chris3456

Hello All,

I am 27 years old and finally coming to the grips that I have a drinking problem. I have a tried cutting back, but when I take a break from drinking I slowly (or sometime fast) come back to drinking in excess. I had a great girlfriend for three months and I used adderall and drank far too much one night causing me to cheat on her. This was in December and I still feel terrible about what I did. I not only hurt myself but someone else, really badly. I am not a daily drinker (close though) but when I drink I cannot stick to a limit and I do not know what will happen and that scares me a great deal. It is hard because my family is full of heavy drinkers (my mom and dad) and they don't see it as a true problem. They are older (Dad 73, Mom 69) and they are a huge part of my life because in almost all ways they were often great parents. Part of it might be because they know they might have a problem but are afraid to face it- I don't know. I have been on and off going to AA meeting having periods of sobriety and then telling myself I can drink only to repeatedly be defeated. In college and in my early professional life everything in terms of socializing was around beer. I guess I keep trying to convince myself I can be a normal drinker because I really wish I could be. I am daunted by the lifestyle changes I will have to make and it seems overwhelming. I am worried about what people will think, and how will ever find someone to date sober, etc. I know this is a lot, I just wanted to share my story and I look forward to speaking with more of you.

Thanks for listening!

Chris

Cherrybreeze

Welcome, Chris!

I can relate to, wishing you could be a "normal" drinker. I used to be. Could have one or two, then move on to something else and be done. I can't do that anymore, once I get started, I pretty much don't stop until I run out. I am on day 7 today only, so I don't have a ton of advice, but this site is full of help and knowledge. Hope you stick around.

bec1977

I've always been the type of drinker who cannot stop once I start. I used to just drink wine after work, now until I decided to stop a few days ago it was a vodka tall with a side car of some sort of shot. Usually ending up with blacking out or passing out. I don't want to go through life that way anymore. I see now, that my habits are not those of "normal" drinkers and I wouldn't be on this site if I wasn't scared to death of the harm I'm doing to myself.

least

Welcome to the family. In order to stop drinking, you must want to be sober more than you want to drink. Not easy, but simple.

Camery03

I was once a weekend binger, and an occasional social drinker during the week. Then I started drinking vodka, and it became an all night after work drunk until I passed out, and all day and night on the weekends. Then when I started working from home-- well, who would know if I had a drink while "at work"? Day drinking turned in to day drink-- pass out. Wake up. Drink some more. The bottle was controlling my life--- if I ran errands during the day, the first thing I would check is how much vodka I had and how far was it going to get me?

I guess deep down I knew that this behavior wasn't "normal". It wasn't until I hit rock bottom that I realized I had a significant problem and had to deal with it. I tried the moderation drinking-- only on the weekends, etc. but then the cycle started all over again.

8 days ago, I decided enough was enough and I needed to get my LIFE back. So, here I am. Every day is a new day, and I have learned to take one day at a time. ( which doesn't come easy for me.)

Soberwolf

Welcome Chris nice to meet you

thomas11

Hi Chris, you are very smart to try and get a grip on this. There are people on this forum that will encourage and help you tremendously. I hope you stick around.

It doesn't matter your drinking habits, if its a problem, it needs to be fixed. My issue was actually in reverse, daily drinker, to 3-4 days per week to 2 days a week, and it still got worse.

Jeni26

Hi Chris, good to meet you.

It is possible to get sober amongst a family of drinkers. My Dad drank, both my brothers and my sister drink, and my husband drinks. What proportion of them are alcoholic I don't know, and I've given up thinking about it now.

I knew I had a drinking problem in my 20s too, but I didn't do anything about it, for much the same reasons you stated. I was worried about lifestyle changes and what people would think of me. So, I carried on drinking for another 20 years...until things got much much worse.

I did lots of things I now regret in those years, wasted time, hurt people, wasn't the Mum I needed to be for my kids.

And now, I'm sober and life is starting to be beautiful. I love waking without shame or regret. I love making decisions based on reality and not the fantasy life I was living before.

I would love to be able to turn back the clock but I cant.

What a wonderful opportunity you have to shape the life you want right now.

Stick around, there's a heap of experience and good advice here. Welcome.

Dee74

Hi Chris

Good for you for identifying a problem and wanting to do something about it.

I didn't want to change my life, either, but I'm glad I did - it's the best thing I've ever done

You'll find a lot of support here

D