Author: TeeJay

Posted: Thu Jun 13, 2013 2:03 am

OP … In your case I think it’s just a matter of being up front with your doctor. If you foster an open relationship with your prescribing doc, and can talk to them as you are talking to us now, I think a lot of your fear of being booted off the program will be relieved.

People with concurrent psychiatric and addiction issues such as yourself can find it incredibly difficult to live without life long maintenance. It’s not impossible, but it does make it more difficult to achieve a life of abstinence. Even in the AA big book they speak of people with "grave emotional and mental disorders" who struggle to achieve abstinence. One of the staff at one of the rehabs I went to even went as far as saying he thought I’d be one of the last people to "get it", given my psychiatric history. He shared that at my 1 year NA birthday, and I relapsed one month later after I descended into a state of paranoid depression thanks to my bipolar. Lovely stuff.

There are some negatives to long term Sub though. It definitely causes issues with your endocrine functioning. For guys, testosterone levels can take a dive after staying on Sub for a certain period. Some long-term subbers on this board get by only with hormone replacement therapy. There’s even some members in their 20’s who need to take testosterone! Poor endocrine functioning can actually contribute to depression and hit your motivation.