snipe

I've been on these boards for about six months and had about 2.5 months sober in July before drinking again. Since then I've only been able to stay sober for a day or two (when I drink I am a morning-through-night drinker).

All I know is that if I don't try something different, I won't get a different result. Therefore I am checking into inpatient rehab tomorrow morning. That's the one thing I can think of that I haven't tried.

In the last 10 years I've tried AA, SMART, outpatient rehab, SR, CBT, DBT, mindfulness, exercise and lots of other things and I have had substantial periods of sobriety in the past (2.5 years, 1.5 years, 9 months).

Right now I am focused on stopping drinking one day at a time and getting through withdrawal and the physical cravings because that is what I am having trouble with. With that said, I am hopeful that adding this to all the other things will give me a jump-start on long term sobriety.

Thanks for reading. I love this site and the people on it and get a lot out of it even when I am struggling to get/stay sober.

Snipe

Dee74

I think thats a great move snipe. I hope you can make this a turning point
Best wishes

D

ChrissieB

Good Luck Snipe - hope it all goes well x

Skye2

Great decision - all the very best with it

liberated

Good insight, Snipe- we'll all be cheering you on!!!!!!

seahorse661

Best of luck; I found it much easier to focus on preparing a plan once I was in rehab and gave my mind a rest from the daily anxieties

opentorecieve

Inpatient rehab is a fabulous choice. I learned so much from my 35 day program. You have inspired me to get out my rehab box and read through some stuff. You can do this!

MIRecovery

You are absolutely right if nothing changes nothing changes. I tried awful an lot of things over 20 years of quiting drinking that included extended periods of sobriety.

Like you I tried AA but it did not work. I found trying AA was not enough you had to do AA. This included daily meetings getting a sponsor working the steps coming early staying late and building network of sober friends. I went to outpatient rehab and it got me sober. I then committed to AA 100 percent and it kept me sober.

As they say, " Rarely have we seen a person fail who has thoroughly followed our path" but thoroughly is the keyword. Unfortunately if you do half of AA you do not get half sober.

snipe

Thanks for reading and responding to my post. Today I am having trouble stopping drinking and getting past the withdrawal and physical dependency and that's what I am hoping the inpatient program will help me with.

My experience is that stopping drinking and staying stopped are 2 completely different and separate challenges for me. I say "staying stopped" rather than "sober" because that introduces a debate about the meaning of "true" sobriety that that is not helpful to me today. I just don't want to drink any more.

I don't want to get into a debate over the efficacy of AA and the difference between trying AA and doing AA. My longest periods of sobriety have been largely due to AA and my 2 relapses after long (>1 year) periods of sobriety followed my slipping away from both the AA fellowship and the AA program. Figuring out how to keep my sobriety as my top priority is something I need to figure out, but not today.

I expect AA to be a key part of my long-term sobriety maintenance. There's something that has caused me to not stick with it "for life" but that's not today's concern.

MIRecovery

Sounds like a wise plan the first step is getting sober. You are 100 percent correct that staying sober is a whole different deal. For me it's all about surrender when I stop fighting everything and everybody thing started to get better.

I cannot speak to inpatient but in your case it sounds like it makes a lot of sense

digdug

I needed inpatient rehab. I couldn't have done it on my own and admire all those here and in AA who could quit without rehab. But I needed it and it saved my life. I am so grateful I had the opportunity. I am also grateful to AA for helping me stay sober all these months after I got out of inpatient.

Good luck to you.