MeetJohnDoe

I went so far as tell the bank "these are the people I make regular charges to. If you see anything out of the ordinary, let me know." All I cared about was the bottom line. That's how i ignored how much we were drinking, and when I paid with cash, I'd feel guilty because at least we could have earned travel points! But the thought would soon path once that first drink was in my hand.

I just look forward to all the new things and experience we as family can make and do now.

My wife was a heavy drinker too, as long as I was. But she quit in December. My way of continuing was, But got to quit last December.

Her way of ignoring how much she (and I) drank was to call me as work and say, "BTW you mind stopping by the liquor and picking up vodka and wine and Bailey's and whatever else you want."

I even did that for her during the timesI was trying to quit. Enablers no more!

fallingtogether

I lied to myself and to my husband and said that I could have a couple here and there. I tried to regain my will. It didn't work. I hit bottom again. Hopefully for te last time ever!

David10

I hadn't died in my sleep like Amy Winehouse did therefore I couldn't be an alcoholic. Yeah I set the standard for problem drinking a little high lol.

Cormat

I never finished a bottle.

This started after I had come home from work and it was a hot day. Usually white wine was not my tipple at all but that day, well I fancied a glass. So I bought a bottle, took it home and sat myself down. 10 minutes later and the whole bottle was gone. Which freaked me out.

So from then on I never finished anything.

I would buy 4 cans of ready-mixed gin and tonic and only drink 3.
Then with dinner I would drink 4/5 of a bottle of red wine.
Then I would spend the rest of the evening working through what ever beer I had in the fridge making sure a can was left.
And to top it all off a cheeky glass of Port. Which invariably was at least half a bottle.

But I was no alcoholic. Oh no. Everybody else had the problem. Not me.

LOL.

hypochondriac

I never got drunk in public after my early 20's. I grew up by just doing it behind closed doors. I never made a fool of myself in public (anymore) therefore I wasn't an alcoholic.

FeelingGreat

I found it incredibly hard to tell my doctor; I had to write it down because I couldn't get the words out of my mouth.

ScottFromWI

I didn't lie to myself, I just did it even though I knew I was wrong. That's why i'm here!

bigsombrero

I did the same. Hid it behind closed doors after I turned 30. I didn't get drunk and fall down or get into a fight in public, not to mention I had a job and made a decent living. Alcoholic? Me? Nahhh. Little did my friends know I was putting down nearly a half-gallon of vodka a day on weekends on my couch, and nearly 1/3 of a gallon on weeknights when I got home. It wasn't until I started having seizures in public that people knew there was a problem. I went from zero-100 MPH on the recovery train pretty quickly after that.

Horselover

The mind games we played to hold onto the insanity is really boggling, but it is more than common amongst all of us. We don't want to let go and have to face the reality of change. Change is work. Change is not easy. Also, of course, change is uncomfortable. So taking that all into account change must be avoided at all costs. That's the sick mind trying to separate it all out. The mind that becomes well realizes that change is good and that growth comes through change. You will get there. Keep on reaching out.

oinobares

I did hide some empties, mainly those from the drinks I was sneaking in the AM
or before heading out of the house. Claiming I only had a couple when it was really five times that much was a common one. And I regularly would tell my wife over the phone, when she knew from my voice that I had been drinking, that I hadn't. We did that dance so many times it makes me cringe.

My main dishonesty, though, wasn't the individual outright lies, it was the total denial. If someone such as a family member said, "man you really drank a hell of a lot last night" or "you may be an alcoholic", I'd simply act, think, and respond as if their perception were flat-out wrong. It framed everyone else's accurate and caring observations of my alcoholic drinking as irrelevant and meaningless.

MAlan

Man... What lies COULDN'T I come up with!

Everyone is a little bit of an alcoholic... You just gotta learn to maintain...
Hey, It's just who you are... part of your image. (I'm a musician...)
It's impossible to NEVER drink again, so you might as well learn to moderate.
You're alone and bored, no one will find out so you might as well drink.
I really need a few drinks before I perform... (and then I need to black out the rest of tonight)
I can't be the only one not drinking!
My friends expect me to be silly and fun, so I better get a few down.
The lie I hate the most: Remember that one time, you only had 3 beers n a shot all night and you were fine! Just do that again... Never happens!


Of course those are lies to myself. I would always lie about how much I drank to everyone. It was always, "a few drinks". I would come to my ex gf's house already drunk, but I would grab a beer out of her dad's fridge and start drinking it before I saw her. Of course I smell like beer! Like others, I set the bar pretty high. I don't have seizures the days I don't drink, I'm not coughing up blood, I'm not homeless... I must be fine! No matter how many parts of my life alcohol completely destroyed, there were a million reasons why I didn't have a problem. Thankfully, I decided there was.

markinsf

I tried my best to hide it from people in my life as well as my family. I didn't do a very good job with them. But I sure tried. And failed. I suppose as I was very much a maintenance drinker it seemed not so bad. A few days ago, while drinking some water, I measured how much booze I must have been putting in each drink. It had to be 3 ozs at least. But yet I had convinced myself that it was just one drink I was drinking.

I hid bottles in the garage and in my office at home to hide how much I was drinking. I'd rotate among 5 or 6 different stores to hide my habit. My favorites were grocery stores or gas stations as that way I could hide the purchases on the debit card. When I could, I'd use cash to hide it even better.

My favorite drink was Vodka and water and I had convinced myself that I was really only drinking water as I wanted to stay well hydrated.

I'd set the alarm clock to get up early, only to head to the bottle as soon as my wife left for work. I'd be careful about hitting the store early so I wasn't (too) drunk to drive there before I'd really start tying it on. I guess I figured that way I was a 'safe' driver.

I'd pound a few extra drinks before mixing up one that my wife or daughters would know was laced with booze. I figured I was in good health as I'd exercise and do the weekend warrior projects.

If there was a way to lie that I needed I'd come up with it. Anything to keep a stead supply of booze flowing into my body. I did this for months. Finally one day I realized that if I wasn't having a drink by noon I was getting the shakes. It was only that physical reality the made the whole house of cards come crumbling down.

So, here I am today. No longer having to lie about it. I feel as if the weight of the world has been lifted from my shoulders. While I have other things in my life to straighten out yet (like get a job) I have one thing that I don't have to worry about and that makes all the difference in the world.

avocado

i didn't. i just thought it was amusing and fun to have an alcohol problem. eventually, the fun wore off and could no longer overshadow all the problems, which were increasing.

Dee74

I had reasons to drink, dammit....and anyway all my friends did it.

:crazy:

D