bassist85

I've realized in the past few months that my drinking is becoming a problem. I stumbled upon this site and thought I would introduce myself.

I'm 24, been drinking a lot the past 2 years. It's just gotten to be worse and worse. At my peak this past summer I was drinking about 12 drinks a night, every day. Sometimes up to 16. I've gotten better recently. 2 months ago I managed to quit for a week. But since then I've drank every night for about 2 months.

I've gotten better recently but still have 6-10 a night. I got a really good accounting job recently, which I start in a little over a month. I've come to realize that I'm not going to be able to do it if I'm drinking all the time so I've decided to quit. I'm also sick of the weight I've gained and I want to stop beating up my liver.

I have anxiety problems and I've been using alcohol as a sort of medication. But I've come to realize that its not worth it. The cons of abusing alcohol far outweigh the benefits.

So starting a few days ago I set a schedule to wean myself off of it over 5 nights. I don't think I'll have any withdraw but want to make sure. I'm going to have 8 drinks, then 6, 4, 2, 1, 0. I'm on night 3 tonight and let myself have 4 drinks.

I've done this 3 times before but have gotten back on alcohol every time. Any help/suggestions/comments are appreciated. Thanks all glad to join the forum maybe it'll give me the encouragement I need.

Dee74

Hi Bassist85

You'll find a lot of support here - it certainly made a difference for me to be able to come here daily.

Good luck with your plan, although I'm not a great fan of weaning.
If I could have controlled how much I drank, I wouldn't need to.

I think if you're that worried about withdrawal, it's a far better idea to see a Dr....
but that of course is your decision.

Welcome

D

CarolD

Welcome....good to see a new member.....

Isaiah

Hey Bassist,

Welcome to the site. This place has a lot to offer: advice, resources, cheerleaders, everything. I was glad to have it starting off.

One suggestion is not to expect everything right away. Sometimes it can be tough mentally and physically at first. I've seen a lot of people turn back to alcohol again hoping that it'll relieve things, but once the buzz is gone they're worse off than they were before.

There's a lot else that may come up, some things bad, but I think you'll find the positives overwhelm them. Whatever comes we'll be glad if you bring it here.

-Isa

reggiewayne

Welcome. This is a great site. I have been where you are - in fact I still am where you are. In my early twenties I thought I was drinking too much. Well, I'm now 35 and am still exactly where you are - trying to let booze not be such a dominant force in my life. My point, this is a problem that typically doesn't just go away. I wish you the best. Check out some of the "sticky" topics. They are great and almost all of the posts are great as well. This is a very supportive forum. Best of luck!

tooling

I can speak for myself only here. I can say I wasn't going to stop no matter what for 8 years. Nobody including family were able to. It was my personal mission to be drunk almost every day of my 30's. When that mission is over only you will know. It can be forced on you by incarceration or being sickly in a hospital. Or you might stop it yourself before all of that.

Good luck

Anna

Hi and Welcome,

I hope you will continue to read and post here on SR. There's lots of support and good advice.

Weaning is really, really hard for alcoholics, so I hope it works for you.

artsoul

Welcome bassist - glad you've decided to join us. I hope you can successfully wean off - I tried a few times and it was very difficult (worked for a couple days, then I "made up for it" with another binge).

The good thing is that you've made a decision to get sober and reach out for support, so give yourself a pat on the back for that!

Keep hanging around - this is a really great community!

bassist85

Thanks everyone.

Things are going well. I'm really motivated right now and my weaning is going well. My strategy is not allowing myself to buy more each day than I'm allowed. And I don't start drinking until the stores close, that way I cant go buy more.

I just hope I can stay off after I'm done. I haven't gone longer than 2 weeks without being drunk in the past 3 years. For me I am capable of getting the motivation to quit for a few days, but I always fall back into the getting drunk every day pattern.

But for now things are going well.

artsoul

Good to here you're sticking to your plan. When is your day to stop? I know it's hard to stay stopped, but what helped me is taking it one day at a time so that each day my #1 job was to stay sober for the next 24 hours.

I knew where drinking would lead me and finally decided to try sobriety for a change. It's so much better, really, than I ever thought it would be. Takes a little work, but there are so many rewards. Hang in there!