ACT10Npack

So, I went to a Christmas party and told people that I quit drinking because I had a problem with it. Well, some of the people put a little bit of alcohol in my drink. I didn't know after 6 drinks later that I was drinking alcohol in diet coke. I'm so upset with myself about this. I was doing so good and I f*ck up about it. I know the diet coke taste a little different but I thought it was okay because I'm a coke zero guy and not a diet coke guy. Now, I'm drinking vodka and coke to get me off the alcohol sh!t. Don't want to freak out. :-(

Terminally Unique

Wouldn't it be better to stop drinking now before you stretch it out for days? I'm not trying to be smart here, but that is your usual pattern, no? Why not break it?

ACT10Npack

True but I don't want to go through the hangover stuff. I'm so nervous about that. I hate this part of drinking. WHY ME!!!

Terminally Unique

If you drag this out, it will just make the hangover that much worse. You don't need to do that, though. Drink some water and get some sleep instead. Put a glass of water by your bed so you can drink it easily if you wake up from thirst.

FT

If you are a non-drinker, then do what non-drinkers do.

I've had alcohol "accidentally" given to me many times over the years since I quit. It's not a big deal. I've had restaurants serve me fruit spritzers that I wasn't sure about, and I've tasted them. A few times, I've accidentally swallowed a bit of that kind of drink and stopped when I realized what had happened. I certainly don't consider those occasions a "relapse".

Look, intention is everything. If your intention is not to drink, then don't.

I don't think this decision is so difficult.

FT

Mark75

IDK... you are the one who decides your own sobriety. I think you have a couple of things to look at though...

You drank 6 drinks... 6!! and didn't know there was alcohol in it? Really? Then you started to drink vodka to get off the alcohol?

Something is not right in your program... I leave it to you to look at what happened and get honest with yourself. Sobriety dates have different significances in different situations... I think the most important is how they keep us honest, especially when they need to be reset.... What do you think? Is it honest to do anything else but to go back to day one? You decide.

switchboard

As someone else said, do what a non-drinker would do.

Also, if you have been sober until these 6 drinks with the little bit of alcohol in each, you likely won't have any "withdrawals" - apart from perhaps a mild hangover which will fade over a few hours or throughout the day.

Not sure why you would continue drinking because of this small incident? Let it go and just keep on being sober, as you have been. No need to give up, and as for your sobriety "date" - focus on the progress you've made. You can choose to keep your old date, or keep it minus this one incident, or start fresh .. It's whatever feels good to you. At least that's how I feel about it.

I will be sober 18 months on Jan. 9. I drank 1/2 a glass of wine at Christmas dinner yesterday. Didn't enjoy it, but had it with family, just because. I'm not changing my date. And I wouldn't change it if I had had three glasses and felt a buzz either. The wine didn't send me back to that dark world, so I consider it a victory on my part, and I am continuing on with my sober life.

You can make this a victory too!!!

recoverywfaith

Good things already mentioned here. Although, I would like to suggest to GET AWAY FROM THOSE PEOPLE..they are not your friends nor or they good for YOUR recovery. I hope you decide to stop drinking and realize you deserve a life of sobriety.

choublak

Friends of yours?

lbern

Why would you risk doing this? Just to please your family? That doesn't sound like a good plan at all. I'm glad it didn't send you "back to that dark world" but what if it had?

-L

switchboard

I hate wine. I knew I was safe. If it had been rum or vodka, I would not have had even a sniff. Oh, and it wasn't to please anyone. ... I would never feel pressured to drink. Ever. That is very important to me, and as much as I love my family I would sooner leave the celebration than feel I "have to" partake. But they would never do that anyway -

I guess we all do what works for us. I am sure what worked for me wouldn't be the same for everyone.

aasharon90

At 21 yrs sober, for me, to remain sober
another day is to continue to follow in the
steps of many who have stayed sober a
many of yrs. before me.

For me, since I guard my sobriety with my
life, i follow the steps and principles and
knowledge and wisdom to guide me each
day sober.

To Change people places and things that have
anything to do with alcohol is one of the first
things on my list towards helping me stay sober.

Sobriety is not just not drinking anymore. It's
living an honest life helping other's that r still
sick with addiction like me. By passing on the
knowledge of recovery to them and sharing
my own experiences, strengths and hopes of
what it was like before during and after my drinking.

