Okay. When I left rehab I entered the rooms of AA. In rehab I introduced myself as an alcoholic and an addict but when I started going to my AA meetings I was discourage from using both terms. I recently went to my first NA meeting and asked some of the old-timers their thoughts on this. They told me that since alcohol is a drug the term 'addict' is all inclusive. I know that my primary addiction is drugs.....I am so much more powerless over drugs than alcohol. I know this. I started drinking at a very early age and then when I was 14 I opened the door and "welcomed" drugs. I spoke to an old-timer from AA yesterday on the phone and was discouraged from going to both NA and AA meetings at the same time. I must admit it is confusing because although the premise is the same, the texts are different and the meetings are different. This old timer has many, many years of sobriety and every time I talk to this person, I relate and I walk away feeling better.
I am now 45. I stayed clean and sober through 2 pregnancies and there have been long stretches of time where I have been clean and sober and it was basically effortless. I just had no desire, I was too busy, I was feeling okay, etc. I cannot explain these periods. About 2 years ago my body started to fail me. I had between 15-20 pneumonias in an 18 month span. It was hell. After seeing many, many specialists, labs, scans, meds, etc., I was dxd with Aspergillosis (your lungs become infected by toxic black mold). We lived in our home for 16 years and kept having issues with moisture and mold. I have lung scarring and spores on my lungs. I know in my heart that the drug use left my body open to illness. I also had a mass on my liver.
I recently relapsed with oxys and then developed bronchitis. I do believe there is a link between my use of opiates and my respiratory issues in addition to the Aspergillosis. Okay.....I am jumping all around here.
Bottomline...what are your thoughts and feelings about AA and NA and their differences? I like both programs. My NA meeting was a lot less formal than all of the AA meetings I went to but that was fine. I felt just as much love in that room as I have in all of the AA rooms.
I must admit that I had preconceived ideas about NA. I heard rumors, stories of people using, not working the program, etc. but I never base my own decisions on what I refer to as 'bad-mouthing and gossip". It was upsetting to me that I found individuals from NA bashing AA and vice versa. What to do?
Has anyone felt stuck in this sort of 'dilemma' between AA and NA?? I truly feel I must choose ONE and go with it. I've been drinking for years. I become more of a drunk as I tried to detox myself from opiates with alcohol.....that led to detox and then rehab. I feel so much more powerless over pot, lsd, coke and opiates than I do anything else. I mean I've really starting losing the desire to drink but still feel that I am not strong enough to turn down drugs if offered.
Before coming to the fellowship of NA we were people in the grip of a disease who's ends were always the same: jails, institutions and death. Many of us thought of alcohol differently, but we cannot afford to be confused about this. Alcohol is drug, we must abstain from all drugs in order to recover.
Over three decades ago when I first discovered NA there were two NA meetings in my city and went to both NA and AA. In my ignorance I identified myself as an Addict and Alcoholic in both meetings. I didn't know I was disrespecting and violating both program's Traditions. And besides saying addict and alcoholic is redundant since alcohol is just another a drug. I am an addict, period.
I have not been to an AA meeting in over 30 years and by the Grace of God through the Power of NA have been Clean from all drugs for over 30 years. We do Recover in NA.
Yes I have seen countless people go in and out of the program. Some come back and eventually stay Clean some don't. Keep Coming Back. I have seen many people die both loaded and Clean. And I have also seen many people stay Clean for many years and NA grows. From a scant thousand meetings in the US when I got here to over 58,000 Groups World Wide today. Addicts of all walks of life and all Countries today are finding Recovery from the Disease of Addiction within the rooms of Narcotics Anonymous.
Go to 90 NA Meetings in 90 days and you will be well on your way to finding the Miracle of never having to use again if you don't want to. A Choice, I never had that before. I used to live and lived to use. I could not not use on my own. Believe me I tried to quit many times many ways before finding NA including 6 months inpatient treatment. Nothing worked. Today I have been blessed with the choice to not use. Today is another Miracle in my life, day 10,978 Clean One Day At a Time in NA. Damn haven't thought of it that way in a long time, almost eleven thousand successful days in a row not using, yes NA works in my life.
I am forever Grateful to NA for showing me a better way of life.
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Work the Steps or Die MF. (My Friend :) Clean One Day At a Time by The Grace of God through The Power of NA
congrats on those 10,978 days!!! your reply to my post makes A LOT OF SENSE...thank you....but i'm still unsure ...AA or NA....my gut tells me NA is the answer as it encompasses alcohol (which is also a drug)...i AM AN ADDICT
congrats on those 10,978 days!!! your reply to my post makes A LOT OF SENSE...thank you....but i'm still unsure ...AA or NA....my gut tells me NA is the answer as it encompasses alcohol (which is also a drug)...i AM AN ADDICT
At some point I had to take a leap of faith and trust a Power greater than myself, trust NA. My best thinking kept me loaded for many years.
