…willpower does nothing for my disease. Applying willpower to this compulsion is like applying an antibiotic to a viral infection. It will never have any effect. ~ Voices of Recovery (Kindle Locations 862-864).

A leg cramp in the night, drilling through muscle.
I knew what I needed. I’d gotten it plenty of times
when Husband’s sleep was interrupted.
But I remembered poorly, picked up the wrong medicine,
and taking it. Oh, it was wrong, but in the ball park!
It was a diuretic and stripped my body of potassium…
what I should have taken! It was a valid pill…
for an invalid use, and it hurt instead of helping.

A therapist who understood what I needed, the
Twelve Steps, made a common suggestion.
She was addicted to a different substance,
was a “normie” when it came to compulsive eating.
She suggested I add sugar back in rational measure.
It was like my suggesting she have a glass of wine
with supper in the evening.

Antibiotics have their place, but not for a cold.
Tamiflu can treat a virus but perhaps harm someone
with a germ-caused disease. Poor eating patterns,
habit, an out-of-control sweet tooth, a love of carbs
may be beaten by education and willpower. But addiction?
The disease that is overeating? Not one bit. Well, maybe a bit…
short term. But the compulsion remains and returns
ready for vengeance, more out of control than before,
only to be treated one way. Not but cutting the digestive system,
not by the latest fads. This one can only be beat
by Twelve simple Steps.