other ways to get hammered

[GreenLight]

Now that i am almost 5 months sober after i realized that my alcohol consumption became a problem for my well being.

I haven't yet arrived to the conclusion that i should quit for good but hopefully i will decide to do so soon.

I wondered if there any other ways to get a feel good spike or maybe even deprogram myself from wanting a kick?

I have to mention that i got pain in my body and migraine. Alcohol was a stupid way to self medicate that i learned from my culture. Now i have got a short term paracetamol-codein prescription. It is way better than alcohol as it reduces the pain but doesn't get me out of my mind. I do not know if i ever get it prescribed again so maybe there is other solutions.

I have tried to feel good by doing the keto diet. I've read here on the forum that the reason i feel good is the stress hormone from the adrenal glands. In that sense it is not a long-term solution. Also tried a clean Vegan diet twice but always got a good amount of weight gain from that.

I am doing workout 3 times a week and eating normally. I automatically consume caffeine to surpress my nervous system to avoid the pain. I didn't realize that my mental/physical pain was so chronic until i tested the paracetamol-codein blend.

 

[GreenLight]

Maybe " other ways to deal with pain" would be more suitable title 

[Nomad13]

Look into noble kava root powder (not the pills). Messy to make and taste like drinking earthy plant roots, but has a nice easy, relaxing feel.

[The0Self]

I'm assuming you haven't been sticking to daily meditation practice. It can and will lead to states that make crack seem like a sugar high.

[GreenLight]

10 hours ago, Nomad13 said:

Look into noble kava root powder (not the pills). Messy to make and taste like drinking earthy plant roots, but has a nice easy, relaxing feel.

Okay, I think i have it already. Is it called Ashwagandha?

10 hours ago, The0Self said:

I'm assuming you haven't been sticking to daily meditation practice. It can and will lead to states that make crack seem like a sugar high.

At this point no, it comes and goes. Sometimes i can do over an hour  and sometimes like 3 minutes max. At this point i have not much interest in meditation or spirituality. Just trying to change my medication habits for my pain seems optimal at this point.

[Espaim]

Caffeine helps with your pain and you "automatically" consume it. Have you considered that it could also be causing it? Messing with your sleep and preventing it from being deep, restful and restorative?

The high-seeking behavior could be due to the stress it's causing you.

Of all the substance addictions, it's the sneakiest. Almost everyone will look over it when searching for problems. Doctors included.

Edited April 11, 2021 by Espaim

[Michael569]

It is possible that the alcohol itself is what was causing the migraine in the first place, progressive damage to the liver, impaired detoxification and more migraines as a result of that which you "self-medicated" by alcohol giving you even more headaches. Does that kind make sense? 

On 10/04/2021 at 10:07 AM, GreenLight said:

I automatically consume caffeine to surpress my nervous system to avoid the pain. I didn't realize that my mental/physical pain was so chronic until i tested the paracetamol-codein blend.

you gotta get to the root cause of this not suppress it. Both paracetamol and caffeine could be driving your headaches. Caffeing is a common cause of headaches and paracetamol (over long term) will harm your liver, depriving you of effective detoxification -> more headaches as toxins get reabsorbed. 

+ it may also be worth exploring gut health, after years of alcohol abuse, gut permeability could be suspected, another driver of headaches 

See your doctor, get some testing done, potentially even brain MRI if you can get it. Make sure you don't ignore pain in the head or try to suppress it endlessly, it will catch up with you. 

[Nomad13]

14 hours ago, GreenLight said:

Okay, I think i have it already. Is it called Ashwagandha?

No. Ashwagandha is similarly purported to reduce anxiety and stress, but I didn't notice this benefit. I also bought some kava kava pills off Amazon and did not notice this effect either.

Noble Kava powder on an empty stomach provides me a similar buzz to alcohol. Kava would be more for the social inhibition features of alcohol. It is not as strong as alcohol so it would work well for chilling at the house after a day of work, but less well for going out to the club and hitting on the honeys.

