notime408

I posted here the other day freaking out about how I felt my drinking had gotten out of control and I was done, and it had and I am. I understand more now after reading how this site works and that I came looking for the wrong things.. someone to tell me what medical or non medical steps to take...

The night I posted I had been feeling nervous, anxious, and had the shakes but this was after I had done some very heavy drinking the day before. I finished that night with 1 beer... I felt better the next day, a ton better... But not great... I work in a very stressful customer related job where it's just non stop for 10-12 hours at times... by the end of that day I felt like I was starting to experience withdrawl symptoms, not as bad as the previous day and all I wanted was my half a fifth of vodka.

I decided to attempt the tapering off method for various reasons, and due to some research I've found. I'm starting with drinking a decent amount less of vodka on my first night, then the next night even more less, and then only drinking enough to where I can sleep without cold sweats and waking up every hour.

After that I plan on switching strictly to beer, starting with 3 or so, just drinking them slowly not pounding them, down to two, down to one, and then using the supplement I have used in the past called melatonin to finally be the deciding factor on restore my sleep to normal as it as worked wonders in the past to putting me on a normal and restful sleep pattern.

I hope to stay sober for an extended period of time and then eventually be able to just enjoy myself when with friends or at social gatherings without getting set back into my old ways progressing into drinking alone nightly again, I'm not sure if it's possible with my history but getting sober and telling myself daily that I can do this is helping a ton.

Just wanted to share my method and was wondering if anyone else has tried or had any success with this method or could offer any advice, although it can be very different for everyone.

Terminally Unique

If you have good reason to quit for an extended period of time, then you probably have good reason to quit for good. Judging from that "again" word you used, I'm sure you have learned by now that re-addiction occurs much faster than the initial addiction. Do you like playing Russian roulette?

ReadyAndAble

Hi, notime.

I tried this too:

I had no success becoming a moderate drinker, sorry to say. I'm not sure I've ever seen anyone else pull that off, either. There's an old saying about it being impossible for a pickle to go back to being a cucumber. The good news is that life is actually great without alcohol. You just think it's a big deal right now because you're still under its sway. I wouldn't want to drink normally even if I could.

notime408

I'm only 22, and have only been drinking heavily for about a year and a half now, just before turning 21... I for sure see where you are both coming from in having no success in doing it and probably better to never even try knowing that alcohol runs in the family.

I just hope the tapering off method works, It's been successful for 2 days now as I've met my limit and stopped where on an normal day I'd drink until I didn't remember the half hour before I fell asleep.

Dee74

i wish you well, but like the others here I had no success in tapering down, or in switching my drinks 'down" from 'hard liquor' to beer (or wine)

There is no switching down - that's a myth.
Alcohol's alcohol I'm afraid - beer's just as bad for you as vodka, believe me.

D

Hooped

I tried for years to control it.
Never worked, always ended up in the same desperate state.
3 beers would only leave me grumpy and wanting more.
And I would soon have more.... lots more.
Maybe not that evening.
But sooner rather than later.

Not drinking at all makes life much more peaceful.

llastchance8

I fully agree with Dee. I tried to switch from half a bottle of whiskey everyday to 2-3 glasses of wine with dinner. It was fine for initial few days . Then , those 2-3 glass of wine became one full bottle of wine, then one and half and then 2 .There was no end to it.

Notime408, We would not like to discourage you in your efforts to become moderate drinker. As you are just 22, your brain chemistry might be restored. However, years of data from history , proves otherwise.

I read in a book from Allen Carr ( Easy way to control Alcohol ) a very good articulation. The very reason we want to control Alcohol is because we are not in control, we were never in control and we will never be in control. Even a moderate drinker, is never in control. Everyone is at different stage and alcohol shows it true colors in a progressive manner, damages bodies, minds, lives ,relationships and everything before we can even realize it.

Wish you all the best. The best re-course is complete absenteeism. That is a already hard core fact for me and I am sure , for most of us at SR.

langkah

Your solution for vomiting blood and drinking to the point where you go nuts is to not drink so very much.

Who can argue with that logic?

The only thing that might upset your applecart is if you're an alcoholic. If you are then this plan is only a drunk's classic pipedream.

I guess you'll soon see, one way or the other.

Sapling

Most of us have been unwilling to admit we were real alcoholics. No person likes to think he is bodily and mentally different from his fellows. Therefore, it is not surprising that our drinking careers have been characterized by countless vain attempts to prove we could drink like other people. The idea that somehow, someday he will control and enjoy his drinking is the great obsession of every abnormal drinker. The persistence of this illusion is astonishing. Many pursue it into the gates of insanity or death.

