Newbie
 

Hi all,

I'm new here. I don't want to go too much into my personal life, but things are on the right track for me. Despite my binge drinking, I graduated from a very good university and married my "college sweetheart." And, again, despite my binge drinking, I've managed to excel at my job, and am currently planning on buying a house and attending grad school.

Despite all of this, I feel like I've been pushing my luck. I rarely will go a day without drinking at least a few beers, and would easily drink 10+ beers on Friday, Saturday, and more recently (and alarmingly) on Sunday -- as well as the occasional weekday (*smacks forehead*). I have had to work from home on occasion due to terrible hangovers, and have gone to work a few times when I definitely shouldn't have (being obviously hung over).

After a recent binge where I drank 8+ drinks (not exactly sure how much, because I blacked out) over a few hours on a completely empty stomach, I've decided to put a stop to this. I'm sick of the guilt after binge drinking and dealing with hangovers. I want to succeed and excel in life and enjoy it to the fullest, not just "get by". I'm afraid of the damage that I've done to my brain (and could continue to do) and have decided to nip this thing in the bud.

I'm on day 9 (way longer than I've done without a drink, well, maybe since I first started drinking!) and am feeling absolutely great. I've told my wife about this problem (she had no idea -- I guess I was really good at hiding it) and have her support as well as the support of this forum. I always complained about never having enough time for certain things that I enjoy, and looking back -- that was rediculous. I was just too drunk during all of my free time to enjoy them.

Thanks all!
---Never

Welcome to SR,

Can really relate to all the" free time ' disappearing via more booze.
Life is so much bigger than that !?!

Congrats on your early sobriety !!! ;)

Welcome neverenough :)

I think you've made a great call - you'll find a lot of support here :)

D

Welcome to SR neverenough.

Welcome, stick around!

I don't know what your recovery plan is but I do know that life is going to throw a lot of crap your way and it's good to have some strategies to deal with that. I found that just saying, "I'm not gonna drink" was ultimately not enough for me. Your post also suggests that you have discovered that this is a progressive disease. I was in denial about that for quite some time.

Hi NE...Welcome!!!

Thanks all!

So many times I've tried to improve myself by focusing on some productive hobbies, changing my diet, exercising regularly, etc.

The only thing I didn't think to change (or, more likely, didn't want to change) was my drinking, and it's likely that drinking is what caused me to fail in all of those other endeavours.

Welcome ne - your story sounds oh, so familiar..... I drank away quit a few evenings and slept in late quite a few mornings, too.

Glad you're feeling good and congratulations on 9 days!! I think it was about 2 weeks into sobriety that I thought "Gee - maybe I really can do this!"

Keep coming here for support - it easy to "forget" to put our sobriety first some days. Hang in there!:wave:

Welcome to SR, neverenough! I can totally relate to what you're saying. I've found so much time for things that, somehow, I just never had time to do while drinking. It's also pretty darn awesome to be able to go anywhere I want, anytime I want.

Amazing how much we sacrificed, huh? That's why I don't think of sobriety just in terms of giving up booze; it's about gaining so many other things, my freedom most of all.

I'm up to day 15! Things are still going great. I don't seem to have any strong cravings, so that's good. I'm really enjoying life sober now and I'm looking forward to enjoying Spring weekends outdoors with a clear head!

[QUOTE=ReadyAndAble;2859278]Welcome to SR, neverenough! I can totally relate to what you're saying. I've found so much time for things that, somehow, I just never had time to do while drinking. It's also pretty darn awesome to be able to go anywhere I want, anytime I want.

I'm on day 5 and keep forgetting that I can DRIVE in the middle of the afternoon or any other time for that matter. It's an amazing thing when I realize I am sober and can go anywhere I want to! That alone makes all I'm going through worth it! Thanks for the post.

Just thought I'd check in.

I'm not really counting days everyday anymore. I just counted now and it seems that I've made it to 66 days without a drop of alcohol. Considering all the peer pressure that I've had to put up with, I cannot believe I've gone this long. I haven't gone without alcohol longer than a week (and that's being generous) in probably over 5 years.

Keeping this short becuase I'm just about to fall asleep, but everything's going very well and I feel better than ever.

Thanks all for the support! I'll check in again soon.

Congrats! This is great to hear:)

WOW congratualtions.Think I'm about 67 days. LOL
It's unbelievable how much time I have...a full day from morning till night till I decide to go to bed. Not drink ruin my evening, can't focus on anything -and passing out. I love life sober.
Glad you're here...

Glad to know you are moving forward...:funjump: