I need advice
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Oct 2015
Posts: 1
I need advice
I have been drinking alcohol since I was about 14.
I have always binged once a week up until I was about 20, then it turned into Friday til Sunday....
I am 30 now and battle with alcohol, this is the first time I have asked for advice, I realise for the first time I have a problem and need help and don't know what way to go??
I have always binged once a week up until I was about 20, then it turned into Friday til Sunday....
I am 30 now and battle with alcohol, this is the first time I have asked for advice, I realise for the first time I have a problem and need help and don't know what way to go??
RIP Sweet Suki
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: In my sanctuary, my home
Posts: 39,896
Welcome to SR, whatserface. Oooh...I don't like calling you that. Can I call you WF? 
I'm glad you found us and you will find a lot of support here is you want to stop drinking for good. Please read around the forum and post often. It will help.
I'm glad you found us and you will find a lot of support here is you want to stop drinking for good. Please read around the forum and post often. It will help.
Member
Join Date: Mar 2015
Location: Florida
Posts: 874
My advice is this: make a decision about whether you're ready to quit drinking then do it.
You might want to read through the posts on this forum. You'll see that you are in good company. And, you'll find some great ideas to help you along the way. You may want to look into an AA meeting or some other face to face group.
Don't be afraid. If you've never talked with anyone about this, I'll repeat: you are not alone. There are a lot of people with alcohol problems. So there is a lot of help available to you.
My last advice to you: if you've been very dependent on alcohol, you might consider discussing it with your Doctor. I promise you, you will not be the first patient to do this and he/she is very likely to understand.
Good Luck. Quitting, and living without alcohol is very doable. Keep us posted on your progress.
You might want to read through the posts on this forum. You'll see that you are in good company. And, you'll find some great ideas to help you along the way. You may want to look into an AA meeting or some other face to face group.
Don't be afraid. If you've never talked with anyone about this, I'll repeat: you are not alone. There are a lot of people with alcohol problems. So there is a lot of help available to you.
My last advice to you: if you've been very dependent on alcohol, you might consider discussing it with your Doctor. I promise you, you will not be the first patient to do this and he/she is very likely to understand.
Good Luck. Quitting, and living without alcohol is very doable. Keep us posted on your progress.
Community Greeter
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Upstate New York
Posts: 51,560
Good to meet you, Whatserface. You are in good company. 
I wish I'd stopped at 30. Instead, I kept trying to control it. In the end, I was drinking all day & my life was torn apart. This will never happen to you. Welcome!
I wish I'd stopped at 30. Instead, I kept trying to control it. In the end, I was drinking all day & my life was torn apart. This will never happen to you. Welcome!
Member
Join Date: Apr 2014
Location: UK
Posts: 6,902
Welcome Whaterface - well, I could have written the same as you, apart from it took me an extra 10 years (just to make sure that my home; finance; relationships; career; and opinion of myself) we well and truly affected by my drinking.
You've come to a great place for help (advice and support). Keep posting and ask any questions you want to - there are no silly questions here.
You will hear people talk about triggers - we all have different ones to avoid, but we tend to all share the HALT ones: Hunger; Anger; Loneliness and Tiredness. You will know (or soon figure out as you try to stay sober) what your personal triggers are. You can use these to make your own sobriety plan; thinking of ways to avoid those triggers at all costs. It'll probably include some slippery times (MY egs: weekend nights; birthdays; public holidays; christmas) and slippery events (family celebrations; hen dos; if sad; if excited; if pleased; I could go on!!); slippery People (the people I used to get very drunk with; My Dad; people who I embarrassed myself with back in the drinking days when my behaviour was not so great), and Slippery places (old drinking haunts; the kind of old off-licence shops that have all kinds of pretty and interesting bottles and lovely artwork on the labels; fairgrounds).
Once you've got a list of triggers, the next part of the plan is thinking of a strategy for dealing with those things. Sometimes this site is very useful for thinking of ways to deal with specific things, and you can start a thread on here to get people's idea or experiences. For some people (me included) strategies for dealing with things include group support. I go to AA, and have found that what I learnt there (through the 12-steps, my sponsor, and listening to others at meetings) has been invaluable in leading a happy, fulfilling life without alcohol, and understanding why I needed alcohol to find a 'release'and feel comfortable with myself, and learn to do those things without alcohol comfortably. Anyway - what I was going to say is, Friday night was always a major deal for me when drinking, so was a major trigger time. So, I found a meeting (AA) that I know is a good un and has lots of positive (and humorous) people there, and made that part of my routine. So I still come home and feel like I'm getting ready to go out. Yes, it's a LOT different, butI still get that feeling of 'this is happening so the weekend starts here' (difference is that I now get weekend AMs as well as PMs
).
Anyway - sorry if this turned into a bit of a ramble.
Wishing you well in your personal journey to sobriety; recovery; and personal discovery.
You've come to a great place for help (advice and support). Keep posting and ask any questions you want to - there are no silly questions here.
You will hear people talk about triggers - we all have different ones to avoid, but we tend to all share the HALT ones: Hunger; Anger; Loneliness and Tiredness. You will know (or soon figure out as you try to stay sober) what your personal triggers are. You can use these to make your own sobriety plan; thinking of ways to avoid those triggers at all costs. It'll probably include some slippery times (MY egs: weekend nights; birthdays; public holidays; christmas) and slippery events (family celebrations; hen dos; if sad; if excited; if pleased; I could go on!!); slippery People (the people I used to get very drunk with; My Dad; people who I embarrassed myself with back in the drinking days when my behaviour was not so great), and Slippery places (old drinking haunts; the kind of old off-licence shops that have all kinds of pretty and interesting bottles and lovely artwork on the labels; fairgrounds).
Once you've got a list of triggers, the next part of the plan is thinking of a strategy for dealing with those things. Sometimes this site is very useful for thinking of ways to deal with specific things, and you can start a thread on here to get people's idea or experiences. For some people (me included) strategies for dealing with things include group support. I go to AA, and have found that what I learnt there (through the 12-steps, my sponsor, and listening to others at meetings) has been invaluable in leading a happy, fulfilling life without alcohol, and understanding why I needed alcohol to find a 'release'and feel comfortable with myself, and learn to do those things without alcohol comfortably. Anyway - what I was going to say is, Friday night was always a major deal for me when drinking, so was a major trigger time. So, I found a meeting (AA) that I know is a good un and has lots of positive (and humorous) people there, and made that part of my routine. So I still come home and feel like I'm getting ready to go out. Yes, it's a LOT different, butI still get that feeling of 'this is happening so the weekend starts here' (difference is that I now get weekend AMs as well as PMs
).Anyway - sorry if this turned into a bit of a ramble.
Wishing you well in your personal journey to sobriety; recovery; and personal discovery.
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