Originally Posted by
popojoe 
i'd appreciate any input from folks who have a) either tried the same tactic or b) had negative or positive effects from substituting non-alc to help fix the prob.
Tks..JOE
It is great if you can control your drinking. Many heavy drinkers find they need to do this after times of excess and they are successful at it.
But an alcoholic will not be able to control their drink indefinitely. That's one thing which sets us apart from other drinkers.
Having said that there is an invisible line which you can cross from being a heavy drinker with control to being an alcoholic with no control. I crossed that line during a one week vacation. It was no one drink that did it - alcoholism is a progressive disease and always gets worse. After 20 years of heavy drinking, I just reached the point where my body and brain had become damaged to the point of no return while I continued to put alcohol in it.
Good luck.