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Autism and alcohol — only my experience — your mileage may vary!

Miss Understands

Before Prozac was invented, I drank all the time, heavily, everyday. Then one day I woke up and realized something is very wrong. But what was wrong was: for the first time in my life, nothing was wrong. It was a shocking, unfamiliar feeling. I didn't feel like there was something terrible and it was my job to figure out what it was.

The thing is, not only did I stop drinking immediately, but I didn't notice that I'd stopped drinking for three days. I didn't even notice that I had stopped drinking! Now it's weird to think that I ever drank alcohol at all. It's like drinking gasoline.

Do NOT borrow some from somebody else to try because it definitely won't work! You have to take it for a whole month and you have to have a legitimate supply from a doctor. But I can and am telling you that If you drink alcohol not because it helps but because it numbs the constant horror, then you should see someone who's capable of prescribing it if he agrees with me that it might help you immensely.

  • in reply to Miss Understands

    I don't hate you, why would I? You wrote a post about your experience with alcohol and medication and how much the meds have helped you, you explicitly said don't try this yourself but seek the advice of a doctor.

    Other's have reminded you of one of the rules about giving medical advise, but thats not what I read from your post, but then many people are stupid and will try and bypass going to the doctor, thinking that they can do it all themselves and that they know best.

  • Dear Miss Understands, 

    We would like to remind you of rule 13 of our online community: 

    13. Users should not provide medical or legal advice to other users. Giving medical or legal advice can have serious consequences, even if you’re trying to help another member. Please suggest they get advice from a professional. 

    Kind Regards,
    Rosie Mod

  • We need to be mindful of rule 13, which prohibits us from giving medical advice, even if it’s well intended. With that in mind… 

    I’m very glad that it’s helped you! :)

    Prozac - which we more typically call fluoxetine here in the UK - is one of a number of SSRIs (along with other types of medicines) that GPs can prescribe for conditions including depression.

    Like your thread title says, I also feel it’s important for us all to keep in mind that the efficacy of any particular type of antidepressant can vary widely across different patients. 

    For example, like you, I also used alcohol as a form of self medication. In my case, fluoxetine didn’t help with my underlying issues. Nor did the other usual antidepressant subjects, with issues of ineffectiveness and/or side effects.

    I also very much agree with you that anyone else who might be struggling with alcohol-related and/or mental health issues should definitely seek support from their GP.

    The NAS has a good resource here:

    NAS - Depression

  • I don't think I've ever written anything that didn't cause everybody to inexplicably hate me. But it'll be hard to see how they're gonna hate me for this.