my life. It will take a lot of effort and time to get things sorted out but there is no way that I could have made any progress if I was still drinking.

I still miss it at times and I did have some fun times while drunk. I also did some really dumb things that could have had horrible consequences. I don't mean to sound preachy. Drinking responsibly in moderation is OK by me. It's just not something I can do.

thinking that my problems concentrating and getting things done were due to alcohol. I was dismayed to discover that they actually got a little worse when I stopped drinking so I started again, even heavier. I quit again at the beginning of this year, knowing that I still had problems that were unaccounted for.


(I had a similar problem. I used to use drugs and alcohol, especially "speed" and pot. I was going to school during my party days, despite my partying and my lack of formal schoolinh I was able to pull down 3.5 gpa and graduated with third highest gpa. Year or so after of soberity I tried to return to school to further my career and I struggled through refresher and remidal coarses. I was bewildered, aint your brain supposed to work better??? I was unable to understan until I was diagnosed with ADHD. WALA the light bulb came on. I was self medicating, I was even using a simular chemicals now used to treat my ADHD!!!! Mariatial problems do tend to got down the tubes in the party life style.

It will take a lot of effort and time to get things sorted out but there is no way that I could have made any progress if I was still drinking.

Yes effort especially in the begining. You are right you would have not made it as far as long as you were self medicating. Had I not sought help when soberity didn't work like it was supposed to that I sought a professional opnion. My medications help me in may ways oddly enough I don't seem to have the addiction problems I worried about. I know I am not addicted to the medications because I am addicted to nicotine and never forget to smoke. I forget to take my medications all the time some time I just decide I want to be ADHD today. I also have educated myself about my condition and do behavior modification. Keep up the good work!!! It does pay off!! :D

So, I'm sitting here drinking my Vanilla coke with a shot of Bacardi 151 in it wondering if anyone else has brought this up in the 8 pages of posts:

There isn't an option for those who drink once in a while just the two extremes.

So, I wasn't able to vote and see the poll results. Which would be interesting to know the results of to see what percentage of voters have the ADD disorder and the alcoholism disease.



And yes, believe it or not room temperature Vanilla Coke and Bacardi 151 taste pretty good together... :p

HMmm did not think about that @ the time

HMmm did not think about that @ the time
Leave it to me to come in and stir up the pot once it has been simmering for a while! :rolleyes:

ROFL no problem....good idea @ though

There isn't an option for those who drink once in a while just the two extremes.


Good point. There wasn't an option for those who had problems going over board before threating thier ADD but are able to keep it to one or two drinks with ADD education/treatment. I didn't expect that one. I am odd always have been getting used to it though ;)

Too drunk to answer that right now*BARF* has got 3 replies omg hehe

Who goes to an ADD/ADHD forum drunk?? Think they might have ADD????

Hmmmmm? could be :p

You left off any category for people who drink in moderation. I used to drink like it was my job, but then having a job, kids, etc. really cuts into the time you can spend doing that kind of stuff, not to mention the hangovers are much more brutal in your 30's than they were in your 20's. I still love to have a beer in the evening, but I'm usually to tired to follow it up with a second.

Yikes.. heheh a moderate! How refreshing! :D

I have been a moderate for nearly a year now, after thinking there was only two speeds for nearly 15 years. Treating my ADHD addressed many many things.
Cheers! Ian.

Scary stuff in this thread.
This poll doesn't have room for the mainstream.
I don't think for a moment that drinking and ADHD are connected.This is surprising for me. I am not diagnosed and have a meet with a psychiatrist soon. I take no medication at the moment. Sometimes I feel so stressed out, frustrated at the way I am (i.e. impulsive, indescicive, don't know if i'm going backwards or forwards) that i feel i have to vent or implode! I used to self harm years ago and maybe this was when i was experiencing these feelings. These days, although I know alcohol does not agree with me, I tend to have some. It's legal (I cannot smoke pot as it makes me paranoid stopped taking it years ago) and other drugs I've used in the past make me suffer a tremendous comedown and as a mother my life is difficult enough without my lassie having a sleepy/zonked head mum. In saying that, hangovers are no better as although sometimes i can have one or two drinks, when i am drunk i do a jekyl n hyde thang. I wouldn't say i'm an alcoholic. I drink two nights a week on average, getting drunk once a month, then two weeks later, then six weeks later, then two months later, then three weeks depending on how long it takes me to get over the shame & consequences of the last time. Oh! There's always the consequences eh - lol!

