How old were you?
 

How old were you when you got sober? And did you do it first time around...or did you have 'slips' - or did you join say AA or whichever program and stop instantly?

I was 31 Dec 04 after finding this amazing site decided that I wanted to get sober. It has not happened instantly, I have had slips - although they were not really 'slips' they were conscious decisions to drink - most times (has not happened that often) it was probably more of an attempt at one last attempt to drink normally - which of course never happened. I am in AA and I love it and I am really confident I am going to get there this time around.

Thanks! :wiggle:
Cathy31
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Stopped when I was just shy of 43, first time, no slips, still determined!

I quit sept. 17, 2000 my age was 43.

43.
Seems to be the age of smartening up for a few of us:)

I was 23,got real crazy. I'm 38 n still crazy.
Sometime in april of 1991, can't remember, it was a blur.
I slipped and slided and hung on to my ass or what was left of it.
After lossing everything, career, wife, duaghter, family and etc...
I still wasn't 100% sure or accepted i was an alcoholic.
But I kept coming back, even after AA called the cops on me.
I don't think i was on my best behaviors and I wasn't too happy
about not being able to party. No court cards or rehab
it's a tradition, my sponsor got the cops called on him too.lol
anyways, i was allow to stay, if I pick up donuts and not hookers
on sunday mornings. Something about unlocking the doors and mak'in
coffee. It sucked, becuase I couldn't get drunk on saturday night
anymore. The old timers really looked out after me and had lot
od patient and tolarance , as you can imagine. They love me so I can
learn how to love myself.

Well, I slipped or relapsed around 7 months ago.
I think I'm 101% sure now.
I have a deep understanding of INCURABLE.
I didn't loose stuff on the outside, but I felt like crap on the inside.
So...it's opening those doors and making coffee and giving rides
again for me.

Hi Cathy,

I was 37 when I quit - that's nearly 2 years ago now - I'd tried dozens of times before, but never managed more than 3 or 4 days before giving in. I'm still loving every minute and to boot I'm now caffeine free and have achieved a life long ambition to become a vegitarian - despite being a natural carnivore.

I don't know what it is gave me the strength to quit, but when I find it, it's going to get a big sloppy kiss. I'm glad you're feeling good Cathy - that's the sort of news that makes me very happy.

Deg.

Hi Cathy

Was taken to my first meeting aged 21. Stayed 3 months decided I was a potential not a real. A year or so later I was back, drank twice in the following 6 months and had my last drink aged 23. I'm 45 now.

I was 31, it was August 11, 1995, been blessed to be sober since then, just one day at a time with the help of my 12 step program and my HP, and everyone else on the same journey.

Hi
 

Cathy...

I started AA recovery at 49 and finally quit when 54.

Yes...it took me 5 years to earn a 1 year medallion.
I was in and out...up and down like a Yo-Yo! :vg

Thanks you guys!!! That's so, so great to hear!!!
Thank you!
Cathy31
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I dabbled in the program for about a year or so before taking it seriously. I thought I took it seriously, but wasn't doing the right things and had quite a few "slips" (Sobriety Loses Its Priority).

At age 40, came into AA October 26th of last year.

You know, I struggled for a long time thinking I was not a "real alcoholic." I am having issues right now with 2 members of my family who are causing a lot of pain and suffering due in part to their drinking. People look at them and say "oh yeah, definitely an alcoholic." But for me, I guess it didn't manifest like that. I tore myself up more than anyone else. I'm sure, though, that if I'd stayed on that path of active drinking, the destruction would have amassed just as clearly... Thank God He took me off the elevator when He did...

I was introduced to recovery in '85. I bounced in and out, collecting my "yets" until '98. Then I thought I finally believed it too, but just to be sure, I had a couple drinks one day in '02. ;)

I've got my "start over" tokens glued to a Yo-Yo. :)

i quit oct 19 1995
still had to check into a rehab
1 was 43[seems to be a resonant age on this thread-cool. weird but cool]

mackat

:)

What's with 43 that's the age I quit as well. I've been letting everyone else have the slips for me. MAMA didn't raise no fool just a drunk:)

The younger you stop the more days of serenity you get:)

I was 30 when I first quit.. I did 5 months in AA and then decided that I wasn't a real alcoholic but only a potential and my drinking was due to other circumstances :rolleyes: Almost 3 months of trying to control my drinking and living in mental hell showed me that I am 100% alcoholic. I'm now 31 and 9 days sober :emb

You guys are great! Really inspiring! Thanks!
Cathy31
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Great thread!

I hit my first bottom back in 1993 when I was 22. I started going to AA and "kinda" worked a program for about 6 months. Then I started smoking pot again. Within a year I was drinking. I kept drinking for another 11 years before I hit another bottom, not quite as low as the first, but enough to make me get real with myself and get serious about getting sober. So, I was 33 on February 21, 2004, my official sobriety date. Sober life is GOOD!!!

Hugs to all!

Started trying to quit at 29. Spent the last year quitting & relapsing over & over again. I'm 30 now, and have nearly 4 weeks of sobriety. I've had enough, I figure 30 is a great time to quit. I've had enough pain.

I just turned 28 at the beginning of this month and I'll reach 4 months of sobriety on 4/16. I recently started going to AA meetings and that is helping me. I'm hoping I can hang on.

