MythOfSisyphus

It changed my life, saved my life. I went through the "bullets for my beast" slideshow kind of things a few times. I was literally thunderstruck. That very night I vowed that I would never drink again and never change my mind. That was just shy of 11 months ago, and I haven't had a drop. Bear in mind that I was drunk 7/365. My regular dose was three bottles of wine, sometimes more. I went through five boxes of wine per week, minimum. When I wanted a "treat" I'd buy a few $20-$30 bottles of wine. On payday I might buy four bottles of nice stuff and drink them all. The only day I wasn't drunk in about three years was the day of my dad's funeral.

The longest I'd ever gone without getting drunk in my adult life was three months. That was during my divorce, and after a particularly humiliating drunk driving crash (hit my dad's truck in his driveway, didn't even remember doing it the next day). I knew I had to stop but even then I didn't intend to quit, just take a break.

When I finally accepted that I had to quit or die I wasn't even sure it was medically feasible. I expected I'd need Antabuse or something, and after 25 years of near constant drinking I thought stopping cold turkey might actually be fatal. But I'd reached the point where I no longer cared- death from withdrawal had to be preferable to killing myself with booze.

Here's the interesting thing: I had no withdrawal symptoms. Usually when I missed the normal time I started drinking I'd start getting a terrible headache. I had about a 2 hour window in which to start drinking to avoid it. But after I made my Big Plan it was like I flipped a switch. The cravings were, miraculously, pretty much gone. No headache at all.

I won't say that every day has been easy, but overall I'm shocked that someone that drank as much as me for as long as me could quit so...painlessly.

As far as I'm concerned AVRT is amazing. Maybe it doesn't work for everyone but it gave me hope that I could live a life worth living.