Shane777

Hi all. Not sure what to say, so I guess I'll just ramble and see what comes out.

Quitting drinking today (just got through my hangover from last night). I've actually "quit" many times before but always wind up drinking again. I've been drinking for about 20 years now. Not every day, I'm pretty much a binge drinker once or twice a week.

I usually drink related to job stress, or boredom (I work nights, and stay on that schedule on my off days, not much else to do sometimes...) Used to drink socially, now mostly get hammered at home while listening to tunes for something to do. On another thread someone mentioned about seeing embarrasing text messages in the outbox from the night before. That did make me laugh (and cringe) cause I do that all the time....

Anyway, I'm also quitting smoking. I am currently on day 9 of that without too many issues. Even drank yesterday without smoking. Which in some odd way, is sort of a good thing.

The problem I have with quitting drinking is that I normally only drink once a week, so it is hard to get that feeling that 'I'm quitting' to give me a boost. At least until a few weeks go by. I dont feel like I'm accomplishing anything. With the cigs, since I did that all the time, each hour feels like an accomplishment. Hope that makes since. Any tips for dealing with that???

Sorry, so wordy. Just had to get it all out there.... Thanks in advance.

Ghostly

Hey Shane...welcome to SR. I was a daily drinker but my advice to you would still be the same I was given - Take it day by day. If you do eventually you will have days then weeks then months and hopefully a lot more. Even if you didn't drink daily that would still be my advice. Sounds like you have had the same problems as a lot of us here. Good luck.

ANGELINA243

Welcome to SR! Glad you are here.

Shane777

Thanks folks. Good to be here. Actually making this my home page for awhile to keep my focus....

You're right about 'one day at at time' I'm sure. Unfortunately there is no fast forward button....

Dee74

Welcome to SR Shane

D

least

I'm kind of glad there isn't as I'm no longer in my twenties! LOL...

I second the suggestion of taking it one day at a time, since we only get to live one day at a time, why not stay sober one day at a time also?

Welcome to SR! I hope we can be as much help to you as this site has been to me.

CarolD

Well done on not smoking.....

Welcome to our recovery community

HarryB

Welcome to SR!

Try thinking of it this way: a day sober is a day sober, whether you were going to be sober that day or not.

onestepforward

Welcome Shane! Congrats on sobriety! This page is a wonderful resource and filled with people who care. Good luck to you.

swag2

Welcome shane I too am new here , work evenings ,drink alone to tunes and leave embarring text and email and even got wasted and went off on people on another addiction site. Lost the love of my daughters with the text and the respect from my family and lost a few freinds too. I drink more than 1 or 2 times a week and mix it up with benzos. It was the humility of it all that finally took me down to the humble frame of mind i presently am at. Enough is enough and now I am doing the steps and for boredom I do this as I find it lifts my spirits to just let it out and be honest with myself. I suppose it may be some type of self fullfilling shot at redemption, It seems to be helping but I also need AA. Now I find tunes to be a trigger for drinking as the both were always connected one way or another, sure I miss it , but its not worth having to apolagize over and over for the stupid stuff from the night before. For stress Im taking back up with the gym starting monday morning. I hope you can relate to some of this and find it helpfull..........swag

Impurrfect

(((Shane))) - Welcome to SR!!

I hope you read around the site. You'll find a lot of people here who were binge drinkers and found recovery.

Hugs and prayers!

Amy

Shane777

Thanks Swag! I can actually relate to nearly all of it. I've come to the same conclusion with the music, for now. That used to be my way to "relax" and unwind in the evenings but now I have the same opinion, that it just isnt worth it. Like you, its a huge trigger for me. Also, I've been working out lately as a way to relieve stress from the quitting smoking. Works for that, so I'm sure it can help with the drinking too. For the drinking, it sucks when I do all those crunches and the alcohol pretty much cancels all of that work out!

I'm not sure about AA for me, I'm still thinking it over. I know a lot of people on here recommend it, and I know it helps.However, I've been to a couple meetings with a friend who was court ordered to go, and didnt get too much out of it. However, that was before I realized I had a problem. Part of it is, I'm not the most sociable person (I like people, but pretty quiet, which is part of why I drink...) so I tend to want to rely on myself to overcome things.

Anyway, mostly I wanted to thank you for the post. It helped alot. At first when I started reading, I thought I was rereading my own thoughts/experience. I really hope things work out for you. The part about your daughters is pretty tough, I have a daughter as well that does not live with me. I'm sure your family will come around (particularly your daughter) when they see changes in you. Daughters and families I think tend to want to be forgiving when they are given reasons to do so.

Thanks again!

swag2

Ya I know how ya feel on the AA deal , It took getting the boot from another site to finally push me to it. I too am an introverted non sociable type, dont like to share my feelings especially around other dudes , makes me feel like a wuss , but it smacked me hard that this addiction can not be fought alone , and even AA is not the end all be all of magic cures go for the insight if nothing else , it will give you inspiration to quit. As for the other dudes who were court ordered to go......well all I can say is they did not want to be there and set themselves for failure from the get go. PS-read my reply to you on my thread, I saw that one bfore this..........swag