Does anyone know an alcoholic that regained the ability to drink normally?
 

Just curious about this one. I know of 2 alcoholics that eventually regained the ability to drink normally after a period of time. One is a relative the other is a friends father. Both were heavy users and my friends father actually came close to death. He can now drink a beverage or two and shut it off. I guess these must be exceptions to the rule but I though I would ask the opinions of people who would know more about this.

Can't say I do...some of my uncles were/are alcoholics...in recovery and proud of that.

Edit: and I'm not sure if alcoholics ever have that "ability to drink normally" in the first place.

I tried this and failed (fell) miserably. I don't think I will try that again.

It's the great wish of every alcoholic and I know there'll be people who read this and it will fire them up to think 'hey maybe?'

I tried for 20 years...I finally gave up and I won't be trying again.

I can't recall a single case out of the thousands of people I've met here who've returned to consistent and contented 'normal drinking'.

Finally, I have a friend who was a very destructive drinker - he gave up in his early 20s.

He started drinking again 2 years ago - just a drink here, a drink there...

last year he lost his home, his wife, and his kids due to his drinking.
He stopped again.

D

That is a big fat NO !!!!

first off, most alcoholic's never drank normally to begin with..

And sorry but I think they are just fooling themselves and you. If they are alcoholics they will return. It's just a matter of time..

"The idea that somehow, someday he will control and enjoy his drinking is the great obsession of every abnormal drinker.The persistence of this illusion is astonishing.
BB. pg 30

Hundered of thousands of people can testify to this. And there is even a couple hundred here.. :)

I've tried it enough to know for certain that 'that casual drinker' is not in me. at all.

eta: I do believe some problem-drinkers can make the change if they work really hard at it.

Nope! In fact, the real progress I've made over the past few months only happened because I accepted that I am powerless over alcohol. I will never be able to drink normally. I'm just not made that way.

It may seem that way Choppersled but you don't really know what's going on under the surface. Having talked to a few big drinkers who have cut way back recently I did get them to admit that it was easier for them to not drink at all than to just have one drink. Doing stuff like not drinking til just before they go to bed, only drinking with meals (all the stuff I tried and failed at!). Maybe your friend's dad would actually like to be able to quit drinking but is too scared to live without it and too scared for health reasons to drink more than one or two. If that's the case then it isn't a nice place to be. And of course I'm speculating here but then you can't assume that he is happy about his drinking either. You can never actually know what's going on in someone's head. Most people around me assumed I was a normal drinker and from the outside it certainly looked like I had one or two and then stopped, but then they didn't see what I was drinking when I got home...The amount of planning and scheming that it can take to actually drink 'normally' doesn't seem worth the effort to me, or the risk.

Just cant see the point in it even if I could. Theres a person I know that can have a few every now and then , but the time between his "fews" are spent obsessing and counting down the hours minutes seconds till he can drink again, I think his life now is owned more now by alcoHELL than when he was drinking all the time.

Try many times but there is no point to it anymore. Anyway, I drank enough for 2 life times in 5 years and life about it. I should be good enough now to stay sober. Hell, my body will thank me now.

The million dollar question. Everyone is different so it quite conceivable that a small percentage of alcoholics could return to normal drinking. This is however a very very small minority. I don't know about everyone else but my drinking stems from a need to block out stress and depression. Some people have deep underlying problems that the alcohol only makes worse. For me I really don't know the answer. Right now I've decided not to drink and I've made a decision to not question that and just get on with it. My relationship with alcohol was not a good one and to be honest I'm almost afraid to have another drink. I used to think I was a normal drinker but looking back only three weeks ago I was a mess. I don't want to be a mess anymore. I've told myself that by giving up drinking my life will start to get better and I will eventually achieve all my ambitions. If someone told you that you could have everything you ever wanted but for this you had to give up drinking would you give it go? Hell yeah!

No.

I don't know. Since I am.not an AA'er I only know a few people who are recovered alcoholic (besides SR.)

