As long as you're OK..... that's what counts.

A combination of detoxing, no food, no sleep, and stress is a recipe for disaster.

Welcome understated! I'm glad you're here. I found this site on the night 9 months ago when I decided to stop drinking and turn my life around, and I've been able to do both. There are lots of really great people here with tons of support and knowledge to share with you. I hope you'll make this place site a regular visit.

Did they have AA or NA meetings when you were kept on the hold? I've found that they can be very helpful in recovery, especially early on. I buried myself in the AA rooms because I didn't feel safe anywhere else.

Thanks again for joining us. Have a great night!

Welcome to SR! I'm so glad you are ok and headed in the right direction. I know it can seem insurmountable but for me, as long as I don't expect things to change overnight, I have found it really is possible to turn your life around.

6 months ago I was depressed and hopeless...today I can see the light and am reaching for the stars.

Hugs and happy new year!

Tina

Welcome to SR. You will find a lot of support here.

Welcome Understated
Eleven months ago I was in the space you are in now. How to get yourself out?
Believe that you can, because you can. One day at a time. Alcohol really makes depression worse. Ironically you only realize it when you stop drinking. Stay here, this forum is a wonderful support... take care.

Welcome!

You're most certainly not alone. There are MILLIONS of alcoholics, just in the U.S. alone. You are one of many.

We can and do recover. You can be living proof of that.

Let us know how we can help.

AA removed the obsession of drinking and doing drugs, but I'm not special. It can work for you too.

Kjell

Thanks all for the encouraging words and support...just in the past day you have all been a lifeline. I got a job offer today with an ezine company and I start Monday so my motto for this all is new start, new year...hope I can just hang on.

Welcome to a Brilliant Forum hoope you read lots of posts and realise that there is a way forward...We will help you xx

Good luck to you. I am new here myself. I find it hard to keep up but I shall look out for you. My prayers are with you xxx

Very similar story to a friend of mine, he's 29 now and was 27 when he got into AA...couple of years sobriety and lots of work on himself and now he has a good job, great girlfriend and a group of friends who care loads about him...

He did spend quite some time trying to figure this all out by himself as we all did before reaching out for face to face help:-)

Glad you're here. As everyone said, there's support a plenty here. I found, like Yeahgr8 said, face to face communication was vital, as well.

For starters, look around, do a lot of reading, try to get a "feel" for how things go. While you're doing that, I'd recommend you explore your history with alcohol - it's important to know whether you're an alcoholic or not and if you are, you'll need to know which "type".....as the "treatments" are substantially different.

1. Were you able to control the amount you drank once you started? (If you always planned to drink a lot it'll be a little tougher). The things to look for are times where you absolutely set your mind to a fixed # but were not able to stop when you got there? Was that the exception or was it the norm? Once you started, were you able to control the #. (for me, most of the time I "over drank" the amount I had planned to drink).

2. When you've stopped, were you able to stay stopped? If you decided "no drinks today" or "no drinks this weekend," were you able to stick to the game-plan? (This was tough for me too because I never wanted to quit for good.....but I did make decisions to "not drink today" and I don't think I ever managed to keep one of those promises to myself).

If you can't control your amounts.....and you can't stay stopped, you're probably alcoholic. The next big question is "can you control it THIS time?" Many heavy drinkers (or "acute alcoholic") find that, once they run into enough trouble or get sufficiently motivated, they finally decide it's time to stop.....and they stop. There are a gazillion techniques, tips, and recommendations......the more you try the better your chances are.

On the other hand, for the real alcoholic, (or "chronic alcoholic") they find that none of those things work. Punishments, courts, jails, institutions, motivation, tips, techniques......etc.....nothing works. They continue to drink when they don't want to and they continue to be unable to control the amount. Over time, things progress and get worse. In addition, for the few times this type of alcoholic CAN manage to rack up some clean days, life gets worse, not better. These folks have a solution as well...it's guaranteed and it's basically free (it may cost you a buck here and there at a meeting but only if you feel like tossing one in) -- this is the type of alcoholic AA was designed around.

You've made an important first move in the right direction, by asking for help......I highly recommend not dragging your feet from here, though. I'm sure you'll hear "take it easy" and "1 day at a time" and a bunch of other sayings (btw, both of those came from the AA book and NEITHER was directed at the speed with which one should approach recovery).

Do some serious soul-searching......get as much help and advice as you can......but find YOUR truth. If you're in the 2nd group of alcoholics, there's probably nothing you can do to stop it yourself - there's no support network that will fix it, no resolutions will fix it, no amount of will-power will fix it, and so on........but a LOT of folks who fit into this group spend a lot of time searching, relapsing and drying trying to fit themselves into the first group. As I said above, this group is the AA group...and there IS a solution. It's just not you, your will, support, techniques, or stuff like that......it's GOT to come from a power greater than you (obviously, since all the powers OF you proved insufficient).

As I said, there are solutions either way.....the next "most important thing" for you to do now that you've asked for some help is to figure out which brand of help you need.

;)

---anytime I can help hit me up!!!