Open Mike: Whatever It Takes (OT)

["Open Mike" is the off-topic Editorial Page of TOP, in which we consider the things we cannot change as well as the things we can.]

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I'm having one of my visual (or ocular) migraines this morning. They're so weird. Fortunately, mine are "acephalgic," which means they're not accompanied by headache. But for the time being I can't see the computer screen very well, and reading is tough.

Street corner
I just passed a milestone. Thirty-three years ago yesterday, I was at a crossroads. I was standing on a street corner in Georgetown, D.C.; I had finished what I needed to do for the day, and found myself with three or four hours to kill. My first thought was reflexive: go get drunk. Fortunately, another, more recent habit kicked in at the same time: I could go find a support group meeting. It was the day after I got out of the inpatient alcoholism treatment center at Suburban Hospital in Bethesda, meaning, my first full day on my own. At the treatment center, I had gone to four meetings a day. Although a much newer one, it had become a habit too, and it suggested itself with equal force.

On Google Street View I found the exact spot where I stood that day: the corner of Wisconsin Avenue and P Street in Georgetown. I had probably just come out of Second Story Books on P Street, where I would have spent an hour or so browsing through all the used photography books. I stood on the curb for a long time. The two options—get drunk, go to a meeting—seemed exactly balanced, and I didn't know which impulse to follow. Finally, I decided to see if I could figure out where and when a meeting was. I went back into the book shop and borrowed their phone book, which gave me an address. A card on a doorway barely a block away told me the next meeting was at 7 o'clock. That was only four hours, and I figured could make it that long. So I held off walking into one of the bars that lined Wisconsin Avenue. The new habit won. When 7 o'clock came around, I was in my seat. It was my first meeting "on the outside." And I'm happy to say I haven't had another drink from that day to this. I'm 66, so the 33 years since then is half my lifetime right now. 

Those early days of sobriety were truly ugly. Outside of meetings, I had very little support—and I didn't have much support inside the meetings, either, because I didn't listen very well and I didn't speak or interact with anybody. They were big, unruly groups, easy to get lost in, and I slipped in like a mouse and stayed in the back and didn't utter a word to anyone. The big problem the rest of the time was fighting intense cravings, and the equally difficult task of making the minutes go by. I was crawling out of my skin; it was agony just to exist. I was told to take it "one day at a time," but that seemed overly ambitious. A day was too long to think about. I had to take it an hour at a time. Sometimes ten minutes. I was also told to go to 90 meetings in 90 days, but that was too few at first: I remember days when I took a seat in the meeting room at 7:00 a.m., again at noon, and then again at 7:00 p.m. Honestly, one of the reasons I stayed sober in the early years was because I was scared to go through early sobriety again. My last drunken binge had lasted for three months, and I was (and still am) pretty mentally foggy about that time. Try as I might, I cannot remember how I got into rehab. But I remember the aftermath all too well.

Alcoholism is a progressive disease. It gets worse and worse. Recovery is the opposite: it gets better and better. Seven weeks in, it finally became clear to me that it was getting easier. Somewhere between five and seven years in—I can't pinpoint it any better than that—I realized I had lost all desire to drink. Today, my sobriety is my most precious accomplishment, the baseline of the rest of my life. I still work on it every single day. That might strike you as overkill, but you know what? Whatever it takes. I don't want to go back to where I was.

All clear!
And what to you know, that visual migraine has passed now. I wish I could take a picture of it for you; it's truly weird. You see the zany patterns with either eye, and with eyes open or shut. So much that can't be photographed....

Mike

Original contents copyright 2023 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. (To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below or on the title of this post.)

Featured Comments from:

Michael: "Mike, Thanks for a great post today! I'm almost 7 years sober, and I agree that recovery keeps getting better. I could never imagine myself having the great life that I have now back then."

Gary: "Mike, thank you so much for sharing your story. It is so uplifting. I hope it can be inspirational to others who are struggling. Over the weekend, I lost my college roommate to the consequences of alcoholism. He struggled for years. He went to rehab a couple of times but couldn't stick with it. I feel certain he never reached a point where he could see that it was getting easier. I feel hollow today. There was nothing friends or family could do to change the course. It is encouraging to hear of your success. Thoughts and prayers for you and anyone else who has struggled with this problem."

