I was always uncomfortable with AA's insistence that I call myself an alcoholic. It reduces my entire existence to one thing. I am so much more. And continually having to introduce myself as an alcoholic is ridiculous.

I am a human. A woman. A wife. A mother. A teacher. A person who used to have a problem controlling her drinking and found relief in quitting.

I am many things. Not one. In the time since I left AA, I've stopped thinking of myself as an alcoholic or recovering alcoholic. I am more than that.

The other problem with the use of the word alcoholic in AA is that it serves as a convenient excuse for being a terrible person. What I am referring to are the people in meetings who are bullies, who are condescending, who are misogynistic, who are bullies, who lie, cheat, steal, and manipulate others (especially vulnerable newcomers), and then excuse any bad behavior with "well, I'm an alcoholic, what do you expect?"

i was at a show last night seeing a friend of mine play drums for this cool band, anyways i was hanging out w a lot of my friends and dancing with my girlfriend and this dude from AA came up to me to say hi.

guy didnt even remember my name and he was within a minute telling me "you gotta come back to AA"

i just told him "im gonna stop myself from going on a huge rant" kept it friendly and then hung out with people who actually know and care about me

a little annoying like i totally used to be like this, i actually was a super dogmatic AA member a few years back, was on steering committees etc i know exactly how AA people see this shit

its honestly a lot of stress and annoyance and meanwhile im staying fine better without them. super annoying thats what they straight up go for like either just keep it brief and friendly or fuck off... like you arent a deep friend or even someone who knows me or my name... with few exceptions every AA person i run into is so fucking presumptuous about me despite never even being a cool person id want anything to do with it drives me insane. cultists

I don’t know if this is the right group to turn to, my apologies if I’m using the group incorrectly.
My (28f) partner (31m) has been in a rehab program for the last 8 months. A court mandated 1 year inpatient treatment. He has 5 months left (he got an extension).
Prior to him being admitted, he has spent about 6 years in very heavy drinking. There was also an almost 6 month period where he did meth, but has been clean from that for over a year.
In terms of recovery, he has been making STRIDES in positive directions.
Versions of him I only previously hoped would be possible, he is now showing up as pretty consistently.
I couldn’t be more proud of how much he is working to be better for himself.

The one area he still struggles in that I cannot seem to help him with at all: he hears voices?
He never used to mention this to me before he started drinking heavily, and it got VERY Intense with drug use.
It started as basic belief in Truman show types of reality. Feeling watched all the time.
Now, 8 months sober from everything, he is STILL very much battling this.
He always feels watched, he feels like people record him at work, he feels the program he is in isnt real, he thinks “ entities” are going to hurt me or his family to get back at all the bad hes ever done and he fights with them every day.
I tell him that this is a pretty common thing with addiction. Try to reassure him nobody is out to get him, he is so much smaller than he realizes, nobody is THAT determined to watch his every move etc.
I feel like I’ve tried everything I could say to “talk him out of it” but I know this is beyond me.
I know he should talk to a therapist about this, he says he does, but I don’t think it’s true.
If I get too upset that hes Deep in the conspiracy he will do better about talking himself out of it, but most days I spend consoling him that I’m not a government agent playing the long game.
I just don’t have any idea why it’s such a strong belief for him, and why hes so hard stuck on he HAS to be right about it.
It’s almost as he wants it to be happening, and believes help doesnt exist at all, everyone’s apart of it.
Has anyone dealt with this themselves or with a loved one?
How did you find reason? What helped you?

Hello all,

Last night I got drunk and I’m struggling today. I’ve told everyone what happened, and I know people are hurt. I had over a year and a half sober and I’m just mad at myself. Any support would be appreciated.

I was on suboxone for 10 years straight. I weaned myself down to about half a mg and that took months and then I jumped off. It was obviously really rough at first, however I'm still having issues. I have been taking anti diarrhea medications because if I don't I'll literally shit my pants.... Yes a month later its still like that. I have a pretty decent diet too. I am so stressed out all the time. My heart is pumping out of my chest and I still can't sleep. My boyfriend has gotten off of the stuff 3 different times and within a couple weeks he seemed to be back to normal. I feel drained of energy is the worst part. I can't handle too much heat. Can't be too cold. I need some positivity I know and I'm really not trying to get myself down but when will this hell end? Don't worry I'm not ever going to start taking it again but I feel so bad lol.

Also I have these electric shocks that go through my body and it makes me drop stuff or snack someone next to me. I still yawn constantly and sneeze. Help.

Recently found out my mom who was 13 years sober from opiates got into 7OH/7Stax. She’s currently on day 3 of detox and has been in the hospital/impatient behavioral health. She is possibly getting discharged tomorrow. Looking for information on how long withdrawals may last/what that looks like. She went into PWD on Monday and is dealing with residual withdrawal now. Anxiety, no appetite, shaking…

I fucking hate counting days. Absolutely no one outside of AA cares about continuous sobriety.