I would prefer not to feel so frustrated at my failure of performing basic tasks (my memory is apalling) on a daily basis and therefore drinking to alleviate the stress which can cause me physical pain. Hopefully being treated for add means more balance in my life = less stress = recognising danger signs = not needing to self-medicate with alcohol. I don't even like the taste (except Laphroaig which should only be taken after reaching the peak of a munro from a sterling silver hip flask.) yum.

I think drinking and add are connected in some situations. That is if in fact I am add. Yet to receive diagnosis.

All kinds of self care issues are tied up with ADD for me.. I've manged to get around the majority of them. This place has helped.
Ian.

I couldn't do your poll because I don't fit into any of them. But I have always self-medicated to one degree or the other. In my mid-teens to early twenties alot. Mostly speed and alcohol. Tried other things too. Pot was awful made me quite paranoid!! Loved downers but doesn't mix very well with the alcohol. The best was MDA(a mix of morphine,dexadrine&acid). Therewas never a lot of the acid mixed in but the feeling of the dexadrine and the morphine was nirvana!! It was the same with the speed and the alcohol. It kept you alert and focused but calmed the boredom, confusion and that vague feeling of never not quite belonging but not knowing why??!!

Anyways now at the age of 50 and being dx with anxiety,frustation(depression),Fibro,and now ADD-Inattentive it starts to make sense. Even on my ADD meds I still at times get the heavy boredom so I want to go out and see friends and tilt a few Yukons to feel numb. Its not an everyday occurance but maybe 2x a week. I might have a drink at home but thats rare and far between.

I have tried the SSRI's and they don't work with negative side effects. The only anti-anxiety that somewhat works is Buspar. I just tried Ritalin and that was not good; became very impulsive,irritable and wouldn't shut up.......

When my kids were little I didn't drink for 8 years but then the anxiety and foggyness zoomed. I even became Agoraphobic for a couple years.

I believe if I could get rid of that boredom and restlessness the drinking would vanish but so far nothing has helped. If you saw my house you'd probably ask how can she be bored??? Between my critters( Lab, cat, & Iquana) plus the family I could be cleaning constantly plus all of little piles of mail, clothes,....... but that only develops my procrastinaton skills more...

Life is Something Else:rolleyes:

jlauren

I picked "Shadup and get me a beer *BURP*!" only because i am not at the vomiting point and I rarely am. I drink. I drink more than I should. I was clean from all drugs from 20 -25. Most miserable time of my life. I drink every few days. I don't get drunk, but I think I have a high tolerance for alcohol right now. I am hoping to hit the other side soon and have no tolerance. Then I could be a cheap drunk.

I don't drive when drinking, so I harm no one. I do want to become a social type drinker. BUt I am afraid of failure.

Just to be clear, the notion that hard drinking is something that only hurts the drinker is mistaken. I know you were referring to driving emwel and this comment is not directed at you specifically.

Problem drinking is a famliy disease and effects many more than the drinker. My family still shows the scars of my decent into that hell. I was lucky to escape, so far.
Cheers! Ian.

im with Ian on this one.

You are correct. Now that you mention my drinking does affect my husband. He is affected becasue he worries about me.

I abused alcohol for many years ,at first it was only a weekend thing than years later a daily thing and always to get drunk ,I don't know what a pleasant euphoria from a couple means .I went to a buddies home to spend the weekend getting drunk and stayed drunk for 2 and half days and then my kidneys hurt for a week ,I stayed away for maybe a month and tested the water again and same thing ,stayed sober for 7 yr.s and then my wife left me and I tried to ease my pain once more and my kidneys hurt again ,so this much I know -I cannot drink alcohol .period ,I want to live .I've drank my share already .