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Work the Steps or Die MF. (My Friend :) Clean One Day At a Time by The Grace of God through The Power of NA
How unfortunate it is that a person struggling with addiction issues feels forced to choose between fellowships supposedly dedicated to helping you free yourself from substance abuse and horrors of addiction. If you have a desire to stop drinking then absolutely qualify for AA membership. If you have a desire to stop using drugs then you absolutely qualify for membership in NA. There are many people who attend both fellowships and have benefited greatly from each. At this stage of your recovery not using drugs/alcohol is all that matters. Go to as many meetings as possible. Don't get hung up on which fellowship, just go. One of the biggest mistakes newcomers in either fellowship make is to look at the differences among people instead of the similarities. Seek to identify. Not on the level of the substance, but on the level of feelings. Would you ignore the message of a person in NA because they used crack instead of the opiates you used? Some people might and if they do they often cut themselves off from valuable lessons. All of us, drunks, junkies, crack heads, speedfreaks etc. etc. etc. are sick and suffering people. The core of our disease is self centered obsession and fear. We have isolated ourselves, and lost self respect. Guilt and shame, offset by extreme anger and self deception characterize us. Self loathing is a feeling we have all come to know. The 12 steps are the solution. Through them we learn to face our fears, and rely on a power greater than ourselves to do for us what we cannot do for ourself. Go to meetings. Any meeting. As many as you can fit into your day. Don't use any mind or mood altering substances. Listen to the message being shared. When you hear someone who speaks to your heart...get their phone number and call them. A few slogans come to mind. Easy does it. first things first. One day at a time. It really does get better. Thanks for posting this. You have helped me clarify some things for myself.
Avid, thank you. You make perfect sense. I know that all of us are alike....I have felt this from the beginning....I am no better than anyone else in the rooms. Its humbling and a lesson in humility. We are all there for the same reason....to get clean and sober and help each other stay that way. I am going to keep going to both AA and NA meetings and see where it takes me. I've been reading the Basic Text and can relate to it more so than the Big Book; however, both speak loud and clear to me.
man i have the same problem. good thing is na wants to help all addicts, and aa seems to want only alcoholics, at least that is the way it seems here. i was told in treatment if you go to an aa meeting, introduce yourself as an alcoholic, if you go to an na meeting, introduce yourself as as addict. i don't know what difference it makes, na is a program of honesty, so if i need a meeting i go regardless...
I have been in NA and AA for 30 years, with 27 continuously straight & sober. I have not experienced the kind of dilemma you describe, tho many A.A. meetings will request that the subject be confined to alcohol, which is the single purpose for which A.A.s steps were created.
Why would one not respect that? A.A. is a fellowship of people who want to stop drinking. It is not a fellowship for speed freaks, garbage heads, or people addicted to marshmallows. Why on earth should A.A.s have to justify of apologize for the program being what it is? ALCOHOLICS Anonymous. DUH!!! I think it's kind of nervy to suggest otherwise. I guarentee if NARCOTICS Anonymous were overun with people addicted to counting light bulbs, having sex with goats, and eating toe jam, the junkies, coke heads, slimy dope fiends, and designer-drug groupies would probably suggest some other "Anonymous" program might be more suitable.
Keep in mind that when A.A. came about there were lots of "pure" alcoholics and the "hop heads" were much less visible as a social "problem", compared to the drunks. When Jimmy W. and company established N.A., it was with the help of A.A. and the generous sharing of the 12 steps. These days, "pure" alcoholics are less prominent and various multiple forms of addiction are more visible in our society. The influx of treatment centers and court diversion programs has also had an impact on A.A., where it is often "used" by the criminal justice system and the treatment programs as "some place to send them".
The writers of A.A. literature did not have the benefit of modern research, which enables us to understand that all addictive disease is essentially the same disordered brain processes, just involving different neurotransmitters. It is an A.A. tradition to stay out of "outside" issues, including the science of addiction.
In my area, it is fine to say I'm and alcoholic and an addict. You can introduce yourself however you want---don't get hung up on the labels. When I'm at an A.A. meeting I often introduce myself as "a miracle in progress" and let it go at that...but I don't dominate the meeting talking drug nostalgia--we who are addicts confine the topic to sobriety-threatening issues and other aspects of how drinking is dealt with on a daily basis.
The fact is the steps are the same, with the single exception of the word "the" in A.A.s 12th step and "a" in N.A.s 12th step. If I am working and using and living the steps, it does not matter what substance did the damage...what matters is the quality of my program. The word "alcohol" and the word "addiction" are each only mentioned ONCE in all 12 steps. There is a reason for that! It's about living in the solution, not the problem. Go to whatever meeting floats your boat! But respect the meeting you are in.
OMG--Lee's on a rant LOL
-- Edited by LeeU on Monday 27th of December 2010 09:13:37 PM
-- Edited by LeeU on Monday 27th of December 2010 09:26:09 PM
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From dying and surviving to living and thriving. LeeU
