As others have said relapse doesn't have to be part of the recovery process but it does happen. The important thing is that you don't use relapse as an excuse to give up hope. I don't really buy into the whole bottom thing as many of us have hit many bottoms and each time we think it is the last. The truth is that a bottom is no guarantee that we will never drink again and a relapse is not the end of the world, it does happen.