I need some help if you are willing.
 

I woke up this morning and really think I've had enough. I'm sitting here alone right now, praying that God will help me to quit drinking.
I just cannot do this anymore. I have finally come to the realization I can't do it on my own.
I decided I may try to go to an AA meeting. I got on the AA website but can't find anything near my house. I would like to go to one that is non-smoking if they have those.
I live in Roseville Michigan. Any help if possible?
Also, what can I expect when I go? Am I going to have to speak or anything like that?
I don't think I've ever been this depressed in my entire life.

Thanks

Welcome!

I think for Roseville you should be looking at aa-semi.org. I just checked it and there's at least one meeting in Roseville.

-Goat

The good news is you don't have to do it alone... It's your willingness, not ours.... Give a few meetings a try... but get a big book and a sponsor and jump in to the steps with both feet...

You don't have to do anything at your first or any other meeting. If you want, you can give your name, that's it's your first meeting. That helps because then you are more likely to find people reaching out to you.

You never have to feel this way again.

Mark

Oh, did I mention... get a big book :).... read it.

Try phoning the AA number in your phonebook, they should be able to tell you where your closest meeting is.

Here's one tonight in highland park. Hopefully that's not too far from roseville...

Wednesday 6:00 PM
Metropolitan Group
St. John's Riverview Hospital
211 Glendale
Highland Park MI 48203
District 04 Wayne County
Open Speaker
Non-Smoking

Since it's a speaker meeting, you probably won't even get the opportunity to talk much, but you will be able to meet some people who will be willing to help you out.

Just be sure to tell people it's your first 24 hours :)

-Goat

Thank you. Either I am dumb or these websites are not the most user friendly. I got on the aa-semi.org website but still can't find anything narrowed down near me.

After I find a place. How do I do it? Do I just walk in and sit down?
Do you think there is anyway I can do this without my wife knowing? I don't want her to be concerned and realize that my drinking is worse than she had thought. I just don't want her to worry.

Goat, Thanks but Highland Park is not a place you want to be when the sun starts to go down. VERY scary place.

These websites are usually put together by volunteers -- i.e. not paid professional web designers and developers who understand how to make a good web site. They are what they are :)

I guess I don't know how to handle not telling the wife. You know your relationship best so hopefully you are choosing right by not telling her. The one thing I would suggest is that one of the things sobriety requires is honesty. So if you can avoid telling her about the meeting without lying, that would be best.

I, personally, would tell her.

I suspect she is already worried about it, and hearing that you want to do something about it will be a relief.

-Goat

Just walk in, sit down and listen.

No one has to know... Worry about yourself for now... how and when you approach your wife will come to you. She's probably already worried and in all probability will be relieved that you're doing something about it...

Mark

Hi Jason. I felt exactly that same way just before I surrendered and admitted after years of trying, I could never control my drinking again. I had been on a weeks-long binge and one morning woke up, reached for my bedside drink - and cried. I began praying to be allowed to get sober just one more time. I knew I couldn't put myself through that hell any more.

I had found SR a few months before and had been reading and feeling encouraged by everyone's success & the joy they had found after becoming free. Not feeling alone anymore made all the difference for me, since I had no one in my life with the same problem. I learned that being an alcoholic was not a character defect or a personality disorder.

I did go to a few AA meetings, and will give it a try again. The ones I attended were small & I wasn't required to do anything much. (Good thing, because I was very emotional and choked up when I did try to talk.) I have a friend who credits AA with saving her life - so it just depends on what your needs are.

As depressed as you feel right now, this can be the beginning of a whole new life for you. This can be the end of the madness & chaos. Please let us know how you're doing.

Jason, try this - I just googled "Macomb County MI AA Meetings" & found a list at The Michigan Mental Health Networker. Under Macomb County, click on "Self help & support groups" & there's a list of AA meetings for each day. Hopefully one will be near you.

I live downriver, as was suggested, go to the AA se Michigan website, there are meetings everywhere, and I haven't been to an AA meeting that allowed smoking in decades. If you find a smoking meeting let me know about it, I still smoke.

Jason, the best thing to do is to call the AA line in your area. A recovering alcoholic will anwer that phone, they have walked in your shoes and found a way out of that hole! AA is what saved this old drunks butt!

Is transportation a problem? When you call tell them you may need a ride if that is the case. Most people in AA love to give rides to others, better then riding to a meeting alone.

Trust me a lot of newcomers to AA have lost thier license so getting a ride to a meeting is needed and most folks in AA enjoy it.

BTW I know a guy who went ot a meeting a day every day for a year before he said a word in a meeting, but he did have a sponsor and was taking the steps and he is still sober today.

Hello Jason, and welcome.
I am at work, so forgive my lack of information. My AA meeting book for Macomb county is at home. I know that there are meetings in Roseville, there is one at St. Mark church on the 696 service drive right before Gratiot, I am not sure what day though. There are quite a few right by where you are (I am in Warren). If you are comfortable doing so, there are two Alano clubs close by, one is at Cass and Groesbeck, if you are on Groesbeck heading into Mt. Clemens from 16 mile, turn left on Cass, right past Moravian, on the left side is one. The other is in Warren, it is on 9 Mile, just past Hoover on the right side if you are comming from Gratiot. Both places host meetings, most daily, usually more than once a day. There, they should have the meeting book for Macomb county. The clubs are just a gathering place for Alcoholics where there is a no bar. You don't have to "belong" to the club to walk in and ask for a book. It will list all of the meeting places and times in Southeast Michigan, and will say if it is smoking or not.
Please let me know if you have trouble finding a book or a meeting. :hug: welcome to sobriety.

Cathy

Hey Jason,
What to expect? Well this is my experience of my first meeting. Was nervous, walked in did not say a word and sat down. Was asked for my first name and said it and that was all I said. I started listening to others share and I realized, they are just like me. It was then that I knew I had found the answer I had been searching for most of my life. I had found hope.

Lots of great advice here.
Welcome back Jason :)

D

You aren't alone anymore.

Go to a meeting with an attitude you will learn something that will help you stay in the solution to your problem. Repeat.

1. don't drink/drug
2. pay attention

We do recover!

Welcome to SR fellow Michigander. I hope you keep coming here..it saved me really early on, and it keeps me fightin the good fight every day. Good luck with your meeting! :ghug3

I hope you'll call the AA number and ask about meetings in your area and a possible ride to one. Lots of information and support at meetings, and lots of people who have been where you are now. They want to help you. All the best to you as you start your sober life.

jeeez i love those smoking meetings......nothing better than just seeing heads poking above the gloom...lol...lol..lol.......sorry im a smoker.

some great advise there...openmindedness.....a few coins and a big set of ears...

just relax.......sit back and listen to how some would have found a solution to their drinking.

hopefully some will talk of a suggested program of action....in the form of 12 steps....grab yourself a book..."alcoholics anonymous"...its has a blue cover.

please post your views and thoughts after youve been to your first meeting.
id be real interested to know.