We learned that we had to fully concede to our innermost selves that we were alcoholics. This is the first step in recovery. The delusion that we are like other people, or presently may be, has to be smashed.

We alcoholics are men and women who have lost the ability to control our drinking. We know that no real alcoholic ever recovers control. All of us felt at times that we were regaining control, but such intervals - usually brief - were inevitably followed by still less control, which led in time to pitiful and incomprehensible demoralization. We are convinced to a man that alcoholics of our type are in the grip of a progressive illness. Over any considerable period we get worse, never better.

We are like men who have lost their legs; they never grow new ones. Neither does there appear to be any kind of treatment which will make alcoholics of our kind like other men. We have tried every imaginable remedy. In some instances there has been brief recovery, followed always by a still worse relapse. Physicians who are familiar with alcoholism agree there is no such thing as making a normal drinker out of an alcoholic. Science may one day accomplish this, but it hasn't done so yet.

Despite all we can say, many who are real alcoholics are not going to believe they are in that class. By every form of self-deception and experimentation, they will try to prove themselves exceptions to the rule, therefore nonalcoholic. If anyone who is showing inability to control his drinking can do the right- about-face and drink like a gentleman, our hats are off to him. Heaven knows, we have tried hard enough and long enough to drink like other people!

Here are some of the methods we have tried: Drinking beer only, limiting the number of drinks, never drinking alone, never drinking in the morning, drinking only at home, never having it in the house, never drinking during business hours, drinking only at parties, switching from scotch to brandy, drinking only natural wines, agreeing to resign if ever drunk on the job, taking a trip, not taking a trip, swearing off forever (with and without a solemn oath), taking more physical exercise, reading inspirational books, going to health farms and sanitariums, accepting voluntary commitment to asylums - we could increase the list ad infinitum.

All quotes from the 1st Edition of Alcoholics Anonymous

I guess you won't be the first to try this method.

2granddaughters

I knew I was hooked at 16 but I stayed out until I was 45.
I DO NOT RECOMMEND THAT TO ANYONE !! The damage done in those years to myself and loved ones is staggering.

You are in the prime of your life and have the golden opportunity to change things around by finding true recovery. Please take that opportunity !!

I wish you the best in what you choose to do.
Bob R.

Josiegirl

Im glad you are here!!

Hearing others stories/experiences helps me a lot!

onlythetruth

You might want to check out the Sinclair Method (google it). It's essentially a Naltrexone-assisted taper. The science behind it makes sense and it appears to have a good success rate.

notime408

While I wouldn't call it negative feedback, I've received a lot of what I felt was skepticism on the method I was attempting.

I'm happy to say that although I have not yet gone to only having a few beers before bed every night or every other night, I have cut back in a huge way. I now drink about a 1/4th or slightly more of a fifth every night that I do drink and have had one completely sober night since starting and it's only week 1! While I do wake up half way into the night with cold sweats just thinking about how some more vodka will put me to sleep for the remainder of the night I have been fighting through; waking up just about every hour after that sweating and shaking. I don't get any restful sleep but going through my days at work tired is far better than being hungover as can be and at 50%.

I no longer am drinking 1/4th of a fifth before work to calm my withdrawals and shakes, although I will have a beer first thing every so often just to ease my nerves, cravings, and tremors. I do worry that I will have my night where I get completely hammered but I keep telling myself it won't happen, every single day.

As you can see I joined in 2008, at the start of what I felt was my path to becoming an alcoholic. 4 years down the road I have been drinking daily for the last two, whether I got home from work at 12 am and had to be there 7 hours later or if I had the day off and just spent it drunk.

While I still do know and believe that alcoholism is a disease I also am now a firm believer in the method of just cutting back and slowly but surely you can wean yourself off. Not a minute goes by since I've started this that I don't just want to start chugging some vodka. I always lumped myself into the "category" of people that could never control it because I wanted an excuse to drink.I haven't been drinking daily for 10, 20, even 40 years. I've finally realized that I can control it and it will only get better and better from here. Anyone can do it if they really commit to it in my mind and I look forward of better days to come. I've always been a firm believer of a mind over matter mentality though.

I will keep you all updated openly and honestly about the progress or relapses in hope that it will help benefit those of us who can't afford the agonizing time off work/life in withdrawals or medical help.

Hopefully this will eventually lead to my path in a completely sober life because I never want to fall into this trap of alcohol dependence again. Day by day and the constant reminder of how horrible it is has been helping me.

BHF

While I wouldn't call it negative feedback, I've received a lot of what I felt was skepticism on the method I was attempting.

