jaynie04

I'm 48, I have 54 days. I grew up dragging my mother to AA, I used to make coffee. She has 35 years of sobriety. But I knew about the disease enough to know I was playing with fire. When I was younger there was a time when I could pick and choose when I drank. I was in great shape and usually only drank on weekends.

I worked in NYC during my 20's for 10 years in finance, it was a pressure cooker. I would binge occasionally but didn't think about drinking daily. I suffer from a disease that causes chronic pain, and was put on benzos about 10 years ago. A very scary mix. The disease progressed.

I have always had sleep issues, and mixing benzo and alcohol, which is incredibly dangerous, I thought was helping me sleep. And yes, I was using benzos to make the hangovers less horrid (Klonopin is a benzo).

Bad idea. Apparently one of the most lethal combos to detox off of. I had to do it in a medical setting. I am glad I found a good doctor who understand what I was grappling with. I did not realize how precarious this combination is, and from what I have seen, a lot of docs don't really help patients understand how dangerous alcohol and benzos can be. There have been a few deaths that have made headlines in the last few months, young kids, so sad.

I've had 7 Sundays that have been good...the further I go the better they get. I wasted SO many Sundays hungover. At the end, I would basically plan on being useless on Sunday, but I might as well have planned on being useless the other 6 days too.

I have been gentle with myself and have avoided situations that might trigger me. I feel so good right now that I want to protect what I have found. I hope you find your way too.

lillyknitting

Drinking was virtually impossible for me to stop because all my friends drink, some more than others, one or two I would say drink alcoholically. For me it was the highlight of the social event, doesn't matter where I go, just drink. Now, however, I cannot envisualise attending an all day social event and drinking because I would b totally legless & ruin it for me & everyone. Im now very, very choosy about the event if it's Friday night down the pub I will usually not go. Smoking, by the way, just went hand in hand with the boozing. I look at them as "the poisons". My biggest gift is waking up sober, without all the hideous nightmare hangovers and all the hell that went with it.

Dee74

I dunno - my cigarette addiction was never like my alcohol one - I could literally take or leave cigarettes...but I know many people who say the complete opposite.....

I think drinking, even binge drinking, is a lot more socially acceptable than smoking.

It's possible to be a non smoker and still be part of the gang - but the fear is that won't be possible as a non drinker.

I didn't want to be different. I didn't want to have to change - and that reluctance kept me drinking for years longer than I should have, and right to the point of almost no return.

I got my sincere desire to stop drinking, but ti came at a heavy cost.

I think there's easier ways to get to that decision - Allen Carrs How To Stop Drinking book might be a helpful start, carlygirl?

D

Lionhearted1

iam 30 going on 31 I know exactly what you are saying.. I have friends who have stopped the binge drinking or slowed it down but for me I started binge drinking on my own instead.. I use to get told a thousand times its progressive and believe me it really is! everything you hear that you have not done yet is just that yets..