Dee74

I used to have these great periods where I could drink one or two and genuinely not feel the urge to drink more.

I used to treasure those times cos they made me believe I could be cured of my affliction...

but they never lasted.

I hope you get the outcome you want, Rob

D

dwtbd

A very good point you bring up is that the longer amount of time that has passed since the last drink, the less the "brain" craves it. My experience has been that since deciding to quit for good, forever, the pull both conscious and subconscious has lessened. Time may not cure all ills, but it certainly starves the AV.

newpage119

Probably a much better conclusion to the nausea and sick feeling and bad association with alcohol would be to say "THANK GOD, I DON'T WANT ANY MORE Of THAT POISON EVER AGAIN!!! IT MAKES ME SICK!!! I CAN QUIT!! YIPPEE!!! YAY! HOORAY!!! OH JOY!!!!
and whatever good sayings you can think of....and DON'T HAVE ANY!!!!
Not that day, not the next, and not ever again.....
Now there is a good ending to the story.........

bigsombrero

Good luck man. I know you are trying to share some tips and be helpful here, so we apologize for the rigid tone. But it's akin to waving a chicken leg from behind the glass at a bear in a zoo...it's not the WORST thing you could do, it's just frowned upon.

Many of us alcoholics have been there and done that. We have come up with every scheme in the book to cut down. We alcoholics love to put on our lab coats and get the Bunsen Burners going and conjure up magic tricks that will solve the world's problems (and most importantly, our own). Alas, they simply don't work for most of us. And the reason our backs are a little arched up right now is because there are so many on the edge of abstinence who could benefit from this truth. For what it's worth, there are also REAL scientists also working on this problem, and they haven't really found much luck either. They have much fancier lab coats than we do, some even have "Dr." written on their lapels.

I do wish you all the best and hope you continue to stick around! Post, read, think, listen, and figure out what works best for you. Just put down the chicken leg so us bears don't get too distracted from the tasks in our reality.

Rob32u

Maybe the problem is that I started my post by saying "I found a way to reduce drinking" instead of saying "I found a way to reduce the urge to drink". That was my intent, not to talk about moderation as a goal but rather to talk about how to reduce the urge to drink, which is something that could help anyone trying to stop drinking. It's Definitely not waving around a chicken leg.

bigsombrero

That could be. I'm sure the title might have given the wrong idea. No big deal, you are welcome and we are happy to have you. I hope you quit drinking for good and don't go back. It's awesome out here and so many of us are leading much better lives. Most of us weren't living under a bridge, either. We are just better off without the booze. Give it a shot man, this is a great place to start.

Like2Hike

I haven't drank in over 2 years and plan to stay that way. The negative memories of alcohol is something that I've settled into naturally. I guess it helps because I have no real cravings or interests in going back to the problems alcohol caused me. Thanks for the tip, Rob.

MelindaFlowers

This.

airwick

I'm glad you can do it, but I can't. I wish I could, and sometimes I even
try to convince myself I can.

You can do something I can't. Why? Who gave you the key that unlocks the liqueur cabinet with no strings attached?

Gottalife

Thanks for your posts Rob. It's a fact that there is a certain type of hard drinker who can stop or moderate if they have a good enough reason. I really really wanted to be like you, but as an alcoholic, that is not possible. In order for me to recover, I need to know and accept that fact.

I can read your post and know deep down inside that I'm just not like you. I think it's great you have found a way to cut back. It will bring all sorts of improvements to your life.

It seems to me your post will be very helpful to any alcoholic here who can honestly compare their experience to yours. There is no way I can do what you do, and that's what makes me an alcoholic.

Rob32u

Has anyone here had alcohol cause your face to get red? I know some people have this and some don't. And if so, did it go away if you stopped drinking for a long time?

Kaneda8888

Rob

I wish you all the best and I do hope it works out for you. I hesitated to post as I didnt want to be negative as when I read your first post I did see a lot of red flags. However, all I wish is for your best health !

