irishgirl05

hello. i have visited this site and read forums a few times in the past, but never felt the need to join. i usually feel better after reading what others are going through- just knowing that i am not alone makes my own experiences seem less bad.

i have been drinking for a good 10 years now. part of that was college so it was "normal," but those years are far behind me and i am ready to start acting my age, by being more mature and responsible. i am very petite and despite my irish heritage :P, i can never hold my booze well. it seems like i am always the drunkest one at a party, the one making a fool of herself over and over.

anyway last night was no exception, and i think it may have ruined my chances with a guy i am interested in i want to quit all together, but i am scared about what that means for my social life (all of my friends drink on a regular basis). i wish i could control my intake, say i will just have a couple and actually mean it, but i can't so i guess quitting is my only option.

thanks for the support.

Anna

Hi and Welcome,

Yeah, alcoholics can't control their drinking and stopping is the way to go.

And, sadly, that often means leaving behind friends who drink and drinking activities. I hope that you are ready to make the changes in your life to begin recovery. You'll find lots of support here.

Sapling

Welcome to SR irishgirl05...Sounds like you drank like me. I wondered about my social life too....I found it's much better without being the drunkest one there...I hang around with non drinkers now...I just can't relate to people that drink like I used too. I'm not sure how I did it before...I guess being drunk helped. There is a whole new life out there without alcohol...I hope you find it....This is a great place for support...Glad you are here.

Hevyn

Welcome Irish. I felt less anxious when I joined, too. I didn't have anyone in my life who understood what I was going through.

It was so hard for me to really get it - that I had no control once that first drink hit my system. For many years I'd try different plans to avoid getting drunk, and none of them ever worked. Just before I got sober I went down in a blaze of glory - with dui's, lost relationships, trouble at work, health problems....all caused by my longterm drinking habits. I thought if I quit, I'd be losing something - how would I live without it? It was ridiculous, because it was no longer fun - and only causing me misery.

It's good that you see what needs to happen. You know that when you take that first drink, unpredictable things will likely happen. That's when you know there's no off switch, and you're in danger. We are here for you, and we all understand!

scrambled2012

Welcome to SR Irish, it's good to have you~~~~

hypochondriac

Don't worry about your social life for now Irishgirl...You may find you will have to leave it alone for a bit while you find your sober feet! But then you might find later on that your not drinking may inspire your drinking friends to cut down or quit too, or you may find that it's perfectly possible to be around drinkers without it bothering you. I never wanted to give up my friends just because they drank but it turns out a lot of them are very supportive. But if anyone gave me a hard time for doing something that is so obviously good for me I'd have no hesitation in cutting them out of my life.

Glad you're posting here

BoozeFree

Welcome!

irishgirl05

thanks everyone. it has been a pretty rough day so far. i keep replaying what i did last night in my head (what i can remember at least). nasty self-loathing spiral going on over here :\

DisplacedGRITS

Hi! Best way i can describe my drinking is that normal people have a traffic signal for their drinking with a green, yellow and red light. Mine only has a green light and only hits the red when i pass out. Welcome to SR. May you find what you seek here.

BobGT

Welcome irishgirl. You will find that there are plenty of people who don't drink or only want one drink. You will fit in well with these people, and your social life might even improve.

The beginning is the hard part since we normally cope with hot/cold/sad/happy/rainy/sunny/light/dark/home/away/etc. times by drinking. But we find new ways to live and things actually get much better. I'm glad you found us.

Dee74

welcome Irishgirl

Yeah I had to make a few changes in my life but I don't miss being the drunken embarrassing mess at all.

I've never regretted getting into recovery - I lost nothing really - in fact, it's given me my life back

D