Davestwincam

Hi everyone, I have been reading posts on this forum for a while now. So many different stories but yet one thing in common, addiction. I'll be turning 50 next week and have been drinking since my mid teens. I was also involved with other drugs in my 20s and managed to quit everything but this alcohol thing has me stumped. I wouldn't classify my drinking as heavy but it's a problem just the same. Last year I managed to stop for 2 months. Ive also stopped for 2 to 3 weeks a few times in the last year. Never had any bad detox symptoms just mild anxiety and insomnia. The thing that seems to derail me every time is the insane cravings. The main reason I want to quit is my health. I seem to have developed an intolerance for alcohol to the point where just 2 or 3 drinks will have me feeling like crap the next day. I guess I'm getting old lol. I dumped a third of a bottle of bourbon down the drain yesterday morning and going to try this again. I was going to wait till my birthday next week to quit so I could finish my bottle but then I thought, how screwed up is that? So Im thinking with the help of you good people on this forum, maybe I can manage the bad cravings and beat this thing once and for all.

ReadyAndAble

Welcome to SR, Dave.

Sounds like a great decision. Now have you'll more than just your age to celebrate on your birthday. You'll get a lot of support here—glad you decided to post!

IndaMiricale

Welcome to a wonderful support group

Scolova

Welcome Dave & Happy (soon to be) 50.... I'm 40 and have been a drunk for 10+ years and a pothead\drunk throughout my 20s.
Try your best to figure out your 'why, who and where' your biggest triggers are. The reasons, people and places that make you the most vulnerable to the first drink. Many of us are\were to the point of hopeless alcoholic (i.e. every breath being a trigger to get completely plastered at anytime, anywhere), so you might find it a bit easier to figure out and stay away from those things early in your sobriety. You will have to find things to do in order to fill the old drinking time slots, hobbies, exercise, meditation or even just go to sleep and be grateful for the increasingly clear-headed day to come.
Stay strong against the voice (mine has the three basic tactics):
"You did well, have a drink."
"You really screwed that up, have a drink."
and then the
"No one will know, it's right there... drink."
At ~90 days I got to the point where I could fend off those thoughts quickly and move on with doing something else. I remember my hellish drinking life well and can read examples here everyday of what my life would be like again if I let my addict brain take over.
Best wishes.

langkah

Welcome, and well done on making the decision to stop drinking.

I had the same pattern for years as you describe, a few weeks here a few months there was all I could manage too. Getting drunk again was the problem to be solved as the sobering up often as the years passed by wasn't too difficult.

Maybe keep an ear out for that, and well done on your 3 days.

2granddaughters

Hello Dave:
The fellowship of Alcoholics Anonymous has worked for me, could just be the ticket for you as well.

All the best.

Bob R

least

Welcome to the SR family! :ghug3

Tuitiefruitie

Hey Dave. When I quit in January I felt like I was denying myself something. I was actually angry about not drinking. When I had the relapse and realized I could not control my drinking it scared me for the first time. Strange it took that long. It has been easier this time because instead of looking at something I'm losing, I am looking at it as something I'm gaining. My life, my family, my sanity. It has helped tremendously reading these posts here. So thank you everybody here. It also was kind of making me obsessed with counting days for some reason. I'm trying not to now to see how that works. Just acting like a person who doesn't drink instead of someone quitting. Let you know how that goes. Think of the good, not the bad. You can do it.

Davestwincam

Thanks for your replies. @ scolova, In my 20s it was a little pot and cocaine that was my drug of choice. When I made up my mind to stop the coke it was surprisingly easy. I guess for me, alcohol is way more addictive. I was drinking anywhere from 2 to 8 drinks per night, mostly bourbon with beer chaser. Not alot compared to some others I've read about on here but the hangovers really make me useless. The pot was easy to stop also. I quit cigarettes in 94 which was tough. Who would of thought alcohol was tougher to quit than tobacco? @ langkah, it's day 2 as my first post was after midnight here in the northeast. I would like to thank Anna for getting me registered when there was a problem with my IP address.

Tuitiefruitie

Try to keep thinking of all the things you can do without drinking. It's amazing how many things you can cram into one day. I always accomplished a lot but could not wait until around 4 or 5 to come so I could be done and start drinking. Then that was it. Didn't accomplish a whole lot, and if I did I sure didn't remember it. Now I feel like I can pace myself because 4 or 5 just goes by and I'm still going. I still have to pause and make a conscious effort to get past that time of day but it is less and less.

Scolova

Congrats on quitting the smokes, I must not be ready yet to give up nicotine, I use an e-cig most of the time just so I won't be inhaling all the chemicals, but I still buy a pack every now and then. I gotta get serious on that and quit too.
Alcohol really took over, it became the elephant in the room and there was no way around it anymore. For about the last 6 years my hangovers\withdraws had gotten out of control, on to where I was close to having withdraw seizures daily and heart palpitations all the time. All has now cleared up (except for a little anxiety here and there), I'm down 10lbs. and my blood pressure is back to a steady 120/80.

JerseyNonny

And, that is exactly why (after being away for several years) I've come back to Sober Recovery.

I'm not able to attend meetings, so this is the next best thing. I need to have contact with people who understand where I'm coming from...especially when I'm having problems figuring it out myself.

Just stay close to the program of recovery and the fellowship...you'll do just fine. As for the smoking...it was easier to quit the drinking; but, I finally managed to do that, too, after six years of sobriety. One step at a time, my friend...it will all happen.