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Posted
1 hour ago, Vegas64 said:

Alright then I'll defer to you on this but I've definitely heard it said by other folks in addiction that the drug or drink isn't the problem. It's their solution to their problems. It sounded like ztejas was saying that. Regardless I wish you well @ztejas!

It's both. They feed off each other until you start spiraling.

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Posted
2 hours ago, Vegas64 said:

But from my experience (and reading what he said) he has other major problems and booze/drugs is the way he is coping and solving for THOSE underlying problems.

In my experience, alcohol is often the cause of those other problems, and makes any unrelated problems you're experiencing worse. AT BEST, it doesn't help you.

When an alcoholic comes to you asking for help, the first bit of advice you should give is, "Stop drinking."

Posted
7 hours ago, Brian Fantana said:

It's both. They feed off each other until you start spiraling.

Yeah, the truth of it is for most that there is some feeling of inadequacy that drinking helps you forget about.  Then you do stupid shit while you're drunk, which gives you more to feel bad/guilty about, which in turn justifies more drinking or using.  If no other stupid shit, how much and how often you drink.

But, that's a cycle that really anyone can get into and if you drink/use enough, you develop tolerance and withdrawal, making it more difficult to quit.

But, there's still more going on with it than that.  The addict seems to have an abnormally "positive" response to substances and once withdrawn, an abnormally high tendency to revert to substance use.

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Posted (edited)
31 minutes ago, RockyMountainHighHorn said:

Thank you. That’s always appreciated!! Started with being a supplier to the TCU football team during their drug bust and ended with me willingly buying fentanyl as I watched it kill multiple friends in front of me. It’s definitely a confusing place when it gets to there but it becomes survival somewhat. I know I’m lucky to be here, I shouldn’t be and I question why i am lot, but I would stop any day on a dime to help an addict/alcoholic in need so maybe that’s why. That’s why hearing Z and his situation is tough, I would love to help.
I’m shutting up since this isn’t about me but if anyone wants to talk about any of this, just dm me. If you’re in need of help or questioning but don’t know how, dm me.
and @Vegas64 I projected on you a good bit there and that’s my bad. I did not mean to make it seem like all/your opinions are wrong minus mine. You made a fair point and I shouldn’t have downplayed it. My apologies

Interesting about the TCU news.

So, I'm in my early 50s and adopted. I met my birthmother in 1998 (we remain close) while I was getting my Masters at UT.

I never met my birthfather in person (RIP - he passed this past summer), but we spoke on the phone once about 15 years ago. He had two other sons from a different mother, both much younger. The older one attended Rice, while the other went to TCU. The latter was apparently on one of their athletic teams and got caught up in all of that and got busted. I'd first heard about all the brouhaha on Shaggy when it happened, but I had no idea one of my half-brothers was involved when the news broke. I learned about that a few years later, I think from my birthmom. Anyway, I eventually did find his name in an old newspaper article about it and what the charges were, with distribution being one of them, but I don't recall what the drug was or if it was mentioned.

When I spoke to my birthfather, he hadn't told a soul to anyone in his life that I existed so I gave him his privacy.

I've never been in contact with either half-brother, so I don't know the TCU one's side of the story. All I can say is that it looks like charges were dropped against him for whatever reason. I'm pretty sure my birthfather was rich, living in a big house in River Oaks and having inherited an independent oil company from his father, so I don't know what deals may have gone on to get my half-brother out of that mess. By all appearances from what I can tell from what's publicly available on his FB page, the younger half-brother got off scot-free (I think). No idea about his recovery or rehab.

It'd be wild if you knew him. Anyway, I'll just hum a couple of bars of "it's a small world after all" and wish you the best. Keep rockin', good man.

Best to you, too, ztejas.

 

Edited by bolverk
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Posted

@ztejas I think you are an amazing poster. If AA doesn’t work for you there are other options. I know one guy that takes Naltrexone. Be curious, research about it. It holds promise.

Quote

Naltrexone is an opioid antagonist, meaning it blocks the effects of opioids on the brain, including the rewarding effects of alcohol. By blocking these effects, naltrexone can help reduce cravings and the desire to drink

 

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Posted
On 3/25/2025 at 9:22 AM, RockyMountainHighHorn said:

Keep the name. You’re a great poster. Make the change when you want to make it. Have made many great posts. I have 4 years clean from fentanyl and heroin…don’t tell me you can’t stop drinking. You can…

Username used to check out

Posted (edited)
On 3/27/2025 at 6:56 AM, Vegas64 said:

ztejas wants to quit drinking he knows it's not a great solution and causes problems. But from my experience (and reading what he said) he has other major problems and booze/drugs is the way he is coping and solving for THOSE underlying problems. He acknowledges that and until/unless he gets those fundamental problems fixed, "just try quitting drinking again" isn't going to work.

