DROVE MYSELF SANE –
Sept. 23, 2025 – Katie Herzog understands this reality intimately. For nearly 20 years, alcoholism took over her life, her relationships, and her career. She tried repeatedly to stop drinking, but it never lasted long. Then, in 2022, she came across an unorthodox treatment online. The method flips abstinence-based recovery on its head: Instead of never touching alcohol, you keep drinking, but first take an opioid blocker. I was a chronic drinker for over 20 years. At times, I was drinking between 10 and 12 drinks per day, every day. Short of rehab, I tried all the usual treatments to get better, and even a few less usual ones: Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), cognitive behavioral therapy, individual counseling, group counseling, yoga, cleanses, white-knuckling it through cravings and shakes. At one point, I tried swapping out my drinking habit for a cannabis one, which no drug counselor would recommend, but was definitely less dangerous. The worst thing that happened to me on weed was accidentally inhaling old bong water.
Some things worked, at least for a while. But even when I wasn’t drinking, the obsession with drinking was still there. I marked sober days on my calendar as though I were in prison, counting down each one until eventual relapse.
Each time I relapsed, the consequences got worse. I didn’t just have headaches; I had the shakes—and not just in my hands.
