how
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: St Paul MN
Posts: 45
how
well... i found this site this morning but not sure how to start (stop) anyway. Seems like a smart person could just stop but it doesn't seem to work that way. How do you start to stop?
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: St Paul MN
Posts: 45
talking to myself
I have several monitors in my cube... maybe I can keep this forum up all day, on one of them, to remind me what the goal is. Seems to help reading this and hearing alot of people who are in the same boat. Wish it was a nice luxury yacht on the Cote d'Azur instead of a row boat with a big hole in it!
Member
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Boston MA
Posts: 666
IHi sandpoint,
I started to stop when I made the decision to attend an AA meeting despite its being something that I thought beneath a person of such towering intellect as myself. I was so smart that I was blowing my paycheck in one night and living off Ramen noodles for the ensuing two weeks. So smart I had no phone, no mail, no friends, no car, no girlfriend no life.
After starting by making that decision, I now start each day with prayer, meditation, and some AA literature. It works - for me, my wife, my kids, my coworkers, my professors, my students, my car dealership, phone company, cable provider.......
I hope you find what works for you. This place is a great start!
Mike
I started to stop when I made the decision to attend an AA meeting despite its being something that I thought beneath a person of such towering intellect as myself. I was so smart that I was blowing my paycheck in one night and living off Ramen noodles for the ensuing two weeks. So smart I had no phone, no mail, no friends, no car, no girlfriend no life.
After starting by making that decision, I now start each day with prayer, meditation, and some AA literature. It works - for me, my wife, my kids, my coworkers, my professors, my students, my car dealership, phone company, cable provider.......
I hope you find what works for you. This place is a great start!
Mike
The Little Alcoholic Monstress That Could
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Northern California
Posts: 1,159
I started by learning about alcoholism via web research and then going to an AA meeting. Admitting you have a problem (truly, and for yourself not anyone else) and accepting that u cannot do it alone are critical in my opinion.
Administrator
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Australia
Posts: 211,366
Hi Sandpoint
I came here and read and posted and talked and got some idea of what other people had done...
Doing that helped me realise all drinking was doing keeping me in a horrible loop...I was tying myself in knots trying to keep alcohol in my life and master it...and it would only get worse, not better.
With the help of people here, I gave in - I admitted it was time to give it up....which I did...one day at a time.
I found a way that made sense to me and I stuck with it.
I hope you find a way that speaks to you.
Welcome
D
I came here and read and posted and talked and got some idea of what other people had done...
Doing that helped me realise all drinking was doing keeping me in a horrible loop...I was tying myself in knots trying to keep alcohol in my life and master it...and it would only get worse, not better.
With the help of people here, I gave in - I admitted it was time to give it up....which I did...one day at a time.
I found a way that made sense to me and I stuck with it.
I hope you find a way that speaks to you.
Welcome
D
bona fido dog-lover
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: SF Bay area, CA
Posts: 99,756
I had to be medically detoxed three times last year before being in rehab, and all three times I got out of rehab and went back to drinking after a while. When I finally got sick and tired of being sick and tired, then I was able to stop on my own. I still struggle and I've relapsed more times than I'd like to remember, but now have over three months sober. It CAN be done, but it takes a lot of effort on your part.
Is a medical detox a possibility for you? Getting thru withdrawals with medical help can make it easier to stay sober once you're detoxed.
You might want to give AA a good try too. I found it to be helpful to be in a room where everyone understood what I was going thru and could help me stay sober. Use whatever resources you can find to get sober and then try one of the many programs of recovery to help you stay sober. Counseling with an addiction counselor helps me a lot.
All the best to you.
Is a medical detox a possibility for you? Getting thru withdrawals with medical help can make it easier to stay sober once you're detoxed.
You might want to give AA a good try too. I found it to be helpful to be in a room where everyone understood what I was going thru and could help me stay sober. Use whatever resources you can find to get sober and then try one of the many programs of recovery to help you stay sober. Counseling with an addiction counselor helps me a lot.
All the best to you.
Forward we go...side by side-Rest In Peace
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Serene In Dixie
Posts: 36,740
Welcome to SR.....
Are you thinking about stopping ...what?
We do have info on different problems
and I'm not certain what to suggest for you.
Please share a little more about yourself.
Are you thinking about stopping ...what?
We do have info on different problems
and I'm not certain what to suggest for you.
Please share a little more about yourself.
Member
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Minnesota
Posts: 138
Welcome Sandpoint!
3 days in detox got me started.
After that I spent a lot of time learning about alcoholism and trying different resourses over the past 10 months, relapsing a bunch.
Finally things started coming together for me and I've got 36 days clean now.
Be open to try things that others have tried and find what works for you.
Keeping a positive attitude isn't always easy to do, but it helps me a lot.
You can do it.
3 days in detox got me started.
After that I spent a lot of time learning about alcoholism and trying different resourses over the past 10 months, relapsing a bunch.
