serious

i'm glad that this method is working for you.
i don't see why your post has been received with such negativity. (i'm guessing that is because many of us have tried every which way to moderate and pretty much failed).

i know that once i'm in the midst of a binge, my brain does not make any rational decisions. the only thought (more like primal instinct) that overpowers anything and everything is: "get more booze! or your will die!". the addiction in me is so strong that sometimes i'm actually amazed at what lengths i've gone to get more liquor while on a binge. (even if it's just an early stage of one).

but then again, if you limit yourself to 2 drinks... i don't understand what is the point? to be social? to be more accepted? why not have 0 drinks? what possible benefit could one have from having 2 drinks? i've been to hundreds of social events, where i had just as much fun being completely sober, just as a person next to me having a few beers or a glass of wine.

the point of having a limited amount of drinks simply doesn't make any sense to me.

it won't make me buzzed, it won't make me any more relaxed, it won't make me have more fun.

but that's just me...

LadyBlue0527

I have 4 long term attempts at sobriety with many short term attempts in between.

Between those 4 long term attempts there was a very fair amount of time (far more than 6 months) that I was able to maintain some semblance of order with my use of alcohol. Each time that I talked myself into why I could moderate and how I could go about doing it I was able to put in a good long term stretch where everything was perfectly fine. I remember what helped me in my longest attempt. My husband pointed out to me that when I drank I set out to have a good time. Then why was I insistent on ruining that good time for myself? It took some training because when I drank I had to catch myself when I was getting into binge mode. After about three months of training I was able to not even think negative thoughts. I think that was my longest stretch at moderation. Soon enough though, it all ended up the same.

I just finally came to the conclusion that finding a way to moderate is too much work and is just self torture. I'm much happier not having to search for ways to drink because truth be told, I don't need it and life is much better without it.

Good for you if you've got this beat. Let us know how that's working out for you in another 6 months. If it still is that's great!

flujays

hahaha love it. I was reading the op and thinking well this is sure to stir up a hornets nest of activity. Whilst I am glad you have found what works for you, I agree with the other posters in their replies. I suspect you may not be a true alcoholic. If you can moderate and stick to 2 drinks a day or less, then I am very happy for you, but you are either not a true alcoholic OR you are on a slippery slope and will end up back where you were fairly soon because alcoholism is a progressive disease and the ONLY way to stop it is COMPLETE ABSTAINENCE. I wish you the best, but I do believe the original post should not appear in the newcomers forum as it gives false hope to us newbies and a reason to carry on trying to moderate while we should be abstaining completely. In my humble opinion it will help some people to put off getting getting well.

wakko

I'm sorry but this type of advice can be fatal and in my opinion and has no place in sober recovery. SR does not and never will condone controled drinking for alcoholics. We debate endlessly about different methods of recovery but none of them support controled drinking. asking questions about control drinking is not a problem at all and encouraged. telling people that you have the solution with controled drinking is another story

How many newcomers or lurkers read a post like this and decide to give it another go then get into a car in a black out and kill themselves or someone else
I truly am glad for the OP and hope he can continue this program of controled drinking but claiming a solution at six months is ill advised at best and deadly at worst

foolsgold66

I respect your opinion but don't agree completely. I shan't argue with you though, Dee would (and has) told me to report the post if I felt necessary. This doesn't meet the very narrow boundaries for which I would be willing to do that, however we all have that option. As Dee is away, I imagine doing so could trigger an email so that another mod can evaluate and address the issue as they see fit.

ejackson

The OP simply shared what worked for them. The whole explanation was about their experience. Yes, a newcomer might join for the first time tonight and read the OP, and the newcomer might read the subsequent responses, many of which I find much more offensive, actually, in their judgements and sarcasm.

My next question is quite a literal one, because I've read the FAQs, the original SR site, and so on, and I see no regulations against discussion of controlled drinking. If I'm missing something, please let me know.

Pipping

Hi freedom,
I really hope your method works for you, I sincerely do. I know myself that I cannot even have one drink because if I do something changes inside me. It's not rational and I do not know how to describe it other than a switch goes on and I have to keep drinking. Most of my most dangerous binges started with the idea of moderation.

Anna

Thanks for your responses.

I don't think we need to respond harshly to the O/P, however, this is a recovery board and our rules state:

It is inappropriate to promote the use of alcohol or drugs on our addiction recovery forums.

Therefore I am going to close this thread.