FattyMcFatty

I do, My wife drinks "Like a non-alcoholic" and we have a liquor cabinet, and wine rack. We entertain sometimes, especially around the holiday's.

When I decided I couldn't quit drinking by myself, and that I had zero control over it, I made a call/ At that moment a great weight was lifted off my shoulders. I went to a group twice a week for months, and to AA meetings once a week. It was great. The urge to drink had left me completely. Well, I graduated from the group, kept going to meeting for a while, got tired of listening to the sad stories, and eventually stopped going to meetings.

The Relapse happened after 8 or 9 months sober, I had a very weak drink, then panicked and thought she would notice. I don't know what brought me to have the drink, it happened like a bolt of Lightning. So what did I do? Stopped at the liquor store the next day to replace that little bit of alcohol into the bottle. Well, guess what? I drank the rest of the bottle that weekend and couldn't remember a damn thing. She didn't know, nobody did but me.

Now, after creating an account here, and seeking out "Friends of Bill" on a different site, I feel great, I have no desire to drink again, but there is still temptation everywhere I look. What happens at the end of the next 8 months??...

Thanks for reading...and thanks for helping me the past few weeks..

Fatty

Elisabeth888

Gosh we alcoholics are alike!!! I have done the same thing, buying to replace what I have drank. Crazy stuff.

Yes, my husband drinks and it does bother me. It is going to be something that I am going to have to come to terms with over a long period of time. Right now I do not even have the urge because I know that if I have one, I am screwed. It will be another bender and I will feel horrible and my marriage would probably end.

Why he can't at least give up drinking every night eludes me.

Taking5

What you are describing is an unhealthy AA group, IMHO. There are lots of them. I like groups that stay in the solution - the 12 steps. This is why I prefer big book or step study meetings rather than discussion meetings where those "sad stories" seem to raise their ugly heads so often.

Honestly I'd try other AA meetings until I found a place that you are comfortable.

1983ritag

My roommate has beer in the house, it doesn't tempt me at all, it never did. If when I used to drink, I would go to the store and buy it and I only binged on certain types of beer. But in the first couple months, driving by the store I purchased it from was a big trigger for me. If it were up to me, I'd have no alcohol in the house, but its his house and I won't ask him to change his lifestyle. If I thought it was jeopardizing my sobriety, I'd find a new place to live. I think i might have a harder time with it if it were my spouse tho.

Terminally Unique

I do have alcohol in the house, but my approach to recovery requires that the desire to drink be exposed. The absence of desire is not, in and of itself, seen as progress within this framework, and the presence of desire does not bother me. In general, I do not recommend that people cavalierly keep alcohol in the house unnecessarily, however.

gaffo

Other people's drinking always triggers some kind of craving in me. My wife is a normal drinker and there is usually something around. I imagine it making me stronger. My life is full of available alcohol but I can still remember when there was never enough.

MsJax

I don't keep alcohol in my home. I've had a couple dinners, where people had wine. They either took it with them when they left or I just dumped the remainder. I also date a couple great guys, both of them know about my alcoholism. Neither bring alcohol into my home, nor have they ever asked to, even though they are both casual drinkers.

It helps living alone I know & I truly believe our homes need to be our safe haven. No booze. Recovery comes first.

ColetteTocca

Yes. We have scotch (its my husband's and he probably has 2 drinks a year from it) and I always loathed the stuff. No wine or beer because those were always my favorites.

Music man

I have a good amount of it in the house. A beer fridge and a liquor cabinet.

My Wife doesn't drink, so I guess it's up to me to get rid of it.

Itchy

Yes,
"She-who-must-be-obeyed" has a half gallon of scotch in the house, as she drinks normally. I would not have let her tell me not to drink in my own house if she quit and I didn't. I also quit smoking my three packs a day and she still smokes her 1/2 pack or less a day. She does however smoke under the kitchen vent hood. You make a good point in that you mixed a weak drink, and then went to the store, drank what was left after refilling what you took, panicked, and wanted to hide it and not let her know.

So what would stop you from going to the store on whatever pretense if the alcohol was not in the house, should you decide to drink?

Zebra1275

No. My wife doesn't drink, and now, neither do I.

soberlicious

I don't have alcohol in the house now, but I did when I was married and also later with another partner. Neither time bothered me, nor does being around it in other settings. That said, if it did, then it wouldn't be in my home and I would steer clear of it. Know yourself and your feelings about it clearly and act accordingly.