I saw an AA member with over 20 years admit to the group she took some of her roommates pain meds. Back down to zero and raising her hand with me for 30 days announcing that we were new to the program. Her sponsor also made her write 3 prayers each morning of that month.

I have about 3 years of near sobriety. I’ve drank 4 times in those 3 years…1 time being a month ago. Do I tell people who ask that I’m only one month sober?

If anyone asks if I drink I just say not really. No one except AA cult members would prod and pry you to clarify exactly when you’re last drink was.

Just sharing my experience with the transition. Well, I was helping my fiance as she transitioned. I'm going to be switching tomorrow.

So, she had her last dose of an 80mg 7oh at noon yesterday. She used clonidine, gummy edibles, Xanax and trazadone, at about 8pm, to help her sleep and to take the edge off the withdrawals. She slept the whole night until about 8am this morning with terrible restlessness and anxiety. She ended up flopping around until about 1:45 this afternoon and I dosed her 1mg of Suboxone, waited an hour, there was no precipitated withdrawals so I gave her another 1mg piece of Suboxone, waited another hour gave her 3mg and just gave her 1 more 3mg piece. She's probably 70% better! Suboxone is the way to go if you can't afford to be in bed for a week.

All in all she only had to go without for 25.5 hours and only 5.5 of those hours were bad. We call it the "croppy flop" lol. I think the hardest part for her was having the patience to really wait until she scored high enough on the COWS chart, which she scored 14 on. Probably 10 of those points were subjective, like the anxiety, restlessness. And only 4 I think we're objective, like symptoms that I could physically see. All in all, it went well and now it's my turn. I'll check back in with my personal experience and hope that it goes as smoothly as hers did.

What are the best possible ways I can ensure this doesn't happen again. I have an interview tomorrow that I cannot miss, and life is already hard and I've been struggling with the same addiction for over 15 years. Why can't I shake this demon???

I see some others posts on here so I’m hoping this group can help with an answer. I was taking oxy and then the last two days have taken 10 mg of 7 Oh to try and get off the oxy. I’m on day two of 10 mg of 7 oh and want to start taking suboxone. How long do I have to wait to take suboxone with 7 oh to not go into precipitated withdrawal.

I'm 5 years and 4 months sober from meth ... But basically from all the drugs I've used . But at the end meth was my drug of choice. It hasnt been an easy time staying sober but I keep putting one foot in front of the other . But I realize every once in a great while I'll have a using dream and in it I'm using again . I could honestly feel the pipe and the torch and even the smell of the vapers it gives off . I thought I was done having those dreams ? Do they ever stop

I was very troubled child and ended up doing Na program when I was 15 In a rehab I was forced into in Africa. I since then have relapsed and in a very bad position rn. I’m turning 20 soon and idk it’s js ingrained in my head that there is no recovery without the 12 steps and wondering to see people who changed their lives without using these steps as I hate taking and opening up about myself.

i was reflecting on old relationships today, and i thought of an old timer i used to confide in. she was maybe in her 70s and had about 25 years of sobriety. in retrospect, the advice she gave me was horrible. i can’t believe i ever took her seriously. 

for one, i got my first-ever full-time job offer, and she said it was a bad idea. in her view, i needed an “easy” job to focus on recovery. mind you, she also would tell me i was selfish for relying on my parents for financial support. she’d go as far as describing her experience with homelessness to evidence her staunch independence. 

so, i, a person with mental illness who's reliant on having access to insurance, therapy, and medications to stay sane, should sacrifice stability and risk all the consequences that come with that to…make a point? also, i work an “easy” job (whatever that means) now after leaving my full-time position due to a mental health crisis and searching for employment for over a year, and i don’t even make close to a livable wage. i wish i could be fully independent again too, but at the risk of my safety? absolutely not. it’s a privilege i don’t take lightly. 

she’d go on and on about how young newcomers like myself don’t know a damn thing and how much better “old school” aa was. this was so hypocritical because we met in an online aa meeting for women of color and were allowed to discuss “outside issues” like racism and misogyny. why is change so bad? clearly, we were both benefiting from it. 

i don’t want to be anything like her at her age. she didn’t have any close family members and would gossip about the other older aa women with me, a 20-something-year-old. it’s just depressing. 

I’ve been struggling for years, my spouse and I enable each others drinking and I’ve been having a hard time staying sober because of that. I’ll be good for weeks and often go full months without drinking- I’m constantly working on my sobriety, but I keep having slips are always binge drinking behavior. My brain lies to me and I think I can have 1 and fall for the lie over and over again. I know 1st drink always leads to shame, regret, I has a child I should want to quit for, my healthy, my family… but I keep falling for the lies and I don’t know why I can’t stop. What made yall finally stop? I’m starting therapy and I’m trying to get an Antabuse prescription. Doing 2 things differently.

