EnderWiggin

was it a specific event? or a gradual conclusion? i'm very intrigued as to what finally breaks the proverbial straw and makes others seek recovery. to me, it was my 12 year old daughter asking me to stop drinking so i wouldn't act so 'stupid'. although i had many other warning signs, that was what convinced me to heed them.

shoreladylu

I couldn't stand the guilt. I hated that I kept blowing everything off. I guess I was sick and tired of being sick and tired as they say.

AngelBabe

Mine was on October 20th of this past year. It was my birthday I had been drinking with a friend the night before who ended up staying on the couch. She had her daughter with her and the next morning she had a Dr's appointment. She wanted me to drive her and I really didn't want to as it was my birthday and I didn't want to waste it running around doing errands all day. So I let her borrow my car and even some cash to get her prescription filled after the doctors. She was supposed to pick up my daughter from her friends that she had spent the night at at 3pm.

Well I called the friend at about 1pm and she said she was still waiting to see the Dr. but hoped to be done soon. I reminded her that she had to pick my daughter up and she promised she would not forget. Well at 3pm my daughter called wanting to know where my friend was. I told her to give her a few minutes more. At this point I called the friend a few times and her phone was off. I was getting nervous at this point but thought that maybe she was in with the doctor and that is why the phone was off.

I ended up having to call someone to get my daughter as I did not have my car and I had my son and her daughter with me at home. When my daughter got home I continued to try her phone very couple of minutes until 5pm. At this point I was mad, suspicious you name it. For some reason I had a weird thought and went online and checked my bank balance. She had withdrawn over 500.00 from my bank from the atm card and pin number she stole out of my wallet. I got on the phone with the bank and reported the card stolen and had it canceled. I then called the police and the womans husband.

In the end I had to report the car stolen as well as identity theft and theft over 500.00. Thankfully the car was recovered the next day unharmed in a known drug traffic area. The morning of the 21rst I drank the last alcohol I had and threw down the bottle. I was done. This was my bottom and I knew it would only get worse for me if I didn't make a change. See even though what happened to me was not my fault If I was sober and not hung over I would have known to exercise better judgment.

P.S. She goes to court on the 28th for trial. I have to go as a witness for the state but I did indicate in paperwork I submitted to the State's Attorney that if she agreed to counseling, drug testing and restitution then I would be okay with probation. She ruined our friendship and made a horrible set of choices that day but her daughter is only seven and I do not want to be the one that sends that little girls mom to jail.

mfanch

Suicide became appealing.

penny74

It was time...it had to happen.

bigsombrero

I had my third seizure due to withdrawl and my family gathered to talk to me about treatment. My little niece had died on the operating table earlier that year, she was just 6 months old at the time. She battled a heart problem throughout her short life and endured 4 open heart surgeries before she finally succumbed due to her incurable heart defect. I was reminded about how hard that little girl fought, even for a baby, and how much my sister and whole family was affected by her death.

I went to treatment for myself, my family, and that little girl who never had the chance to make anything out of her life.

EnderWiggin

it suddenly got very dusty in here i'm so sorry.

Soberween

It was a gradual decision. Pete Hamill said in his memoir that he got the feeling that he "was squeezing his talent through a tube of toothpaste." This is how I began to feel. Strained and constricted. It never affected my career, no arrests whatsoever, no financial problems, relationships still intact, but not living the life I had pictured for myself as a child.

jazzfish

I was tired of being miserable and having my life unravel at an increasingly rapid pace. The single event was one night of drinking where I became part of a going away party. The drinks were flowing and I was drinking without any control. One person just walked up to me and poured a glass of wine down the front of my shirt, which proceeded to puddle in my crotch. I had to pay my bill, take the elevator, walk through reception, take a taxi, walk past my reception, and greet my wife - stumbling, drunk, covered with red wine. I then spent the next hours vomiting and crying. Luckily my kids were asleep. However, the humiliation and shame of being so out of control and all the people I had to face. or could have faced. I wondered what my kids would have thought. I decided I would never experience that shame again. It didn't take that time, but there was a definite change to do something about my drinking.

least

I was so tired of always waking up sick as a dog and hating myself and wishing I were dead. I wanted my life back.

gratefulkp

I quit drinking because it was going to kill me. There were several signs leading up to my decision, and several more that came up during recovery. But the awakening that I had made me realize that I just couldn't drink alcohol.

kizzy40

This, I had an epiphany...But not in a religious way, I just awoke one day and felt the most amazing clarity.
I knew what I had to do, and amazingly had the resolve to do it solo.

FreeFall

I had known for decades that I had a problem, I never drank normally, even when I first started. What finally pushed me to take it seriously were two things. First was a very close friend and drinking buddy's health scare that landed her in the hospital 3 times in a month. I figured I was next if I kept it up. Second was sitting in the bar one night and having a major moment of clarity that at that moment I was only there for the booze. On that night I wasn't interested in talking to anyone there, my friends weren't around, and there I sat anyway. I could see that it was only going to progress, and that maybe I had a slim window of time to turn it around before all hell broke loose.

