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I've got six years clean and sober, and lately I have really been craving a drink badly. My wife and I have started trying to make new friends, and we've made a few, but they all drink. They do not pressure me to drink, but I really want to. I have so much social anxiety plus life is really stressful for me right now. My wife was sober too, but last time we went to a party, she had a few drinks. She asked me if it was OK, and I said yes, but I did feel jealous. I just didn't want to impede her fun. The very fact that I want to drink so badly tells me that I am not ready to and besides, I am on meds. Anyway, has anyone been sober long-term and then started craving a drink badly? How have you handled it?

I have abused alcohol since I was 15, and things got completely out of control starting in 2002. At my peak consumption, I was downing over 40 drinks a day. That was late 2013/early 2014. I have tried desperately to stop, or at least cut back, but I've always ended up spiraling out of control again. I somehow managed 74 days dry once, but mostly it was a week or less, and then I was back to drinking morning, noon, and night again, day in and day out. A few months back, I read an article about a doctor who treated his patients with naltrexone. But instead of taking it every day, his patients just take it when they drink. He says to take it an hour before, and that he had a 72% success rate, which meant 72% of his patients stayed below ten drinks a week. Some people even stopped drinking entirely. I thought that sounded pretty impressive, so I asked my pdoc for a prescription for it at my last appointment. So far it has worked splendidly. I've managed to keep my consumption to two to four drinks at a time. And without trying, which is the real kicker. Before, trying to curb my drinking meant quite a bit of suffering and somehow summoning enormous willpower. Now, it's just no big deal. So lately when I feel the urge to drink, I'll go ahead and pop a pill and have a few drinks. And instead of buying massive quantities of alcohol at a time, I can just buy a bottle of wine or a six pack, and still have some left over. It somehow helps with the frequency of my drinking, too, even though I don't take it every day. I'm also happy that it's not an all-or-nothing affair, which means I can drink socially if I want to. Anyway, I thought I'd share my experience. It's still early on (I've only had the Rx for three weeks), but it seems to deliver as promised. It's just so nice not to be controlled by the sauce for once. I'll report back if anything changes, but I'm pretty sure I've found the solution I've been searching for. I hope others who are struggling with alcohol can be helped by this.

I was just prescribed Citalopram for my depression. And I'm going on vacation on the 25th. Obviously they tell you not to drink when using, well, any medication really..... But I'm wondering what the side effects would be if I had a few beers with my friends on vacation? I take the meds at night (I usually work nights so that's like my morning) so I guess I could just skip a dose if I decide to have a drink that night. But I don't want to disrupt the effect of the meds either. Anyone have suggestions?

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Hi! I've been on Abilify since last June, tapering down every three months from 30mg to 25mg to 20mg and finally last week to 15mg. Everything was going as expected, ie) temporary mood shift lasting from two weeks to up to a month after each shift to a lower dose, so I though I knew what to expect... until I reached 15mg. Now I have to drink a beer everyday or I feel like I don't know disconnected and agitated and depressed. It's definately a compulsion - and I never drink more than one. But I know it's not good to solve my emotional problems with beer (although it does taste good). Am I self-medicating???? Will I gradually get used to being on this lower dose of Abilify? Has anyone else experienced the same when they have tapered off AAPs? All support appreciated.