Bluemax65

Hello, I'm a functional alcoholic, and would like to hear stories from anyone.

Thanks

FourSeasons

Welcome to SR, Bluemax65. What is your definition of a "functional alcoholic"?

Dee74

Hi Bluemax

You can find my story and others with 12 months recovery or more here:
Stories of Recovery - SoberRecovery : Alcoholism Drug Addiction Help and Information

SR certainly helped me - it was a huge relief to find people who understood

Do you have any ideas about how to stay sober?

I think the key is finding support and identifying the areas of your life that you need to change to back up your decision to be sober

D

pinkdog

Hi Bluemax, nice to meet you. If you go to the forums page, you will see people's stories. I am sober almost 3 and 1/2 years. I drank beer. First I binged on weekends. Then maybe a couple at nite on the weeknight. Then a 6 pack every nite no matter what. And so forth. Until my thoughts of alcohol were from morning to nite. Constant. That's why I had to quit. It kept increasing. I had more stomach issues: fewer foods I could digest, vomiting more often, diarrhea and heartburn. My face was puffy and I got red dots which were alcohol poisoning. I smelled like a brewery. More than one person told me that. At the time, I was like "so, who are you". Eventually I realized I had a problem. Quitting was really hard. I felt I had no choice. I was just drinking more and more. That's my story. I'm here if you want to ask questions. Best wishes to you. My health now really doesn't compare to my health while drinking. Sobriety is great.

Plenny

Hi, I am glad you jumped in. I never understood what functional alcoholic meant.
I was raised by alcoholics and I didn't realize that it's not every family that had three martinis before dinner on not especially special occasions (Sunday dinner at mom's, anyone?). I used to lust after alcohol before I even knew what it tasted like. So needless to say, first chance I got I went full steam ahead. I loved the stuff and became very dependent in my early teens. I used it to cope with a lot of family issues. I used it to get me through each and every miserable day. Now I'm 32 years old and alcohol has consistently been the #1 important thing in my life. Highest priority. I worshipped an inanimate thing.
For years I woke up every morning feeling scared and begging for help. But I pushed those thoughts away and went to work and drank and continued. Then two months ago I got fed up and saw how senseless it all was, and realized that for the first time ever I'm not experiencing any crazy life events or trauma. I am working on stopping. It hasn't been a perfect, clean cut, but I have made a huge change in lifestyle.
I guess that's the first time I spelled my story out. Welcome!