AngelBabe

Sadly that was a big part of my decision too. I loved to drink and if I could I still would. Everyone in my family is an alcoholic who still drinks. It goes generations back on both sides. I am 42 now, I rarely drank in my late teens or twenties at all. The first half of my thirties I was a beer drinker maybe 3-5 a day or a few glasses of wine. No headaches, hangovers, sickness etc.

In 2005 at 35 I dated this man for 18 moths and he was a partier and I went right along with him. I could drink beer, shots you name it and remember it all. I was having the fun I should have had ten years before. I would go to work so hungover it was not funny. I would puke brushing my teeth the following morning. It took quite a tole on me.

Then in 2007 I slowed down and just drank a few beers here and there at home and when out I would have my fun 1-2 times per week. I loved white russians then and when I went on the Atkins diet in 2009 I could not drink beer anymore or white russians so I switched to vodka and diet drinks. This ultimately was my undoing. I went from 2-3 drinks a few nights a week to every night.

Then I went from a half pint a night to a whole one. Then a fifth a day to a half gallon every two to three days. My body physically started to feel the effects in 2010 and I knew I was headed down a bad road. By 2011 I was on my first try at quitting. I ended the year pretty good but the first 9 months of 2012 I would drink a while until my body would get sick and reject it and me. Then a few weeks sober I would rinse and repeat. I tries to switch to just beer or wine but it would eventually lead me back to vodka and that is where the physical sickness would kick in.

Does it tick me off that others I know have drank liquor like fish for decades and still do to this day every day with no physical problems at all and I can't? Sure. I have pondered this for so long that half of me thinks its all in my head and the self guilt and disappointment is what actually causes me to have these physical symptoms.

In the end none of it really matters because I have had to accept that for whatever reason or cause I can't drink. I never had any physical damage that resulted from my drinking but the psychological aspect was overwhelming. It did not help that I had major, depression, anxiety, panic attacks, etc. I could pick up again tomorrow and drink for three to four weeks but at some point my mind or my body would go right back to where I was and that is honestly not a feeling I ever want to experience again.

So with that I will take another 24 and will keep coming back.

caboblanco

my physical health. mainly my liver.

bostonluv

I quit drinking because continuing to drink was more painful than quitting. Alcohol squashed my dreams, ruined my career and reputation, my physical body, my self esteem, my contact with God and negatively affected all my relationships. In the end I drank alone and I wasn't drinking to have a good time. I was drinking to escape. I was in trouble with the law for the first time at 32 yrs old and I was lonely and very very ashamed. I felt fearful, sick and depressed every minute of every day. It was a nightmare.

I'm in my 2nd year of recovery because I had a few major slips last year, I went to rehab again to start over and now have 67 days of clean and sober time under my belt and am learning to live in the moment and practice the AA principles in every aspect of my life. I have dreams, I am loved by friends and can now show love and affection. I am close to God. I am comfortable in my own skin and know true peace. The Promises are coming true. Each day is another blessing just to be alive. For me, that's a miracle.

Thank you for letting me share.

Hope4Life

I was having a severe Gout attack. I was sitting in my recliner with my foot propped up and an ice bag on it, drinking beer with a couple friends. When one of them said, "Why dont you just stop drinking?" just as I finished my beer, I finally accepted that my drinking was causing the Gout attacks.

As I laid in bed that night, his words kept repeating in my head and by the time I woke up the next morning, I had a long list of reasons to stop and not 1 reason to continue drinking.

That was 195 days ago and I have not had beer since then. My foot healed up and I have not had a Gout attack since. After drinking till I was drunk every night for 35+ years, I am DETERMINED to never have another Gout attack...... or beer again.

I am now amazed at how good a glass of water can taste!

Lunetta

My drinking was way out of control and mostly alone/in secret. The main reason for my eventual decision to finally quit on January 1st is because I am 30 years old, been married for almost 2 years and we are starting to try to get pregnant. I knew I would quit drinking once pregnant, but I knew I needed to quit before getting pregnant and also, wanted to quit so that I don't start up again after having a baby. My decision is for myself, but it is also for my husband and future children.

Threshold

I first got into recovery because I was scared of how out of control I got while drinking/using. I still kept using, but thought reading recovery literature etc would help me moderate.

It wasn't getting any better and I began to really worry that I was going to end up a totally pathetic mess that I had no respect for and that everyone hated to be around. My insane and disgusting behavior at a wedding made that obvious.

I kept relapsing.

Finally, my 19 yr old daughter made me a CD. She put a song on it that made it clear to me, really clear to me for the first time how much my substance abuse had effected her and our family. I had thought that I was doing a great job of hiding it, or at least keeping it from affecting them.

I quit. There was not one good reason to keep going. I had used to numb the pain and fear in my life, but...it didn't work. I was miserable when I was using, full of anxiety, suicidal, etc. It wasn't helping me in any way, it was just making everything worse and hurting those around me. So I quit, once and for all...and watched my boyfriend continue to harm himself and our relationship drinking bath tubs worth of beer.

I am sober for 10 months and drug free for 13.

Healthyfood

2 bottles of wine was not enough eventually. Opening 3rd made me think of quitting.