Willfomtheuk

Hi guys & girls
Will be 5 days sober by the end of today. really chuffed, but I smoked yesterday, had a cigar. i sstopped smoking on new years eve as well, been on nicorette replacement stuff for years (thats another story)! and Im feeling that im falling off the wagon, thinking to myself, well I can stop drinking for a few days so I know i can do it, so I can have a drink now! starting down that slippery slop. Oh dear, any advice?

Dee74

I think you can stop being so hard on yourself.
One cigar is not a capital crime

If it tickles your addictive rationalisations tho, probably best to avoid any more cigars for now

as for quitting drinking for a few days - I haven't had a drink in 6 years - but I know what would happen if I started again - so do you, really...right?

D

HereIAm321

This might be dramatic,....but maybe think of alcohol as a loaded gun?

You wouldn't put a loaded gun in your mouth and pull the trigger, would you? (DEAR GOD I HOPE NOT!) Alcohol is like a gun...one shot and you're dead. One drink and you'll slip back down into the depths of hell -- and, you will end up dying, because alcoholism is a progressive disease.

Ok that might have been too drastic of me, guess I need some sleep!

Eunectes

Tried quitting alcohol, smokes and tasty (junk food lol) all at the same time many times.....no notable success. One thing at a time I say, best of luck

Sazzle

Congrats on 5 days. Did you quit smoking along with alcohol to start a healthy life or to give yourself one massive challenge?

Pick your demon- alcohol - and stick with that. If slipping on one cigar makes you feel like drinking then perhaps quitting both at the same time was a bad decision.

It's as if your mind can say 'if I can't quit smoking then I don't even stand a chance with alcohol.

I quit both vices separately. I'm on 71 days sober and life is so great, I can't even put it into words in here.

Good luck, you can do it!!

S x

Willfomtheuk

as dee74 said smoking tickles my addictive nature. Im just abit peeved that i had a smoke. Still donot want a drink as a can remember how i felt at xmas, full to the brim with beer & whiskey, still very positive, will go for a nice long walk when i finish work.Thanks guys

Geenie

I stopped both at the same time Will, and used patches for the first few weeks. But what has really helped me this time was reading Allen Carr and other books and stuff online, and finally understanding the addictive voice and what happens to our body and minds when we stop smoking and drinking. I really do feel information is key to beating this, continual reading and logging on here every day for support. Arm yourself with coping skills.

Also I wouldn't beat yourself up if you have just had one cigar, but stop at that. I never did after a quick relapse and would be back to my 20/30 within a few days feeling like hell again. It really is so amazing Will to be free of them both, and though the journey is not easy at times to start with, it is worth fighting through it to be rid of both.

Dorris

Will don't be so hard on yourself, I know you must be a little disappointed but that could trigger massive failure altogether.

I tried many times to do them both together and failed, 6 months ago I quit the cigs and don't feel any better for it if I'm honest (case of depression I think), but in time once I'm done with the alcohol I hope to see huge improvements.

I wished I had done the drinking bit first because this is the big one, the tough one and so stressful and at it's worst I crave a cig.

You need to be proud you only had one and you never had a drink, keep this feeling with you today x

Zube

"Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar"
-Sigmund Freud

Zube

NapsteR1

I fell for that one time and time again, as soon as I was over the hangover and put a couple of decent days in at work the "well, that was easy, I can't really have that much of a problem then if I can stop just like that? - not doing anything tomorrow, doesn't matter even if I overdo it abit even!" voice comes into my head - then I'm at the supermarket getting enough for 2 days instead of one and bye bye go the next couple of months.

There are many many threads on here - one from this moring

http://www.soberrecovery.com/forums/...-hung-low.html

that say the same thing and many of them including mine relate that once you go back out there, every relapse is worse than the last one. Because you've somehow "proved" to yourself that you don't have a problem, where's the harm in going overboard? because you "know" that you can stop anytime you want to right? You just did so right?.

You're right, a dangerous slope and one it's well worth staying well away from the edge of if you truely mean to stop and stop for good.

Xune

Have you truly accepted that drinking alcohol is no longer an option and you quite simply cannot drink alcohol again...ever?

When I accepted it, I found freedom.