Nevertheless

I have quite a bit. I live alone. I quit almost 3 years ago. I have a very old bottle of tequila. A bottle or 2 of wine(which I NEVER drank). Some Bass pale ale. AND the night I decided it was it (for the thousandth time) I drank until I couldn't drink any more,and set the next Miller lite on the speaker cabinet in the basement. And that's where that beer has been ever since. I was never one to pour booze down the sink. I did give away a lot of Miller lite I had around except for that one can.
I figure if I'm gonna drink again,having it around the house won't be where I slip. The place I have to watch out for are the ones that take us by surprise. Like a hot summer day and working out side and someone pulls up with a cooler full of beer,or something like that.
Will I ever drink that beer on the speaker cabinet? I don't think so. It really does help remind me of what life was like when I set it there almost 3 years ago.
Fred

switchboard

No alcohol in my house at all usually. I don't know if I would be tempted to "remember what it tastes like .. just a little one .. no harm .. I can probably handle it"

... I don't want to find out if I can handle it or not, because of the risk if I can't. Over the holidays I will have some in the fridge. A 6 pack of beer and a pint of rum, for visiting relatives. I will not even sniff it.

That said, I am separated. I don't know how I would do if he were here and still drank (he drank like a normal person)..... So my hat is off to all of you who are with others who enjoy drinks at home or who can handle just having it around. I admire your strength.

Mark75

Oh jeez, what a question now... houseful of adult kids, friends, relatives... every freakin' place I look it seems. The holidays... LOL.

Doesn't bother me, though occasionally I wish I didn't have to reach over what used to be my favorite brand to get my diet coke... but like TU says, exposing the desire is, in itself, not a bad thing... though the desire is usually not present and only fleeting. I have recovered and I do not crave nor do I have self pity.

When they are all gone back to wherever everyone goes, I will miss them... Maybe not the well stocked refrigerator. LOL

PurpleCat

My husband (who does not drink normally) just went out for another 6-pack. It's always in my house. I just have to ignore it.

rooblet

I keep a 12 of Sam Adams in the garage and the standard mixer bases in the liquor cabinet (vodka/whiskey/rum). My wife drinks rum but typically only once or twice a year. I can't stand rum but I really liked V and W. We also have all the old Blue Curaco, Creme De Menth, Kaluha and others that have been collecting dust for 20 years.

I do it in case we entertain and so far I've been successful in not screwing up and intend to keep it that way. If we serve wine my wife hates it and I dump it after guests leave.

When I was in my late-twenties my father quit tobacco. Although it was too little too late. He barely made 60 years before lung and brain cancer wacked him. He used to keep at least 12 cartons on top of the fridge at all times. Everyone called him the marlboro man.

He said the only good way to quit was to always have a pack of opened cigs on a shelf and keep them in your pocket during the day to 'sniff'. He quit chew the same way. I'm trying the same way with alcohol. It seems to be working, but I doubt it would work for most. But for me a big part of the anxiety was not having it around. I still haven't kicked that learned behavior. It keeps me from looking in the beer isle or stopping at the package store.

BHF

It's in the house. It's not mine, but my roommate's. They know I'm alcoholic and they rarely drink, so it's not a big temptation to me...as long as I'm spiritually/emotionally fit. If I lived alone and kept alcohol in the house...that would be an indication of a problem to me.

LaFemme

I live alone so there is no point. The day I quit I bought a 1.5 liter bottle of wine. Poured a glass...stared at it for an hour, poured it down the drain and poured bother glass. Stared at that for 45 minutes. Poured that and the rest down the drain and was done.

Since I have had wine in the house a couple of times for my parents and some beer for friends. I send it home with people after. Not because I cant handle it but because I don't have room for something I won't drink.

I am at the parents for Xmas. It's full of every type of booze imaginable. The stuff stinks...I have no interest in drinking it and kind of wish people didn't drink around me because it really smells awful

Itchy

LaFemme,
Now that you mention it yeah! We hardly ever mention the stink of it on others. And we thought no one could smell us? Then add the smell of tobacco on top of that. I never realized how strong the smell was until I quit. Vodka smells and I never thought it did. And my ol-factory organ ain't what it used to be. I can imagine how strong it is to someone with a good sense of smell. I never gave that much thought.