Addiction is always about repeatedly looking for a different answer to a question you already know the answer to.

Addiction is always about repeatedly looking for a different answer to a question you already know the answer to.
Either I've had too much Kahlua or what you just said makes no sense at all.....or is this like hitchikers guide to the galaxy where you know the answer to life the universe and everything is 42....but what is the real question?

Either I've had too much Kahlua or what you just said makes no sense at all.....or is this like hitchikers guide to the galaxy where you know the answer to life the universe and everything is 42....but what is the real question?
Ok how about this one.
My definition of insanity is to do the same thing over and over again and each time expect the results are going to be different. :eyebrow:

You beat me to it Ian. I was going to leave the definiton of insanity. :)

Love the sig you have. :D

Either I've had too much Kahlua or what you just said makes no sense at all.....or is this like hitchikers guide to the galaxy where you know the answer to life the universe and everything is 42....but what is the real question?

Well the real question is how does your mind deny that you are developing an addictive relationship with something, that's all. When I was boozing heavily night after night, I kept looking for something positive about it--or a different "answer" to the almost rhetorical question, is drinking something I should give up?

In the beginning the fun part of it was 90% and the bad part of it was 10%. After I turned 40, it seemed like it turned completely the opposite. Drinking was by then only about relieving the symptoms that drinking was causing: the shakes, horrible anxiety, indigestion, and generally feeling half-sick all the time.

Sorry if I was trying to sound too profound or quotable or whatever. It just sounded good when it came to me, so I posted it.

Well the real question is how does your mind deny that you are developing an addictive relationship with something, that's all.

When in A.A. I hear that becoming addicted to some thing is when you cross an invisable line between drinking socially as a habbit and drinking out of addiction. It's invisible which is why we don't see it when we cross it.

Now to me like you mentioned when I have to take a substance in to prevent myself from going into with draws then the fact I have crossed the line from routine social habbit becomes apparent. Unfortunitly we don't see we are becoming addicted BEFORE we are addicted only afterwards other wise there would be NO ADDICTIONS!!!!!

Speaking as one who has been there, it's fun to think up catchy phrases to sum up the problem of addiction in some aphoristic, punchy way, but it's very complex, a specific subset of the general obsessive/compulsive category of mental disorders. The problem that I see socially is our tendency to unconditionally hold the addict or alcoholic morally responsible for the behavior that results from it. In the case of addiction to illegal drugs, we have no problem with the duality of labeling the disorder both medical in nature and criminal if caught.

I am so tired of this basic hypocrisy, the uncompassionate hunting down and incarceration of people who can't choose to not do what they do if they wanted to, I've lost the will to debate it any more. Certain cruelties and the laws that support them, once in place, are impossible to get rid of.

Go man go.

douglasbrooker - No need to apologize. It sounded good to me to.

Thank you Ian, if you were referring to my signature. Laughter is what keeps me sane. I also heard that one of the top ten favorite things people liked about ADD was the sense of humor.

Thanks. But honestly I try to be careful about what I say more often. Opinions are so easy to form, so easy to believe, an intellectual shorthand that pretends it is backed up by hard research and data, when they are never based on anything but prejudice.

Thanks a lot Douglas. I have been reminded of my old school days enough already :p Your description of opinions reminds me of a time when my English teacher told me my opinion of a poem was wrong. I had some of the class defending my opinion. Or at least the fact that my opinion can not be wrong.

Opinions are so easy to form, so easy to believe, an intellectual shorthand that pretends it is backed up by hard research and data, when they are never based on anything but prejudice. Now I am confused. I must look opinion up in the dictionary. Is it not possible to have an opinion based on fact and research. My husband gave me his opinion of what the weather will be like this weekend. His opinion is based on hard research.

