Newbie
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2014
Location: Waterford
Posts: 13
Newbie
Hi. Was thinking of heading to an AA meeting tonight for the first time. I'm actually fairly apprehensive about it as I'm in a small town and.. well it's pretty small and I'm a professional whose only been around here a few months.
I feel like I need to address my alcohol problem as I don't really have anyone to lean on as such. At least not with my drinking.
My concern is that if I do speak at a meeting I might end up 'oversharing'
Oh hello everyone!!
I feel like I need to address my alcohol problem as I don't really have anyone to lean on as such. At least not with my drinking.
My concern is that if I do speak at a meeting I might end up 'oversharing'
Oh hello everyone!!
Sobriety is Traditional
Join Date: Dec 2012
Location: Orcas Island, Washington
Posts: 9,066
Hello Ant,
Welcome!
I found SoberRecovery and AA meetings to be very helpful to maintaining sobriety. I truly hope you post and read around this forum, and keep going to AA meetings.
Welcome!
I found SoberRecovery and AA meetings to be very helpful to maintaining sobriety. I truly hope you post and read around this forum, and keep going to AA meetings.
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2014
Location: Waterford
Posts: 13
I suppose I'll give you a reason for registering. I just would like to share my 'problems' with people who have had similar experiences. It's kind of difficult because of the nature of work that I do.. I'm supposed to be helping ppl and I'm struggling with my drinking big time.
I decided to keep track of what I've been drinking recently and I'm kind of shocked how my tolerance has gone way up.
Last week I drank 4 1litre bottles of whiskey (Dundalgan, Powers (x)2, Highland Reserve, and jameson over the course of a week. On nights that I'm working I'll usually drink a bottle of wine and two India pale ale craft beers instead of whiskey.
This frequency of drinking has been roughly the same over the last two years.
My girlfriend broke up with me over my drinking and smoking and we moved apart last September. Whiskey has been my partner since then and I absolutely love the stuff, but it's really starting to effect me.
My cognition and problem solving skills have deteriorated. I' starting to notice rosacea around my cheeks that you would usually see in a man of his fifties sitting at a bar.
A few of the relatives on both sides of the family have drink issues, particularly on my fathers side- although my parents and brother don't really drink at all actually.
I decided to keep track of what I've been drinking recently and I'm kind of shocked how my tolerance has gone way up.
Last week I drank 4 1litre bottles of whiskey (Dundalgan, Powers (x)2, Highland Reserve, and jameson over the course of a week. On nights that I'm working I'll usually drink a bottle of wine and two India pale ale craft beers instead of whiskey.
This frequency of drinking has been roughly the same over the last two years.
My girlfriend broke up with me over my drinking and smoking and we moved apart last September. Whiskey has been my partner since then and I absolutely love the stuff, but it's really starting to effect me.
My cognition and problem solving skills have deteriorated. I' starting to notice rosacea around my cheeks that you would usually see in a man of his fifties sitting at a bar.
A few of the relatives on both sides of the family have drink issues, particularly on my fathers side- although my parents and brother don't really drink at all actually.
Member
Join Date: May 2013
Location: Silver Spring, MD
Posts: 109
If you're worried about the impact it might have on your professional reputation then don't share at the first couple meetings until you get comfortable.
If they ask if anyone is new to AA or to this meeting you can say you are new to this meeting.
If someone there shares and sounds like they are getting a lot out of the program, you can talk to them one-on-one after the meeting. I understand how hard that is to do but with experience I have learned that people in AA are usually very happy to talk to someone new. The program says something like: "nothing will provide better protection against the urge to drink than intensive work with other alcoholics". They won't spend time with you out of the charity of their heart. They will do it because it helps them stay sober.
Good luck to you!
If they ask if anyone is new to AA or to this meeting you can say you are new to this meeting.
If someone there shares and sounds like they are getting a lot out of the program, you can talk to them one-on-one after the meeting. I understand how hard that is to do but with experience I have learned that people in AA are usually very happy to talk to someone new. The program says something like: "nothing will provide better protection against the urge to drink than intensive work with other alcoholics". They won't spend time with you out of the charity of their heart. They will do it because it helps them stay sober.
Good luck to you!
Member
Join Date: Dec 2013
Location: Rural Colorado
Posts: 376
Hi Ant,
I live in a really remote area of the country and there are only 2 meetings a week near me. I thought I'd see some familiar faces but was shocked that I did not. On the way to my first meeting I was anxious but then decided if I did run into anyone I knew they would be there for the same reason I was and what's so bad about that?
Anyway, welcome!
I live in a really remote area of the country and there are only 2 meetings a week near me. I thought I'd see some familiar faces but was shocked that I did not. On the way to my first meeting I was anxious but then decided if I did run into anyone I knew they would be there for the same reason I was and what's so bad about that?
Anyway, welcome!
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2014
Location: Waterford
Posts: 13
Well thanks lads. I didn't actually go that day. I just watched to movies about alcohol addiction. 16 years of Alcohol & and that movie smashed with that guy Aaron Paul from breaking bad... What am I going on about!
Anyways I registered on the fifth had a sober night on the 6th and the 7th.
Finished work on the Friday and about 21;40 I became increasinlgy aware that if I didn't rush to the Off Licence now I wouldn't have alcohol for the night. For those that don't know In Ireland you can't buy alcohol past 22;00pm any night of the week. So I went down brought a two bottles of wine and failed miserably.
Last night I moved down south to see my family for the weekend. I drank a bottle of wine a naggin of Morgans, and 4 IPA beers and 3 bottles of cider with my cousin. I have no recollection of going to bed.
