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If Your An Alcoholic, Is It Possible To Go Back To Moderate Drinking Someday?



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If Your An Alcoholic, Is It Possible To Go Back To Moderate Drinking Someday?

Old 10-08-2010, 06:16 AM
  # 21 (permalink)  
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This person has 13 posts, you think maybe you are judging a little too much suki?
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Old 10-08-2010, 06:18 AM
  # 22 (permalink)  
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Originally Posted by Dee74 View Post
I tried for 20 years pinkfirefly - I never made it.
The day I accepted I never would make it - my life started again.
What Dee said! ^^^

I had "social drinks" maaaaaybe a handful of times. Of those handfuls, by the time I got home, I was primed for the REAL drinking to begin and usually ended up passed out on the couch.

Drinking in moderation sounds nice and all...but that's not how I drank - not even when I wanted to drink in moderation.

Now, I just don't even have the thought to drink anymore. It doesn't cross my mind. I'll take that over drinking in moderation and flirting with disaster any day.
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Old 10-08-2010, 06:19 AM
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I don't think a non-alcoholic even thinks about controlling their drinking. To them it's a non issue. There's no need to 'control' what isn't a problem. They don't have to "try really hard" to limit their alcohol intake.

I tried for two years to control my drinking, always ending up worse off than before. It was only when I quit for good that I found freedom and happiness.

Altho I take my sobriety one day at a time, it really pleases me to imagine my whole life without alcohol. It does not give me a feeling of deprivation to know that I can never drink again, it gives me a huge feeling of satisfaction and relief to be free of that obsession.... and what you're doing is obsessing about drinking, not a good sign, in my opinion, and not something non alcoholics ever do.
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Old 10-08-2010, 06:24 AM
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Fact: alcohol is toxic to the body. There are no benefits whatsoever with consuming it. yeah, yeah scientists and the world proclaim that it will help your heart to have a tiny bit each day. But guess what you can have those same benefits with a glass of 100% grape juice.

If my doctor told me that I needed to quit eating spicy foods because it ate away my stomach I would stop. If my doctor told me sodas were going to tear up my body I would stop. Alcohol as got to be one of the oldest addictive substances I can think of. I'm not saying it's evil cause it's not. But from what I have experienced over the past 38 days is that I feel TONS better, my thinking is sharp, my body is strong, my checking account is getting fatter, my over all wellbeing is just more centered, and I feel much more peaceful. Why would I want to get a beer instead of grabbing a bottle of juice? I'm not trying to be harsh - just throwing it out there.
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Old 10-08-2010, 06:49 AM
  # 25 (permalink)  
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all or nothing in my opinion. I'm either on it or not. No middle ground
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Old 10-08-2010, 07:03 AM
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to be honest its possible ,, BUT why would I wanna distroy all thats worked soooo amazingly for me ,,, Is it really worth that one attempt to find out that its not doable ??? waste all the recovery time and start over again ?? and the worse one would be the idea that I wouldnt return to recovery for how ever long it would take . Personally I'd really rather not know...if it aint broke why try and fix it .. Ill stay sober today and not worry bout the forever situation cuz todays more important then yrs down the road ... huggles Endzy
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Old 10-08-2010, 07:22 AM
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Why on earth would you want to drink in moderation? <she sputters> You don't even get drunk that way!

Several people have already said this, but it bears saying again. For most alcoholics, the point was to get hammered, to lose control, to achieve a certain feeling. I've had a couple of people ask me if I thought I could control my drinking now -- after having been clean for a few years. My honest thought was, "What for? If I'm going to bother to drink, I'm going to get snot-slinging drunk."

People who are able to moderate their drinking (non-alcoholics) don't even have to think about doing it. They just do it. For whatever reason, they are not addicted to the sensation of getting drunk. These folks could honestly never have another drink and be satisfied with it.

I have never met an alcoholic would could take or leave alcohol. The drinking is either on or off -- like a light switch or a television set. Most alcoholics do great when they're sober. Once they pick up again, though, the insanity creeps back in until it has taken over their lives.
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Old 10-08-2010, 07:31 AM
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Everyone's saying good things. I dabbled in moderation, sometimes successfully, sometimes failing completely, before I got here, and I don't want to play russian roulette anymore. I tried moderation of all kinds-- this many drinks per night, this many drinks per week, only on the weekends, etc. Everything would fly out the window if my equilibrium tilted--pulling out the "me" that has an intense taste for the stuff & would be fantasizing about the next drink two sips into the current one . . . the part of me that switched on the "get bombed" light.

At almost six months, I don't find myself missing it, and the only thing I still struggle with is feeling socially out of place as a nondrinker, but I'm working on it.
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Old 10-08-2010, 07:39 AM
  # 29 (permalink)  
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[QUOTE=AmericanGirl;2731983] I tried moderation of all kinds-- this many drinks per night, this many drinks per week, only on the weekends, etc./QUOTE]

AmericanGirl just said something that stuck out to me.

