salamander

I read an earlier post where someone was working on their drinking story. I'm working on mine too and I just wondered....how is it possible to go YEARS (20+) and never have a drinking problem and then all the sudden within a small amount of time, you have problem. Why wouldnt it show up sooner? I'm baffled by this ability to drink socially and take it or leave it for years and then BAM, it changes. Help me please, I'm in denial!!!!

CarolD

I can relate to that too!
I had no problems for years and then BAM!..
I still don't know what day or which drink slid me
into addiction.

Alcoholism is caused by how your brain and
liver enzynes process alcohol incorrectly.

Here is my suggestion...find info on the disease of alcoholism.

My favorite resource on alcoholism is
"Under The Influence"
and it has a sequel..."Beyond The Influence"

Both can be ordered from Amazon...and in bookstores.

We have excerpts here..

http://www.soberrecovery.com/forums/...influence.html

The info in that book convinced me to quit.
God and AA keep me in sobriety.

Blessings..

Luckyv2

I have always lived in a world of denial I always thought that I had control when I never did have control. As I look back now I can see when and where I lost control when I was 3 and had my first drink. The problem is that we are great decivers, manipulators, con artist, etc. What we have is a obsessive, compulsive behavior called addiction. Heck I can get addicted to chocolate chip cookies ask my home group

Keep coming back it takes whatever it take.

Love Vic :banandan

liiise

me too, drank for years, then it go worst, it's a progressive disease that's why , it only gets worst, once you get there there is nooooo turning back, i was in denial too

Kellye C

I was pretty much a "normal" drinker until I hit 35. Only one time in my late teens did I question my drinking and it wasn't because I was getting stupid drunk every night but because I was starting to get tipsy more often while living and partying with an older cousin. I had an alcoholic uncle and a grandmother who preached that alcoholism runs in the blood and we better all remember that. So when I found my frequency increasing I stopped cold turkey with no problem whatsoever. My 22nd birthday was the first time I got puking drunk. I was so sick and hungover that I went years without drinking or if I took a drink the very second I'd feel it start to relax me I'd remember that birthday and wouldn't touch another drop.

At the age of 35 I had weightloss surgery, married a practicing alcoholic, tried to control his drinking and then decided to hell with it, if you can't beat em then join em. I had lost the ability to stuff my feelings with food and I found out quickly that alcohol did a much better job of making me forget my cares. Within 3.5 years I was so alcohol dependent that I had to drink periodically all day just to ward of the shakes and withdrawals.

The Big Book talks about some people declining faster than others and I was one of them. I don't know why some people can be normal for years before crossing that line while others say they were alcoholic from the very beginning. I guess a lot depends on the person's general health, and the body's increasing inability to tolerate the alcohol (the allergy) while craving more (the compulsion and obsession).

I hope to see more opinions on this as I think it is a very interesting topic!
Kellye