sobrietyseeker

Hello and nice to meet you all!

Alcohol has terrorized my life since I made its acquaintance far too many years ago. Although I am trying my hardest to put this behind me, it's the last addiction I have left and the more I want it out of my life, the more it rears its ugly head.

Everything I've tried, I've become an addict.

After 32 years, it's now been just over 7 months since I've stopped a horrible cigarette addiction. For that I'm extremely grateful. And I might add, since then, I've started running six days a week. I'm up to 3 miles a day, which is amazing.

But now, like I mentioned, alcohol is my last addiction. It's got to stop. I have so many great things happening in my life and alcohol is ruining it. I have one drink and I end up drinking until I'm "smashed" and I do this 4 to 6 days a week without fail.

I'm tired of waking up feeling like garbage and regretting how I've reacted to others at the bar and caused unnecessary trouble.

I'm not a bad person. I always try to help others any way possible.

Now it's my turn to ask for a bit of help. I don't want anything except just some people to communicate, support and get support.

By the way, today (Saturday) is my 2nd day of sobriety.

This time I am determined to bury this addiction.

Best wishes to all.

David

P.S. I have been to AA 3 times with a buddy, but over the past 2 weekends, I continued my drinking. I do have the "big book." So I'm reading that everyday.

Anna

Hi David,

Good for you on your 2nd sober day!

Addiction is a disease and not a character defect. Be kind to yourself and you should be proud of quitting smoking and taking up running. You can stop drinking and we are here to offer support.

grateful2b

Hi David
welcome to SR
It is nice to see another fellow Canadian here
congratulations on day2!

redpat

hi keep going to AA and keep coming on here reading and posting i guarantee you your life will be so much better sober,best of luck.

coffeenut

Welcome to SR. Keep reading and posting.

Quitting cigarettes is tough. If you can do that, you can do alcohol!

sobrietyseeker

Thanks everyone for your support. I've got to beat this. I really do believe my life will improve that much more by eliminating this torture from my life.

Katie09

Welcome David, it is good to see you here.

I am amazed you are able to drink without a cigarette (the two go hand in hand for me), but great you quit and are running.

I too think if you can quit smoking, you can sure quit drinking. It may be with a few stumbles along the way (AA may not instantly take care of that), but with perserverance you will do fine!

sobrietyseeker

Thank you all again. I do believe that it's now time to end this misery. It's devastating to say the least. I'm tired of being a slave to my addictions. And we all need as much support as possible. I couldn't possibly ever think of suicide. There's too much to live for. But it sure the hell bums me out when I continually repeat the nightmare of getting "hammered" far too often.

I do remember when I quit a chronic weed addiction 19 years ago, I wrote a lot. It was good to express my thoughts and feelings. I believe that helped me get through it and put things in perspective. I'm doing that now too.

Katie09

Yes, writing is a good idea and I should do more of it. As you can see by my post count, I've done a lot of it here. I have been here every day since Monday and it has helped me make it through four days without a drink (something that hasn't happened for a very long time). I was very distraught this p.m. and normally I think I might have picked up a drink, but the kind folks on this site helped me through it. This place is great.

gemeritus

Hi David,

Welcome, brother. This is my 9th day going on 10. The first few days are the most difficult, of course.

Give quitting an honest try, you'll be amazed at how much better you'll feel and you'll realize how sick you were (or are).

What still gets me is how much of my physical and mental existence was affected by my alcohol use.

Make sure to introduce yourself to the class of January. You will find a TON of support there, and some really cool people just like us.

If you need to discuss something you don't want broadcast to the world, feel free to send me a private message. If I can't help, I might be able to point you in the right direction. An article that gave me a real look at my addictive brain I found by Googling addiction monster.

I would say good luck, but it's really just a matter of not picking up another drink.

gemeritus

I thought you were Scotish!

sobrietyseeker

Katie, congratulations on day 4. Keep up the great work. And I really do believe that writing will help most of us and connecting and communicating with others.

Hi gemeritus, thank you for your support. Much appreciated and congratulations on day 9. Keep up the great work too. It's something that I've thought about since I quit smoking and started running. I haven't given myself the opportunity to really feel the benefits because I've drowned myself in alcohol.

That is something I definitely look forward to experiencing.

I really appreciate it. This place is great. You're right.

Thank you all again and all the best to all of us.

prettypoison

Hello sobrietyseeker! Warm welcome to you. SR is a very useful tool in fighting against the almighty urge to drink. Keep coming back. Every weekend I'm here reminding myself why I simply cannot have a drink. I can't stop with just one, if I do I get irritable and climb the walls for more. Alcoholism is a terrible thing, but sobriety can be accomplished and there are a lot of smart people here to help guide you.

There is so much information here and support. I think that was the missing link for me in other attempts to quit. BTW, congratulations on quitting smoking too! Glad you're here

Fubarcdn

Hi Sobriety. I too am a fellow Canadian and I too have just started on my road to sobriety after many many years of drinking way too much way too often. I have also continurd to exercise through the drinking bouts so we have a lot in common. I have trusted this forum to be my support system and everyone here came through in spades. Join the class of january. A lot of us post daily and encourage each other. It may sound weird but it works for me. Good luck.

Aysha

kdudley3

I hope this feedback is giving you comfort and strength.

I've been here a short time an feel so much better with the support.

Good luck and Godspeed!!!!!!

adore79

Welcome David!

sobrietyseeker

It definitely is comforting and the support is much appreciated.

And that's what this type of environment is about - not me - but
everyone helping each other. Thank you again.

rebelTex

Welcome to SR David. I'm new here also, 9 days, and I tend to read more than I write. I'm still getting the flavor of the site. The folks here are so supportive which is something to take comfort in. I'd share some of my hot cocoa with you if you were a little closer to Texas.

Crap, Saturday night and I'm drinking hot cocoa. Hell hath frozen over.

Good luck David, I wish you the best.

sobrietyseeker

Thank you again everyone for your support.

I kept thinking about going out to the bar tonight, but I kept reading, writing and thinking that I can't have another drink. Easier said than done. But I'm going to go down fighting and kick this addiction.

Good night. I'm off to sleep now.