You see what trying moderations is? It's called planning. Yep, planning your next drink.

I can't do that - if I plan in moderation, I'll start planning on a bigger scale.
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Old 10-08-2010, 08:08 AM
  # 30 (permalink)  
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I have tried to moderate my drinking, and ended up with a dui....so for me alcohol isn't even an option now or ever....it' has caused too much misery in my life......I am so much better off without it!!
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Old 10-08-2010, 09:35 AM
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Moderation is not an option for me. I'm a career drinker. Not one that gets snot faced fall down drunk, just one that wants the constant buzz, just to stay "normal" I gave "moderation" a try back in May after 3 years sober. Only one drink at a birthday dinner out with best friends (best Long Island Ice Tea I ever had) Next day it was back to the grocer and buying the BIG bottle of Bacardi Dark Special.

Yep, like the others say, you will pick up right where you left off. You need to do this for yourself, your baby and your family. Do it one day at a time. Thinking "oh, no, I can never ever have a drink again!" will just cause more stress and anxiety, neither of which you need right now. Be healthy, be sober, get support. We'll be here for you (as much as we all can) as well.
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Old 10-08-2010, 10:03 AM
  # 32 (permalink)  
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It's not possible to go back to try and moderate your drinking. I saw no point ever to just have one drink. I mean if I can't get a buzz what's the point in drinking then?

With this kind of habit and thinking I will never be able to moderate drinking.

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Old 10-08-2010, 10:24 AM
  # 33 (permalink)  
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With as much respect as I can muster.. hun, you are unable to abstain even for the health of your unborn child, from drugs AND alcohol.. I would venture the answer to your question would be 'no'.
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Old 10-08-2010, 10:32 AM
  # 34 (permalink)  
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Originally Posted by pinkfirefly View Post
Do you believe that if you are an alcoholic, that you will never ever be able to ever go back to just moderate, light drinking. People always tell me this, that since I'm an alcoholic I will have to remain sober forever What's your take on this?
No, not for this alcoholic.

And I have yet to meet an alcoholic that could.

And I don't have to remain sober forever, I have a choice today.

But I'm 100% certain of the outcome if I choose to drink.
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Old 10-08-2010, 10:39 AM
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I drank to get out-of-my-head drunk. Socially I might have a glass or two, but would come home (no matter what time) and pour the wine down me. The only thing I wanted was to get DRUNK.

I find it hard sometimes to think of no drinking forever...so I simply take one day at a time, and get through tonight without a drink.
When I drank I was obsessed with my next drink, couldn't wait to have it and would barely function if I was having a no wine day (3 beers and a sleeping tablet instead though). The relief of not spending all day in "wait" of my 9 o'clock watershed is unbelievable.
My husband asked me the other night if I still felt the urge for a drink....A drink, says I, when did I ever just have a drink?!! (it was always a bottle and half of wine).

I wish moderation could have worked, but no, it's not for me I'm afraid.
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Old 10-08-2010, 10:55 AM
  # 36 (permalink)  
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When I was pregnant with both my kids I remember saying, "boy, could I use a drink" and in the same sentence, "who am I kidding? I don't want just one drink, I want six!". That should have told me something about my drinking. Normal drinkers don't think like that.

I would never even want to moderate. I tried and I was miserable and I failed the test again and again. I simply cannot be a moderate drinker. For some reason, I was born with this physical and mental allergy.
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Old 10-08-2010, 11:47 AM
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Even if modern medicine came out with a pill that would allow alcoholics to drink like normal drinkers, the first thing my alcoholic brain would want to know is:

How "normal" can I get with this thing?
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Old 10-08-2010, 11:53 AM
  # 38 (permalink)  
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Originally Posted by Boleo View Post

How "normal" can I get with this thing?
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Old 10-08-2010, 12:03 PM
  # 39 (permalink)  
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Pink, I've read all of your threads and postings in several forums here. all of your questions seem to center on when and how you can drink and recover at the same time?

you seem to want to justify drinking & the cough medicine and ask for certain verifications that just aren't there, but yet you say you want to stop.

I'm guessing you have a terrible inner struggle, but you might ask yourself where exactly is your focus? what do you want most? talk to your OB-gyno truthfully so he/she can put you in touch with someone who can help you figure it out.

it is good that you recognize your problem now rather than wait 25 years as i did.
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Old 10-08-2010, 12:16 PM
  # 40 (permalink)  
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I know I told myself that there MUST be an "easier, softer way" to get around this alcoholism thing. I am not like the rest of these alcoholics. I am different and I am stronger than these people. What I didn't know is that I may be different from these people - my situation is different, my character is different, I didn't do bad things when I was drunk and I AM different.

But the disease I have is NOT different and I've come to believe this now. And then crazy thing happened. I am sober! Trying to find the "easier, softer way" was for me only a dead end and almost fatal. It also took SO MUCH MORE EFFORT and energy. I'm lazy. I don't want to expend all that kind of effort anymore.
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