Pipping

Alcohol does make your face go red. You often see that on long term, hard core drinkers especially around the cheeks and nose. My Mother used to refer to it as " whiskey nose" -, my Dad had one. It does go away if you stop drinking and other things improve like sleep, digestion and usually people lose weight if they are overweight. Your sleep pattern sounds like mine with the waking up on the couch at 11 then again at 4. I was always tired and dehydrated the next day. I know what it's like to live alone and drink and I got pretty down and lonely. Good luck with quitting I really hope it works for you xx

esinger

What ever makes your life better. I tried to do sort of what you are doing. Didn't work for me but I'm not you.

zoomi

I wish that was I :P

tomsteve

And I’ve tricked my brain into not needing or wanting alcohol as much, so as time goes by it becomes easier.

Gotta plan for when your brain tricks you? When your brain realizes its a lie?

Rob32u

Someone said to report back in six months on how things are going. Long story short, I now abstain 5 days a week most weeks, and on the other two (usually weekend) I may have 4 to 6 a day. That's down from about 5 a day, every day, for nearly 20 years.

I don't find it difficult to abstain on the days I do, and I feel that this new pattern will hold. It's held for months now and it feels permanent. I can walk past the beer and wine in the grocery store and not feel any temptation and sometimes just a hint of revulsion. The days I do drink seems to be some kind of psychological crutch, like I'm just not willing to let go.

I know the next step is to go through a weekend without having any. Even though I'm doing much better, I know I'd be much better off stopping entirely. It's such a liberating feeling during the week when I'm not drinking, and don't feel the urge to drink. Why don't I want to experience that all seven days of the week?

I trace it all back to the "aversion therapy" trick I played on my brain, as I mentioned in the main post. That started about 18 months ago, but it didn't really start to work powerfully until that stomach virus I had 6 months ago, which I used to increase the sense of aversion.

The main thing I've learned is, if there's any way for you to stop drinking even for a short period, do it. I used the aversion trick but whatever works for you. Every day you don't drink makes your brain used to not drinking, and it builds up. I couldn't even imagine how I could ever not drink on a daily basis. It seemed impossible and unthinkable, but once you cut back it definitely becomes easier. Another thing is that, for some people, hypnosis might work. I didn't actually go to a hypnotist, I sort of did it to myself, but I've heard professional hypnotists sort of do the same thing. Good luck to everyone.

advbike

Thanks for the update. It sounds like you're able to moderate your drinking successfully. Using your terms of quantity ingested, I was too. The last few years I drank I ingested less than 300 drinks per year. Yes, less than one per day on average, because I was trying to control it, and even quit for periods in there.

The problem for me was that I was still not addressing the real issues - the emotional wounds and faulty coping mechanisms I developed from a chaotic early childhood that caused me to want to drink in the first place. When I drank I was self medicating, when I didn't I just switched to other obsessions of the mind.

None of those issues came to light until I began seeing a therapist and permanently quit drinking alcohol two years ago. With sobriety came new observations and insights, along with painful memories. The real recovery work is finally underway and I've learned so much since then, but it it couldn't have happened until I let go of alcohol once and for all. It was a mental diversion.

I wish you the best on your own journey. Thanks again for sharing it.

Midton

I, and I'm sure many others, came here looking for some help to get my binging in check, get a grasp of it so to speak before hopefully starting again but more moderately after learning a little. Resetting myself.

It simply didn't work. Hard as it was I eventually realised that eventually I return to problematic drinking and every time it gets a little worse.

I've joined three classes here, but always at the back of my head I knew I would drink again., hopefully less. This time I think I've finally made peace with the prospect of total sobriety.

gonzo51511

1 out of 10 drinkers become full blown alcoholic.. so 10% of the drinking population.. i am a 10% er.. if u are not sure if you are i recommend reading the first 164 pages of the big book alcoholic anonymous. . The answers are in there for sure...