Originally Posted by
doggonecarl Thanks for responding.
I asked what you were doing because whatever it was, it doesn't seem to be working. Good intentions won't keep you sober. Shame won't keep you sober.
I don't like to suggest specific methods or programs, like AA. But when someone come here as desperate for help as you appeared to be, I have to wonder, why not AA? Why not do whatever it takes to get and remain sober? Be it AA, Smart Recovery, Celebrate Recovery, Rational Recovery, out-patient treatment, in-patient rehab...WHAT EVER IT TAKES.
Agreed, if the will power and other measures aren't working to get past that first 2-4 weeks, it can be advisable to take more measures, whether that's in patient/outpatient rehab, heavy support group such as AA or SMART, etc.
Ultimately, I think one really really needs to want to quit though. I had to go through 10 cycles at least like described where I couldn't get past 1-4 weeks, depending on the attempt, and have a lot of negative consequences, to get the will to take more serious action and get through the temptation/withdrawals.
This last time, there were multiple times during the first 3-4 weeks where it was intense enough that I thought about if I didn't really want this I would have relapsed.