J :)

Cathy,
I am 55 and have not touched alcohol since January 23rd of this year. I had gone to AA about 12 years before when I first became concerned at my drinking and had not found the experience helpful. The stories of other alcoholics at the meetings always seemed so extreme and so alien to my own story that I convinced myself that I was just a heavy drinker and not an alcoholic.
I gave up on AA and returned to what I thought was a normal life i.e. drinking. Over the next 12 years my drinking got heavier and I tried loads of things to control it. I loved the taste of that first beer, that first glass of wine, that first gin and tonic.... but as the old saying goes...one's enough, two's too many and three's not half enough.
I always craved that first taste, that first kick but no matter how much more I drank that feeling was never replicated.
I started hiding drink around the house and getting up to all sorts of subterfuges to drink more or less constantly. I started to loathe myself and what I was doing to not just me but my family. Eleven weeks ago I decided I had just had enough of this idiocy and told my wife everything. I told her that I would not drink again and that I would seek help. I went to AA again but this time I was ready for the self-doubts and sure enough along they came.
With my determination to quit bolstered by a desire to understand the psychology of addiction I was much more questioning of AA's methods. In short I found that they were not for me. I can not see that I am powerless over alcohol and I can not see that handing my fate over to a higher power will help. My higher power tells me to go out and get some beer inside me...go on it says, it can't hurt.
Well I decided that I have to be my own salvation and I do not drink. In fact I will never drink again. that little voice inside my head can go to hell in a handcart because I have had enough of being pushed around by a base animal instinct.
I have no criticism to make of AA, the people I met ther are a great bunch and lots of them work tirelessly for others. It is just not for me, I have decide to take a more rational stance against this addiction and I am indebted to Blaze 05 and a number of web sites for giving me a real sense of direction.
Good luck, stay sober

Michael

Three cheers to Blaze for that link. I totally agree - I really enjoyed the AVRT approach and believe that this is the way to go. As a matter of fact - I am going to the site right now.

Cathy - I was 44 years old. I do believe that I finally decided to "grow up" which had a lot to do with my decision to get and remain sober.

Bookie12

Alright, Oddly I seem to be one of the 'youngin's' here. I came on here for the first time 3/03 and didn't actually quit until 12/09/03 while I was 23 yrs old. Here it is 1 yr 4 mo later, still sober and 25 yrs old now!
It took a lot for me to get sober but, once it stuck, it stuck......I use a combination of AA, Smart, Journaling and here to maintain my sobriety. Oh, and I ditched all the old friends too. :)
Stacey aka Csmcjewl

Hiya - I signed up here a while ago. And now I am back again, still giving up and going back to it again! I hope that this time will the "the one".

I am 17 years old, last drink was last night. I had given up for a week or so before then. I'm real up and down at the moment with it, but my 'relapses' are getting shorter and last night just made me more determined. I woke up actually NOT liking alcohol!!!


Saz x

Little Saz,

We usually feel that way the morning after. Best wishes.

Bookie12

Great post Michael. I'm 50, last drink was 1/1/05. Sobriety, what a gift.

42 :wink3:

Good to hear all the success stories here.Me,Im a 35 year old "wanna-be",still.I will say Ive never gave more than 50% to get sober.It seems some of us just want to keep thinking change but have no "real" desire to actually get sober.I guess Im waiting for "the big one" in my mind to get me to take sobriety seriously.Im back to where I was about 5 years ago,drinking and functioning fine,but,I still have this desire for alcohol free lifestyle.Im very ambitious when not drinking,and laid back when being a "beer-drinker".So,I guess 36 MAY be the magical number for me.

((((((Cathy)))))))
Thank you and a wiggle back atchya.

I was 32. First view of AA was 10 years before that, but I was obviously not ready at 22. I had not come to them, they were coming to see me and others inside a "housing unit". I was not willing or able to even recognize the road I had placed myself upon back then was that of a fatal progression. Nor was I aware of just how powerless I already was and how unmanagable my life was quickly becoming. It was a good way to get out of -- a cell and some of the immediate troubles I was in. I enjoyed seeing the "ladies" who came in and nibbing upon the cookies which they brought inside.

Over the years, Suggestions were made by friends, courts, mental health professionals, etc... that I try out a few alternative methods for my drinking problem. These were again made the last couple years of my drinking. I gave a couple of them an honest try the last year of my drinking and still failed utterly.

Since coming into A.A. in 1991, I grasped ahold of the :aasmile as a only a drowning man :sink would.

I have not found it necessary to pick up the first drink since honestly surrendering to the fact that MY WAY never worked for me personally.

I was told upon entering the doors that I did not "have to" pick up the first drink ever again -- whether I wanted to or not. Personal responsibility was also a pretty strong message being carried in the first group I attended. The AA WAY certainly has worked even despite my best efforts of sabbotage.

I was told, "Slips and relapse are not a part of recovery, they are the opposite of it. Otherwise everyone in recovery would continue to relapse time and again." Today that makes more and more sense to me for some reason.

((((((((Cathy))))))))) ty for the thread. PS I am 46 years old today and by the Grace & Mercy of God, the power which I've come to find in A.A.'s Three Legacies, I have not had to pick up the first drink in 14+ years. One day at a time I have recovered from a seemingly hopeless state of mind and body even with my sometimes **** poor application of the spiritual solution AA affords us all. That is, if we want it bad enough.

That's so amazing 3legs - thank you so much for sharing!!!
Cathy31
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