Mike replies: Very sorry to hear of your loss. We who recover are a lucky few—most alcoholics die drinking or die of drinking. Continuing recovery can be lighthearted on the surface, but it's deadly serious deep down.

Calvin Amari: "Lack of sobriety and photography has historically been a bad combination. After potassium cyanide was introduced as a wet plate collodion fixer by the Gaudin brothers in 1853, there was a sharp uptick in darkroom deaths, generally cause by directly drinking the potion, mistaking it for some other liquid."

Stephen Jenner: "Very well done Mike. I wish that I could banish cigarettes from my life. For nearly fifty years, I thought that my addiction was pot, but once I had decided to stop, it was easy, just a few days without, and I have never bothered with it since. It seems that it was my group of friends, who were (and probably still are) potoholics. That was the hardest part; not seeing those familiar, friendly faces. No, my real addiction was the plain old boring cigarette, and it seems like it will never go away. It is my reason to get out of bed, it is my reason to eat (the post-prandial), and I have to have just one last ciggie before I go to bed at night. Not one of them ever makes me feel better, or even any different, and yet, I still have to have it."

Mike replies: Totally sympathize. I smoked for 14 years and quit at 28, when, after a full year of concerted struggling, I just woke up one morning and thought, "I'm never smoking a cigarette again." And I never have. Weird.

It's a serious addiction. It's been a long, long time since I've actually looked into this, but here's what I remember: Nicotine is the most addictive substance known to humankind, something like 100 times more addictive than heroin by weight; the only other known use for it is as rat poison; and, if you injected all of the nicotine in one single cigarette directly into your bloodstream all at once, it would kill you. After quitting, it takes 16 years for your risk to return to the levels of a person who never smoked. Smoking is implicated in a large number of deleterious health effects. There seems to be a marked actuarial shelf at age 40: your lifetime risk goes way up if you are still smoking after that age, making it very important to quit before 40 if you can. However, stopping at any age is considered to be an obvious way to improve your health: a whopping one in three smokers will suffer health and longevity effects from it.

On the other hand, although you wouldn't play Russian roulette with those odds, that means that two in three smokers escape its depredations. My grandmother smoked from age 14 to age 88, when she died of non-smoking-related causes. So hopefully you are one of those.

Mark P. Morris: "Much congratulations on your recovery! I have had a visual migraine once. It was as if I was looking through a kaleidoscope and at the periphery was normal-ish sight. One of the weirdest things in my entire life. I did not even know it was a migraine till many years later."

Comments

[Jeff]

Congrats on your milestone. My timing at Suburban Hospital was similar, but for different reasons, as I had back surgery for a badly ruptured disk that Summer in 1990. Life works in interesting ways. Four years later I served on the Board at at Suburban, which today is part of the Johns Hopkins organization. We probably crossed paths at some point; if not there, then probably at some book shop, gallery or maybe AIPAD when it was still in DC. Small world.

[DavidB]

I’ve had a few ocular migraines—none recently. The visual experience is truly weird—and quite frightening the first time.

[Johan Grahn]

Impressive!
And thanks for telling us!

[Marshall Arbitman]

You and Matt Scudder!
And my friend Stuart, a painter contemporary of yours at Corcoran.
He’s decades sober and a bartender, which works for him but blows my mind.
And what was I doing at the time? I was probably having a beer at Mister Egan’s—I have other addictions than booze. That and bringing negatives into Image to be printed. Who knows, perhaps you printed a few.
Congrats on traversing the decades one step ahead of the demons and between the shafts!

[Mike Peters]

Congratulations Mike! Changing your life is not easy, and sadly for many people it's impossible. You're a success by any measure.

I wish you another 33 years of clear eyed living.

And I'll second that experience with visual migraines, very weird indeed, but interesting none the less.

[Leon Droby]

Thanks for sharing and major congratulations!

Most accomplishments in life are big at the moment and diminish as time passes. Your accomplishment grows bigger every day!

Enjoy the next 33 years at least as much as the last 33.

[JOHN B GILLOOLY]

Congratulations Mike - truly a great accomplishment that eludes many. As with most families, especially of Irish decent, my somewhat immediate and extended family have alcoholics at every turn. I, fortunately, seem to have avoided that gene or was scared enough away from alcohol to not allow myself to be captured? But even being all too familiar with alcoholism, your account is very vivid and gives me some increased insight into what these folks are dealing with and fighting against on an hourly basis. As a non-addict, it's actually tough to even imagine.

