Sobritishty

Hi

Im a 21 year old guy from the UK. Though I'm only 21 for a few more days.

Alcohol has messed up the last 5 years of my life. I started drinking when I was 17 and I liked it so much I let it ruin my A-Levels. I even went to an exam half cut!

Not only that but since then Ive went from an athletic 10 stone to at my peak 17 and a half stone (Im now 16 and a half, been dieting for a month). Ive had depression etc and now I look fat and ugly. So hopefully I can reverse that too.

My drinking is habbitual, I can actually go quite a while without a drink if required and not have any physical cravings, but I associate it with certain activities I do regularly such as watching TV or playing Video Games.

My current pattern of drinking is fairly regular. I work nights on Sat,Sun, Mon, Tue - and then I normally drink all day Wednesday, Recover Thur, Then drink Friday evening until 7am Saturday. Sleep. Then go to work. I drink all kinds from Craft ale, Wine, Gin, Bourbon, Scotch, Lager/Bitter.

So alcohol has taken over my spare time and if I was off more days I'd probably drink even more. Thing is I can drink A LOT, usually around 25-30 units a session - so even though I'm not drinking every day, Im still knocking the units back.

Anyway, today is Wednesday and I have decided not to drink when I get home from work, and therefore hopefully never drink again. Its going to be really hard because its a behavioral habbit. I like watching comedy with a drink or playing Counterstrike/L4D2 etc.

Also going to a 21st on the 16th March and I'm intending not to drink. If I manage that I should be set to succeed in this endeavor.

Anyway hello!

Paddler

By recognizing you drink way too much now... at such a young age... you are setting yourself up to avoid years and years of abuse to your body, your mind, social life, relationships, possibly legal trouble, etc... and life can be and is amazing without the bottle... I commend you and wish you all the best in changing your life. This site has been a MAJOR help/support for me and my trouble drinking patterns and behaviors.

julez

Hello and welcome Sobritishy!
You are SO YOUNG, and have so much life ahead of you! You can do this, and these wonderful people on SR will support you! But you need to get a plan in place. Do you plan on AA or any other means of support?
Having a plan in place will help you stay successful!
Good luck, stick around, and keep posting!

Dee74

Welcome Sobritishty

Yes it is hard - that why a lot of us have support, either places like this, or face to face things like, AA or some other recovery group, or counselling, seeing your Dr...

you'll find a lot of support here anyway - good to have you join us

D

Sobritishty

Hi

No "Plan" as such. Just to not drink. Once I break through the first month and form new, healthier habbits I should be ok. I just need to be careful of social occasions as thats when I normally "Fall off the wagon".

Wasn't intending to use AA, would you reccomend it? I was just gonna use this forum for support. Doesn't AA require you to say that you are powerless to do this without the help of some "higher power" anyway?

Anna

I'm glad you've decided to stop drinking. I found that stopping drinking was just the beginning, and that I had to change a lot of things in my life in order to recover. I hope you keep reading and posting.

Hevyn

Welcome to the family! I wish I'd reached out for help when I was in my 20's. You've admitted that you can't control the amounts you drink, & that's so important. I tried to manage it alone and almost destroyed myself. We're glad to have you with us, Sobritishty.

Sobritishty

Thanks all

deeker

How bout just not drinking for this 24 hrs and worry about tomorrow , tomorrow. It's a little more manageable that way It's what I have to do..

WatchTheSky

I'm 22 and realized I had a problem at 17 (when I started drinking regularly), so I can definitely relate! For your situation, it sounds like forming new routines may help, since you associate your usual habits with drinking.