New to this
Hi All,
I'm hoping today is the first day of the rest of my new life.
I've been a heavy drinker since my early 20s and I'm now 51. I've always denied being an alcoholic as I thought I could control my drinking, and up to a point I could - I was able to do a 'dry January' a couple of years ago, but that's not the case any more. The last few months I have started to get withdrawal symptoms, shakes etc. which meant I needed to start drinking earlier in the day.
Up until lately I worked from home, so it was easy to keep my habit a secret from work colleagues, but now I have to go into the office and it has been hard to control the shakes and looking hungover.
I've managed to keep my drinking problem secret from my friends and family, apart from my wife, who is very supportive and is going to help me quit. We had planned on me quitting in a few weeks when I could take some time off work and she could be around to support me, but it was just getting too much. I suffer from anxiety and have been on medication for over 10 years and it just came to a head yesterday - I couldn't go on like this any more. So I told work I had family issues and decided to quit from today. I have an addicted personality - I have been addicted to gambling, slot machines and smoking in the past and managed to stop all that with will power alone.
I'm not sure will power will be enough this time, but I'll try. I'm not religious, so I'm not sure AA is for me. I've seen there is a SMARTS scheme fairly local so I might give that a try.
I was in hospital last December and wasn't able to drink for over a week, I had shakes and spasms for a few days but was OK, so I think I'll be OK without any medical treatment.
Anyway, that's me. Please wish me luck and any advice for coping with withdrawal and staying sober would be great.
Thanks,
Andy.