What made you finally want to quit?
Buddhist
Join Date: Oct 2012
Posts: 30
I always loved drinking but what actually made me quit was during a sober day I realized how much more productive I could be as alcohol stopped me. After quitting my stomach and digestion had so many horrible issues and still do which at times makes me regret quitting.
Life the gift of recovery!
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Home is where the heart is
Posts: 7,061
I had wanted to and tried to quit for many years prior to finding any success but those attempts were made for reasons like being embarrassed for my actions while drinking, getting into trouble because of my drinking, someone calling me an alcoholic, horrible hangovers, etc....
What made me finally decide to quit without reservation was coming to a point in my life where I finally realized that my alcoholism was just a slow suicide that was not just killing me but it was killing all the people around me that cared about me as well. When I would leave the house my oldest daughter would beg me not to drink and try and get me to promise not to drink like a promise would actually be kept at that point. But she was part of what helped me come to the realization that I did. I had finally decided that I could no longer go on living drinking but since I did not know how to live without alcohol and not be totally insane and obsess about drinking I figured suicide was my only other option. Fortunately, I gave it one last desperate try and prayed that night to God, a God I had long ago stopped believing in, to either show me how to live without alcohol and not be insane or just give me the courage to put a gun to my head. I got my answer when the first thought that came to my head that morning when I woke up was to find a note that had been given to me months earlier by a woman in AA who gave me her phone number and said to call if I ever felt I needed help stopping drinking. Somehow I still had that number. That will be 12 years ago this March 13 and I have not had to take a drink since.
What made me finally decide to quit without reservation was coming to a point in my life where I finally realized that my alcoholism was just a slow suicide that was not just killing me but it was killing all the people around me that cared about me as well. When I would leave the house my oldest daughter would beg me not to drink and try and get me to promise not to drink like a promise would actually be kept at that point. But she was part of what helped me come to the realization that I did. I had finally decided that I could no longer go on living drinking but since I did not know how to live without alcohol and not be totally insane and obsess about drinking I figured suicide was my only other option. Fortunately, I gave it one last desperate try and prayed that night to God, a God I had long ago stopped believing in, to either show me how to live without alcohol and not be insane or just give me the courage to put a gun to my head. I got my answer when the first thought that came to my head that morning when I woke up was to find a note that had been given to me months earlier by a woman in AA who gave me her phone number and said to call if I ever felt I needed help stopping drinking. Somehow I still had that number. That will be 12 years ago this March 13 and I have not had to take a drink since.
Member
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: northern michigan. not the U.P.
Posts: 15,281
passing back in the morning after my last drunk, being told what i said and did the day/night before, and being thrwon out. it was then that i was at the point of desperation. the pain of getting drunk exceeded the pain of reality and it was take another drink and kill myself or get help.
as a sober contributor
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: California
Posts: 1,312
Pain
For me it was the realization that my drinking was indeed causing the Gout attack that I had been enduring for WEEKS. I could barely even touch my foot on the ground and sleeping was nearly impossible.
When a friend looked at me and said "why dont you just stop drinking?" that was all it took. His words repeated in my head all night and by the time morning came, I had a long list of reasons to stop but not one reason to continue.
In 5 days I will have been sober for 6 months and the gout attacks have completely disappeared.
When a friend looked at me and said "why dont you just stop drinking?" that was all it took. His words repeated in my head all night and by the time morning came, I had a long list of reasons to stop but not one reason to continue.
In 5 days I will have been sober for 6 months and the gout attacks have completely disappeared.
Re-Member
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Colorado Springs, Colorado
Posts: 7,583
No external losses, my friends and family all said I just needed to cut back if anything. No legal problems, no dramatic showdowns or behaviors in fact I took cabs or had a DD or stayed home. I paid an assistant to help and drive home from DJ gigs as a DD. But my tolerance kept climbing until I was drinking well over 30 units a day of alcohol, and having to put shots of my wife's scotch in my coffees until the shaking stopped. I wasn't drinking for a good feeling, the buzz was long gone. I was drinking to function and for the last two years that was it every day. Then I could feel my health and vigor draining away like toilet water swirling before it goes down.
I realized that I was committing slow suicide for no reason.
I decided I wanted to live for good reason.
I realized that I was committing slow suicide for no reason.
I decided I wanted to live for good reason.
