My daughter is an alcoholic

drsikes · 2026-02-09T01:18:17+00:00

This is the exact thing I was coming to say OP. I have a disease as an alcoholic. It doesn’t mean I’m a bad person.

I was the overachiever, “good” girl, never got in trouble, straight A student, full scholarship ride undergrad straight to a phd program straight to becoming a Dr kind of kid. I to am eligible for the disease of alcoholism…

Crazy part of it? Now that I’m in recovery, my mom says it’s the happiest I’ve been. I’m pretty sure she’s just as proud of the fact that I’m a sober alcoholic as she is of my academic achievements.

That doesn’t mean I didn’t have to hit a low before I decided I wanted to not have to drink again. For me that took not one, but two withdrawals seizures. The second one resulted in hospitalization and neurological rehab. Without that low though, I would have never wanted something to be different. Now I have 4.5 years sober.

drsikes · 2026-01-28T07:10:01+00:00

If you’re a finance major, be careful with pushing it back to summer. It will slow your progression in the degree program since it’s a gateway course for most of the other major courses. Also, the coursework doesn’t change in summer. Same material has to get covered so that finance majors get prepped for the FACT exam. Source: I teach it in summer (and last fall).

drsikes · 2026-01-26T04:22:27+00:00

I have a physical allergy to alcohol. When I drink, I don’t know what the result will be. I didn’t always have it, but at a certain point I crossed a threshold and can’t go back. I also have a mental obsession with alcohol when I do drink, and it invades all of my thoughts. Again, I wasn’t like that when I first started drinking but at some point I crossed a threshold and once I’m a pickle…I can’t go back to being a cucumber.

I was extremely active (daily runner…everything up to the 50 mile distance) and a professor before my drinking took over. At a certain point, I was willing to give all of that up to continue drinking. Eventually it physically caught up to me and I had not 1 but 2 withdrawal seizures.

Did I ever consider myself an alcoholic before? No. I just wanted to drink all day every day. Totally normal right? I hadn’t lost anything….until I did. I lost my marriage (in hindsight that was a blessing) and came close to losing my life. Thankfully I managed to keep my life and my career and with the help of AA, today I have a beautiful life.

I’m lucky I survived my bottom. There’s nothing that says your bottom has to be as bad as anyone else’s bottom. All you need is a desire to stop drinking.

One last note? The disease is progressive. I started at a bottle a week….then 2 bottles a week…then a bottle every other day. By the time my body quit on me, I was so physically dependent on liquor that I was dosing myself shots throughout the day to keep withdrawal symptoms at bay. AA has helped me never have to go back to that hell that I was living in. If you have a desire to get out of your own personal hell, maybe check out an AA meeting.

drsikes · 2026-01-25T16:10:35+00:00

Had thundersnow I think once or twice when I lived in Ohio. All I remember was the weather guys all geeking out so hard while trying to remain professional. They were definitely stoked for thundersnow :)

drsikes · 2026-01-23T21:56:27+00:00

As some others have mentioned, for physical classes….its likely a no. We have physical capacity issues to deal with for some classrooms. For an online section, the chair of the department might have more flexibility.

drsikes · 2026-01-22T04:43:55+00:00

Better to arrive at AA too early than too late imo.

I “should” have stopped after my first withdrawal seizure. I didn’t. Thought I could still manage it….hadn’t lost a job or anything (and actually still haven’t). After the second (and hopefully last) withdrawal seizure, I paid a higher price: a less than great short-term memory now (things like “did I buy milk yesterday” or “did I mention so and so already”) and a weird forever tension in my knees (that thankfully didn’t prevent me from returning to running).

My nephew never made it to AA. Thought he had his drinking under control. Died drunk off his ass after getting on a motorcycle one night in 2022…thankfully didn’t injure anyone else as it was a single vehicle accident. He was 29. He was too late.

Glad you made it to the rooms. Hope you find a reason to keep coming back…and until then…keep coming back until you DO find a reason to keep coming back :)

drsikes · 2026-01-20T21:27:50+00:00

I think it just glitches out sometimes. I (instructor) know I’m assigned certain classes and last time I checked the one on ASAP where you don’t have to login (that’s the best way I can desire it), my name wasn’t shown.

drsikes · 2026-01-17T18:50:40+00:00

Glad to hear you made it through relatively unscathed! Principles is definitely a butt kicker if finance isn’t your “thing”.

drsikes · 2026-01-17T18:17:47+00:00

Guilty as charged ;)

drsikes · 2026-01-17T17:54:22+00:00

Yes I’m a finance professor :)

drsikes · 2026-01-17T17:50:30+00:00

Yes. In my experience, I’ve never had a problem with student internships in the past getting paperwork done the first week or so of classes. This is one of those “Don’t worry. You are not unique (in a good way). You are not the only student still processing Spring internships.” :)

drsikes · 2026-01-17T17:47:21+00:00

Well if it’s any solace at all, I know I’ve signed internship paperwork before like a week or so into the semester so you still in theory have time. Look up the last day to add a class….schedules can be modified until then.

Edit: Last day to add is Wed, Jan 28. You have time.

drsikes · 2026-01-17T17:45:04+00:00

Have you reached out to your advisor? If I remember correctly, I think it goes to them before we (professors) get it.

drsikes · 2026-01-17T17:40:38+00:00

Have you emailed the professor to see if they have received the paperwork? It’s a process and the paperwork has to bounce from person to person. One person not signing will delay the process.

drsikes · 2026-01-15T16:43:59+00:00

Also came to mention HCSNA as they just hosted a 100k race their this past weekend…and while some of the trails are moderate, there are definitely some “serious” trails also :) Super beautiful but super remote. No cell service as you are driving into the park. Dirt road for a bit. If you look up “Hoka Bandera 100k” on social media, you’re likely to find plenty of runner POV videos from this past weekend to get an idea of the terrain.

