first time trying something like this
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Apr 2015
Posts: 1
first time trying something like this
Hi I am 31 and think that my drinking is a problem. I kind of want to quit but it seems to big a task. I would like to cut back but also seems out of reach. It is somewhat under control now a days as I drink 3 to 4 a night but still have the occasional black out nights. I don't really know how to go about it. I think I drink bc of chronic pain which alcohol actually caused when I was younger. I'm just kind of lost and looking for support/tips/advice.
Member
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: California
Posts: 2,693
Hey X2jm,
31 is a great time to stop. I stopped at 32 after starting to drink at 21 and then crashing and burning by the time I was 32. It started off like lots of people but I was always the one still up drinking when others had gone to bed. Well, that makes it sound like I drank with others. I drank mostly alone at home. Blackouts had become common and my whole body felt terrible every day. I drank every day and did not know what an evening would even look like without alcohol.
It's been 10 months since my last drink and I feel so much better. You do actually get used to being a non-drinker. I like that term because it feels so much less dramatic than alcoholic. I am an alcoholic but in conversation I use the term non-drinker. Alcohol wasn't even enjoyable anymore. Blackouts were really starting to bother me deeply and I just couldn't wake up one more day wondering what I had broken, who I had hurt, or what other danger and destructive things I had done.
I think early thirties is a great time to stop.
If there is one thing I can tell you that helped me it was this: Check in here every day. Read and post when you feel like it. Read and read. Your evenings are going to feel very long and a bit strange for a little while but you'll get used to it. I don't go to meetings myself but I used to always wonder: why do people have to go to meetings everyday? Can't they just stop and be done with it?
Checking in on here is my version of meetings. I am here every evening for an hour or two. It keeps my motivation fresh and it feels good when you can relate to others and maybe even help them out. Alcohol had such a hold on me I didn't know if I would ever stop. This is why I check in here every day. I look forward to hearing more from you.
31 is a great time to stop. I stopped at 32 after starting to drink at 21 and then crashing and burning by the time I was 32. It started off like lots of people but I was always the one still up drinking when others had gone to bed. Well, that makes it sound like I drank with others. I drank mostly alone at home. Blackouts had become common and my whole body felt terrible every day. I drank every day and did not know what an evening would even look like without alcohol.
It's been 10 months since my last drink and I feel so much better. You do actually get used to being a non-drinker. I like that term because it feels so much less dramatic than alcoholic. I am an alcoholic but in conversation I use the term non-drinker. Alcohol wasn't even enjoyable anymore. Blackouts were really starting to bother me deeply and I just couldn't wake up one more day wondering what I had broken, who I had hurt, or what other danger and destructive things I had done.
I think early thirties is a great time to stop.
If there is one thing I can tell you that helped me it was this: Check in here every day. Read and post when you feel like it. Read and read. Your evenings are going to feel very long and a bit strange for a little while but you'll get used to it. I don't go to meetings myself but I used to always wonder: why do people have to go to meetings everyday? Can't they just stop and be done with it?
Checking in on here is my version of meetings. I am here every evening for an hour or two. It keeps my motivation fresh and it feels good when you can relate to others and maybe even help them out. Alcohol had such a hold on me I didn't know if I would ever stop. This is why I check in here every day. I look forward to hearing more from you.
Guest
Join Date: May 2014
Location: London, UK
Posts: 1,086
Originally Posted by MelindaFlowers 
Hey X2jm,
31 is a great time to stop. I stopped at 32 after starting to drink at 21 and then crashing and burning by the time I was 32. It started off like lots of people but I was always the one still up drinking when others had gone to bed. Well, that makes it sound like I drank with others. I drank mostly alone at home. Blackouts had become common and my whole body felt terrible every day. I drank every day and did not know what an evening would even look like without alcohol.
It's been 10 months since my last drink and I feel so much better. You do actually get used to being a non-drinker. I like that term because it feels so much less dramatic than alcoholic. I am an alcoholic but in conversation I use the term non-drinker. Alcohol wasn't even enjoyable anymore. Blackouts were really starting to bother me deeply and I just couldn't wake up one more day wondering what I had broken, who I had hurt, or what other danger and destructive things I had done.
I think early thirties is a great time to stop.
If there is one thing I can tell you that helped me it was this: Check in here every day. Read and post when you feel like it. Read and read. Your evenings are going to feel very long and a bit strange for a little while but you'll get used to it. I don't go to meetings myself but I used to always wonder: why do people have to go to meetings everyday? Can't they just stop and be done with it?
Checking in on here is my version of meetings. I am here every evening for an hour or two. It keeps my motivation fresh and it feels good when you can relate to others and maybe even help them out. Alcohol had such a hold on me I didn't know if I would ever stop. This is why I check in here every day. I look forward to hearing more from you.
31 is a great time to stop. I stopped at 32 after starting to drink at 21 and then crashing and burning by the time I was 32. It started off like lots of people but I was always the one still up drinking when others had gone to bed. Well, that makes it sound like I drank with others. I drank mostly alone at home. Blackouts had become common and my whole body felt terrible every day. I drank every day and did not know what an evening would even look like without alcohol.
It's been 10 months since my last drink and I feel so much better. You do actually get used to being a non-drinker. I like that term because it feels so much less dramatic than alcoholic. I am an alcoholic but in conversation I use the term non-drinker. Alcohol wasn't even enjoyable anymore. Blackouts were really starting to bother me deeply and I just couldn't wake up one more day wondering what I had broken, who I had hurt, or what other danger and destructive things I had done.
I think early thirties is a great time to stop.
If there is one thing I can tell you that helped me it was this: Check in here every day. Read and post when you feel like it. Read and read. Your evenings are going to feel very long and a bit strange for a little while but you'll get used to it. I don't go to meetings myself but I used to always wonder: why do people have to go to meetings everyday? Can't they just stop and be done with it?
Checking in on here is my version of meetings. I am here every evening for an hour or two. It keeps my motivation fresh and it feels good when you can relate to others and maybe even help them out. Alcohol had such a hold on me I didn't know if I would ever stop. This is why I check in here every day. I look forward to hearing more from you.
Member
Join Date: Aug 2013
Location: C.C. Ma.
Posts: 3,697
Originally Posted by x2jm
I don't really know how to go about it. I think I drink bc of chronic pain which alcohol actually caused when I was younger. I'm just kind of lost and looking for support/tips/advice.
Hi and welcome.
As stated above there is good advice above and on this site regarding getting sober. I happen to use AA a lot of years ago being the only place in town for general every day support.
After a lot of stumbles and procrastination drinking became painful enough to honestly look at my drinking and where it was headed. Then I needed to accept the fact that I could not drink in safety one day at a time in a row, period.
This acceptance led me to attending many meetings where staying sober was discussed, where it never was anywhere else I went. This led to much work on the reasons I drank, mostly feelings and escaping them. All this was enhanced by becoming active on a daily basis, for me giving back what I received.
Today being comfortable in my own skin most of the time is just one reward for not drinking.
We can do it if we don’t pick up that first drink.
BE WELL
Currently Active Users Viewing this Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