Recovering ostrich
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: Tampa Bay, Florida
Posts: 2,551
Thanks for sharing everyone.
For me, it was an accumulation of things. For a couple of years, I had been getting hangovers. Some mild, that could be cured with coffee and a shower. Others so debilitating, I would be in bed for a day. But the physical problems from the hangovers weren't the worst part, it was the mental torture I put myself through. I hated myself, I would bully myself in my head the whole time... i knew, deep down that if I continued i would either drink myself into a coma or pull a Hemingway or Plath... except that my only legacy would be LOLCatz and fart jokes on Facebook.
Then in the fall, my leg started to swell. Not a little fluid, but like the aunt in Harry Potter who inflates and floats away kind of swelling. My doc told me it was either a blood clot, cancer or heart failure. During one of the tests, they did an ultrasound of my stomach and back... Of course, because of the news, I was particularly hung over that day... if you are going to die, better with a pinot in the hand! The next day, I got a voicemail that they found something.... In the two hours it took for us to connect, all I thought was, 'this is it. I ruined my liver and now my doctor will know.' Turns out they found a cyst and there is really nothing wrong with me, but after that I started to google ways to stop drinking. Even registered a name here!
Fast forward to December. I have too much wine, per usual, drop my iPhone, it cracked and I freaked out on my partner. I had never done that. I made her cry, I was an ahole and all over something so stupid. I had never been so ashamed and angry with myself.
That was 32 days ago. Sorry it was long winded, first time I've ever told that.
For me, it was an accumulation of things. For a couple of years, I had been getting hangovers. Some mild, that could be cured with coffee and a shower. Others so debilitating, I would be in bed for a day. But the physical problems from the hangovers weren't the worst part, it was the mental torture I put myself through. I hated myself, I would bully myself in my head the whole time... i knew, deep down that if I continued i would either drink myself into a coma or pull a Hemingway or Plath... except that my only legacy would be LOLCatz and fart jokes on Facebook.
Then in the fall, my leg started to swell. Not a little fluid, but like the aunt in Harry Potter who inflates and floats away kind of swelling. My doc told me it was either a blood clot, cancer or heart failure. During one of the tests, they did an ultrasound of my stomach and back... Of course, because of the news, I was particularly hung over that day... if you are going to die, better with a pinot in the hand! The next day, I got a voicemail that they found something.... In the two hours it took for us to connect, all I thought was, 'this is it. I ruined my liver and now my doctor will know.' Turns out they found a cyst and there is really nothing wrong with me, but after that I started to google ways to stop drinking. Even registered a name here!
Fast forward to December. I have too much wine, per usual, drop my iPhone, it cracked and I freaked out on my partner. I had never done that. I made her cry, I was an ahole and all over something so stupid. I had never been so ashamed and angry with myself.
That was 32 days ago. Sorry it was long winded, first time I've ever told that.
Member
Join Date: Dec 2012
Location: Des Moines IA
Posts: 377
Getting sick of myself and understanding from long experience I didn't have a shot at staying sober on my own as much as I desired it to be otherwise, and getting it that I had a condition that was not going to disappear because I wanted it to and just said some magic words.
I was going to have to put more effort into this problem than I preferred would be true.
I'm not sure exactly how my mind cleared at the time to see all that, but I saw that as true one afternoon after I drank a beer I didn't want to drink.
You'd think the horrible stuff would get my attention, but I stayed blind to all that. It was that particular 4th short can of beer that I tried as hard as I could try not to drink.
The next time I was in AA, my ears were open.
I was going to have to put more effort into this problem than I preferred would be true.
I'm not sure exactly how my mind cleared at the time to see all that, but I saw that as true one afternoon after I drank a beer I didn't want to drink.
You'd think the horrible stuff would get my attention, but I stayed blind to all that. It was that particular 4th short can of beer that I tried as hard as I could try not to drink.
The next time I was in AA, my ears were open.
Member
Join Date: Dec 2012
Location: Illinois
Posts: 58
What made me finally stop was that my kidneys were starting to hurt after I drank, and it scared the hell out of me because I know I have alot to live for, and damaging my insides wasn't a good thought. If my kidneys didn't give me a warning sign, I'd still be fighting alcohol addiction. I'm 28 days sober today and I thank GOD for it!!
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