Hi all new to forum
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Nov 2013
Posts: 6
Hi all new to forum
Just joined thought Id say hi and tell you where I am at
Abit about me, when I was 21 I did 6mths rehab for heroin addiction and detox a 12 steps treatment centre with a few relapses over next few years after that I managed 4 or 5 years clean and sober about 4 years ago I started drinking not heavey just a couple of times a week etc. I now drink every day straight after work about 6-10 pints dont eat etc
For some reason I find it very hard to admit to myself I have a problem, all my friends that I drink with in the pub after work are heavy drinkers as well, I have tried stopping for a week or so but have no friends apart from in the pub so when stop very lonely
So just asking for some help and advice
Thanks
Abit about me, when I was 21 I did 6mths rehab for heroin addiction and detox a 12 steps treatment centre with a few relapses over next few years after that I managed 4 or 5 years clean and sober about 4 years ago I started drinking not heavey just a couple of times a week etc. I now drink every day straight after work about 6-10 pints dont eat etc
For some reason I find it very hard to admit to myself I have a problem, all my friends that I drink with in the pub after work are heavy drinkers as well, I have tried stopping for a week or so but have no friends apart from in the pub so when stop very lonely
So just asking for some help and advice
Thanks
Member
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: Soberspace
Posts: 591
You can do it Tom, join the class of november thread in the newcomer forum (here), you just have to post in it and get to know others who are trying to quit this month. You're in the same boat as them and a feeling of camraderie will develop. That's how I feel with the group that gave up drinking at the same time as I did.
Member
Join Date: Nov 2013
Location: Bay Area, California
Posts: 67
Hey Tom,
It is very difficult when your circle of friends are drinkers also. What are your hobbies and interests? You should find something you like to do outside of drinking and use that to meet new people. Hang in there.
It is very difficult when your circle of friends are drinkers also. What are your hobbies and interests? You should find something you like to do outside of drinking and use that to meet new people. Hang in there.
bona fido dog-lover
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: SF Bay area, CA
Posts: 99,784
Welcome to SR! You'll find lots of support here. You may have to change your habits/friends in order to stay sober. Recovery is all about making changes to our lives in order to be happily sober. 
Member
Join Date: May 2013
Location: Probably my living room. Maybe my bedroom if I'm feeling lazy
Posts: 1,085
Hey Tom,
Just wanted to let you know I had a similar experience as you. I was a drug user in my late teens and early 20s. I hated drinking. I much preferred to get high.
So I finally sobered up around age 25 and put together a few years before I started drinking, just casually at first. But then it became an every day thing. I didn't start drinking heavy until 28. I was a late bloomer.
I can be a hard thing to admit that you may be an alcoholic because your brain keeps telling you that at least it it's not your drug of choice (for me, ketamine and marijuana, for you, heroin). But all I really ended up doing was switching from one drug to another (alcohol). Substitution is a real thing.
And funny thing, I did a lot of drugs when I was younger, but in just 3 years of heavy drinking, alcohol completely destroyed my life and almost killed me. For me to admit that I was an alcoholic, I had to put things in a perspective. At my core, I am a drug addict. Alcohol is a drug. So therefore, I cannot use alcohol like a normal person without my life becoming completely unmanageable.
When you got sober the first time, how did you do it? 12 step program? Therapy? Maybe it's time to go back to some of the things that enabled you to put those years of sobriety together. For me, AA has been a life-saver. And I had to cut out all the people in my life who drank excessively. All my friends now are sober. It just makes things so much easier.
Good luck!
Just wanted to let you know I had a similar experience as you. I was a drug user in my late teens and early 20s. I hated drinking. I much preferred to get high.
So I finally sobered up around age 25 and put together a few years before I started drinking, just casually at first. But then it became an every day thing. I didn't start drinking heavy until 28. I was a late bloomer.
I can be a hard thing to admit that you may be an alcoholic because your brain keeps telling you that at least it it's not your drug of choice (for me, ketamine and marijuana, for you, heroin). But all I really ended up doing was switching from one drug to another (alcohol). Substitution is a real thing.
And funny thing, I did a lot of drugs when I was younger, but in just 3 years of heavy drinking, alcohol completely destroyed my life and almost killed me. For me to admit that I was an alcoholic, I had to put things in a perspective. At my core, I am a drug addict. Alcohol is a drug. So therefore, I cannot use alcohol like a normal person without my life becoming completely unmanageable.
When you got sober the first time, how did you do it? 12 step program? Therapy? Maybe it's time to go back to some of the things that enabled you to put those years of sobriety together. For me, AA has been a life-saver. And I had to cut out all the people in my life who drank excessively. All my friends now are sober. It just makes things so much easier.
Good luck!
Administrator
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Australia
Posts: 211,444
Welcome tom79bmth
some good advice here.
It was difficult for me to admit my problem too cos I surrounded myself with drinkers as well...but none of them seemed to have the problems I did with drinking.
I had to change my life a bit and not hang out with those guys. It was hard at the time but I don't regret it now.
I'm glad you found us - I think support is very important
D
some good advice here.
It was difficult for me to admit my problem too cos I surrounded myself with drinkers as well...but none of them seemed to have the problems I did with drinking.
I had to change my life a bit and not hang out with those guys. It was hard at the time but I don't regret it now.
I'm glad you found us - I think support is very important
D
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Nov 2013
Posts: 6
Hiya
Thanks for all your reply's.
Dig dug, before when I had my clean time I was doing NA and CA meetings and stopped after a few years but last year I was doing some counselling and small therapy groups once a week, I didn't find that they helped that much but I was sent to them on a court order for 6mths or jail.
Yesterday I only had 2 beers didn't sleep and was sweating loads, but mentally feel more with it today and have only had 1 beer so see how it goes tonight
Thanks again
Thanks for all your reply's.
Dig dug, before when I had my clean time I was doing NA and CA meetings and stopped after a few years but last year I was doing some counselling and small therapy groups once a week, I didn't find that they helped that much but I was sent to them on a court order for 6mths or jail.
Yesterday I only had 2 beers didn't sleep and was sweating loads, but mentally feel more with it today and have only had 1 beer so see how it goes tonight
Thanks again
Member
Join Date: May 2013
Location: Probably my living room. Maybe my bedroom if I'm feeling lazy
Posts: 1,085
Maybe it's worth giving AA a try? You've got nothing to lose by checking out a few meetings. But you have so much to gain by cutting alcohol out of your life.
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