Regarding that type of migraine, I never knew what it was called but I've had maybe 8-12 of them over the years - my first being in high school. Fortunately they are rare.

Congrats on another hour, day and year! I'm glad you are here and glad you are sober.

[hugh crawford]

Have you checked your blood pressure? Low blood pressure and zebra crosswalks do that to me.

[Nikhil Ramkarran]

I feel like I should give you a hug. As someone with peculiarities (what my parents and friends would have said but is now disgnosed), hugs aren't something that I do except reluctantly. I feel that I would not have a difficulty sharing one with you. Congratulations on your achievement.

I hope I am not diminishing this post to say this: I now have a term to potentially describe what has been happening to me for many years. Ocular migraine. It's happening right now, my vision in both eyes is extremely blurred.

I have complained so many times over so many years to ophthalmologists, opticians, optometrists and they all dismiss me.

[Stan B.]

Congrats on your sobriety! You couldn't paint a picture of an acephalgic migraine, but you did paint a pretty vivid picture in as compact a space as possible as to what you had to overcome in your first few tentative steps (of what I can only imagine is one very long and winding staircase) towards getting there...

[Jim Oleachea]

CONGRATULATIONS TO YOU! I've been sober for a little over 21 yrs now. I know I don't have to tell you what a miraculous difference sobriety has made in my life, as in yours.
My route to sobriety was a bit different. I had been seeing a shamanic healer for a number of issues I was dealing with at that time in my life, 52 yrs of age.. I knew drinking was one of them but I didn't view my drinking as THE ISSUE.
To make a long story short, at some point during my work with the shaman I showed up for an appt badly hungover, feeling miserable.
She suggested a shamanic journey with the intention of seeking out the spirit of alcohol and conversing with this spirit. It was a strange, otherworldly experience.
I journeyed through an oddly colored, electric desert landscape following a long meandering path until I came upon a hideous, sickly green, gelatinous entity. It was leering at me. I spoke, telling the entity that at one time my use of alcohol might've been useful for getting me through some pain filled times of my life but I know longer needed it and I intended to quit.
At that, the entity became very angry and told me that once I quit, if I ever imbibed again horrible misfortune would fall upon me and my loved ones.
All of this was as real to me as the words you're reading right now. This journey lasted less than half an hour.
Oddly, I didn't stop drinking for about two months after this profound experience. But once I did stop, from that day on, not once have I had any desire to use alcohol.
I'm now 73, in good health. I cannot imagine what my life would've been like without the benefit of my shamanic intervention. I am deeply grateful.
Jim Oleachea

[Graeme Scott]

Congratulations on your thirty three sober years & thanks for sharing your experience.

I get ocular migraines sometimes, usually in the morning. My optician reckons dehydration can contribute to them. I think she's correct: I had my last one after a day of working outside in a heatwave.

[Albert Smith]

"...visual (or ocular) migraines..."

I had my first one in 1990 and had no idea what was happening... thought it was a stroke. I was working out, drenched in sweat when this pin wheel of light started spinning in my field of vision. Even with my eyes closed it was there. I yelled to my now ex and she drove me to the base hospital (was in the Air Force). By the time they saw me everything was normal, but the test showed no stroke or any other obvious issue (ditatched retina). The doctor interviewed me and they came to the conclusion that it was an ocular migraine. These days I get a dozen or so a year, some in clusters and then months with nothing.

I get a very quick sudden blind spot, and within 10 minutes the pin wheel spinning which renders me useless, so I make my way to a safe place (multiple times I've been driving) and wait it out. Yes, I feel lucky that mine are also painless. Could be worse.

[Peter Wright]

An interesting post. But I can’t help wondering what you mean by saying you work on it every day? Is it some sort of mental exercise you do, or something else entirely?

[Lots of things. I'll email you privately with the rundown. --Mike]

[John Krumm]

I have a number of friends in recovery, and my wife stopped drinking completely because it was the only way to successfully limit it. Lately she discovered the new, surprisingly good craft NA beers. I imagine to someone in recovery they could be dangerous, because to me they taste just like regular beers. And they are not calorie free.

One of the current city council candidates I am helping (with photos and door knocking) is a former addict and a felon. She's great, and her story is amazing.

