New here... Need some help.
 

Hullo everyone, I'm new here..

I was going to go to AA tonight but I ended up drinking instead. I was 4 days sober, before that I don't remember that last day I didn't drink. I have 4- 10 drinks a day, to some that's a lot and to others that's nothing. It's been messing up my life; I miss school and work, and/or go to work and school hungover, or drunk. I drink on lunch breaks at school. I drink after school and work. I drink before sometimes. When I don't drink for a day I get the shakes.

I just need some support from people who know what I'm going through...

Thanks,
Audrey

It's hard to get a foothold on sobriety. We have to learn how to get by without alcohol. You got four days you can do it again.

Just keep trying, it is possible.

Hey Audry,

Hope your head is not to bad this morning. Was it the anxiety of going to AA that set of the drinking ? most of the AA'ers seem normal sober people on here , if thats any help .

You can google the AA big book online and have a read as there are quite a few people who put it up there to try and help people just like you or i .

Also these forums can be of great help as they are here 24/7 full of people sharing experience , strength and hope . Have a click about, read, learn and share or ask questions.

Congratulations on choosing hope over hoplessness ,

Bestwishes, M

Hi Audrey :)
Glad you've joined us :)

You'll find a lot of support here - and a few ideas too - I found the support here really really helpful and I know you will too :)

I hope you'll make it to a meeting - I really think it's essential to make some definite changes if we want to succeed.

Maybe your school might have some support you can utilise as well?

D

Welcome to SR Audrey :)

I found this really helpful in getting me to my first meeting...

Your First AA Meeting<

Have you tried talking to your doctor before about quitting drinking too? x

Thanks for the responses!

I've been to AA meetings before; a handful a year ago, and two this past week. I wound up drinking tonight because I was faced with direct temptation at a barbeque, so I will try to avoid that kind of situation in the future.. I own the Big Book and have been reading it every day, it's helped a lot but I find it impossible to say no when alcohol is around..

Beauty school has nothing to offer, and my doctor is nice and told me over a year ago that I probably drink too much. So I'm sticking with AA to help me for real... Although after I told my friend today that I've been going to meetings, he proceeded to rant about all the ways NA and AA are bad and fail in general, and how the people in it are kind of pathetic and fake. SO.. That sucked.

I don't know your friend, but I know a lot of my friends here who go to AA or NA, and I'd vouch for them :)

I think it's worth a go - but there are many other approaches and methods of recovery around - here's some links to some of the main players:

http://www.soberrecovery.com/forums/...formation.html

I recommend you visit the Secular Connections forum if you think you may benefit from a non 12 step approach.

D

It took me a very long time to understand WHY, even though I didn't want to drink and had every intention of staying sober, I drank any way. I was recommended AVRT (Addictive Voice Recognition Technique) and began to understand that thoughts related to drinking came from my addiction and not from the real me, and I had total power over my actions and didn't have to act on anything that I didn't truly want to. It teaches you that cravings and urges do not have to be fought with, merely recognised and let go.

I'm not saying that this will be right for you and I'm definitely not implying that you shouldn't go to AA (you should try everything until you find what fits for you) but why don't you give it a go? If you search AVRT Crash Course on Google, you'll be able to read of the basics and it really does help - I found it revolutionary.

You CAN do this, Audrey. Believe in yourself!

You may want to consider seeing a doctor for detox - sometimes it can be tough.

Welcome to SR. Post here as much as you like. We're all here for you if you need us.

Best wishes x

Please don't let your friend's opinion of AA stop you from attending. We have people here who attend NA and AA and they are not failing and are not bad. What matter is what you feel and what you want. If it works for you and helps you stay sober then it really doesn't matter what your friends think. Your health and your well being is far more important.

I was always really sensitive to other peoples opinions too Audrey, especially when I first quit drinking. I had to keep stopping myself and think what was best for me and not be swayed by other peoples opinions.

I also had to avoid other drinkers for a bit for the same reason because, unsurprisingly really, all my drinking friends seemed to think I should be drinking. Even the ones that didn't drink that much. It is tough to try and get sober in that environment. Try and make it easy on yourself x

Reading and understanding that book was important for me....Do what was in it was even more important...Committing yourself to 90 meetings in 90 days is a great idea...And getting a sponsor to guide you through the steps is huge. I had a hard time saying no to alcohol when it was around also...So I stayed away from it as I worked on my recovery...Good luck and glad you are here....Read...Ask questions and let us know how you are doing.

As far as this goes....I haven't seen it fail yet.....I've seen a lot of people fail at it....Last time I checked I haven't had to to have a drink in 14 months and I wasn't pathetic or fake....I think. Give it all you got AudreyAna....It works if you put in the effort.

Hi AudreyAna - we're so glad you joined the family.

Everyone's said all the good stuff, so I'll just add that I know you can get off the poison and stop leaning on it. I did, after a lifetime of drinking. In the end, I was so dependent on it I didn't make a move unless I knew I'd have access to alcohol. That's not living. We're numb and not reacting to things that happen - we're not growing. I know you want out of that nightmare, and you will do this. Please keep reading and posting. We care.

Welcome to SR, AudreyAna!

AA certainly helped many of us here take the first steps. If you search the web for AA near your location you should find a 24hr phone number which is staffed with real people who are very helpfull as well.

In my experience It is real important to keep you Doctor involved with your decision to stop drinking. Be honest with how much you are drinking and find out if perhaps you may require a medically supervised detox. Your Doctor can refer you to right people.

Your work or school probably also has support programs that you can be refered to for alchohol dependancy treatment.