Kava is a good alternative to alcohol and like alcohol it puts a stress on your liver. So, don't combine it with alcohol or consume it if you already have a damaged liver or combine with other liver stressing drugs like Paracetamol.

Paracetamol can cause liver damage at high doses, or when it’s combined with other substances that affect the liver, like alcohol.

 

 

[JohnnyAb]

On 10/04/2021 at 0:40 PM, GreenLight said:

Maybe " other ways to deal with pain" would be more suitable title 

Smoke a joint dude

[GreenLight]

9 hours ago, Espaim said:

Caffeine helps with your pain and you "automatically" consume it. Have you considered that it could also be causing it? Messing with your sleep and preventing it from being deep, restful and restorative?

The high-seeking behavior could be due to the stress it's causing you.

Of all the substance addictions, it's the sneakiest. Almost everyone will look over it when searching for problems. Doctors included.

Ok, i always wondered if my caffeine consumption has a harming effect. Probably will try out a month without it to see how I feel. That only after my coffee subscription runs out. 

1 hour ago, JohnnyAb said:

Smoke a joint dude

Tried it out, it created permenantly some jumping effect in my eye vision since last year. Not touching it again.

3 hours ago, Michael569 said:

It is possible that the alcohol itself is what was causing the migraine in the first place, progressive damage to the liver, impaired detoxification and more migraines as a result of that which you "self-medicated" by alcohol giving you even more headaches. Does that kind make sense? 

you gotta get to the root cause of this not suppress it. Both paracetamol and caffeine could be driving your headaches. Caffeing is a common cause of headaches and paracetamol (over long term) will harm your liver, depriving you of effective detoxification -> more headaches as toxins get reabsorbed. 

+ it may also be worth exploring gut health, after years of alcohol abuse, gut permeability could be suspected, another driver of headaches 

See your doctor, get some testing done, potentially even brain MRI if you can get it. Make sure you don't ignore pain in the head or try to suppress it endlessly, it will catch up with you. 

Yeah, fortunately i used paracetamol for a short time. Probably something to do with the stomach as it also hurts there. I did some deep gut healing a few years ago and probably will do another procedure. My doctor talks about doing an mri test but that will be later if the symptoms will persist. 

2 hours ago, Nomad13 said:

No. Ashwagandha is similarly purported to reduce anxiety and stress, but I didn't notice this benefit. I also bought some kava kava pills off Amazon and did not notice this effect either.

Noble Kava powder on an empty stomach provides me a similar buzz to alcohol. Kava would be more for the social inhibition features of alcohol. It is not as strong as alcohol so it would work well for chilling at the house after a day of work, but less well for going out to the club and hitting on the honeys.

Kava is a good alternative to alcohol and like alcohol it puts a stress on your liver. So, don't combine it with alcohol or consume it if you already have a damaged liver or combine with other liver stressing drugs like Paracetamol.

Paracetamol can cause liver damage at high doses, or when it’s combined with other substances that affect the liver, like alcohol.

 

Ok, i will look into Kava and see what I can do. Paracetamol is a short term solution at this moment. Yes, i know that  paracetamol use with alcohol is harmful.

[perlita]

I quit drinking with CBD. About 20 mg feels like a good fat glass of wine, yet there is no drop in energy, no hangover and I am still able to work/read if I need to. She pretty much describes my experience ->

 

[GreenLight]

9 hours ago, perlita said:

I quit drinking with CBD. About 20 mg feels like a good fat glass of wine, yet there is no drop in energy, no hangover and I am still able to work/read if I need to. She pretty much describes my experience ->

 

That interesting. This seems like a very good idea. Thanks for sharing!

[Michal__]

For me, when I make serious spiritual progress a lot of my destructive habits disappear...

I can still get drunk, high etc.. it's just that when I walk past a tobbaco store there's no "pull", unlike in the past where not buying anything wasn't an option.

[The0Self]

Interesting. I basically don't feel anything from CBD. A bit of relaxation and tiredness, but very subtle. Certainly no recreational effects whatsoever.