All I can say is i could have been dead by now,
but it wasnt my time to go. So to live a sober
life with out alcohol or drugs is much better than
being dead. I enjoy life riding free behind
my spouse with the wind in our faces and the
sun on our shoulders seeing the joys of the
the world.

So can you.

LosingmyMisery

Let me get this straight? If I drink, but don't drink my drink of choice, I'm still sober and get to keep my sobriety date? Hmmmm....cunning, baffling, powerful.

switchboard

Are you talking to me? If so, I am basically saying to do "what works" (versus "the rules"), because the bottom line is getting/staying sober .. no matter what the real date is, or how you do it.

I think that us OK. But that's just me. It's OK if you disagree.

bozboz

I am in 100% agreement with Mark's statement.

Also, I have read many of your posts, and they usually come down to what has happened while you are with your "friends". You might consider taking a closer look around, at your surroundings.

langkah

AP, except for your wonderful friends I think you would have made it through the whole of December. That's hugely ignorant of them, to be so careless with your health.

If you can stop now, do and chalk it up to this not being your idea. If you go on drinking it's your idea from here.

LosingmyMisery

Are you talking to me? If so, I am basically saying to do "what works" (versus "the rules"), because the bottom line is getting/staying sober .. no matter what the real date is, or how you do it.

Yes, I was referring to your statement. My motive is not to stir the pot, but to clarify and share my experience. What works for me is to "not" drink. The reason why I mentioned anything is because early on in recovery I drank. I had a few drinks and managed to maintain. That planted the seed in my head that I could handle it. I tried drinking again and it set me off on a 9 day binge. As a rule of thumb, for those of us who have problem drinking, it is best to avoid any alcohol. You may think you have weathered the storm, but the truth may rear its ugly head later down the line. I certainly hope not. For myself, I had to learn the hard way. I want others, who are reading this to know "the rules" when it comes to any alcoholic is "don't drink" no matter what. Technically, if you are striving for sobriety and drink, in my book, you are playing with fire. I'm glad you didn't go on a bender. I really am. It certainly is your business how you maintain your sobriety and your rules. I just want to clarify if you drink the outcome may differ for others.

EricL

For an actual alcoholic, this is pure insanity. This is like cliniging to the memory of that one night when everything went right, and using this as a last ditch effort to justify in my mind why I don't need to stop... because you see this once it worked!

If you are an alcoholic, then this is no victory, this is simply dumb luck that things worked out. I had nights like this too, the problem was that I could never predict, with any certainty, what nights would be good nights and which ones would end with me wetting myself in whatever basement I was able to break into. As an alcoholic I have lost the ability to control this, whatever happens, happens. I am generally unable to change the course of that.

Now, faced with the fact that you've returned to drinking how do you go forward now. Do you surrender to the clear fact that you are unable to avoid that first drink, surrender to the idea that staying sober is beyond your ability? Or, do you keep trying to fight it, keep trying to manage the unmanageable?

switchboard

I guess I am stupid, even though I was only trying to be positive.

I don't think I will be back to SR after this thread. It feels unhappy for me now.

Bye.

RobbyRobot

Yeah, willingly drinking vodka pretty well requires a sober date reset, you know? What is really more important, and as others are saying too, is quitting today would be a good thing regardless of whatever your worried about with past sober dates.

I hope you can put down that vodka and begin sobriety again!


Sorry, with all respect. There is nothing in my experience to understand how you can be acting honest with yourself from what you are saying above about sober dates.

You make it sound like since you didn't all at once return to your dark world that all is swell with your sobriety, your sober life, and your sober date.

Sorbriety dates are not about comparing between where we have come from and where we are today. That can become a dangerous slippery slope which allows for all sorts of controlled drinking scenarios. I wonder how many other times you have had a drink in your 18 months of sobriety?

From my experience, you are talking about controlled drinking, not sobriety. It has been proven over and over again through millions of people from all walks that alcoholism and the alcoholic mind have cunning ways to drink that drink.

I hope you do not indeed slip back into your dark world. Nothing there worth drinking over, you know? For me sobriety means sans alcohol all the time 24/7. My sober date actually means my sober date: July 22, 1981.