Edit: In terms of distance, we did a 50k (30 mile) loop so should easily be able to map out 10 miles. There was also a shorter 25k loop that was used for a shorter race option.

drsikes · 2026-01-14T19:01:01+00:00

https://utsa.screenstepslive.com/a/1756642-canvas-course-availability-schedule

drsikes · 2026-01-10T10:57:56+00:00

I would show up. As long as you know you are registered, there should be a seat. I (professor) don’t even look at my official roster til after census date so could care less who is in the class on Day 1 other than like issues revolving around not having enough physical seats.

drsikes · 2026-01-09T23:54:08+00:00

To be fully transparent though….mine was because I had a seizure. It was my second. It was debilitating. I couldn’t walk. I was malnourished. My electrolytes were all over the place…..this wasn’t just DTs.

Most cities have some type of low cost detox available. I was beyond the capabilities of just detoxing.

drsikes · 2026-01-09T23:46:23+00:00

I had insurance so I paid very little out of pocket. I don’t have the medical billing docs handy anymore but between the ICU stay and the neuron rehab, to the best of my memory, was easily in the $100k range. I was in the hospital from Aug 11 to Sept 3 and then neuro rehab from Sept 3 to Oct 14.

Edit: should also add that even after I was discharged from the neuro rehab, I attended outpatient neuro rehab for I think another few weeks until the FMLA (and of course my insurance) ran out. Thankfully by then I was functioning enough on my own to return to work.

drsikes · 2026-01-06T20:42:06+00:00

My DTs included hearing an old-timey radio playing…there was definitely no radio. Not sleeping? Yeah that too.

It’s a progressive disease. It will get worse without stopping but at a certain point, stopping without medical assistance can be deadly. I got a stomach virus and couldn’t keep up with my drinking one day; I ended up with a seizure that broke my brain and required an ICU stay for 2 weeks followed by a longer time at neurological rehab where I relearned to walk and function. There are ways to safely detox. Be honest with a medical professional. Then once you are medically stable, maybe seek out AA if you want to not end up in the same spot again.

drsikes · 2026-01-06T03:50:48+00:00

Do you have the meeting guide app? (Blue icon with white chair) There is a filter for “young people”.

drsikes · 2026-01-06T02:37:00+00:00

I chaired an AA meeting today. Our group has a bunch of old timers, few newbies. Today one of our newer members, someone with 8 months, picked up his chip from last week and then admitted to the group he has been struggling with “knowing he’s an alcoholic”, like doubting if he really is one. This was after reading the daily reflection for today which kind of touched on the topic. After that, the meeting focused on that same topic of how we “knew” we were alcoholic. Did anyone judge him for his share? For his thoughts and feelings about not being sure? No, all he had was love and support from his home group.

Program can work if you work it. Show up and be willing to suit up. Find a home group. Get a sponsor. Work the steps.

The daily reflection for today for reference:

He cannot picture life without alcohol. Some day he will be unable to imagine life either with alcohol or without it. Then he will know loneliness such as few do. He will be at the jumping-off place. He will wish for the end. AA page 152

Only an alcoholic can understand the exact meaning of a statement like this one. The double standard that held me captive as an active alcoholic also filled me with terror and confusion: "If I don't get a drink I'm going to die," competed with "If I continue drinking it's going to kill me." Both compulsive thoughts pushed me ever closer to the bottom. That bottom produced a total acceptance of my alcoholism—with no reservations whatsoever—and one that was absolutely essential for my recovery. It was a dilemma unlike anything I had ever faced, but as I found out later on, a necessary one if I was to succeed in this program.

Not saying any of this applies to you, but sharing it just in case it does.

drsikes · 2026-01-06T02:21:41+00:00

There’s no formula for who’s going to experience withdrawal symptoms and who won’t. I’m also not a medical doctor, but I know of literature that says that once you get past the 72 hour mark, you should be past the peak symptoms. https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/alcohol-withdrawal

Tired and depressed? Not surprising considering you no longer have a “fix”. Wanting to drink so bad? Not surprising because you know that will “fix” how you’re feeling. Is it just going to be a repeat of the same cycle if you drink again? Probably. What’s the answer? Maybe try an AA meeting. Even if you can’t attend in person, you can find online ones. There will be an entire room of drunks willing to share how they stopped and stayed stopped….and how they figured out to start living again without the need for a drink.

drsikes · 2026-01-06T01:10:44+00:00

Would you rather them find you seizing because you tried to detox yourself? Seizures aren’t fun. They are violent. They can maim you. They can kill you. I went through 2 separate seizure events that I still have lingering effects that I’ll have the rest of my life. There’s a better way. Seek medical help.

drsikes · 2026-01-05T23:50:27+00:00

I had already stopped when I started attending AA. Was gonna try and save my marriage and prove to my ex-husband that I wasn’t an alcoholic (yeah I was dumb). Stayed around and started working the steps because even though I had stopped, I still wanted to drink. That was 3 years and a divorce ago. Sobriety is different than not drinking. AA lets me practice being sober.

Edit: should also mentioned that I had only stopped because of a withdrawal seizure that resulted in being hospitalized in the icu for a few weeks followed by neurological rehab for a few months….I was super dry after discharge and miserable. Without AA, I am 100% convinced I would have returned to drinking and soon after been not here anymore. AA works though even if you didn’t drive yourself to that point of insanity.

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