iggy24

oddly enough the statistics are that more people try crack and never have a problem with it i..8% of people who try crack develop an addiction..and 10% of those people remain addicted.more then a year.so the crack Reagan era propaganda of once you try it you are hooked doesn't fly with me...most of those people still smoking small amounts monthly btw

longbeachone

I've been sober over six years. Something very strange happened to me several years ago. I decided to give drinking in moderation a try. I had a glass of wine, then another. None of the good feelings I remembered came over me. I didn't relax, I didn't feel good, nothing. I actually felt awful. Flushed and ill and anxious. It was like wine, once my best friend, had turned on me completely. I couldn't wait until it wore off.

I don't know why I can no longer tolerate alcohol. I do know that I'm grateful for this new response to drinking. I threw up, washed my face, and never tried it again. I know some people would say I screwed up my sober birthday, but I don't feel that way at all. That episode was a reinforcer for me. In a way I was a bit frightened by what had happened. It's one thing to give up drinking...it's another altogether to realize that the escape you once depended upon is now gone from you forever, but it was truly a blessing, in the long run.

dSober

I hate to blow my own horn gang (not, lol) but I think this thread is turning out to be pretty cool. We seem to really be getting down to it, IMHO.

Andante

The issue of moderation became moot for me when I reached a place where I didn't want to drink anymore.

That said, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be able to manage it for very long if I tried. The "off switch" wiring got permanently fried. As the old saying goes, one drink would be too many; a thousand wouldn't be enough.

Mags1

No, nope, nada, non.

Exegesis

I still really want to believe I can. Scientifically it is of course true I could. I mean if someone was going to harm my family if I had more than three drinks but less than 2 then yeah, I could moderate. Those have never been the stakes though.

BackToSquareOne

The problem I have with the question "Can you drink normally" is that it infers using alcohol as a beverage. For me anyhow the notion that every alcoholic has the desire to be a normal drinker was never true. I always used alcohol to change the way I felt and that meant drinking large quantities. Having a few drinks with a meal or whatever would not deliver the desired effect so there would be no point to it.

dSober

Yeah... There seem to be three (at least) camps. Some seem to drink because they actually like the taste. Actually many tastes... scotch, beer, wine, etc... Others don't like the taste but love the buzz. Others still, like/love both. Nobody said it's simple or easy, did they?

Bottom line though, seems to be, if you do too much, you're screwed. If you can't do any without doing too much, well... life's a bitch.

BackToSquareOne

That's kind of the million dollar question, "Why do some of us become alcoholics and others don't". I've read a lot of theories on the topic but no real iron clad answers.

ESD907

No

legna

I believe that there is at least one issue here that could muddy the waters some. First, the topic in the url you copied was, 'can an alcoholic become a moderate drinker'. Perhaps a question that might be asked first is, "Is everyone who declares themselves an alcoholic, correct in their diagnosis?" If some are incorrectly deciding that they are alcoholics, then their ability to moderate drinking could skew results.

That said, yes, I am an alcoholic and believe that I could moderate. I have no interest in drinking however, similar to a complete lack of desire to smoke cigarettes. Neither is healthy and so I don't.

It has been said that alcohol is a symptom of alcoholism. Therefore, there are underlying causes and conditions that coupled with alcohol create alcoholics. It is my belief that the causes and conditions which made alcohol dangerous for me have been resolved and so I don't believe that drinking alcohol today would set off a chain reaction.

iggy24

yeah. you can't diagnose an alcoholic though. you never could and never will. There is no criteria. It's like a special club that people join on their own belief of being one...many are told they are an alcoholic and do not fit what others think is an alcoholic..;If you go to a psychologist for depression and tell him you drink a lot sometimes..chances are he is going to tell you you are an alcoholic and send you to AA..

so it's a buzzword used whenever somebody wants

bmwcycle

I have seen many threads here that have asked this same question, and it was not a well received. I hesitated posting because I did not want to upset people or be perceived as advocating any type of drinking.

That being said, I have been drinking for the past two years after not drinking for two years.

Why I stopped,
I didn't much of an issue with the drinking part of drinking I hated the hang overs more and as I got older I disliked them more and more... so I decided to stop for a two week period that eventually led to two years of not drinking, I just did not want to drink anymore, so I didn't for a long period of time. I gained a wonderful perspective of my drinking, the fact that alcohol had lowered by bar of acceptable behavior in front of my children and business peers, and weeded out some toxic people from my life. I read the big book and learned a great bit from it, attended a few meeting but it wasn't for me, had some great friends who have benefited from AA and I am not bashing, it just wasn't for me.

After over two years I had the urge to drink again, but was well aware of the problems it had caused me in the past. It took a very cautious about what I was considering doing.

For the last two years I have been drinking in moderation most of the time I choose to drink. I realize that I had a problem before and I do not want to go back to where and who I was. But most of the time I choose not to drink, more that often I just do not bother with drinking because I do not want a hang over, I want to be present for my family and business. I do not want lose the respect that I have regained for myself, that is too important!

I am aware that this approach will not work for most, and as I mentioned before I am not advocating anything to anyone. This was the first intelligent exchange of ideas about this topic and I thought I would share my perspective.

Thanks and best of luck to all,

plansimake

Nope. When I drink, I drink because I want to numb/blackout. I like the taste also, and developed expensive tastes (relatively)

I'll miss the flavor.

Just not worth repeating the same hell on a daily basis.

iggy24

over 10% for drinkers who can moderate on a sobriety forum..

interesting

dSober

God bless you bmw!

Popeye2014

No Way

BackToSquareOne

This post got me thinking that there is a whole spectrum of stages of alcoholism. I didn't start out buying vodka by the case and drinking about one of the large handle bottles a day but it eventually got to that point. The think that made me believe I was still in control is that I could stop for periods of time between benders (mostly because I was too sick to continue drinking). I could also drink normaly when I was not on a bender.

The fact that I could drink normally if I was trying to prove something to myself or others didn't mean much of anything in my case. It was only a matter of time and I would go off the deep end on another bender of epic proportions. I think most of us always knew if we had a problem with alcohol or not. The progression of alcoholism can be different for everyone and the simple ability to drink normally for periods of time does not mean we are cured.

stairs

For me, drinking in moderation never lasted too long. And while I was doing moderation, I would be obsessed with counting drinks, planning drinks, etc. I had elaborate schemes for controlling my drinking.

I would attend a work function and have two drinks, then pick up a case or bottle on the way home and get trashed.

It is soooo much easier to simply not drink at all, ever.

Alaskachick

I admit that I voted “yes”. Let me explain. I came to SR seeking advice about a family member who was drinking heavily. I was worried because I have witnessed the devastating effects of alcoholism on many other family members. I am not an alcoholic and was a “normal” drinker when I found this website. By “normal” I mean four to eight glasses of wine per month. Since alcoholism is prevalent in my family and my son reached out to me about his drinking, I made the decision to abstain from drinking to provide him with a sober role model. I honestly feel great about my decision; however since most of my friends are social drinkers I use SR as a source of support. I haven’t had anything to drink in weeks, but I know I couldn’t have done it without SR. There’s just too much temptation in my life.

I voted yes because I can drink in moderation, I just no longer want to.