One thing I know is that big drinkers pleasure center's in their brains are altered. Everytime you relapse, or say, "try again to moderate," your brain kindles up more quickly to its damaged status and the ability for your brain to recover shrinks with each relapse. After almost eight months of sobriety I still feel like my brain is recovering in subtle ways.. Why would I want to take that back to zero, for something as benign as an occasional drink?

Also, I was not an occasional drinker. By the time I quit, I could not see the point of a glass of wine and stopping. Drinking for me was 2 or 3 straight up martinis, or what was the point? So, that tells me I would never be an occasional drinker. One taste and my brain would go boing!

Finaly, drinking became hell on earth for me. So let's say for discussion's sake, that there was a 99% chance that I could return to social drinking and only a 1% chance that I would not escalate back to alcoholism. Would I take that chance? No!! If by returning to smoking, I would have only a 1% chance of getting lung cancer, would I return to smoking? No, of course not.

I just don't see the point. By some miracle, I have quit drinking. Why would I EVER go even in the neighborhood of that prison? It is russian roulette. I would not play that game, either.

I know of one who "contends" he drinks normally...whether or not he does no one knows. I partied hard with him in college...then we both fell to miserable bottoms and fast forward a few years I end up at a speaker meeting in AA and I'm about 6 months sober and he's the evening speaker with 4 yrs of sobriety. Fast forward another year and he friends me on facebook so I shoot him a message asking how he's doing, haven't run into you at any meetings, yada yada yada...never hear back from the guy. Fast forward another year or so and I run into some mutual friends of ours in AA that explain he "found a way to drink normally." So, that being said, I couldn't tell you if he does or not, and or what is normal to him. I do find it peculiar that if he did find a way to drink normally what he wouldn't keep in touch with his brothers that were there through thick and thin....but not my call or place to judge.

What's important to me is what is my truth? Am I willing to pursue it to the gates of insanity or death to see if maybe one day I can find that unicorn? Say this guy I mentioned is an exception...my experience shows that I am usually not the exception no matter how hard I try to be. Furthermore, even if I was the exception...drinking and drugging had stopped working...it no longer produced the desired effect, which is ease and comfort. I needed union with another type of spirits, I needed union with God.

I'm sure there are some people that can do find that they can moderate their alcohol intake after a period of abusive drinking. So what? I would posit that the persons that try this and fail are in the vast majority. Personally, I don't want to drink any alcohol. I know where it take me. And I don't want to go there again. I once thought that it would be terrible to never drink alcohol. Now I am so gland that I don't ever have to drink it. It is funny how ones perspective changes as sobriety progresses.

In my experience, no.

The last time I relapsed about 70 days ago, I didn't get blindly drunk. But the next day I was filled with fear and panic. The anxiety is something I would wish on no one. It was indescribable. I know that I can't drink. Maybe it is my conscience, but I don't think that is the whole story. I truly think I am allergic. After one night of four mixed drinks I was gagging in the morning. And I was thinking about drinking to make it go away. I have reminded myself of these facts when the thought of a drink sounds good to me.

I would twist that a little and say I never met a non alcoholic who was obsessed with 'normal ' drinking.

Have never known a diabetic that could disregard their blood sugar levels and insulin requirements after downing a few sugary bits of heaven.

Me.

I almost always stop drinking at 6 beers. :-)

It is not worth the risk. I have stated many times on this forum that I CAN have one or two, but it is not fun and I have realized that I was NEVER interested in moderation. It has always been far easier for me to just have none. But I know most people wish they could. The scariest is when the have a good bit of sobriety under their belt and forget the grip of alcohol (that was me after my last stint of 70 days of sobriety). It's something in the Big Book about alcoholics not being able to remember with sufficient force that moderation is not possible. (I am way paraphrasing....that is just a quote an AA friend of mine kept sending me when I kept saying months ago I wanted to moderate.). And also, I REALLY believe the non-alcoholics of the world don't have to sit around and think about moderating, anymore than people who have no issues with food sit around and think about eating all the time......I am with Dee and Hypo.....it is deeper stuff going on.