I just feel the need to debate. Hope you don't mind. I am an amateur. :p

You can argue the point endlessly as a philosophical question. I'm relating it more specifically to how public opinion, fanned white hot by political fear tactics, opinion based largely on false presumptions, result in laws that ruin lives. Such as 19th century England, when homosexuality was "illegal." Or the USA today where smoking marijuana will put you in prison but being a wealthy alcoholic will get you Betty Ford. I did 21 months in Federal Prison for marijuana, which I think is ridiculous. But that's just my opinion, isn't it...

I just feel the need to debate. Hope you don't mind. I am an amateur

USA today where smoking marijuana will put you in prison but being a wealthy alcoholic will get you Betty Ford. I did 21 months in Federal Prison for marijuana, which I think is ridiculous. But that's just my opinion, isn't it...


Hey guys we do have a debate forum on this site!!!!! A place where a good oppistional discussion is considered a welcome event!!!!!!!

The hyper link to the information is the blue click here below!!!!!!! We could use some hot topics, legalizing marjuana would be cool!!!!!

Tammy made me giggle and douglas made me cringe. 21 months for mary jane. You get less for beating your wife. I wasn't really planning on debating much of anything. Douglas had good vibes and i wanted to keep chatting with him. ;) I may have to check out that debate forum. Legalizing marijuana is a better idea than you might have thought. Legalizing it has many values not counting saving someone 21 months of their life. Ooooops maybe I do want to debate a bit. :D :p

No no we don't want to get into inappropriate channels, got to keep this thread on the straight and narrow, i don't see anybody else digressing, we're all on meds after all, should be able to focus, stay on track, so anyway, uh, yeah, where was I, yeah, 21 months for Mary Jane, 60 kilos hidden under the back seat and in the bumpers at the Tijuana bumper, guess they didn't believe me on the "personal use" explanation, but it was true! ...60 kilos of that compared to any backroom in a liquor store though, what's the dif...?

Legalizing marijuana is a better idea than you might have thought. Legalizing it has many values not counting saving someone 21 months of their life. Ooooops maybe I do want to debate a bit.


I also pupport the legelization of marjuana myself I was offering dabate as an option as many do not know there is a section here especially set aside for debate.

In true debate neither party actually becomes angry at the party holding an opposing perspective. The discussion may get heated however the person behind the discussion should not be personally attacked. Some times a difficult line to draw.

So far I have had several heated discussion with other members in gereral post and on the debate forums however all but a rare few have no problems with me as a person. I can be down right oppositional over the topic but I am able to respect folks with opposing perspectives. I find most of my fellow members capible of the same respect toward me. Yea occasionally some one will get mad at me as a person and "flame" me but this is a ADD message board by the time we meet again seldom is the anger remembered!!!!!!!

21 months and a record sucks but 60 kilos is alot of pot!!!!!! I do think pot is less physically addicting compared to alcohol. I do not have sceintific data only personal experience to guild me to this conclusion. I also believe the feds could use resources to stop the flow of harder more dangerious drugs if marjuana were made legal here in the States.

Now, what was this thread about? LOL Oh Yes drinking and burping. I noticed the debate forum is a special forum. I will have to inquire aout it. I don't want to continue a marijuana debate in a "drinking" forum. Has this subject already been debated here???? 60 kilos is alot, but I understand the personal use defense. Too bad it doesn't work.:cool:

I have been drinking a lot less than a month ago. I don't know why, but I think it had to do with a new type of therapy I began. I have more crap on my plate than ADD. I wish all the initials after my name would get me a better paying job. :p

Bye, I have a resentment thread to start.... somewhere....

While I'm not allowed to talk about my personal views on illegal substances, I will, allow y'all know, that I like to have a few vodka rocks...several times, weekly.
I couldn't vote, because none of the options, were applicable, to me.
I used to drink Jack...which was disasterous, in my opinion... it worked as far as the fun, numbing aspect, I needed, back then. But I was going out, and interacting with other humans, at the time. It doesn't do the same thing anymore, since I'm more alone, than with others, and I stopped drinking it.
My coloring book of life, is subjective, to my own perception on the definition of what is 'drinking way too much'...and is compassionate to how other's color in their own book...
Nova