[I stopped drinking those NA beers. Most of them have a little alcohol in them. I have another consideration, which is that I don't want to be seen in public drinking what *looks* like a beer. I have a responsibility to be a good role model to others who are newer in recovery. I wish your wife very well, although the risk she's taking feels scary to me. Substitute behaviors can end up just being a holding pattern. For me, being 100% uncompromising is the safer way, and, surprisingly, easier too. --Mike]

[Dan]

I get the same type of migraine, I think. They look like one of those WWI-era dazzle ships. No pain. Lasts about half an hour.

I feel mine are triggered by switching from two very high contrast scenes that are differently contrasted (i.e. switching from a screen with white text on black background to a screen with black text on white background).

[Mark L]

Addiction is a strange thing. I gave up both alcohol and smoking the same day 20 years ago. I have no urge to drink at all now, but still crave a cigarette all day long, particularly with coffee or after a meal.
Having been through this I admire anyone who can break any addiction, including your good self.
All the best, Mark

[Good for you too, Mark! I quit smoking 38 years ago, after a full year of struggling. I would say my tobacco cravings (and dreams!) lasted about ten years. Hopefully your cravings will go away soon. --Mike]

[Jim]

Congratulations. I, for one, am happy for you that you chose the meeting, Michael. I am sure many others are also proud of your accomplishment.

[darlene]

Yesterday marks a significant moment in your life that I couldn't let pass without acknowledgment. Congratulations on 33 years of sobriety -- a testament to your strength, courage, and resilience.

The achievement you've accomplished goes beyond words. It showcases a profound inner strength that is both humbling and inspiring. Each year of sobriety is an incredible achievement, but 33 years? That's a lifetime of lessons, courage, and commitment.

In addition to your accomplishments, your path has impacted others in ways you may not fully realize. Your bravery to evolve, improve, and persevere despite adversity has inspired us all. Your example has proven that brighter days are always possible, even during the most challenging times.

I wish you continued peace, happiness, and enduring strength. Here's to the next chapter.

With immense respect and admiration,

~ darr

PS: I climbed out of a not-so-comfortable childhood with the desire to help others navigate their exits, too. I contributed a few years ago when I devoted two intense years serving as a counselor at our state's Department of Children and Families (DCF). This experience transformed my struggles into a meaningful purpose.

[Craig Beyers]

Congrats, Mike. Be—stay—well. I’ll read you tomorrow, or the next day.

[Ed Otten]

Mike, I am in awe of your candor, courage and commitment to stay the course. Well done!

[Kye Wood]

In 1980 during my Year 10 gym class, a fellow student made an ignorant remark about a homeless alcoholic man who we'd seen earlier. The man teaching the class stopped the student in his tracks. We'd never seen him angry. Ever. But he was livid. He recomposed himself and told us something that you know, but was news to me. And I've never forgotten it.

He said "People don't become alcoholics out of choice. They crave alcohol like YOU crave water when you're thirsty. It's beyond their control. ONLY when they're ready to become sober, can they be helped. Until then, their life is hell."

Years later I realised that he was talking about himself.

Well done you, sir! 33 years. Congratulations on your commitment to yourself.

[Joel Becker]

Here's to 33 more years. Well done, Mike.

[Mark Sampson]

Congratulations, Mike. That's a real accomplishment.

[Dan Khong]

You wrote: "I realized I had lost all desire to drink".

That is enlightenment that you have finally won the battle.

[Keith Mitchell]

Good on you Mike. I like sober Mike and his writing.

[DavidMillier]

Congratulations on your 33 years.

My late mother-in-law was an alcoholic most of her life. She was also poor which made it hard for her to indulge. The tricks she developed to get hold of alcohol and disguise it from others were pitiful.

Addiction is all but impossible to understand if you're not addicted yourself. I enjoy an occasional drink, get drunk on half a pint, have indulged excessively on occasion to the point of making myself throw up, but I have never, even once, felt any craving for a drink. And I always suffer the most horrendous hang-overs that last for days and make me swear to never touch another drink. I'm truly grateful for that.

My mother-in-law never seemed to get hangovers and she couldn't wait to get on it again even though all it seemed to do was make her pass out.