I think that the responses you are receiving are skeptical b/c the vast majority on this forum are of the belief that we cannot successfully drink again - ever. Many of us have different ways of achieving and maintaining total sobriety/abstinence. I've tried to moderate and control my drinking and eventually it fails. I've quit drinking for years to go back and suffer worse consequences. I've "successfully" moderated for months, drinking only in social settings and only limited quantities because I didn't want to embarrass myself (again), get arrested (again)... I did (again).

This might not be your situation, but your description of your drinking suggests otherwise. If you wanted to taper off your drinking in an attempt to maintain sobriety/abstinence, you'd probably receive more positive feedback. However, the way that I read your posts leads me to believe that you are attempting to cut back your consumption to a level that you can successfully control? As an alcoholic of my nature, I immediately question why anyone who has any ability to control their drinking spends time questioning their drinking? But more importantly, I remember when I was convinced that I could control my drinking....if I could only figure out how to control my drinking.

I wish you the best in whatever you choose, but personally, if you prove that you can successfully control/moderate your drinking, I hope I miss that thread. Too dangerous of a thought for me.

TwelveSteps

Hi Notime,

I understand about the job thing -- I'm not saying YOU are doing this, but for a long time I used my stressful job as an excuse for my drinking. I'm a transactional attorney, often working around the clock for days when we are putting a 9-figure merger or other deal together, usually in an all-male (somehow men are just less pleasant to work with IMHO!) environment. Who wouldn't need a drink after that?? I finally had to realize that I wasn't special and everyone has major stressors in their lives -- and many of them learn to handle it without drinking. Again, I don't want to make the assumption that you have the same attitude I did, but just wanted to share my experience.

My (not alcoholic) boyfriend has a very high pressure job too, and although he's not "sober," he rarely drinks. Now we have fun figuring out more productive ways to de-stress at the end of a killer day!

GG

sobergirl77

I'll share a little of my experience... maybe it will help!

This has been successful with me - the tapering off part, at least. But it was VERY very difficult - I had to force myself to stay very strong-willed and alert. Depending on what kind of alcohol I was coming off at the time, I'd have to do it gradually. Especially when coming off hard liquor like vodka.

I also tried many times and failed. My success rate in tapering was probably around 15%. The times I did it and succeeded, were the times that I knew I had no other option except go to the hospital and couldn't bear the thought of being poked and prodded.

The real issue was staying sober once I was off. When you start feeling better, you think you are out of the woods with the addiction part... and unfortunately, you have no choice but to adopt some sort of replacement for the alcohol. For me, it was spirituality and metaphysics (with a little AA thrown in for fellowship).

I wish you the best, and please be careful and taper slowly if you've been drinking large amounts for a long time! Also take vitamins and drink some high alkaline water if you can find it. Helped me a lot.

Dee74

I wouldn't call it skepticism notime - I tried your way and man, it didn't work - just sharing my experience, not trying to pick a fight

It's your call, your journey.

You can discount my experience if you like - no skin off my nose at all - I'm glad you feel you're getting somewhere

D

notime408

Dee, I completely understand where you are coming from and don't think you are trying to pick a fight. I've been doing so well taking it day by day but over the last two days I've fallen off, not bad... just not in the cut back order that I had in mind.

I still believe I can do it not only because I want to so badly but because I believe I have to as it is the only way for me financially, professionally, and realistically.

There are forms on HAMS that I've just started using that make me feel extremely accountable. My girlfriend just turned 21 this month and the times when I fall are when she goes out to have some drinks and I join her. I think that by avoiding those situations I will be able to control it better as I have minus those moments.

Like many have said, to each their own... whatever can put you on a path that leads to sobriety. If this isn't it for me then I will look further no matter the cost because as each day of withdrawls or relapse occurs it just furthers me into wanting nothing more than complete sobriety. So far its progress but I need to turn progress into results that last a lifetime.

Sapling

just furthers me into wanting nothing more than complete sobriety.

I had to honestly admit to my innermost self that I couldn't do this on my own. I'm not talking about admitting it to myself when I was drinking...When I had safely detoxed and cleared my head up a little bit. I had no control of when I started to drink...And when I started...I had no control of when I stopped. Some people can do this on their own...I wasn't one of them. I didn't have the power on my own. I found out there are a lot of people just like me.

I've fallen off, not bad... just not in the cut back order that I had in mind.

Like I said...It was all or nothing for me. I was done with falling...Period.


I think that by avoiding those situations I will be able to control it better

Alcohol controlled me for most of my life....And it wasn't going to change. I'm the one that had to change.

langkah

Following your plan for an entire week for the first time might go a long way toward reducing the skepticism you sensed from others last week about your chances of successfully following your plan during this past week.

If you ever do start to succeed in following your plan, after some months pass I don't think people will view your plan with any skepticism.