First things first, every one is different, there are those that drank a lot more and a lot less then me that are still alcoholics.
There are those that drank a lot longer and a lot less time then me that are still alcoholics.
It is not how much you drink, nor how long you have drank that determines if you are an alcoholic, it is what happens to you after that first drink that determines if you are an alcoholic.
I drank for 40 years, during that time I learned that alcoholism is a progressive disease, the longer I drank the more I drank and the more I needed to drink. For years I could easily kill a case a day or more.
To keep on topic with this thread let us just say I had drank a lot for a long time and was finally at the point where I knew I had to stop or I was going to quickly lose everything and wind up drinking myself to death.
One big problem for me, after years of trying to quit and or control my drinking I knew I had to stop, but I was at the point where in order to feel normal I had to drink everyday!
I knew I had to stop but had no idea how because I had tried everything I could think of. Well I went and saw a doctor who specialized in alcohol & drug addiction.
I was beaten by alcohol and after looking on the internet I had a list of meds that I thought would be the answer for him to prescribe to me. I told him the whole truth about how much and how long I had drank for. I asked him which one of the meds he was going to prescribe me to where I could quit.
He told me that he would prescribe anything I wanted but it would be wasting his time as well as mine, he told me I needed to go into detox, because if I did not detoxing could kill me!!!! Well we spoke for a while and thank God he convinced me to go into detox, I had no idea how bad I was.
Well I checked into detox and they did a down and dirty physical on me including drawing blood. Next they gave me a fist full of pills, I knew some were for my blood pressure and they said a bunch of them were vitamins.
Well for the next 3 days every 2 hours around the clock they would take my blood pressure and have me hold my hands out to see if I had the shakes. I know my blood pressure kept trying to go through the roof and they kept giving me blood pressure meds and other things.
I was in a real mental fog, nothing really made a whole lot of sense those first three days, I remember folks coming and going, I do remember every evening we would go to an AA meeting but darned if I remember much except I picked up a 24 hour chip at every meeting I went to, I thought that was how it worked.
After the third day came around I was thinking to myself "Gee I must not have been that bad, I have not had the shakes since I got here." Well funny thing, the very next time they checked my blood pressure I held out my hands and I was getting the shakes!!! The nurse said "Well it looks like we need to up your anti-siezure meds".
Turns out they were keeping me pumped full of those to keep me from going into DTs.
On my 4th day the fog was kind of lifting and for the first time since I got there I was beginning to understand some things they were telling me. I remember them telling me that if I wanted a chance of staying sober long term I needed to go to at least 90 AA meetings in 90 days and get a sponsor! Although I was not sure what a sponsor was or did, I did know what an AA meeting was, it was a lot of friendly helpful people who were at one time just like me and were now sober.
My counselor on my last day in detox had a talk with me and asked me what I was going to do when I left there, I told him I was going to go to AA and get a sponsor, but there was no way I could do 90 AA meetings in 90 days, I had a full time job and a family (Maybe). He asked me if I would promise to spend as much time going to AA as I did drinking? LOL Well he had me there!!! Needless to say I did more then 90 meetings in 90 days.
The day I left detox the first thing that popped into my head was to stop and get a 12 pack!!!! I had to pray the whole way home just to have the strength to not stop and get at least a beer!!! I made it home, hugged my wife and kids and told them I was going to an AA meeting, they were kind of shocked because I had just got home, I told them how hard it had been for me to just make it home and that for some reason I knew that AA was my only shot at staying sober.
Well I went to that meeting and I asked a guy to be my sponsor...... he said NO!!!! but he would be my temporary sponsor until I had been sober a while longer to where he could help me find a sponsor that fit me, he did say it may or may not be him.
For the first month I was still a mental mess, I was anxious, wanted a drink, my emotions were all over the place, I went from angry to sad in a matter of minutes and did not know why, that and I was still in that fog, nothing really seemed clear mentally. The only time I felt right was in AA meetings, these people understood me, they loved me, they helped me understand and accept what I was going through at that time as normal and I knew they were right because I knew they had been down the same path I was walking.
At the 2 month point I was mentally doing better, I was less anxious, wanted a drink less often, my emotions were still all over the place but not as extreme, I was less angry or sad and the mood swings were farther apart. I was still in that fog, but things were starting to become clearer mentally. Still the only time I felt right was in AA meetings, these people understood me, they loved me, they helped me understand and accept what I was going through at that time as normal and I knew they were right because I knew they had been down the same path I was walking.
In my third month I felt like I was spinning my wheels and the thought of drinking again was coming back more often due to a lot of things on my mind, from the meetings and from my sponsor I knew that I needed to start working the steps if I wanted a chance to stay sober.
Long story short, my temporary sponsor was out of town a lot and worked a lot so I got another sponsor to help me work the steps, as I worked the steps with my new sponsor the urge to drink diminished and one day it was simply gone!!! The miracle had happened, the urge to drink was gone.
The fog I thought had totally lifted during my second month sober, but my thought process continued to improve with every month I have been sober. Old timers in the rooms of AA had told me that I could see improvements mentally for over a year and they were right.
Please see a doctor before you stop drinking cold turkey, detoxing can kill certain people.
Please do not try and stay sober on your own, get into some type of long term support program, AA, SMART, or what ever, you are not alone so why be alone in fighting this.
Always remember there is no cure for alcoholism, if you are an alcoholic now you will still be one a year from now or 30 years from now.