My feeling is that some people are just unlucky in their response to alcohol. It reacts in the brains of a small proportion of people in a different way to the majority. It's a disease, not some kind of moral failing and needs to be recognised more widely across society as such. Anyone who is unfortunate enough to be addicted to alcohol deserves every possible help, and if they manage to control it, every possible praise.

So once again, my heartfelt congratulations, 33 years is a monumental achievement and you should feel incredibly proud. Not many of the alcohol immune would have that courage, self sacrifice and determination.

[Richard Tugwell]

I get those as well - or I think it's the same thing. Starts as a little discolouration in the centre of vision which expands with a fringe of ziggy zaggy colours, until it eventually clears. Usually lasts about 10-15mins. First had one about 30 years ago, when I was on a long drive, and as one of the other commentators noted, first time it's pretty scary. I can't find any rhyme or reason as to what triggers them, and they are very sporadic, sometimes coming regularly over a few days, although never more than once a day. Sometimes there's months or even years in between. Must be some lifestyle trigger I suppose, but I've never really investigated it. Probably should ask the doctor just in case, but it seems hardly worth it after all those years.

[Ken Monroe]

Congratulations on continuing your recovery.

I also get ocular migraines, usually while driving. The visual effects make for an interesting time!

[Mike Dennis]

Hi Mike,
I have had a similar migraine for 30 years (I am 85 now) An arc of lights that appears after a temporary blind spot in the vision. It is a brain thing, nothing to do with vision. It seems to come when stressed or after exercise. I find that relaxing helps.
regards,
Mike

[Robert Roaldi]

Except for a few moments now and then, we're all pretty alone with our thoughts, aren't we.

Bon courage, mon ami.

[Lars Jansen]

33 Years sober is definitely an accomplishment, and your absolutely right in being proud of that.

Congratulations and a big hug.

[Doug Anderson]

Congratulations on the 33 years Mike! I stopped drinking alcohol 25+ years ago out of solidarity with a relative when they started AA. Fortunately I do not miss it so I have no difficulty staying sober.

At an art show several years ago in Duneden FL I saw some pieces by a worker in stained glass that looked exactly like the jagged shards of brilliant colors that I see dancing when I have ocular migraines. I mentioned that to him. He said they were what he saw just once when he had a splitting headache. We talked more about our symptoms. He said ne would do some reading so he would know more about what was going on if it happened again.

[Joe]

Congratulations on your continued sobriety Mike and thanks for your work with the blog. I know a bit about how it is to get through the first five years, I’m coming up six years sober now so I have an idea about the ups and downs. Engaging with photography has helped me too.
Cheers
Joe

[Bill Tyler]

Congratulations on your decades of sobriety!

[Dave]

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/migraine-headache/expert-answers/ocular-migraine/faq-20058113

https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/24961-ocular-migraine

The Mayo Clinic website says retinal migraine, affecting only one eye, is usually a sign of a more serious condition.

(The Mayo Clinic prefers "migraine with aura", rather than ocular migraine.)

The Cleveland Clinic website has a longer, more thorough article and they don't make a distinction between ocular migraine and retinal migraine.

Congratulations on your continuing sobriety!

[Doug Vaughn]

Congrats on the sober anniversary. I came to comment on the occular migrane, only to realize so many others mentioned it. I had my first an only one a couple months ago and had no idea what was happening. I was afraid I was having a stroke but didn't feel bad, and no headache either. I checked my blood pressure, pulse ox, EKG on Apple watch, etc. with nothing seeming out of sorts. Then I went to Google and typed in my symptoms to learn it had a name, and the descriptions (including from those who commented above) fit exactly. Weird stuff.

[Severian]

Two comments in one:

First, congratulations on maintaining your sobriety. I applaud your courage and your humanity to talk about it in such a public way. I also applaud your dedication to taking care of yourself. Alcoholism is not my cross to bear, but I've seen enough of its damage.

Second, I had my first "ocular migraine" about 2.5 months ago (I'm just short of 60 years old). Such a weird experience. I didn't know if I was having a stroke, experiencing a detached retina or what. Like yours, mine didn't come with migraine pain - but I'm told that can happen any time I get one.

From start to finish, less than 45 minutes, but it sure was frightening to wonder if I were losing my eyesight! The spouse was quite freaked out. The urgent care PA was slightly better than useless (confirmed I wasn't - probably - having a stroke and - probably - didn't have a detached retina) but mis-diagnosed it as floaters.

