Waterfalls2014

Well here I am. 30 years drinking and 5 years clean from smokin crack. I actually had 12 years clean from crack. Messed up after all those clean years for 2 then quit again. I did it both times cold turkey. Got sick if being that girl. I made a decision and that was it.

I'm not sure why, but the alcohol addiction is so much harder to give up. It's a day to day hour to hour minute to minute struggle. On my way home from work today in a 10 minute car ride I had agreed to drink 1, not to drink at all and went back and forth on this thought the whole way home.

Real me won and I didn't drink.

I'm baffled as to how giving up alcohol is so much harder then the crack addiction.

courage2

For me, alcohol was something I clung to even as I gave up other things -- I gave up cigarettes, speed, pot, downers, etc etc -- some things I just liked, some that I was physically or psychologically addicted to. I gave up dreams and ambitions, hope and love, too. I could give anything up, as long as I had alcohol to console me. I could quit anything, except drinking. Until now.

SoberHoopsFan

One big difference, alcohol is legal, accepted, and everywhere in society, crack is not. To drink at least socially is considered normal, no crack use of any level would ever be considered even remotely normal. That said, addiction is addiction. You have the tools to do it, you can do it again.

Weasel1966

Waterfalls.... I gave up crack as well. It was "easier" if I had to compare but giving up crack is no small venture. Many cannot.

I do not believe its because one is legal and the other not. I believe it's because one is so much more intense and extreme in the effects when using it. I can function on alcohol... I laugh as I type that... But I can get by more. Crack is whack. When on it nothing is right. Nothing but that next puff that never hits right.

I also believe it takes a different set of skills to end using different drugs or alcohol. I don't know I would have what it takes to quite heroin. Or pills. I have seen those things in action. Watched a friend shoot up. Never. Not me.

I sometimes walk down the street and smell car exhaust and the smell reminds me of crack. That's sick.

What I want to say is learn the skills it takes to beat drinking. It can be done. It is everyday by those that want it. You have to want it. You did last night! Congrats on that choice.

But that voice you seemed to have out witted last night is your addictive voice. AV. Decide you don't drink right now. Tell that voice your decision. And then don't argue with it again. The decision is done. Any back and forth leaves it an opportunity to live in you again.

I always wake and try to detach from my AV. Put it in a box and plug the air holes. Go to work and when I return the damn thing is dead and I can go about my evening. Something I had missed for the last decade.

Great job at kicking the crack a second time. You will beat drinking too!

Ken

anattaboy

Alcohol is a physical addiction. It permeates every cell of the body and over time this body will become dependent on it for its life. In the end it will even displace food. At this point serious nutritional deficiencies wreak havoc on this body and death is probable. Cold turkey cessation for alcohol dependent folks will cause serious disruption of brain/body functions and some damage is irreparable. Personally, I was right of center on this time-table and tapered for 2 weeks before stopping altogether (for PAWS). This worked for me but I was at a point of getting no benefit from a drink at all other than stopping shakes/sweats. For most, standard benzo detox works so long as a taper schedule is followed for those (most docs do outpatient now). Either way you do it consult a doc if you can and DO IT--before IT does YOU!

walkbeformakrun

I understand the whole physical addiction vs mental addiction issue. And physical addictions can have mental components to them making them difficult to beat.

However, nothing is as easy to get as alcohol. Even if you are not physically addicted to it, it is just a bad habit, still that is very hard to break.

I pass six places every day on my way home from work that I know I can get in and out of in 5 minutes or less with all the alcohol I'd need. I'm not counting bars, these are stores. There are many more than 6 bars. Plus I get offered free drinks on a regular basis. Unless you are in some strange social circles you don't have people offering you cocaine or heroin at all, much less for free, on a regular basis. You likely don't have six easy places to score it on your commute home from work either.

jdooner

Why not stick to sharing your experience and maybe you can share an opinion vs cloaking openings as fact?

It is true alcohol is both physically and mentally addictive and has an influence on both the physical dependence and the neurotransmitters in our brain. It is also true that quitting cold turkey is dangerous and a doctor should be consulted. It is not true that every cell in our body is infiltrated by alcohol and like a plague will take over and kill us. While this may be true in metaphorically in a literal sense it is not the case. It is also dangerous for people to taper on their own, particularly alcoholics and detox in a safe center is the best option.

Perhaps what you are encountering is a substitution of addictions? Perhaps if you quit alcohol before crack you would be saying how difficult crack is to give up. Crack is significantly more addictive than alcohol (mentally). So the good news is if you can kick the crack you can become sober from alcohol too.