share your voice about addiction

If you or someone you know successfully battled an addiction, there is a radio show that is interested in having you as their guest. Of course, you must be willing to talk about it on air. Please email me if interested. Thanks.

Anne, I have a friend who uses the nicotine gum. He wuit years ago, but needed to substitute something at certain time of the day, especially after dinner.

Congrats on quitting!

Oh crap, I am addicted to food. I lost so much weight and it is creeping back on because I am a "portion pirate." I love to cook and its a real problem for me to cook for one. I am better off with Lean Cuisine so long as I don't gobble up three of them. I would be glad to talk about yo-yo-dieting....

chatty, I think she's looking for alcohol and drug addictions.

I wish we lived in the same neighborhood. You could cook for us.

Holy moly, poor you if I was to be cooking for any period of time. My food is real everything, no fake ingredients but you can really tell the difference in the taste too.

Hi:

I haven't posted to this forum in a few days, because I've been posting regularly to another one...for people who want to quit/are in the process of quitting/or have quit smoking.I fall in the middle group because I just quit (for the umpteenth time) on 11/1.

What a terrible, expensive, disgusting habit--but so very hard to break, even as society makes it less and less desirable to be a smoker. If it was an easy thing to break, I would have done so decades ago.

Anyway, I don't think this is the kind of addiction they are looking for, and even so, I don't think I'd want to discuss it on the air, but I just wanted to drop in and say hello, and this thread came the closest to what is going on with me right now!

What about HOARDING? That is a really terrible addiction, people throw nothing away, and are constantly picking up more juke to add to their collectiona. Its a pitiful and discusting and filthy addiction. One they cannot seem to easily cured of.

I went through an addiction to Oxycontin after having it prescribed to me by a doctor who told me that it was not addictive. It was for incredible pain that I suffered from fibromyalgia. It enabled me to work for five years more than I would have otherwise, but it messed up my digestive system so badly that it took three years to get rid of the constant nausea that I suffered from. When I discovered that the cause of this was the Oxycontin that I was being given. I changed doctors and quit the Oxycontin. It was the hardest thing I ever did. I went through the same withdrawal symptoms that a heroin addict does and I know that it was at least a year before I lost my desire for it. I don't think that I could talk about it on the radio...it was too terrible.

bev, I'm glad to hear you were able to kick that habit. I once read an article about that drug and how it almost shut down a small town because so many people became addicted. I know someone who was addicted to it and she had horrendous bowel problems which we learned stemmed from the medicine.

What do you do for your pain now?

no offense to anyone but over heer we call that drug hillbillie heroin. Doctors are a laugh eh telling you that drug aint addictive (Oxycontin)thats one of the things about dosctors we trust them. At lest if you had the facts you could have decided if you wanted to take it and watched out for addictive sighnes within yourself. you must have been so confused experincing withrawel cravings and all that goes with addiction without knowing what was going on. BEVSERARCHING, did ya manage to withdraw alone or did you do a treatment centre. did you go to any of the fellowships for help in the earlie stages or are you still going? I am sorrie you had to experinces all thatits tough using, tough withdrawing but the cravings thats ther long after the drugs gone from your bodie are/must have been awafull. I reallie glade you managed it all with help or alone, its reallie a comendiable thing you done.

well done that woman, indeed.
or in glaswegion "terms go'win ursell hen".

I write about adolscent addiction on my blog at motherwarriors.blogspot.com almost every day. One thing we deal with here in Wisconsin is binge drinking, but it's not just adolescents. I just watched an AMA video for training doctors to spot binge drinkers (for men, 5 drinks in 2 hours, for women 4 drinks in 2 hours). 69 percent of binge drinkers are over 26. That means a lot of parents are modeling binge drinking behavior for kids. Not good.

The AMA video seemed confused, however, about what constitutes problem drinking and what constitutes alcoholism. If binge drinking causes an enormous percentage of car accidents, accidental pregnancies, date rapes, and other criminal behavior--I think it's affecting one's life to the extent that you could say this person is an addict. What do you think? Thanks.

If I drank 4 drinks, (I mean real strong cocktails) in 2 hours I'd be flying over roof tops. If these binge drinkers can take those large amounts of alcohol within a short period of time, then I would think that means they are used to it. So maybe it isn't really just binge drinking.

I got a news report last week documenting burst bladders from binge drinking. Before it was only men. Now women have had burst bladders from binge drinking too. So I don't think the body totally gets used to binge drinking. Some people may have a tolerance for drinking the alcohol and not behaving too badly, but statistics on crime and alcohol level demonstrate otherwise.

In Wisconsin, we've had a problem--and remember we are the top ranked state for binge drinking--with college-age people falling or jumping into the Mississippi River, off bluffs near one of the University branch campuses after binge drinking.

Tolerance, Schmolerance. It's too much to drink at one sitting and there's only one reason to drink that much in that little time and that is to get drunk. I think we'd all be a lot safer if bars had a cut-off and people drank to get drunk AT HOME. That's not going to happen, of course.

One insight into why Wisconsin might be the capital of binge drinking is how much the cultures supports it. Taxes haven't been raised on beer since the 1960s, for instance. I think it has the second lowest tax on alcohol in the country. And we have all sorts of "drinking" festivals--Oktoberfest, Halloween in Madison, Wisconsin football games, where fan behavior gets disgraceful. I can barely get through downtown on a game morning. Game starts at 11. By 9 a.m. the streets are full of people drinking. That's just downright annoying to me. Game nights are even worse, though. Then it's dark and people are drinking and driving. One reason I do not go to football games, although it could be a deterrent to young people for drinking to sit behind drunk college students puking all over the placed.

Since this is supposed to be a forum sharing recovery, I do want to say that my 19-year-old son is sober after 10 months in residential treatment (his 5th stint in rehab) and 6 months in a halfway house. He's home for the holidays now, which can be a trigger, since this is where he practiced his addiction. But our visit is going well so far and I'm very proud of him.

good to hear about the holidays going well for your familie and especiallie your son. hope it continues that way for you all.

motherwarrior, did the weekend go well. I'm so proud of your son for tackling his disease at such a young age.

While we have tons of under-age drinking in this town, we also have many young kids in recovery already. I know the path is going to be a tough one, but at least they're big enough to stand up and recpgnize they have a problem. How many of us know adults who won't do anything about their drinking issues?

I have erosive arthritis which can flare just so quickly.If I do too much I am in such pain.Due to intolerance I cannot take any of th popular medication like NSAI anything with the asprin family is a big no.I use a tens machine and hot wax baths.Use splints to keep my hands straight.I have been sad in the past at not having "Tablets"..eg drugs.
Then one by one medications get withdraw and I appreciate that I have been spared the side effects.
I was given a pill for bladder problems two years ago that caused bowel problem and it took months using holsitic preparations to finally get relief.When I checked the side effects well were documated and for me..horrific.In fact I fell into a catogery who should have not had them.I had surgery and would tell any one to really find out what doctors prescribe by detailed research first.
So first I try the alternative route and keep on top of current trends..
Mountain ash

tens machines are popular here in the states for people who battle constant pain. I recall my MIL not being able to live without hers. She had fibromyalgia and suffered terribly.

Tell us about the hot wax baths and how they help pain.

Mountain, how often do you have to wear splints? I'm sorry you battle this. I wish I could wave a magic wand and make your pain go away...as I sit here with a pillow behind my back, after having visited the chiropractor early this morning. Sigh...