voetsod

So far, so good. I'm hoping the Campral will help me get sober and the AA will help me stay/live sober.

Today is Day 15 and the Campral seems to really help with the cravings. I'
m liking my daily AA meetings as well and want to start working the steps. Not sure how to start though. I'm just going to be patient and try to take things slow. I'm trying to go to AA everyday but have made about 10 meetings in the last 15 days, which is good I guess. Do I have to go to meetings everyday? Can I still work the steps going to meeting 3-4 times a week? I also need a sponsor but I guess that will come in time...

Am very happy I found this board. Thanks a bunch everyone!

CarolD

Congratulations on your progress!
....Welcome to our SR Alcoholism Forum.

No ... you do not have to go to a meeting everyday
That idea is a good one but it's not a requirement
for AA membership.

To find a sponsor....mention you want one when
you share in meetings.

Look on the free literature rack in meetings
for the official AA guideline
"Questions & Answers on Sponsorship"

Please keep posting with us...

nandm

Welcome to SR and our Alcoholism forum! Great to see you and congrats on day 15. Keep up the good work. AA is the program that worked for me. The best way to get a sponsor is listen to people in meetings. Find someone you can relate to and ask them if they will sponsor you. Some people need daily meetings, some several times a day, and some can get by with less frequent meetings. It is an individual thing. I know for me in early sobriety I needed nearly a daily meeting to help me keep the obsession away and learn as much as I could to not drink. The Steps are something that a sponsor should take you through but you can start working them right away even if you don't have a sponsor yet you can get started. They are what ultimately solves the drinking problem so the sooner the better with them but be sure you are throrough and honest with them. Take care. Look forward to seeing more of you here. You may also find our 12 Step Alcoholism forum useful since you are working a 12 Step program.

voetsod

Thanks for the quick replies. 15 days is the longest I've went in about 10 years. I'll be 36 in a couple of weeks. This isn't my first attempt at sobriety. I've been relapsing off and on for the last 6 months or so. I have no illusions about moderating either. I know I have no power over alcohol, once it hits my lips I drink until I pass and/or blackout. It's been this way since I started drinking in my teens. I don't think I was ever able to moderate. Around 30 I decided that I would just try to control my binge drinking (you know weekends and all), this never works. Alcoholism is a degenerative condition for sure.

I've already checked out the 12 Step section and like I said this site is great. I have a copy of the big book and I start chapter 2 tonight.

nandm

Keep up the good work. I was 35 before I was able to find sobriety. Up till then I kept doing the same thing over and over expecting different results which ultimately did not produce sobriety...

Homer38

ive been a heavy drinker since my early teens,im 38 now! and alcoholic! I dont go to AA everyday and have 13 days todays sober.Just do what you feel you need to.Only you know!

tkdan

Wecome to SR. Campral helped me a lot with cravings early on. AA has helped me learn how to have a quality sobriety rather than just not drinking. Congrats on 15 days you're headed in the right direction.

Tazman53

Welcome to SR Voetsod, I was 52 when I finally really quit drinking, I spent a lot of years trying to quit on my own and always seemed to wind up celebrating my sobriety by drinking! LOL

AA was the ticket for me, the steps were what resulted in the obsession to drink being lifted from me.

Meetings.... well when I first got sober I was doing at least a meeting a day or more, I really feel t made a difference for me, but as others have already said, everyone is different, heck there are people in AA that are so isolated that they hardly ever go to a face to face meeting yet they are staying sober, go to the AA website and do a search on "Loners".

I doubt very seriously I could have stayed sober any time at all being a loner when I first got sober.

In regards to a sponsor, I would suggest you do as Nandm suggest:

The only thing I would suggest differently is to ask them to be your temporary sponsor..... this gives you both an easy way out if in time you find that the person you asked is not really for you and you find some one else you feel more comfortable with.

Just keep in mind that happy sobriety does not happen over night, just like miserable drinking does not happen over night.