ringoffire

Hi All,

I am new to the forum. I am not sure what direction I should take but any advice would be great.

I am a late 20's male, 200lbs pretty healthy - I bike 4 km every day. Lately I have been having a lot of stress and anxiety over school work and projects. I would say for the last 3 months I have been drinking about a 375 ml (a mickey) of vodka or equivalent 3-5 times a week. On my hangover days, I feel pretty ill, heart racing, cold sweats and the insomnia is what is really getting to me.

So I would like to cut back A LOT to the point of quitting. The college atmosphere is not conducive to 0 alcohol, and sometimes a beer or two is nice while watching a hockey game.

I know I am abusing alcohol, and it is problem drinking. But is the amount, frequency and duration a big problem if I stop now? I do not mean to insult, but some on this forum have been drinking for 10,15,20,30 years, so my 3 months seems like peanuts. I just need some opinions on how to right my problem.

Thanks.

jazzfish

The simple answer: if you don't think you're an alcoholic, then you simply drink less. If you're not an alcoholic, you will be able to achieve this fairly easily.

Three months in college is not very long at all, but you are showing signs of very heavy drinking. I showed such signs in college and ignored them (well, drank through them) and 25 years later, here I am.

I am an alcoholic and I am finding quitting to be very difficult. If you find you cannot cut-back, moderate, avoid or quit drinking, then there are many ways and people here who can help.

Like2Hike

I wish I'd thought like you when in college, Ring. Although widely accepted, alcohol is a very addictive, intoxicating drug. Jazzfish nailed it. If you can't easily cut back drastically then it's best to quit completely.

The most valuable advice I can give is from my life experience. Alcoholism caused me to compromise my life in subtle and not so subtle ways until I finally stopped. You're young and have a lot of good things ahead of you. Don't let alcohol ruin them.

MIRecovery

Unfortunately one thing is certain. It only get worse unless you do something to stop the downward spiral

Boleo

Good new is you probably have a lot of wax left in your candle.

Bad news is you are burning it at both ends.

Badder news is once you drink like a pickle - there is no going back to being a cucumber.

NoJimmy

My belief is our relationship with alcohol was already determined before we ever had our first drink. I got seriously smashed the first time I ever tried alcohol, it took me to a place where I felt more confident, and gave me peace from the worry and irritability I normally felt. Drinking modest amounts and stopping accomplishes nothing for me. You could compare it to being starving hungry and leaving a full plate of food after a few bites, I can do it, but it's not very satisfying.
You'll have to decide for yourself if you can be satisfied being a moderate drinker. If your tendency is to get hammered, my guess is you will continue to be drawn back to that no matter how hard you try to be moderate.

Glad you're here asking questions

LadyBlue0527

This is on the money.

You had stated

So cut out the vodka and make the above your goal. Can you do that? If you can't then you might have an issue.


I just edited this to add that when I asked "can you do that?" how did that make you feel? What were the first thoughts that entered your mind when you considered dropping the vodka? That's usually a tell too. If you felt anxious at all or you felt even a little pull of hindrance then that's something to consider. A person who can drink normally wouldn't even have thought twice about doing that. Is it really about not being able to have a beer or two while watching hockey?

ringoffire

Thanks for the opinions everybody!

Today is day 1 no booze, I am going to try to make it till at least 3 days without and then see how I am feeling. I dont think im going through full blown withdrawls, I have a hard time sleeping (that was before the alcohol, part of the reason for it) and some anxiety and I seem to be sweating a lot this first day. The hands are a little shakey - but otherwise, no headache, no nausea, no fatigue.

I think maybe 3 - 4 days off the booze will right the ship? Then I can try to have a couple beers for a hockey game and see what happen?

jazzfish

3-4 days will get you past any physical withdrawals. It can take up to 10 days to get it all out of the system. It can takes weeks, months or years to repair physical damage that can be repaired.

In your case, I would try 30 days and see how that goes regarding your drinking habits.

If worried about medical righting of the ship, then see a doctor.

ringoffire

Thanks for the reply!

Well, I know nobody here is a doctor, but is 3 months of heavy'ish drinking with my previous habits before those 3 months I would say were "moderate - not problem drinking by definition"?

Could I have caused significant damage in this window of time? I just ask because the term alcoholic, and drinking and drinker around here means years and years of heavy so I do not know where I stand.

Dee74

Hi ringoffire - the short answer is none of us know whether you're an alcoholic or not, what damage you may have done (if any) or what it might take for you to 'right your ship'.

I think it unlikely you're going to reset the pattern you've learned over three months in 3-4 days, but it's your call to give it a try. I sincerely hope you're right

See your Dr about the damage question - like I say we can't answer that here.
D