Anyone here a former alcoholic/addict?

[theseeker]

Hello all!

I just wanted to inquire as to whether anyone here has been a former alcoholic/addict? I have been struggling with alcohol addiction since I had major back surgery & was put on Deloded & Morphin to ease the pain. I stopped the pain killers (percocet & morphine) once the prescriptions ran out, but have been addicted to alcohol ever since!!!

I would love to hear from any former alcoholics/addicts to know how they defeated their demons and turned to a healthy lifestyle!

This includs any former anorexic/bulemics or any other "addicts to an unhealthy lifestyle". Addiction is addiction no matter what the outlet may be.

I need some inspiration!!

[dread head vegan]

hello theseeker,
i used to smoke..i smoked for 5 1/2 years with 1/2 -1 pack a day. i quit a year and a half a go, 6 months after i quit i changed my diet. right now i am eating raw foods and it seems sometimes especally when i was going though detox sysmptoms the cravings for cigs came right back. but they went away. addiction is verry hard to overcome but when you do it's a good feeling, you are doing good. have a good day, :)

[mcasburn]

I am struggling with alcohol. Through moving to raw foods and uncovering food intolerances, I stopped drinking beer and liquor and switched to organic wine. This has been a positive step for illogical reasons that have more to do with my perceptions of wine as something to savor, and of liquor as something to get you drunk.

I also feel that wine's easier on my system, and will be easier to moderate as my body continues to heal; I expect my cravings to diminish over time but know that I have work to do regardless of what I eat.

So... no "success story" yet, but I have a strong awareness of my issues and am taking it one day at a time.

[Coriander74]

Hello again my friend.

Years ago I became addicted to Vicodin after recovering from a car accident. I would call the doctor for refill after refill even though nothing hurt anymore. I went through the days feeling great, and thought I could only get that from the drugs. I woke up one morning, reached for the bottle, and froze... I said what the hell am I doing to myself, I don't even need this. Ever since, I've either had someone else dose it out to me, or I would sit in pain until I absolutely couldn't take it anymore, then I would take the pills.

Raw has taken away my chronic pain. I haven't had to use painkillers in over a month.

I also have a major problem with alcohol. I would sometimes drink at night just to make myself pass out because I was so sick of life. I would stay away from alcohol but then if I went out with friends, I would drink until I either passed out or did something really stupid. I ended up giving all my alcohol away, or pouring it down the drain.

Raw has helped me to nourish my mind, emotions, and body, to where I don't feel the cravings anymore.

I have been anorexic... and I have finally gotten control over my bulimia. Making myself eat until I hurt, then throw up until I hurt, that was an addiction. Anything to take my mind off my emotional pain. I landed myself in the hospital for that one.

Raw has helped me to feed my soul and spirit. I am complete in Raw.

You are in my thoughts. I know the pain, and I know the anger and frustration. We are here for you, with you.

[hawaiigal]

Hi there

Alcoholism runs in my family and I was brought up thinking this was normal.
I have struggled with heavy drinking all my life. Raw food has helped me alot as I know how good it feels to be healthy and what it takes to make me feel bad. When I drink, the next day I want to eat JUNK - the junkier the better - especially things that are heavy - pastries and puddings etc and soda! So it has really underlined my reasons for not drinking. Someone posted this site some time back and after following their guidelines I havent looked back.

http://www.rational.org/

Give it a try. It really does work!

[lissomllama]

I was a drug user during most of my highschool years (not that long ago). I'm not sure that I was addicted to any one drug but I fairly often used drugs such as ecstasy, diet pills, pain pills, alcohol, acid, mushrooms, meth, dex, pot, cocaine and even took heroin a couple times. I never really smoked very many cigarettes though. I was also anorexic and bulimic during those years and a former emotional overeater asa child. I was a little messed up for a while but I got 100% clean before my last year of highschool and I've never touched anything since and never will again.

What made me get clean and on normal eating behavior was my (now) husband. We dated all throughout highschool and he slowly weaned me off the drugs and got me eating again. He and my desire for long hair and a healthy body were the main reasons why I stopped abusing my body.

[fruit]

I began drinking and became addicted to meth at the age of 12 and although i had tried just about every drug out there i got addicted to the meth.I continued to do meth and alcohol until i became pregnant at 16.It's funny how i could/would not stop for myself but the moment i became pregnant i quit everything including cigarettes.I had stayed sober for about 8 years until my brother passed away,Then after coming home from my brothers funeral i had found out my husband was having an affair for the past 3-4 months.All of those things drove me to drink again which i drank and smoke practicly every day for a year strait,and when i say drank i mean 2-3 40 oz a night.I was able to drink alot.
Then i started getting really sick and could no longer drink or smoke it happened to be my heart that was making me sick so here i am today and i have been sober for 2 years.

[freespirit]

I used to smoke and drink excessively. Then I watched my father die a slow, debilitating death from lung cancer, chemo, and radiation. While lying on his deathbed he became jaundiced, and his whole body turned yellow from his liver giving out from the years of being an alcoholic. Since then I have stopped smoking, I still drink wine, though I don't down two bottles by myself anymore. I split one with my hubby.
My father dying was a double edged sword. I saw first hand what smoking and drinking could do to a person when they are trying to recover from illness. I want to believe it was the radiation that did it, but I know it was his body being abused all those years, and when he needed it to bring him back to health it failed him because it had been fighting battles everytime he picked up a drink or a cigarette.
I wish I knew then what I know now about the raw lifestyle. I think it would have saved him from such a gruesome death.
One day you will wake up sick, and you will think about all the times you wanted to be healthy, wanted to begin a raw lifestyle, wanted to put that drink down and walk away and never look back. And it will be too late.

[theseeker]

Wow!

It's so cool that so many people here have been able to find sort of "salvation" in raw food. I've gone through so many cycles of trying to stop drinking, throwing away all the liquor and beer, only to just buy more by the end of the week.

I've spent so much time "convincing" myself that it's ok, I can drink and still live a healthy life. Everyone (and I do mean everyone, I live in the Caribbean!!) around me drinks...alot! I pass 11 liquor stores on the way to work....and I only live 8 miles from work!!!!

I had a horrible time when I lived with my b/f, soon to be husband (when I move to the States). I was constantly hiding my drinking from him. I would hide a liquor bottle in my dresser drawer that I knew he wouldn't go through. I would secretely pour the liquor into this huge 64 oz opaque, plastic glass with diet coke or some other soda while he was in the bathroom or out somewhere and sit and suck that down all day long.

I would also hide liquor in my desk at work and take shots of Jagermeister or whatever I had all day long. I worked a messed up graveyard shift, so I would start drinking at 3 in the morning and drink all day until 1 or 2 in the afternoon. Then I would go this little bar in the afternoon and nurse 5 or 6 beers &/or cocktails before coming home.

Pretty sad, eh?

Well, I feel that I am finally ready to give my body a chance to heal and to change my situation permanently before I'm all out of options. And like all of you good people here, I believe that going raw food is the best possible way to to go.

Thank you everyone....and I'm looking forward to reading more "testimonials".

:) :) :) :)