At least I saved a fortune by *not* going to the ER. The eye doctor gave me a thorough checkup 3 days later and he was convinced it was an ocular migraine and he was much more persuasive than the urgent care Phys Asst.

[darlene]

My mother passed away at a young age from esophageal cancer, a condition linked to her past smoking habit, even though she had given it up years earlier. I still recall how beautiful she looked, even as she lay on her deathbed -- far too young to leave us. Seeing young people smoke always fills me with sadness.

Regarding addictions, my former spouse struggled with one, and it ultimately led me to plan and leave the marriage once our child turned eighteen. In hindsight, I wish I had made the decision to leave earlier. Given my own challenging upbringing, I initially thought it was important for our son to have his father around. However, my perspective on that has changed over time.

I always commend anyone who manages to overcome their addiction. Although not all of us have the kind of personality that lends itself to addiction, I can only begin to fathom the intense struggle involved in conquering it.

[Richard Petersen]

I (and many others) started smoking in Navy Boot Camp. Smoke break was the only break we got. And a pack of smokes was 25 cents. I tried and tried to quit, but it was twelve years later when I observed my two year son use a stick of white chalk as a cigarette that I realized how selfish I was. That motivation was all it took and surprisingly it wasn’t that hard when it wasn’t about me anymore

[James Bullard]

Congratulations on 33 years of sobriety.

I have had ocular migraines on 3 occasions since the start of 2023 so I know what you mean about weird patterns. I compare it to how it looks when (in PhotoShop) you are using the patch tool and the sample area is completely inappropriate to the area you are trying to patch and oversaturated to boot. I suspect they are just from stress but at the behest of my ophthalmologist, I had an ultrasound scan of my carotid arteries yesterday to check for blockage. Best of luck with whatever is causing yours.

[Dave]

Better late than never. Coming from a Pentax owner (for reference), here are my thoughts: A separate blog would probably be too much work. As others mentioned, the comments sometimes get posted a day or two later than desireable. (Did you get anywhere with a volunteer or two to help edit the comments?) I vote to stay with the current blog, but try to include more posts about art or news photographers, a few more book or current exhibition posts and more posts about a certain photo or set of photos, much like the discussion about the "crooked telephone pole" set.

Dirck Halstead had a nice site that I enjoyed, being interested in "photojournalism" (or news photography, if you prefer). I know you have a bent toward artistic photography, but I'd bet a good portion of your readers would be interested in the current high-quality news photos.

The small photos allowed on this typepad site could easily be ameliorated by posting links to your flickr album. I would suggest posting a new set every month or so, if possible. That would give most readers enough time to take a look at the set and send in comments.

Thom H. has good advice.

I agree with Robert Roaldi's comment about long-form written text. So few sites have "meaty" photography articles. Work to your strengths!

The Off-Topic posts are usually enjoyable to read, but I come to your site mostly for photography.

Good luck with your choices!

[StephenJ]

Hi Mike,

In the words of Phil Ochs...

There, but for fortune.

Oh, and ket us not forget the feelings of dread on waking.

[Larry Gebhardt]

Congratulations on that milestone.

Reading all the mentions of ocular migraines I suddenly feel less alone. The first one scared me badly as I assumed I was having a stroke. I was relieved to find it was relatively benign. Mine also come without pain. The biggest trigger for me was flickering CRT monitors. Even at the fastest refresh rates at the time I could see the flicker some days and that's when the kaleidoscope patterns would start. A very expensive early LCD display has mostly banished the problem.

[Mark Johnson]

Hi Mike,
I get visual migraines (neurologist agrees) like yours and they go within minutes of taking 2 500 mg paracetamol tablets.

[Tylenol, to USA people. Thanks for the tip, Mark! --Mike the Ed.]

[Dr__Nick]

Semaglutide (Ozempic etc...) and the equivalent other drugs in the class for diabetes and weight loss will probably change the understanding of addiction permanently. Notwithstanding if they help against opiate, alcohol and tobacco habits, which are being studied, the fact the drug interferes with a hormonal pathway and pretty much a switch is flipped leading to profound weight loss in people with major history of weight struggles and overeating really strongly indicates there is something strongly biological underlying these struggles for many people.

[Richard Ripley]

Congratulations Mike on 33 years, clean and sober! We’ll done.