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| Prescription pills are just as dangerous as alcohol to your alcoholic |
You are so excited, after years of waiting, your alcoholic loved one finally tells you that she’ll stop drinking alcohol for a month or two. “In fact,” she says, “it’s just an anxiety problem anyway. So I’ll start taking Xanax or smoking pot.”
Don’t get too excited.
Switching drugs, even temporarily, is not getting sober. It’s not even close. And don’t let your alcoholic loved one convince you otherwise. The alterations that occur in her brain with alcohol will continue to occur with any other mind-altering substance. Most prescription medications that doctors commonly prescribe are among the most addictive drugs on the market. I once heard a hard core drug addict say, “I’d prefer Vicodin to heroin any day.” Vicodin, of course, is a commonly prescribed painkilling opioid and according to critics of this overprescribed pill, it’s a legal form of heroin in a pill.
Other drugs to look out for are Adderall or Ritalin, both prescribed for ADD and ADHD. They are both highly addictive. Unbeknownst to me as a practice, one alcoholic told me that they crush up these pills and snort them for a faster effect.
Whilst anti-anxiety medications are easily prescribed today, they are also highly addictive. Look out for Xanax and Ativan.
Any type of prescription pain-killing medication is addictive and dangerous. In the U.S. in 2015, there were 20,101 overdose deaths due to prescription opioids.
Smoking marijuana has gotten a lot of public attention due to it being legalized in several states. Just because it’s legal does not mean it’s harmless. The addicted brain will look for ways to satisfy the addiction no matter the drug.
When your alcoholic loved one does take actual steps to get and stay sober, he will need to abstain from all mind altering substances. Rehab programs even suggest staying away from mouthwashes containing alcohol and cough syrups or over the counter medications with alcohol or containing the words “PM” on the box. Any mind-altering substance will trigger the addiction.
Since alcoholism is a chronic, progressive, and fatal disease, triggering the disease, after a period of abstinence, will not bring the alcoholic back to zero. He will go directly back to the point at which he stopped drinking and at the stage of his disease that he stopped. Recovering alcoholics have reported that when they have had relapses, the addiction comes back harder, faster and stronger.
So when your alcoholic loved one tells you that he’s going to stop and pick up that prescription of Xanax or Adderall, respond that the only action you know will get him help is going to detox where they will explain to him what he can and cannot take as a recovering alcoholic. Don’t believe his efforts to “switch” is a pathway to recovery.
Wishing you many blessings.
Love,
Michelle
Michelle Fondin, Author of Help! I Think My Loved One Is an Alcoholic: A Survival Guide for Lovers, Family and Friends (available on Amazon & Audible) & of The Wheel of Healing with Ayurveda: An Easy Guide to a Healthy Lifestyle (New World Library, 2015)
Listen to my book on Audible: http://www.audible.com/pd/Self-Development/Help-I-Think-My-Loved-One-Is-an-Alcoholic-Audiobook/B01MRXIDF9/ref=a_pd_Religi_c8_1_sim_authhttp://www.audible.com/pd/Self-Development/Help-I-Think-My-Loved-One-Is-an-Alcoholic-Audiobook/B01MRXIDF9/ref=a_pd_Religi_c8_1_sim_auth
Listen to my book on Audible: http://www.audible.com/pd/Self-Development/Help-I-Think-My-Loved-One-Is-an-Alcoholic-Audiobook/B01MRXIDF9/ref=a_pd_Religi_c8_1_sim_authhttp://www.audible.com/pd/Self-Development/Help-I-Think-My-Loved-One-Is-an-Alcoholic-Audiobook/B01MRXIDF9/ref=a_pd_Religi_c8_1_sim_auth
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#alcoholism #whatisalcoholism #facts on alcoholism #alcoholic
#alcoholism #whatisalcoholism #facts on alcoholism #alcoholic
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