Finally things started coming together for me and I've got 36 days clean now.
Be open to try things that others have tried and find what works for you.
Keeping a positive attitude isn't always easy to do, but it helps me a lot.
You can do it.
Member
Join Date: Sep 2009
Posts: 3,581
Welcome to SR, sandpoint! Reading here got me to realize I really wanted to stop, and continuing to read and post just reinforces it. I have my first appt with a therapist on Tuesday (eeek!), so I hope that helps, too. Hope to see more of you round these parts!
Member
Join Date: Jan 2009
Posts: 1,385
Hey Sandpoint. Welcome to SR. As a fellow MN it's nice to see you here. There are lots of really great folks here to get to know. Just keep coming back and posting and reading a lot. You will continue to find solace knowing that you're not alone. Have a great day and try not to let the snow we got yesterday bother you as it does me. lol
Hi to you too Jane from MN!!
Hi to you too Jane from MN!!
Member
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: CA desert
Posts: 1,599
Hi sandpoint,
This group is comprised of some of the smartest people on the planet, so you're in good company. However, if ones level of intelligence were a barometer of ones ability to stop abusing alcohol, those smart ones among us would not be here. We're all smart, but alcohol is a multi-layed foe, it hits us in the gut, smacks our head into the pavement, then kicks us in the groin, all while laughing out loud for having another go with it.
The only smart choice is to find a way to cap the bottle for good, at least for this dumb drunk. Just don't drink today, repeat as needed. Sounds simple, but it's sure not easy.
This group is comprised of some of the smartest people on the planet, so you're in good company. However, if ones level of intelligence were a barometer of ones ability to stop abusing alcohol, those smart ones among us would not be here. We're all smart, but alcohol is a multi-layed foe, it hits us in the gut, smacks our head into the pavement, then kicks us in the groin, all while laughing out loud for having another go with it.
The only smart choice is to find a way to cap the bottle for good, at least for this dumb drunk. Just don't drink today, repeat as needed. Sounds simple, but it's sure not easy.
Heathen
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: La La Land, USA
Posts: 2,567
When I decided to stop drinking, I just stopped. That was the easy part. Staying stopped was the issue, so I went to some AA meetings, found a counselor that has experience with addiciton issues and grabbed on to any and every piece of motivation I could muster. I made a lifelong committment to sobriety, this wasn't about a break, no 30 days, 60 days.. year... it's a life change, and that's how I had to approach it. Mere absitnence had very little to do with changing my life.
My counselor in some of those first days (I saw him 2x a week for about 6 months) recommended a few books for me to pour myself and my mind into, and laid down some very simple rules for quitting drinking. 1. Don't buy alcohol. 2. Don't accept drinks purchased for me. 3. Stay away from drinking events. 4. Find new ways to spend my time, doing ANYTHING besides drinking. Seems simple right? At the core, it is. But the deeper and longer lasting issues had to be addressed as well. Some people find their journey through a program like AA, SMART recovery, in a rehab center, outpatient rehab, counseling like I did, coming here and participating in a recovery community, all of the above. I had to be willing to do and try anything to get and stay sober, I had to want sobriety more than I wanted another drink.. I think next month will be 14 months, which to me matters not as I am now a non-drinker, and I live my life sober.. and plan to for the rest of what I have left.
Welcome!!
My counselor in some of those first days (I saw him 2x a week for about 6 months) recommended a few books for me to pour myself and my mind into, and laid down some very simple rules for quitting drinking. 1. Don't buy alcohol. 2. Don't accept drinks purchased for me. 3. Stay away from drinking events. 4. Find new ways to spend my time, doing ANYTHING besides drinking. Seems simple right? At the core, it is. But the deeper and longer lasting issues had to be addressed as well. Some people find their journey through a program like AA, SMART recovery, in a rehab center, outpatient rehab, counseling like I did, coming here and participating in a recovery community, all of the above. I had to be willing to do and try anything to get and stay sober, I had to want sobriety more than I wanted another drink.. I think next month will be 14 months, which to me matters not as I am now a non-drinker, and I live my life sober.. and plan to for the rest of what I have left.
Welcome!!
Member
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Denver, CO
Posts: 25
Sandpoint...
Intelligence and sobriety don't go well together.
I am very book smart... very street dumb. I will compare my I.Q with anyone "out there" but NOT with anyone here. Why? Because, I am too smart (to my credit) not to ask.
My opinion: sobriety starts with your last drink and your last thought of finding a drink.
Where you are between the two is THE struggle...
Keep coming back to tell us your progress!
Intelligence and sobriety don't go well together.
I am very book smart... very street dumb. I will compare my I.Q with anyone "out there" but NOT with anyone here. Why? Because, I am too smart (to my credit) not to ask.
My opinion: sobriety starts with your last drink and your last thought of finding a drink.
Where you are between the two is THE struggle...
Keep coming back to tell us your progress!
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