billwwjr

I just need to stop before its too late. 12 yrs sobriety and pretty successful but now 2 years drinking and on the verge of losing everything i worked so hard for including my wonderful wife and two beautiful children.

Dee74

welcome Bill
You'll find a lot of support here

How did you stay sober for 12 years?

D

Jeni26

Hi and welcome to SR.

12 years of sobriety, wow. Something must have been working very well for you. How did you do it? Can you pinpoint what stopped working and why?

Well done for recognising it is time to take a stand.

You will find lots of information and support here x

FeelingGreat

Hi Bill; if you have the desire, you will get the support you need here. Have a look around and check out some other posts and you'll see you're not alone.

nogard

Hi Bill, welcome to SR Well done on getting back.

rainyengland

Hi- there you go - you realise the risks and problem again

Quit and it will be all good again ! :-)

Good luck

2granddaughters

Alcoholics Anonymous helped me get and stay sober.

It helped me continue on in my career until retirement.

It gave me not only my career and family but 2 granddaughters who love me as well.

I wish you the best.

Bob R

Hevyn

Glad to have you with us, bill. I was once sober for 3 yrs. and decided I could use willpower to control myself & have 'a few' on special occasions. Of course it failed miserably and I ended up drinking all day, every day. 7 years later I came here, completely shattered. That relapse served a purpose, though. I knew without a doubt that I couldn't touch the stuff ever again.

You'll find all sorts of wisdom and encouragement here. This is an amazing group, and we care about you.

TorontoGuy28

Hi Bill-

12 years of sobriety is an amazing accomplishment.

Dust off, and get back at it again !!

TG

Anna

Bill, you can do this again and we're here to offer support. If you did it before, you can do it again.

Dagney

Hi Bill

I am right there with you! I had 6 years sober and I got all the way back to the bottom in a year.

So far the best things I have done have been pouring all my booze down the drain and joining SR.

You can do it, I can do it, together we can help each other do it!!!

Stay strong and keep coming back here. It's amazing!!

billwwjr

WOW. thanks to everyone for the supportive replies. i may have not stayed sober like others because i only went to meetings for a relatively short time. i tried AA and no disrespect to the program because i know it helps numerous people daily but for some reason it just didn't do it for me.(or maybe i just didn't find the right meeting) instead i found a private counselor who did groups and 1on1 so i did both with him for about a year, then i was just able to stay sober without outside help. my main escape was playing soccer which i hadn't done in years but i credit that to have been very helpful in my sobriety. i also had a drug addiction that made me realize i needed to not only be drug free but alcohol free as well. my wife (GF at the time) was with me during the drug years w/o knowing and then stuck with me during detox and 2 yrs later we married, one year after marriage we had enough money saved to buy a house but decided to build one with my own hands instead, we also had our first child just prior to moving into our new house which took me a year to build. 3 years later our second was born. i love fatherhood and am very devoted to our kids. i spend as much time as possible with them and we are always out having fun one way or another.
i was a self employed carpenter when the recession hit so i decided to go to school because the hammer was just not paying the bills the way it used to. three years later i was a full time Paramedic working on an ambulance. i never envisioned myself practicing medicine and having discussions with MDs and nurses every day but i absolutely love it.
sadly after 2 years of very demanding paramedic school i decided i could go out and celebrate with my classmates by having a beer. it was fine and even fun for a little while but of course it progressed in the typical way and now i am on the verge of losing everything.
after a few too many times, a few too many lies and few too many arguments my wife she finally asked me to move out. (which she had a few other times but this time i had no choice)
so now here i am. staying with a single friend, not tucking my kids into bed at night, not sleeping next to my wife, not living in the house i built and i am sure if was to continue drinking i would lose my new career as well.
good thing is that i think my wife is willing to give me another chance if i can prove to her that i can be sober again. in the meantime she's handing me a well deserved dose of tough love.
i have been trying not to drink for about 6 months now and i am finding it even more difficult than the first time. i know i haven't done enough and just kinda though i can do it on my own but i know i can't.
i plan to attend meetings again and will most likely start with AA. i am also very glad i found this site!
i welcome any advice about this site and its different tools.
I CAN DO THIS. i know i can but i need help.
sorry for the long post and thanks for reading

bryangt

Thanks for sharing your story Bill...I go to AA, because I found I could not do it on my own..tried to a few times, would only get so far, then BAM! Fell again...it got worse each time. I too thought the meetings didn't do it for me. Maybe this time, I hit bottom & I grabbed onto AA like a life preserver in a stormy sea. I take AA more seriously this time. I got a sponsor, worked the Steps & go to 3 or 4 meetings a week (in the beginning I went almost everyday). I can't turn back now.
I've invested myself in AA & AA has invested in me. Besides, you get to an age where finally realize the party is over, you want to find clarity with life & it's gifts. It is never easy (at least for me) but facing life sober, I know I can face whatever life has to deal me. Try different meetings so you can find what will suit your needs & personality...every meeting is different in some sort of way. I wish you luck & peace!

billwwjr

thanks bryangt. well said. i will definitely be at a meeting soon. age is for sure a factor now and hopefully i have a different experience with AA this time. i know it's a great program and even though i didn't go through all of the steps with them, my counselor was an AA guy and he used a lot of the same teachings.
thanks again.

instant

It's great you are here Bill. Welcome to SR

stepping

Welcome bill -
SR is a GREAT place. It's always nice to have people that relate.

YOU CAN DO THIS!

tomsteve

" i know i can but i need help."
dude, that is one of the greatest things i like to hear from people. that and 'I want help."
you will find many people in AA that have been in your shoes, not just with the drinkin, but with the thinkin,too.
i rememebr early on goin to meetings and the man who is now my sponsor would always be sitting right across the table from me. after i would share, every friggin time he'd say( with a smile),"its yer lie." what a priick!!! after a bit, holy cow!! it sunk in!! my whole friggin life was a lie and i was the only one who believed it!
welcoome to the oldest old bullsh**ters club in the world! that and the largest club noone planned on joining.

Delilah1

Welcome to SR!

12 years sobriety is an amazing accomplishment. Glad you are here, you will find lots of support.

wpainterw

Bill: I went for seven years without drinking, relapsed and drank for another 13 years and came very near losing my life. It's a vicious, vicious thing. It never lets go even though a person has been sober for years as you have been. The body always remembers and when a person starts to drink again the whole business picks up where it left off, but oddly enough it's much worse when it starts all over again. So, as another SR person said, pick yourself up, dust yourself off and start a program again. Avoid booze like the plague. Good luck and every good wish.

W.

billwwjr

haha tomsteve. Yup.... it's the lies that get us. i never thought i was a liar until i became a drug addict and at that point there was no denying it. but when i kicked it all and became aware of stupid little lies that would pop into my head for no apparent reason it was an eye opener. i made a conscious effort to avoid lying at all costs and as difficult as the truth was sometimes, it was always less painful in the end.