Do any of you know someone who quit for a while and then could manage drinking again?
Member
Join Date: May 2008
Posts: 1,861
However i never progressed to daily drinking or drinking in the mornings. I just know that most of the time once i started i could not stop even at times when i swore i would not get drunk.
I did not always drink until I passed out, nor did I always black out, but once I started drinking I had no guarantees what would happen. That simple fact made my life unmanageable.
As far as food items or sacramental wine, I'll leave that to others to decide for themselves.
What about the phenomenon of craving. I did not crave until i put a drink to my mouth. I felt no compulsion to drink until i took a first drink. Does that make sense?
THE DOCTOR'S OPINION xxvii
They are restless, irritable and discontented, unless they can again experience
the sense of ease and comfort which comes at once by taking a few drinks--d rinks which they see others taking with impunity. After they have succumbed to the desire again, as so many do, and the phenomenon of craving develops...
They are restless, irritable and discontented, unless they can again experience
the sense of ease and comfort which comes at once by taking a few drinks--d rinks which they see others taking with impunity. After they have succumbed to the desire again, as so many do, and the phenomenon of craving develops...
All these, and many others, have one symptom in common: they cannot s tart drinking without de veloping the phenomenon of craving
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Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Tejas
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I have a very good friend (slash ex-drinking buddy) that showed all the traits of alcoholism and has somehow managed to moderate his consumption for years now. Not sure I can ever be that person but it can be done. He's proof enough for me.
Personally, I'll stick to O'Douls if I get the urge for a beer.
Personally, I'll stick to O'Douls if I get the urge for a beer.
Member
Join Date: Nov 2007
Posts: 1,697
I know a girl who was a pretty heavy drinker - she even got a DUI when she was 19. She got pregnant at 20, the doctor said to lay off booze, so she did.
I think she didn't drink for almost 2 years (nursing etc). Now she has a beer here and there.
I know a previous AA member - 10 years in the program, sponsoring others - very involved. This person did not have a feeling of fitting in after awhile - couldn't relate to a lot of the folks she met, sponsored.
Went through the steps again - could not get past step 1. Eventually she drank again - and found she could moderate. 8 years have gone by and this person has a drink now and again, does not identify as being alcoholic, has not lost control...
Yeah - there are heavy drinkers who can moderate...I am not one of them, god knows I wanted to be and couldn't pull it off.
I think she didn't drink for almost 2 years (nursing etc). Now she has a beer here and there.
I know a previous AA member - 10 years in the program, sponsoring others - very involved. This person did not have a feeling of fitting in after awhile - couldn't relate to a lot of the folks she met, sponsored.
Went through the steps again - could not get past step 1. Eventually she drank again - and found she could moderate. 8 years have gone by and this person has a drink now and again, does not identify as being alcoholic, has not lost control...
Yeah - there are heavy drinkers who can moderate...I am not one of them, god knows I wanted to be and couldn't pull it off.
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Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Philly and NYC
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Originally Posted by Samsonsworld 
I have a very good friend (slash ex-drinking buddy) that showed all the traits of alcoholism and has somehow managed to moderate his consumption for years now.
Knucklehead
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Davenport, WA
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Originally Posted by Samsonsworld
Not sure where you draw the line between acoholic and heavy drinker?
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Originally Posted by Samsonsworld
Not sure where you draw the line between acoholic and heavy drinker?
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Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Tejas
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Originally Posted by doorknob
You don't even have to be a heavy drinker to be an alcoholic, but the difference between normal and pathological seems to hinge on the subjective measure of how difficult it is to quit.
lol! I hope that was tongue in cheek?
Knucklehead
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Davenport, WA
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Originally Posted by DaveBB164
a heavy drinker can quit or moderate on a non spiritual basis, he can quit should a sufficient reason become operative like a warning from the boss, falling in love etc etc
where the light is
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Ontario, Canada
Posts: 2,763
Originally Posted by Samsonsworld
Not sure where you draw the line between acoholic and heavy drinker?
Years ago, my sister used to be a weekend blackout drinker. Did some really horrible stuff. Today she only has a beer or two a few times a year. I asked here how she "quit". She told me that she just got tired of making an ass of herself and stopped.
I also know a guy who used to live on the streets. Today, he drinks ocassionally in hotel bars (he is a successful businessman).
But the vast majority of the alcoholics that I know who went back to drinking after quitting for a significant period of time did go back to binge, blackout, and/or continuous drinking.
I know what side of the "line" I'm on.
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Join Date: Sep 2007
Posts: 1,876
Dave...let's please not go there. Plenty of "alcoholics" quit drinking on a non-spiritual basis.
Samson...I think it is very hard to find the line...everyone is different...for a long time I drank heavily...then something happened...I couldn't get drunk enough...I no longer drank for fun...I drank to blackout.
Samson...I think it is very hard to find the line...everyone is different...for a long time I drank heavily...then something happened...I couldn't get drunk enough...I no longer drank for fun...I drank to blackout.
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Join Date: Sep 2008
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This is from As Bill Sees It
A Different Swinging Door, p. 62
......."To those who wish to secede from A.A. altogether, we extend a cheerful
invitation to do just that. If they can do better by other means, we are
glad. If after trial they cannot do better, we know they face a choice:
They can go mad or die or they can return to A.A. The decision is
wholly theirs. (As a matter of fact, most of them do come back.)....."
Twelve Conceptions, p. 72
AA Copyright All rights reserved
A Different Swinging Door, p. 62
......."To those who wish to secede from A.A. altogether, we extend a cheerful
invitation to do just that. If they can do better by other means, we are
glad. If after trial they cannot do better, we know they face a choice:
They can go mad or die or they can return to A.A. The decision is
wholly theirs. (As a matter of fact, most of them do come back.)....."
Twelve Conceptions, p. 72
AA Copyright All rights reserved
Knucklehead
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Davenport, WA
Posts: 4,005
Originally Posted by doorknob
You don't even have to be a heavy drinker to be an alcoholic, but the difference between normal and pathological seems to hinge on the subjective measure of how difficult it is to quit.
Originally Posted by Samsonsworld
lol! I hope that was tongue in cheek?
Knucklehead
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Davenport, WA
Posts: 4,005
Originally Posted by Samsonsworld
Let me get this straight. Even though I drank everyday, since I mostly did it 'just for fun' and haven't had a relapse, I'm not an alcoholic?
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Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: UK
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Originally Posted by bugsworth
Dave...let's please not go there. Plenty of "alcoholics" quit drinking on a non-spiritual basis.
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Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Tejas
Posts: 192
Originally Posted by doorknob
That's what some would contend.
How do you measure how difficult it is for someone to quit based on whether they succeed or not? I'm not sure I agree with that particular point of view. While I would agree some people are more compulsive than others, I don't think there is a true measurement system for a person's will.
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Join Date: Sep 2007
Posts: 1,876
Thats just one school of thought which I and many others do not subscribe to. I never truly lost the power to choose...my powerlessness was simply an illusion...it took sometime away from a drink to see what was so clearly evident.
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