Thread: Hello and help
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Old 02-03-2016, 07:14 AM
  # 4 (permalink)  
SoberinSyracuse
You can have reasons, or you can have results, but you can't have both.
 
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Join Date: Dec 2015
Location: Syracuse, NY
Posts: 1,232
Yes, it gets better. I don't know how often or how much you drink. I drank heavily every single day for 25+ years. At about 3 1/2 weeks sober, I'm healthy in body and mind. I feel and look great. I'm drama-proof; it's almost impossible to get me sucked into petty interpersonal squabbles. Most of life's problems improve once the drinking stops.

1) How bad are your hangovers/withdrawals? If you're shaking badly, have a very fast or irregular heartbeat, or are having hallucinations or suicidal thoughts, get to your doctor right away. This is a life-threatening condition.
2) Analyze what, when, and why you drink.
3) Make a plan on how to either avoid those situations entirely, or manage them differently. Example: I like a drink when I get home from work. Solution: Don't go directly home from work. Go to the gym, to the library, to the movies, to the laundromat, or whatever and don't get home until bedtime.
4) Permanently let go of the notion that you will someday be a "normal" or "moderate" or "social" drinker. Physiological changes occur in addiction which make a return to "normalcy" impossible. By the time someone is wanting to stop but can't...the "normal" train has left the station.
5) Get connected here and in the real world with resources to help you. Support groups, a counselor, or whatever.

And...if you feel the urge to drink, post here before it touches your lips so we can help talk you out of it.

Sobriety and health starts with NOT DRINKING. You can do this.
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