ChoppedXL

Hey all,

I consider myself an alchoholic... meaning i was throwing back a 12 pack daily, by myself at home to fill the time from 9pm till i pass out after work... I have been sober for 7 days now.

I know that as far as quitting goes, its something i need to do, but theres certain things in my life i like to do that I do not want to abstain from alchohol at. I like going to concerts... Im only 24 years old. I set a rule for myself that the only time I am allowing myself to drink ( and by drink i mean a little over the limit of moderate ) is going to be at shows i go to.. Its not like I go to them weekly, I probably hit up about 5-6 shows a year. so 5 days out of 365 i will drink... or 1.4% of the year.. thats a hell of alot better than 100%!

Oh yea, I also quit smoking cigarettes the day i quit drinking also. Was a really tough couple of days at the beginning... but my head is pretty clear now.

2dayzmuse

There is nothing wrong with giving it a try. If you think it will work, go for it. I set limits for myself, but I never followed through on them. I always ended up getting drunk and out of control when I was only going to have a few, or ended up drinking when I wasn't going to drink at all. Moderation is a tough gig to uphold. My hat goes off to you if you can accomplish it. Good luck...

Justme57

Hi Chopped , welcome to SR

I wish you well in your recovery journey

HUGX
Lee

NoMoBeer

Most alcoholics I know cannot drink safely. For me, I know this is the case, so I choose to not drink at all.

I tried to 'set rules' and 'boundaries,' but at some point, I always ended up losing control of my drinking once I started. I also couldn't stay stopped. I'm an alcoholic. I don't drink.

NMB

CarolD

As that is what you intend to do... I wish you well....

fritolay

Yikes! That's alot to take on all at once. I smoke, too. I don't think I'm anwhere near ready to give that up, and I know I couldn't have given that up while quitting beer. I wish you luck--are you on the patch or something?

That's exactly what I used to do! A 12-pack starting at 1030PM, lasting until it put me to sleep. I haven't slept right since giving up the beer, but I feel alot better the next day without it.

Sounds like a plan, but I would caution you that I had a similar plan of only drinking on nights I played poker. I honestly didn't really even try to stick to it, so my failure is my own fault, however what ended up happening is that I planned on playing poker EVERY SINGLE NIGHT! I drank every single night, too. Problem was, I would be so tired after drinking enough to get in the mood to go that I wound up not playing poker at all, just drank and slept. So, rather than associate drinking with an event, I think it might be better if you decided to only drink when you wanted to have one, not when you need one, and not when you've pre-planned an event that centers around drinking. Just my two cents.

ChoppedXL

Hey, no, im not on the patch... I quit cold turkey for 2 1/2 years but about 3 months ago my dog died of cancer... really suddenly too, and i smoked one day and havent been able to put em down since last week...

I know myself, and alot of my alchoholism had to do with me just wanting to party all the time and ended up being a addiction even alone. I know my self control, and I know i can stop drinking daily. My friends wanted to be a 'weekend warrior' with drinking so i would still go out and party... but i declined, seriously, 3rd day sober I went out to a bar with them, i had 1 red bull and a few soda's and watched them get drunk and smoke cigarettes and joke how now they have a permanent DD... didnt really phase me at all, I mean, yea, i wanted to drink, but I feel i've had my fun for too long and if i keep it up im gonna be dying of liver failure or something. And honestly besides a little hazing from my friends about stopping i had just as much fun as i normally would (and i picked up a nice peice of booty )

I definitly think i can handle putting my drinking around events... I know if my mind is set on not drinking at home or drinking at bars, etc, i wont.

best

Sorry to read about your dog.

As to how you re-acted with the smoking, for me that is how drinking hits home. One day I could pick up one beer and be ok. One day I could pick up one beer and then have the second one and maybe be ok but most every time I have that second one, I would end up just like you were with the smokes...right back where I left off.
You may be different then most and can do the plan as you feel will work.
I would say...be cautious because just as the smoking caught right back up to you with just one... alcohol can do the same before you notice it even happened. Things just may work for you but now you at least know there are other ways of doing things and if caught in time, a return to a sober life style could be an easier trip then in the past. If not caught...it could be harder as well. For me, it isn't a chance I wish to take again.

fritolay

Nicotine is more addictive than alcohol, by far. I'd venture a guess that 99% of people who smoke are addicted to it, versus just the 10% or so of drinkers who are considered "problem drinkers". For me anyway, quitting smokes is much harder than kicking booze. Smoking is something I'm going to have to tackle sooner or later (and sooner rather than later), but I honestly don't know what I can do to keep my hands and mouth busy without a cancer stick. Perhaps I'll take up knitting.

Michael22

Hi
I can relate. 14 days sober here - and working on the smoking too. I stopped smoking and drinking for 10 days - but the smoking is still an issue for me. The smoking is easy when i go out - cause I dont take them with me. But I still have them in the house. So I am on a patch and smoking a little.

Hey Chopped - you say you are 24 years old? well I've been smoking and drinking longer than you've been alive - so its a bit different for me. But I can say I feel great about being free from alcohol - yup - free! Freedom to do things - its really wild - and not smoking out makes me feel smoke free - not a second class citizen.

Good luck with the occasional binges - i tried that too -this alcohol thing seems to progress - but thats something you have to figure for yourself.

peace and love
michael

earlybird

Sounds like a good plan. I wish I COULD do that. I think we all did. But, dont you think that ALL of us would be doing that if it worked?? The point is, no alcoholic ever notices they have a problem and then simply quits. We ALL make plans, schemes, failed attempts at controlled drinking. None of us gave up without TRYING SOMETHING. Something, .....anything that allowed us to 'hold' onto alcohol. I tried drinking only on weekends, no good..............only on Sundays,....no good. Only on Monday-Night-Football,....no good.........Only beer,....nuh, uh.......only liquor.......yeah right....only NON-alcoholic beer......yuck..........then,....I hit bottom,.....and actually poured sprite or pepsi into empty beer bottles thinking that it was just the FEEL of a bottle that I needed. I think you are setting yourself up for failure, but,....if you need to try this, then you should. If nothing else, atleast it may get you into recovery sooner. You must believe me though,......concerts WILL be enjoyable (VERY MUCH SO) without alcohol. We all thought there were events that we just couldnt do without booze at. With me,...it was EVERYTHING. I took beer to the freakin' Zoo. Yup,....Lions, Tigers, and Beers,....OH................MY.

leviathon

One of the funny things about your initial post, addiction specialists use "rule setting to control your drinking" as a strong indicator that you have a problem.

Up to you. Levi.

mrPanic

I used to buy vodka by the 1/2 pint to 'control' my drinking. But that got too expensive.
So I started buying the larger quantities to save money and figured I would drink 1/2 the bottle .
I was successfull at that zero times.

The good news is, it accelerated my addiction so fast that I hit bottom quicker and FINALLY went into rehab, and AA.

janeeyre

Hi, Chopped--

You may want to have a look at Moderation Management's site--lots of good info. there to help you decide what's right for you.

http://www.moderation.org/

Be well,
Jane

michaelj

ChoppedXL
I hope your attempt at moderation does not end in tears. I only know that every single one of my attempts (too many to recall) ended in misery. If you were drinking yourself into oblivion each night before, you will be again.
Your age has nothing to do with the severity of your addiction. Its one benefit is that you have many more years of sobriety to look forward to than someone like me who only attained sobriety at 55.
The simple fact that you state that you intend to drink over the limit of moderation tells me that you will fail. Sorry to be harsh, hope you appreciate the unvarnished truth.
Michael