Whats worse is that I ordered two dominos pizzas w garlic bread and coke, and passed out before I got the chance to eat the bloody thing!!
Now a friend of mine wants to go see a gig tonight- so I feel it'll be difficult for me not to have a few pints when I'm meeting him.
Christ I just love a to go a least 21 days without alcohol. I'm 16 days off tobacco which I'm proud of but- My self control with booze is quite low..
I think I'll have to take another look at actually going to AA..
Anyways I registered on the fifth had a sober night on the 6th and the 7th.
Finished work on the Friday and about 21;40 I became increasinlgy aware that if I didn't rush to the Off Licence now I wouldn't have alcohol for the night. For those that don't know In Ireland you can't buy alcohol past 22;00pm any night of the week. So I went down brought a two bottles of wine and failed miserably.
Last night I moved down south to see my family for the weekend. I drank a bottle of wine a naggin of Morgans, and 4 IPA beers and 3 bottles of cider with my cousin. I have no recollection of going to bed.
Whats worse is that I ordered two dominos pizzas w garlic bread and coke, and passed out before I got the chance to eat the bloody thing!!
Now a friend of mine wants to go see a gig tonight- so I feel it'll be difficult for me not to have a few pints when I'm meeting him.
Christ I just love a to go a least 21 days without alcohol. I'm 16 days off tobacco which I'm proud of but- My self control with booze is quite low..
I think I'll have to take another look at actually going to AA..
Member
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: Ireland.
Posts: 238
Hey EA,
I've just read your thread & am sorry to hear you went back at it again. I'm well aware of the 10 pm rush here in Ireland & sometimes I think it actually adds to the problem instead of deterring it. Give yourself a chance by going to a meeting and begin to turn towards recovery instead of addiction. Left alone this won't go away, it will require you taking action. Ireland has a lot of AA meetings, a small trip in your car would easily take you outside your town to another if your more comfortable with that.
Also there are alternatives in Ireland now to the 12 step approach & are equally effective groups at tackling this problem.
There is lots of support for you, here included. Make a move on it, don't delay, after all your really worth it.
I've just read your thread & am sorry to hear you went back at it again. I'm well aware of the 10 pm rush here in Ireland & sometimes I think it actually adds to the problem instead of deterring it. Give yourself a chance by going to a meeting and begin to turn towards recovery instead of addiction. Left alone this won't go away, it will require you taking action. Ireland has a lot of AA meetings, a small trip in your car would easily take you outside your town to another if your more comfortable with that.
Also there are alternatives in Ireland now to the 12 step approach & are equally effective groups at tackling this problem.
There is lots of support for you, here included. Make a move on it, don't delay, after all your really worth it.
Administrator
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Australia
Posts: 211,432
There's never a good time to quit EasterlyAnt...you can literally go for years, from event to event, from reason to reason, drinking.
I know because I did.
Sooner hopefully rather than later, if you want change, you need to stop, make a stand and work for that change...
D
I know because I did.
Sooner hopefully rather than later, if you want change, you need to stop, make a stand and work for that change...
D
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2014
Location: Waterford
Posts: 13
Well last night was my last night for a while. Ended going to a friends house. Decided I'd have a few quiet pints to myself in the city after leaving his place. Got tickets to see the Pixies (they rock!) anyways....
Just as I was finishing my last pint of stout all by my lonesome... some 21 year old hottie with a nose ring comes up to me and in no uncertain terms exclaims that she wants me.. So I ended up getting lucky in the pub toilet. I think I said to her that she was quite 'amorous' coming up to a complete stranger like me-- she thought I said she was quite 'average' splapped me across the face and left the pub.
That was just a quite Sunday night.. I can't be doing this anymore I'm nearly.... i'll be 29 this year.
Today i'm starting from scratch. I can't be doing this wild nonsense anymore. Sorry for d rant..
Just as I was finishing my last pint of stout all by my lonesome... some 21 year old hottie with a nose ring comes up to me and in no uncertain terms exclaims that she wants me.. So I ended up getting lucky in the pub toilet. I think I said to her that she was quite 'amorous' coming up to a complete stranger like me-- she thought I said she was quite 'average' splapped me across the face and left the pub.
That was just a quite Sunday night.. I can't be doing this anymore I'm nearly.... i'll be 29 this year.
Today i'm starting from scratch. I can't be doing this wild nonsense anymore. Sorry for d rant..
Member
Join Date: Feb 2014
Posts: 31
Welcome!
I'm new as well and I'm already benefiting from knowing that there's always a place to share and get advice.
Parts of your story sound so familiar to me. The huge amounts of drinking and the tolerance building up. That tolerance did have a limit though and I noticed that I could handle it less and less. And I started to feel sick more often. So health concerns were a factor in me quitting. Not the only reason, and without those concerns I still would have quit. But it's something to keep in mind.
I'm a few years older than you and was in approximately the same place you're in when I was your age. I wish I had quit then. I've wasted those years and will never get them back.
And I'm not going to waste another second on it.
Good luck!
I'm new as well and I'm already benefiting from knowing that there's always a place to share and get advice.
Parts of your story sound so familiar to me. The huge amounts of drinking and the tolerance building up. That tolerance did have a limit though and I noticed that I could handle it less and less. And I started to feel sick more often. So health concerns were a factor in me quitting. Not the only reason, and without those concerns I still would have quit. But it's something to keep in mind.
I'm a few years older than you and was in approximately the same place you're in when I was your age. I wish I had quit then. I've wasted those years and will never get them back.
And I'm not going to waste another second on it.
Good luck!
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