jay37

Was there one specific moment that made you quit drinking? Did you get arrested, lose a job, get divorced. I am interested in hearing about that moment. We are all anonymous on this site so please be as detailed as possible. Your stories could be a warning for others

Turtle82

No, I won't do that Jay. Based on your other thread, I'm beginning to feel like someone's trying to invade my privacy. You say you don't have a problem but want to know all about mine. I feel like a fish in a fish bowl. If you're a journalist or doing a paper or something, you should announce that and ask permission. I'm not saying that's your intention. I'm saying that's how I'm starting to feel even just reading that thread so I left my last reply there. If you really want to know, my journey is over in our Sobriety Stories section of SR. You're welcome to check it out. Peace.

Dee74

You posted in Our Stories Of Recovery forum Jay.

That's for stories of recovery of one year or more, and no feedback is allowed.

I moved your post here.

I drank for many many years, long past it being any fun. It became something I had to do to function.

It nearly killed me.

The good news, and the thing I love to share, is that you can quit any time you like...

You can be smarter than me. You don't have to replicate my experiment, I can just give you the answer: Drinking alcoholically is not worth it.

MelindaFlowers

Sick and tired of being sick and tired.

jay37

Not writing a paper or trying to invade anyone's privacy. Just curious. I did not realize there was a Sobriety Stories section. I will check it out. Thank you

Carlotta

I had just gotten a manicure and I decided to have a beer. I wanted to drink it immediately so I did not even bother going for an opener and popped the cap with my fingers. I broke 2 nails in my alcoholic frenzy. That day, I truly hit bottom and realized that my life had become unmanageable.

Della1968

I never drank till I was 32 and went through a divorce, the death of my grandma and lost my house all within a year. Slow learner that I am I would quit then go back. This continued for 14 years. Up and down...on and off the wagon. In Aug I resigned from my job of 9 years because it was a better option than termination. Two weeks later my fiance moved out.

I lost all this and still kept drinking for almost 4 months. I guess I thought it was making the bad stuff go away. I at times woke up at 3 or 4 am and went to Wal-Mart for vanilla extract just to get some alcohol in my system. Finally one day it clicked I was going to end up dead or insane. My daughter had told me she didn't feel like she had a mom anymore and my son rarely came around. They are both on their own and it's lonely for me I have never lived alone. I regret the time I spent drinking that I could have enjoyed them more fully.

To me and for the life I want alcohol has no redeeming value and I wish I had accepted this years ago. It would have saved many people a lot of pain.

least

It wasn't one specific moment, rather the accumulation of all the little moments together.

SDH73

No one moment for me. There have been many, many horribly hungover mornings when i would swear to cut down. I could never maintain that, though.

gaffo

I was fighting with my wife in front of my kids and I realized that if I didn't want to be drunk anymore. I didn't want to fight anymore and if I did I wanted to remember it. I wanted more control over my relationship and my life but drinking was making me weak. I decided that sobriety was the way to channel my inner badass. I had sober friends and I wanted what they had. It's been a long long road since then but I stand by my original motivation.

GnikNus

I drank for more than 14 years. It was a balm, it heightening everything, melted social anxieties, etc. however, the during last couple of years I started having anxiety/panic attacks after drinking. Sometimes that night, sometimes the day after, and other times at complete random. Thoughts preoccupied with death and dying. I eventually said "enough is enough- I don't want to live this way."

esinger

It was that moment when I realized I either give up drinking or give up life. (What was left of it) It was actually a very tough decision. You want war stories? Read the posts of the struggling people reaching out on this site.

dwtbd

I had hundreds during my 30 yr relationship with alcohol. Most of them I let slip away , sometimes hoping that in some future I would decide to quit and then justify continued drinking with myriad excuses.
One of the last moments was more recent, almost like one of those melodramatic scenes in a movie I got an image of myself in the rearview mirror trying to time a swig of whisky without being seen by passersby. Right then it hit me that I had yet to achieve that future me and instead of waiting I had to make it happen. In all the past instances I didn't really think I would be the am whisky swigger, but live and learn.
I stumbled on SR researching things like anxiety and alcohol withdrawl and saw mention of RR and AVRT. I read their material and it really resonated with me , I haven't looked back since.
wish you well

LBrain

I thought I saw this before. I was a bit suspect about it. Still am.

OklaBH

Jay,

It tons of things. Specifics dont matter. I will not entertain anyone with my horror stories.

Your last thread you said you can have a beer and be done with it. I cant figure out the fascination. You even request we go into as much detail as possible. Thats crossing a boundary.

dwtbd

I actually think it may be a fake or insincere question/er, but the real answers will hopefully help someone looking/lurking around.
Betcha D thinks that too eh, no lock as of yet

walkbeformakrun

I started drinking very infrequently and mostly in small amounts. I would go out with friends and get ragging drunk but only once or twice a year. I'd buy beer and it would just sit in my fridge. A six pack of beer would last me a month or more. Very gradually I became an every day drinker. It took 15 or more years to get to that point. I noticed that over time, I was drinking more and more, not just more frequently but more quantity too.

I eventually decided that I wanted to just cut back. Not quit. I kept trying to do that. I was successful in a way. I could stop drinking for a few days at a time. I'd miss it the whole time though. Then when I'd give myself permission to drink again, I would go right back to the amount I was drinking before. It was never a lot. No serious issues like DWI. Fights with the wife were more frequent and severe. That was my worst issue with drinking. It wasn't what made me stop.

I was meeting with a therapist for anger issues and PTSD issues. I did not know the therapist had a lot of experience as a drug an alcohol counselor. I mentioned to him in passing that I thought I was drinking too much. I mentioned that I'd like to cut back, not quit, but that I had not been able to do that very effectively. He asked me, if I accepted that I could not cut back then did I,

1) Want to quit entirely or,

2) want to keep drinking

He did not pressure me to quit. He said he would keep working with me for the reasons I came to him for, regardless of what choice I made. He was just telling me to think about it.

I recognized that these were really my only two choices. I realized that if I kept drinking it would, over time, get worse and worse. I realized I'd eventually become a degenerate. I thought about what kind of future I'd have with either choice. Very different. I chose door number 1.

I'm still new to this. It is not easy but I have no doubt that it is what I want.

I envy your ability to drink moderately. I hope you do not slide down the slippery slope that I did.

jay37

Its a sincere question. Some of your stories help me look at my own life and decide what I want to do. If I run into some issues that sound familiar in my own life that i can take that into account in my own situation. Thank you

zjw

panic attacks got so bad i was ready to try anything to be free of them. I really didnt think quiting drinking would solve squat but it was a last ditched effort to free myself from those panic attacks. once i quit a LOT of things began to get better / change / improve my perspective changed the panic attacks calmed down etc.. I didnt exactly feel like staying sober was 100% worth while till iw as in it 9+ months while stuff was getting better those first however many months i was still having a pretty tough time.

all the other bad stuff wasnt enough to push me over the edge into the sober camp. but those panic attacks did the trick.

I shudder when i hear about folks that put up with those for decades etc.. I dunno how they do it. I'm glad i was not that hooked that i'd tolerate panic just to get my booze fix i'd imagine thats even worse then i had it.

LBrain

jay, I recommend going to a bunch of different open aa meetings. sooner than you realize you will here someone tell your story, try to find speaker meetings if you can - that's when you really here yourself speaking