Need to and about to stop drinking.. Any tips?

[FruitAteItself]

I'm 28, I drink about a fifth of whiskey a day, sometimes more or less recently. It's been about the same amount if not more for almost 10 years now every day.
I've quit only two times in the past 10 years and both times were for about 3-4 months at most, few years apart.
Both times I relapsed because after awhile I just think to myself "Why the **** am I not drinking..."
Recently it's beginning to effect my personal life more from my relationship to working (or trying to get/hold a job)

I haven't stopped in at least 2 years now and I'm not sure how my withdrawal will even be at this point.. I'm thinking about going to a facility to aide in detoxing just so I don't die or have severe withdrawal or DT...

Not sure the exact question I'm asking, just need some advice or tips or any help would be much appreciated..

Thank you whoever reads this and/or replies!

[doggonecarl]

Welcome.

A fifth a day is a lot, so a supervised medical detox is a good idea.

[FreshStartOk]

What is this american speak? I have no clue what a fifth amounts to.

I know when I came off 750 mls of vodka I needed some medical intervention, even if it was just diazoepam for a week. Either that or the doctor strongly suggested slowly weaning off, which of course in most cases of addiction is very hard.

I'm in a bit of a dip now, but I haven't gone anywhere near hard liquor now.

[Dee74]

Hi and welcome FruitAteItself

It all starts with a day one - although Carls point about a medical detox is darn good one if you're drinking 750ml a day (for non US members)

You'll find a lot of support here. Our Class of July support thread is for everyone quitting this month.

https://www.soberrecovery.com/forums...rt-1-a-11.html

All you need to do to join is post in the thread.

[August252015]

Welcome....

(a fifth is smaller than a handle - I forget the oz but it's big enough)

The first step is indeed the one you might not want to do - I sure didn't- quit. Full stop. I went cold turkey from a "bigger habit" than you did (the above referenced handle, about every day and a half). Not giving medical advice since we cannot do that here, and of course it is safer and easier to even just go to the ER - with that in your bloodstream my thought is they'd help you. Detox would be assisted with meds and potassium replensihing and the like, for a couple days probably.

Besides the quitting, we need to start a recovery program. My guess is that you haven't done that second part in the past, with full commitment.

Lots of suggestions on that here- mine was (finally) AA. Others can tell you about their foundations.

[CRRHCC]

>>I haven't stopped in at least 2 years now and I'm not sure how my withdrawal will even be at this point.. I'm thinking about going to a facility to aide in detoxing just so I don't die or have severe withdrawal or DT...

Not sure the exact question I'm asking, just need some advice or tips or any help would be much appreciated..<<

You may or may not know this, but you don't like yourself. We drink because we don't like the way we feel about ourselves, life and specific circumstances that precipitate feeling of helplessness and losing control. As alcoholics we drink to escape the trap of how we feel. Addictions always serve an emotional purpose. There is always a reason and a reward.

The antidote is to like yourself as you are, normal. To do this, we need values and purpose in life.

That's the simple answer/tip to a complicated question. When your values trump your addiction, there is no addiction.

[least]

I would also suggest a medically supervised detox to be safe and comfortable.

[Ghostlight1]

Hello and welcome.
I agree, a fifth a day is a lot. I sought help to withdraw, I would suggest you seek a doctor's opinion before quitting. As mentioned, you may need a supervised detox.
Best to you and I hope you do decide to rid your life of alcohol while you're still so young

[Opivotal]

I'm thinking about going to a facility to aide in detoxing just so I don't die or have severe withdrawal or DT...

I agree, FruitAteItself.

[corriec]

FreshStartOK - A fifth is a fifth of a US gallon. Equal to 750 ml.

[Callas]

Get medical help and stop now. It will be hard but you need to admit that you are beyond choices.

[betterthiings]

Definitely see a doctor. And good on you for posting here and seeking help.

I wish I’d quit at 28... it took me until my forties to wake up to the damage I was doing to myself and others with my drinking.

You know you need to stop and well done for coming here and posting. Get help offline too. Good luck with your detox and work out a plan to stay sober. Again, I wish I’d been wise enough at 28 to have worked out I needed to stop. It’s never too late, but you can change your life for the better forever and there is so much in front of you. You deserve to enjoy it,

[Sohard]

Originally Posted by CRRHCC

>>
You may or may not know this, but you don't like yourself. We drink because we don't like the way we feel about ourselves, life and specific circumstances that precipitate feeling of helplessness and losing control.

To the original poster: my advice is not to let anyone tell you what you think about yourself. I like myself now, and I always liked myself. I don’t believe I drank because I didn’t like the way I felt about “myself, life and specific circumstances“. I drank because I was addicted because I’d been chemically self-medicating my depression and OCD. I am now not addicted. And I don’t drink. And I haven’t for 67 days. I would just be wary of when people tell you why you feel something or lump all addicted drinkers together as “we alcoholics“. We are not a special group and do not all have the same qualities and all feel the same way about ourselves.

[SoberCAH]

We're really glad you're here and taking the initiative to seek help.

For me, the answer was in-patient treatment and AA.

It's worked for a fairly good while now.

I didn't set out wanting to be forced to seek help through those measures, but they have worked 100% for me.

[Dee74]

hows it going FruitAteItself?

D

[Abraham]

Originally Posted by Sohard

To the original poster: my advice is not to let anyone tell you what you think about yourself. I like myself now, and I always liked myself. I don’t believe I drank because I didn’t like the way I felt about “myself, life and specific circumstances“. I drank because I was addicted because I’d been chemically self-medicating my depression and OCD. I am now not addicted. And I don’t drink. And I haven’t for 67 days. I would just be wary of when people tell you why you feel something or lump all addicted drinkers together as “we alcoholics“. We are not a special group and do not all have the same qualities and all feel the same way about ourselves.

I agree. I did not drink because I did not like my self. I drank because the people I met when I moved in high school were drinking. And we did that for 20 years then went our separate ways and continued to do that(probably cuz we were addicted by then or still just trying to live it up). We had big parties all the time. Thats just how it was. After I quit for the first time just a month ago I did like myself. I do like myself.(I did not at the end of drinking but that was because of alcohol,not alcohol because of that) Plus there are no issues I have to deal with other than daily life. So I guess I was not drinking because of depression or the like. Far from feeling helpless or not having control because of any specific circumstance. I did not drink because of anxiety although the last few years I did develop that but it has went 99% away in the last month. folks always say there has to be an underlying issue and you must change everything in life, seek counseling, etc. All can be helpful to some. I guess my underlying issues were. I drank because we were experimenting while growing up and then it became a habit, then an addiction. 32 Days sober I am not fighting with or having any other issues other than alcohol. And im getting rid of that day by day. We are all different. Some people have anxiety issues and are alcoholics, some are depressed and alcoholics, some deal with abuse and are alcoholics..... Some are just alcoholics.

[Fluffycloud]

As others have said get some medical advice before detoxing. People vary in how bad withdrawal they have best to be safe. The hardest thing is staying stopped. Get some support round you, try not to do anything too stressful if possible and spend your spare time do sober activities you enjoy