I have a problem with alcohol
 

Hi all , i have recently admitted to myself that i have a problem , im 39 years old and have been drinking since my late teens , it only turned into problem about 6 or 7 years ago , now i cant function without it , i tried to stop about 2 weeks ago but only managed 3 days , ive drank day and night since . i woke up today and im going to try again , any advice would be great , i feel ok now but im worried about the 3 day mark , thats when i start craving like crazy . thanks for listening.

Welcome, Hope! Good to have you here. We've all been where you are; it just takes time. Are you working a program, like AA, AVRT, etc.? A program will go a long way toward helping you get there without having to "white knuckle" this thing. And support is crucial during this time too ... glad you came here because there is support galore here. We've been where you are.

All the best to you. :)

Hi Hope. Desert is right, you cant do this alone, SR is a great community, go to an AA meeting, you dont have to say a dickybird, just listen.

Try to deal with one day at a time. Deal with day 3 when it comes. I tell myself out loud every morning. I'm not going to drink today. Seems to work, I've been sober for 17 days now. Keep posting on here when you feel like you are going through it. That helps me. Welcome

Welcome to SR!

Welcome.
Most of us would break-down and drink on the dreaded 3rd day of sobriety, I know I did for many years before I got serious. Last April I tried, got about 12 days dry, wasn't ready (in my head to quit) and ended up drinking the whole Summer away. In my lonely alcoholic world. Took me until September, feeling near death when my mind was truly open to change my entire way of life. You'll have to take it one day at a time right now, but always think towards a future without the burden of the drink, a future with purpose even though that purpose is not staring you in the face at this moment. The longer you go without the drink and instead doing what is right for your mind and body the easier and more pleasant sobriety can be.

Try to alter your sleep time a bit if you have intense cravings in the evening and have something to do early in the morning, anything non-drink related to occupy your mind in the first days and weeks is good.

(On top of Holly's suggestion I used to tell myself 'I will not ruin tomorrow by drinking tonight.') :)

thanks for the welcome messages everyone , im glad i found this site , i dont feel so alone now , its lifted my spirits knowing that theres people on this site that wont judge me and know what im going through , im only on day 1 but its a step in the right direction , thanks again.

The most important thing you can do is to not drink today. When tomorrow gets here, work on it then. If you have concerns that you might have withdrawal symptoms, which you may, based on your drinking history, you should seek medical attention.

One day at a time isnt just a catch phrase, it really works. Just focus all of your energy on not taking a single drink today. Almost all of us on this forum have been in your shoes, and we're all here for you!

welcome...:wavey:

Glad you found us....many here are winning over alcohol
and Yes! so can you...:yup:
Please call your dovtor...be honest and ask how best to procede.
It's really the wisest thing to do.

Me too
 

I am a 62 year old female drug and alcohol counselor. I have helped many, many people, but I can't help myself. I'm having trouble figuring out how to get into the chat room. I downloaded Java. So I'm starting here. I have tried everything you can think of to get sober. I rarely miss work (I'm missing today), I have a great rep at work, I have no financial problems to speak of or legal problems, I just know I need to stop drinking or this thing will kill me. I am trying to imagine God is right here with me now. Today is my sobriety date.

Welcome to you both. Read with an open mind. Read about all the others before you. There is much to learn. Remember it gets easier and better everyday.

Welcome. AA has helped me tremendously. Stick around and keep reading. It has really helped me. Just know that you sincerely have to WANT it. Best wishes!

Dom.

:ghug3:ghug3 Hugs to both of you. You'll get lots of help and support on here. Well done on making the decision to make a change. That's just as hard as actually giving up.
It's a long road ahead, but you don't have to walk it alone.

Welcome Happytobesober and Bostonterriers,

Happy,

I strongly resembled you and your current situation a year and a half ago. My life with alcohol was unmanageable and life without drinking was daunting to say the least. I took it one day at a time, in the first few weeks it was literally one minute at a time in certain situations that were quite stressful.

What helped me the most, besides posting and reading here, was doing s simple cost benefit analysis of drinking or not drinking. I would go over the pros and cons of drinking that day. The good thing about drinking for as long and as much as I did I knew the outcome if I choose to drink, I have been down that road many times and understand fully what would happen if I drank, it was no longer an escape from my everyday life but rather a anchor to the shame spiral I was living.

As time went on and I had more sober days under my belt I started to look forward to the days of not drinking, being attentive to all aspects of my life and seeing the world around me with clarity for this first time in many years. A year in a half later I am a much better father, husband and business owner. I take ownership of my actions and have the presence of mind to address life's speed bumps and hurdles without avoidance or fear.

It is not all flowers and sunshine everyday but it is much better than the life I was leading.

If I can do this so can you!

Wishing you both the best of luck and the peace of mind that you so desire,

Ditto on this I struggled for around 4 months trying to quit because I had not made the decision to quit. What I mean is that yes I acknowledged that I should quit and that I on some level wanted to quit, but I hadn't really made the firm decision yet. I started reading here and read "rational recovery, the new cure for substance addiction", with a lot of help and advice from the wonderful people here on SR I was finally able to make the decision. Once made, quiting, while I wouldn't go so far as to call it easy, has been a whole lot easier. The important part is to know that you "want" to quit and make the decision to do so, at least for me that was the hardest part. Now my main challenge is learning to live a life that doesn't involve drowning myself in beer every evening. Best of luck to you, just comming here is a good start.

thanks a lot for the advice everyone , it really is a big help.

Welcome hopetobesober :)

Plugging myself in her to SR really changed things for me - I could never get past 3 days either but somehow knowing I wasn't alone and that I had support made doing that a little easier :)

welcome to you too BostonTerriors - hope you worked out the Chat thing :)
D

Day three doesnt have to be that bad. There's no rule. I recently got sober with the help of SR, and I'm on day 10 now. Day three was fine - I didnt feel ill at all, and now I'm back regularly in AA too. If you really find it that hard, your doctor should be able to help you with a home de-tox. That's where they give you something like Librium so you don't feel the withdrawals at all.
Good luck.

Sally...Congrats on day 10...I'm really glad to hear that. Keep moving forward.

Forget about staying sober for the rest of your life. Just decide you're not going to drink TODAY. I got sober that way. Now, can you get to a rehab or AA? I couldn't get sober alone, I needed a hell of a lot of support from other people and got this in AA. Nobody judged me, just held my hand as I struggled with TODAY.

God bless...