When will it be ok to drink alcohol again??

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Julia, I havent had a drink in month... and sometimes i miss it, but if I never had to drink again, life would still be grand...

I hope you are feeling better...

[Guest [my...]]

A couple of beers would just p**s me off!!!!!!!!!!!!  I'm a recovering alcoholic.  I remember long ago when I would drink the regular size cans of a six or 12 pack or case.  OMG.  anyway then I discovered they came in 24 oz.  I started buying those and the little cans felt like a key chain to me. 

[[ma...]]

Great question.  I've been giving this more thought lately because I love a nice cold Margarita on a hot day. 

 

I don't know how many others experienced this, but I craved alcohol more when I was on a higher dose of benzos.  During this taper I've noticed my taste for it decreasing.  I never drank a lot because I don't like the feeling of being drunk or even close to drunk, but I did enjoy a glass of wine every now and again.  After about a year on Klonopin I actually started craving wine for the first time during the day--really weird.  I only ever drank a glass or two of wine when those cravings hit, but I think it's one of the reasons why I never had to increase my Klonopin dose in six years.  I think I was compensating for the tolerance w/d.  From my experience, it seems that alcohol and benzos really do affect similar areas of the brain.

 

What's really strange though is like another member said, sometimes I can feel tired after some alcohol and sometimes I can have a window so it's confusing.  One thing I know for sure, like FloridaGuy said, beer does not agree with me at all and it actually never did.  I feel lethargic, headachey and nauseous after only a few sips of beer, but I think this could just be me.  I had a doctor tell me once that there's something in the fermentation process with beer that just doesn't agree with some people, but I don't think this has to do with benzos. 

 

As another BB advised, going out and having two drinks of whatever is probably NOT a good idea.  For myself, one Margarita or one glass of wine is enjoyable and enough.  I find I thankfully don't want any more than that.  If I had more I probably wouldn't feel all that good afterwards like having one piece of cake versus two.

 

Like anything I think that worrying about alcohol use can make it more of a problem than it has to be.  No question that for some people alcohol is completely out, but for other people, like Dr. Ashton said, we should be careful with alcohol but not overthink it.  Though when in benzo w/d it's hard to not overthink everything!

 

Mal

[[am...]]

CTing off benzos has taught me nothing if not that I don't need any mind/body altering substance to enjoy life.

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CTing off benzos has taught me nothing if not that I don't need any mind/body altering substance to enjoy life.

 

i couldn't agree more! 

 

i have read it's best not to drink any alcohol for 36 months benzo free.  i am almost 15 months benzo free and am doing great so have no plans to drink EVER. 

 

after going through benzo withdrawal there is no drug out there, including alcohol, that could lure me back into its fold.  no way.  it's just not worth the price.

 

*sips virgin pina colada*

[[as...]]

Hey everyone! i am almost 4 months free and about a month ago I had my first beer (I had not drank in 7-8 months). It really did not effect me in any way other then it seems to drain my energy for the next day or two and I sleep alot. Since then I have been having a couple here and there each weekend. The trick I found, as i am not really drinking it to get drunk more so for socializing and I love the taste is I buy those Budweiser select 55 beers. They are advertised as low carb but not only that is they have half the amount of alcohol in them as a regular beer. So i can drink 4 of them and really only be consuming 2 beers worth of alcohol (I usually only drink 2-3 though) but that way i can enjoy the drinking throughout the evening  without getting drunk or chancing messing anything up!  Also another thing I did during w/d is drank the non alcoholic beers they are actually very good tasting and it was so nice to enjoy the refreshing taste without any consequences!

[[lo...]]

This is a great thread ... I appreciate hearing everyone's input

on drinking.....I am coming up to the end of a LONG taper...

it will be two years end of June. I haven't had a drop of liquior

for two years....drank casually before then. But, boy-o-boy,

does an ice-cold appletini or lemon drop sound great to me!