He's drinking to medicate some bigger issues, likely mental ones. So, knowing that, it's not very helpful and might even be discouraging to pile on him for being an alky IMO.

he's not ready to quit yet.  and that's ok.  it takes what it takes and eventually he'll get there.  maybe.

 

On 3/27/2025 at 9:42 AM, Dbeasy said:

The pros from the alcoholics thread should be leading this whole discussion. 

he's been in there many times.

Edited by futureman
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Posted
On 3/27/2025 at 8:56 AM, Vegas64 said:

ztejas wants to quit drinking he knows it's not a great solution and causes problems. But from my experience (and reading what he said) he has other major problems and booze/drugs is the way he is coping and solving for THOSE underlying problems. He acknowledges that and until/unless he gets those fundamental problems fixed, "just try quitting drinking again" isn't going to work.

He's drinking to medicate some bigger issues, likely mental ones. So, knowing that, it's not very helpful and might even be discouraging to pile on him for being an alky IMO.

I'm dual-diagnosis which means I'm an alcoholic for the sake of being an alcoholic but I also suffer from pretty bad generalized anxiety. 

I don't really have "major problems" in that if you take the alcohol away I'm more functional than most people it's just kind of a difficult combo to deal with.

On 3/27/2025 at 11:42 AM, Dbeasy said:

The pros from the alcoholics thread should be leading this whole discussion. 

This isn't an intervention or cry for help this was a fairly aligned community-response to some repeated behaviors of mine that I opted to lean in to.

On 3/27/2025 at 12:00 PM, Celery Man said:

naoto-la-noire-doubt-recreation-v0-0pebp

I meant that I know more about myself than anyone here. Not about alcoholism in general.

50 minutes ago, futureman said:

he's not ready to quit yet.  and that's ok.  it takes what it takes and eventually he'll get there.  maybe.

 

he's been in there many times.

Correct. Although I'd replace "ready" with "willing".

Posted (edited)
17 hours ago, troph said:

@ztejas I think you are an amazing poster. If AA doesn’t work for you there are other options. I know one guy that takes Naltrexone. Be curious, research about it. It holds promise.

 

I’ve had surprising success with patients on semaglutide too, if you are also a fatty

Edited by Hank_Hill
Posted
4 minutes ago, Hank_Hill said:

I’ve had success with patients on semaglutide too, if you are also a fatty

This isn't about a drug being or not being prescribed to me - but I appreciate the suggestions (not really - I hate American healthcare).

I think I'm 190 or so or pushing it right now at 6'3" and feel like a fat piece of shit. Idk. Haven't weighed myself in awhile. 

Posted
8 hours ago, ztejas said:

I meant that I know more about myself than anyone here. Not about alcoholism in general.

I'm obviously joking around in the shag fashion a bit and am not trying to give you the AA talk where you're not specifically looking for it but I'll put on the real voice for a second and just say what I mean - every fucking alcoholic suffers from terminal uniqueness and I believe I told you that you had that problem several years back and if i didn't I apologize because you are still suffering from it now. You don't need a special cure for your special self, you need to do the things that the people who know what to do keep telling you to do. I apologize for doing the thing here where I'm giving you a lecture, I'll stop doing it now outside of threads where it is explicitly appropriate, best of luck buddy.

Posted (edited)
9 hours ago, Hank_Hill said:

I’ve had surprising success with patients on semaglutide too, if you are also a fatty

You know this better than I do but I’ve decreased drinking dramatically over the years and most recently during and after long covid and regardless of what you eat (and drinking often times encourages worse eating habits), alcohol causes weight gain and whole body inflammation. Anything you can do to reduce consumption even reducing moderate or very little consumption is beneficial.  And that’s nothing to do with liver, kidney or addiction or dependency issues at all. 

Edited by troph
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Posted

there’s a difference between alcoholics and problem drinkers.  problem drinkers can taper off and moderate and learn to manage.  alcoholics are ultimately fucked until they fully accept that drinking is never an option and do the things necessary to never drink again.  it’s a daily battle but does become easier over time, depending on one’s actions.  unfortunately getting to that full acceptance can be extremely challenging; not everyone does. 

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