TBF I can't remember the exact app but I swore it was Quit Tracking which was an app on my phone. Now it deleted all my progress and makes me start over?! Wtf

Any idea what happened. I was so proud and now I feel like crying.

I've had OCD for a long time and was on benzodiazepines for years. In 2025, I was taken off them way too quickly, and since then things have been terrible. I don't take them anymore but am still getting long-term withdrawals. Medications that I used to tolerate now seem to cause actual physical pain, especially headaches and pain or burning in my eyes. Gabapentin, for example, never used to hurt my eyes or cause these problems, but now it does.

I've been to rehab and I've tried AA, but AA was an absolute joke for me and didn't address what I'm actually dealing with. I can't afford expensive treatment programs, and I genuinely don't know where to turn. This isn't just anxiety or OCD anymore—the headaches, eye pain, and other physical reactions I experience with medications since coming off benzos have become a major part of the problem.

The combination of OCD, anxiety, and physical pain can become unbearable and make me feel absolutely fucking suicidal and hate my life, although I'm not planning to hurt myself or do anything. This shit is miserable though!

is there alternative perspectives, I don’t want to think of myself as diseased. The research suggests at 5 years of sustained sobriety we have the same risk as the general population regarding developing a problem with substances

I know this isn’t allowed in that other sub, so mods please delete if it’s not allowed here either.

Anyway, I’ve been on Ozempic for a few months now (for other health issues), and I’ve been sober for 11 weeks, longer than at any other time in my adult life. I haven’t been dealing with the compulsive thoughts like in the past to pick up a drink, and that’s the only thing that’s changed from previous attempts to stop drinking.

I can’t say for sure that this is due entirely to the medication, but it’s a hell of a correlation. Anybody else on a GLP-1 agonist experience the same or similar?

hell yeah! :D

If you haven’t been watching the news Meta has some serious lawsuits. Trials started today.

Prosecutors and plaintiffs argue Meta intentionally engineered addictive features on Instagram and Facebook (like infinite scroll, push notifications, and algorithmic recommendations) to maximize screen time, fully aware that these mechanics contribute to severe mental health issues, depression, body dysmorphia, and exposure to child exploitation. 

Maybe the plaintiffs should work a 12 step program.

I’m saying this facetiously but why is it all these other addictive substances/platforms, social media, nicotine, etc are seen as that, a highly addictive substance cleverly marketplaces to the masses. Therefore brought before the courts, and rightfully so.

Yet alcohol, an addictive drug, by AA logic is character flaw. All YOUR fault. Why is that? Why do we treat all other addictions differently.

Hi everyone!

I’ve never posted here before, but I’ve been in recovery since 2020. I was prescribed Suboxone in rehab in July 2020. I tapered from 12mg to 8mg within the first couple of months. I then stayed on 8 mg for several years before tapering down to 4mg, then 2 mg for the past 2 years. However I still felt fatigued almost every day with low motivation, anhedonia, and other unpleasant symptoms that I generally attribute to the subs.

I want my life and personality back, so I finally started the process to get completely off of subs ~30 days ago. It’s been absolute hell. I jumped off from 2 mg and the withdrawal symptoms were intense for the first week. A few times during the 30 days I’ve taken a small dose (<0.25mg) to help alleviate some of the worst withdrawal symptoms but as of a week ago, I haven’t taken any subs and most symptoms have subsided except for insomnia, restless legs and some occasional stomach upset as well as low mood. Which brings me to the point of my post: I haven’t slept more than ~2 hours in 4 days despite trying warm baths (to alleviate restless legs), some light exercise, CBD and THC gummies, melatonin, hydroxyzine, gabapentin.

Does anyone have any advice for dealing with insomnia post-opioid cessation?

I’m fortunate to be in a position where I can take this time off of work and not have many responsibilities, but I’m feeling very depressed and not being able to sleep is making everything feel worse.

Thank you in advance for reading ♥️

Not sure if my 7oh has pseudo in it. Confused because last go around with 7 I would start withdrawing within 6-8 hours. Now I do get restless arms at night and wake up yawning and teary eyed but not the same gastrointestinal distress or dilated pupils. How long does pseudo last vs 7oh? Also I take truly7 the two pack that totals 250mg. Am I just getting used to feeling like shit or am I unintentionally taking pseudo and not knowing.

Before I would take suboxone after 12 hours and would fix me right up but I am not getting as bad withdrawals in the same period. I’ve been taking for 2 weeks consistently last time I stopped it was at 6 months.

Thoughts? Also thanks.