 

I think moderation is key here ... and waiting a decent chunk

of time after your taper to start testing the waters again. Unless

you are an alcoholic and have to avoid it completely, I see no

reason why we can't enjoy a beverage here and there....as long

as it doesn't make us much worse. Life is short, ya know?

[[Su...]]

Yesterday I drank a 1/2 bottle of Corona with lime...didn't do a thing to me...I'm 9 months off...I just wanted to see how it would make me feel..it was such a small amount.

[[am...]]

I see no

reason why we can't enjoy a beverage here and there....as long

as it doesn't make us much worse. Life is short, ya know?

 

There's only one way to find out, chin chin!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

PS.  Where will the people who are adamant on drinking as soon as possible post their tales of woe and misery if they have a major set back?

 

 

PPS.  I wonder if those who advise against drinking will be allowed to say things such as "told you so" or "serves you right" to the people who drank and got worse (if that happens).  

[[ho...]]

I havent had any alcohol while being on benzos. Bad idea to mix the two. I think if you feel like you want to drink, maybe the brain is telling you to 1. get rehydrated or 2. need sugar.

So just have some OJ or juice and see if that helps.

 

[Guest [...]]

There are virtually no sugars in distilled spirits.

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I want to be respectful of people who have had issues with drinking... I am sorry if my posts seemed very eager. I have had family members with alcohol issues and its' not pretty stopping that too.

For me, I miss the social aspect of it, and I would only drink a couple times a week,  never to the point of getting drunk, just enjoyed the calming aspect of it.

 

But I am holding off until I am far from WD, why take the chance to set myself back when I am so eager to feel better.

 

I'll wait for a pint of beer... it will taste that much better later

[[Cr...]]

Just wanted to share my alcohol and benzo experience.

 

When I was on klonopin my craving for alcohol greatly increased to the point where I would plan my life around my drinking days instead of the other way around.  I won't place all the blame on benzos for turning me into an alcoholic, but I know that they were a factor.  

 

Once I quit klonopin in October of '09 I continued to drink.  At the start of 2010 my drinking ramped up to  4 to 5 24oz cans of 8.9% alcohol beer about 3 nights a week.  What is funny is that I would feel so sick and hungover the next day that I would vow to stop... but within another day that feeling was forgotten and I was back to drinking again.  Around September or October I started to notice that I was having horrible anxiety after drinking, but it wasn't enough to make me stop.

 

By December I was even hit with depression after drinking. I remember being in the dentist's chair in mid December after a night of drinking and hit with this scary anxiety and overwhelming depression.  I started slowing down my drinking and Dec. 20th was the last night I drank (2 40oz Hurricanes).  The night of the 21st I woke up with horrible anxiety and reached for the klonopin that I hadn't touched in over a year and stared at the bottle in contemplation.  I didn't take any that night, but that was a huge wake-up call for me so I decided to stop drinking for awhile.

 

New Years Eve (about 10 days after my last use of alcohol) I had horrible anxiety that reminded me of when I first went cold turkey on klonopin.  Needless to say I ended up back on klonopin for about 3 weeks because of that.  By March I was recovering pretty good from my alcohol use and the klonopin, so I decided to reward myself.  A few beers led to more.. which led to me getting really drunk.  The next day I felt like I was going insane, I was sweating, my heart was pounding.. I was scared.  I ended up taking klonopin (1mg) for the next 2 days to calm down.  Needless to say this setback led me to further setbacks in April which led to me almost losing my job, dropping out of college, and being housebound questioning if I would recover.

 

Since March I haven't touched any alcohol and I don't plan on it.  When I jumped off klonopin I never really let my body heal because I substituted one addiction for another.  Wondering when I will be able to drink again is the last thing on my mind at this point.  If anyone has had previous problems with alcohol, it is highly advisable that they avoid even small amounts while in recovery.  Not because the small amounts will destroy their recovery, but because it can lead to greater amounts which can ultimately put you back into acute withdrawal.