Hi,
My name's Chris and for the past five years, I've been a heavy drinker. I've decided to quit because, quite frankly, I'm downright scared of the effect it has on me. I'm 26 years old and, after spending high school and college completely sober, I developed a drinking habit that went from a few beers on the weekend, to drinking every night, to eventually consuming between a half pint and a pint (and sometimes more) every single night with the exceptions far and few between.
I've made the decision to go sober and I'm a little scared.
It was only very recently where I began to see my habit as a serious problem. I cut down, yes, but I was always afraid of stopping. Until now - and this is why I sought out a forum. I've always been a healthy person and work out 4-5 times a week but I fear the toll that alcohol has taken on my health. Alcoholism is something that runs deep in my family and a term that I've turned a blind eye to for all these years - I don't think I saw myself as an "alcoholic" when juxtaposed to the idea I had in my head of one. After only a few short days of sobriety, I find my thoughts racing - thinking of the missed opportunities, fractured relationships, and a personality change I've undergone over the course of the period of time I drank heavily. I was always one to hide my problems and carry on living a normal life (or what I thought was normal), and I'm ashamed to say that I convinced both friends and coworkers alike.
Within the past few weeks, I've had a dull, lingering pain in my middle/lower back on both sides of my spinal column. Right in the area of the kidneys. After a night of even light drinking, this pain seems to spread to my bladder. I've stayed hydrated and maintained a healthy diet, but I'm concerned about diseases that could be derived from alcoholism. I've read up on everything ranging from kidney disease to cirrhosis (which - again - runs in my family). I'm planning a visit to the doctor soon and have no other symptoms - no oddly colored urine, no fever, no tremors or anything of that nature - except for this dull pain in my kidney area, occasional numbness in my left hand, and what might or might not be a cold weather-related rash on the top of my hands.
To all you forum-goers: Is there anybody else who's around my age who has lived through a similar situation? What was it that convinced you to stop? Did you have any physical symptoms or serious health problems?
Thanks to all who read and any feedback is appreciated.
