Alcohol Addiction

[OKCPirate 5,323]

Just an FYI: I've chosen not to get "professional help" because doing so can stigmatize you for life as it will be on your medical records and can interfere with you getting a good job or worse down the line.

The HAMs method is working for me and the Sinclaire approach seems like it would be good for people as well, but only if they can make it OTC.

If you are an American, HIPAA law prevents your employer or future employer from being able to access your medical record. No medical practice would go giving out that information unless they want to get sued. It is against the law.

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Ummm, Horse S**t. Sorry, HIPPA was wiped out in 2009 when the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 was passed. One of the provisions was an automation of doctor and hospital records via federal grants to state hospital associations. The public reason was "well it will make it easier for people's medical records to be shared with other medical providers in case of emergency." And that is a dang lie. If you want more information than you ever want on this, I am very sure I can prove that assertion.

For the purposes of this discussion, if you have serious drug/alcohol or psychiatric problems and you think the government, law enforcement or big pharma doesn't know it, you are wrong if you have third party coverage. What this means is even though you think your attempts to get help won't or can't be used to keep you from purchasing a firearm in the future, hurt your job prospects, create difficulty getting insurance and professional licening et. al. YOU ARE FLAT OUT WRONG. That patient privacy/HIPPA form that you sign is not worth the paper it is printed on.

I self pay and have to work very hard to keep my information out of that system.

NOTE: you might ask, why do I care? I really don't give a rip about being one more data point in a government data base, but my ex-wife is a government employee (and bi-polar) and she has access to the whole dang database. She illegally tracks everything I do on the system and let's my kids know everything about my medical history, with the hope of embarrassing me. I don't want her, or anyone else to know. So I work very hard to keep it private. I switched to a non-ObamaCare insurance plan. My doctor is not on the state electronic record system. Most of my pharmaceuticals are purchased from other countries because its cheaper, and no one has a record.

So the assertion that it's ok to get help with drug and alcohol problems because "the government will protect your privacy" is VERY, DANGEROUSLY wrong. Sorry. That's a fact and I will gladly defend my position to anyone who wants more info. But this isn't a political site,so I don't want to get too far afield on this, so please if you disagree or want more info please PM.

[GSleeve822 394]

Just an FYI: I've chosen not to get "professional help" because doing so can stigmatize you for life as it will be on your medical records and can interfere with you getting a good job or worse down the line.

The HAMs method is working for me and the Sinclaire approach seems like it would be good for people as well, but only if they can make it OTC.

If you are an American, HIPAA law prevents your employer or future employer from being able to access your medical record. No medical practice would go giving out that information unless they want to get sued. It is against the law.

Sent from my Nexus 10 using the BariatricPal App

Ummm, Horse S**t. Sorry, HIPPA was wiped out in 2009 when the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 was passed. One of the provisions was an automation of doctor and hospital records via federal grants to state hospital associations. The public reason was "well it will make it easier for people's medical records to be shared with other medical providers in case of emergency." And that is a dang lie. If you want more information than you ever want on this, I am very sure I can prove that assertion.

For the purposes of this discussion, if you have serious drug/alcohol or psychiatric problems and you think the government, law enforcement or big pharma doesn't know it, you are wrong if you have third party coverage. What this means is even though you think your attempts to get help won't or can't be used to keep you from purchasing a firearm in the future, hurt your job prospects, create difficulty getting insurance and professional licening et. al. YOU ARE FLAT OUT WRONG. That patient privacy/HIPPA form that you sign is not worth the paper it is printed on.

I self pay and have to work very hard to keep my information out of that system.

NOTE: you might ask, why do I care? I really don't give a rip about being one more data point in a government data base, but my ex-wife is a government employee (and bi-polar) and she has access to the whole dang database. She illegally tracks everything I do on the system and let's my kids know everything about my medical history, with the hope of embarrassing me. I don't want her, or anyone else to know. So I work very hard to keep it private. I switched to a non-ObamaCare insurance plan. My doctor is not on the state electronic record system. Most of my pharmaceuticals are purchased from other countries because its cheaper, and no one has a record.

So the assertion that it's ok to get help with drug and alcohol problems because "the government will protect your privacy" is VERY, DANGEROUSLY wrong. Sorry. That's a fact and I will gladly defend my position to anyone who wants more info. But this isn't a political site,so I don't want to get too far afield on this, so please if you disagree or want more info please PM.

You need help.

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[KristenLe 5,979]

No - he's right. In the world of electronic health records and health information exchange - very little remains truly "private". Also - in my State - if you are licensed by the Department of Behavioral Health - we are required to report data on all people treated for substance abuse or mental illness (including social security numbers). This all goes into a database that whoever runs data for the State can access. There are no names but as far as I'm concerned ss# is worse.

[Christinamo7 4,042]

sadly you are 100% correct @OKCPirate

the HIPPA thing you sign at the doctors office is really just to protect the office from liability. our state is moving to electronic medical records systems that interact state wide to make sharing of information easier and seamless. There are valid patient care reasons, but it really boils down to coming changes to insurance systems expected in the next 10 years.

[BarefootDrummer 108]

Tonight I'll be reducing to 3 shots and when I get down to a half a shot a night I will then quit altogether. Then I will abstain for a very long time before allowing myself to enjoy an occasional drink.

@@Proud2BMe - I'm really happy to hear you've made such great progress. Keep up the good work. I also encourage you to stay really open and honest with yourself about this. I believe that some people genetically are at more risk for alcoholism than others. Add in the high risk from the WLS and that's a bad combo. You slid down the slope without realizing you were slipping this last time. Now you know the slope is there, so you can use all your awareness to try to avoid it. Unfortunately, you might not be able to walk anywhere near that slope anymore. As I said in my last post, I've never had a problem and hope that I can still have a glass of wine socially here and there, but your post made me realize, that might not be the case. You also might not be able to "enjoy an occasional drink."

I know it feels like there must be a way to just have an occasional one, but that's walking on the top of that slippery hill and you could quickly start sliding without even knowing. My father and mother both used to drink a lot before I was born. They both quit. My mother can have an occasional drink, like maybe 3x a year and is fine. My father hasn't been able to touch even one sip in 40+ years because he knows he can't get close to that slope.

You've tuned in your awareness to this right now. Keep it at high alert. Keep up the good work! Don't be afraid to get some professional help if you are feeling challenged. I don't know you, but I have faith in you!

[Alex_Lycan 8]

I saw my father go from little to more and more and more in just some months, back when I was a child.

Things were never the same again; he never admitted he had a real problem. He never accepted help. We just lost him, forever, and we had to learn to live with that.

You have, that is a very good starting point.

Best wishes to you friend.

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Edited August 3, 2016 by Alex_Lycan

[eliminnowp 113]

I don't want to derail this very important thread, but as someone who works in healthcare/insurance I can assure you that federal privacy laws against sharing medical information to employers are very real and very strict. Putting information in electronic record systems to be shared between practitioners (with patient consent) does not mean it is open to just anyone.

It makes me really sad that someone would scare others away from getting professional help for a very serious and life-threatening medical issue.

Edited to be less of a b.

Edited August 3, 2016 by eliminnowp

[KristenLe 5,979]

@@eliminnowp I encouraged him to get professional help regardless of my belief about privacy.

[PaulStephens1975 62]

This is very common with weight loss. You've traded one addiction for another. You used food to cope and now that you lost that coping mechanism you have turned to alcohol. I highly recommend seeing a counselor. This is still early and you can definitely bounce back from this and get healthy. Good luck my friend.

[GSleeve822 394]

Update?

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