BigBobby

Maybe i am just getting a bit paranoid but i sipped alcohol by mistake at a works night out. I have been sober 6 months and just stuck to lemonade. I went outside for a cig and when i came back sipped my colleagues double vodka and lemo. It was only a tiny sip and when i could taste alcohol i put it back down and picked my correct drink. I spoke to my sponsor who said i had not broken my sobriety because i did not do it intentionally. He just told me to keep hold of of my drink next time. Anyone been in this situation before?

Dee74

It happens from time to time on these threads.
I agree with your sponsor.

least

You did nothing wrong. It was simply an accident.

suki44883

I've seen people post about it happening to them from time to time. Our dearly departed CarolD always recommended smelling the drink if you have been away from it. It's pretty easy to smell alcohol. Other than that, I agree with your sponsor that you shouldn't worry about it, just be cautious in the future.

BigBobby

Cheers guys. Good idea that to smell your drink if you have been away from it. Thanks.

heath480

Please don't worry about this,your sponsor was right.No harm done.

I was told by someone in my early days of sobriety to be vigilant,I am always very careful about not letting my drink out of my sight.

Congratulations on your sober time.

kflee

Good job on putting that drink back down the minute you knew. That would of been rough for me..

Kris47

Ya did it and got through it! Way to go!

Kris

Dan Dare

Yeah I've been fighting a flu this past week and took a few hits of Nyquil without thinking.
Dee was kind enough to pardon me! Haha...

BigBobby

When i could taste the spirits it tasted dreadful. I think it just shows in the past i was drinking for effect and not for taste!

MemphisBlues

I think it happens to nearly everyone in their first year of sobriety. It happened to be twice. Once I was at a cook out and my son had mixed rum and coke in the two-liter bottle. He told me he did, but I picked up the wrong bottle, thought it was the unopened full one, poured a tumbler full with ice and took a big sip.

Freaked me out, but the positive was it my body recoiled as if from a hot flame.

I didn't get a buzz, felt bad for a few minutes, gave the drink to my son and poured one out of the untainted Coke bottle.

Second time was out grilling, had set my Coke down next to another, picked up the wrong one, started to take a sip and smelled it before I swallowed.

Again, didn't trigger a craving, and I actually felt empowered that it wasn't a big deal.

Now if that would have happened during my first months of sobriety, I would have beat myself up over it more (my hobby).

autan

Never return to a drink, if it has been left unattended. Somebody could have put anything in it, like date rape drugs. It happens a lot in Europe, especially.

Its called spiking.

I think some cough medicines have alcohol in them. My mouthwash has alcohol in them, but your not really drinking them, your using them as a utility. Theres a world of different having a teaspoon of Night Nurse and drinking a glass of Whiskey intentionally.

NoJimmy

I almost did it, my Brother had a Jack on the rocks with dinner, I started to reach for it I suppose out of habit (JD on rocks was my drink too). I didn't even get my hand on the glass before I realized where it was headed. No harm, no foul. I asked him to move it out of my reach after that though for good measure.

NewMe11109

I once picked up a glass of what I thought was my Diet Coke and it was someone else's rum and Coke. I immediately recognized the taste and was near enough to a bathroom to go and spit it out. But, this isn't always possible and I agree with everyone in that it is about your intent and knowledge. If you had no idea that it was alcohol, then it isn't your fault. Just move on. A second sip... well ... that would be another story.

But also agree that we must be diligent in watching our drinks.

wpainterw

This matter of "breaking one's sobriety" is best not taken in a dogmatic fashion. This has happened to me occasionally, ordering a glass of quinine water with lemon but no gin and, after sipping it, discovering immediately that the waiter had misunderstood and put gin in it. It makes no sense to think that I should assume that all my sobriety has gone up in smoke, that I should go back to Square One and start as a beginner. Indeed, to think that seems to risk giving in to the AV, which whispers, "Go ahead now and drink all you want. You're just a beginner again. Drink up! You can start everything over- tomorrow!" Tricked into a relapse by an overly rigid concept of sobriety. Like a lascivious believer who, though trying to "reform" from a habit of amorous scandal, finds himself leering at an "old flame" and, having done so, convinces himself that "for the moment" the old restrictions are off, that all his efforts have been in vain, that he's just a "beginner" again and, before he "begins, he might just as well revert to his old ways! I once heard a person say at a meeting that she was so "bad" (had so many "character defects") that she didn't "deserve" to have more than a year of sobriety, so each time she had made it to just short of a year, she would start drinking again, just to teach herself "humility". Quite creative of the AV to have thought this one up!

W.

KateL

Yes, I did it at a party and quickly ate something and was fine xxx

flutter

Yep, happened to me I always smell my drinks now before tasting them. It really started my mind spinning though, I totally get why it's bothering you. I define my sobriety within "Any purposeful sip", but we can get around those accidents by smelling the drinks first.