livin14

Ok, so alcohol had become a problem for me and I am now 3 weeks sober. I felt I needed to quit because I was drinking at least two beers daily and on weekends I would drink a lot more, for at least a decade. There were several occasions I would miss work or other obligations because of a hangover. I also was not a happy drunk and would argue and and sometimes become belligerent with my loved ones. But, on many occasions I was just able to enjoy one or two on a sunny afternoon or at dinner very casually. I am not planning on having a drink anytime soon and I am doing fairly well not drinking. My question is.. Have any of you been able to go back to a casual drinker after being sober for how ever long? I'm just curious if I could ever be able to drink again without it becoming a problem like it was I my past.

paperthin13

Personally i haven't been able to become a "regular" drinker. I drank heavy for many years and was clean for almost 2 years before I said hmmm I can drink like the normal person. A year later and losing the person that matters most to me in life j know I can't drink like the normal person.

jkb

I definitely cannot go back and be normal. I tried at 8 months sober and the obsession to have more and more was still there. However, in two decades I can probably count the number of times I had two beers on a sunny afternoon and then quit on one hand.

I was never capable of that.

Jess

doggonecarl

If they are out there, they aren't posting here. That's because "causal" problem-free drinkers don't need a recovery forum. However, there are quite a few drinkers here who believe they can and are chasing the illusion of normal drinking.

soberclover

I am an alcoholic. I have identified a problem with my drinking; I cannot stop when I drink. I relapsed on alcohol after 13 years being clean and sober. My relapse lasted 8 years and there were a ton of negative consequences. I have been sober for a year and a half. There is no going back for me. I had to learn the hard way. I hope you don't have to have a hard way.

resolute50

My simple answer.: NO

ReadyAtLast

Many times I quit for a month or so-usually after I'd done something really bad. I didn't find it too difficult. To me that showed I didn't REALLY have a problem, just overdone it a bit. I did this so many many times. When I went back after a month or so I just had a couple of glasses of wine - see I could control this Then the next night a couple,then by the weekend it was a bottle of wine. By the following week it was a couple of bottles a night.

My problem is once I start drinking I don't WANT to stop. That's not to say I can't stop. I can stop if I have to but I don't WANT to. What I see now was that nothing changed. If anything, it got worse after a period of abstinence. Whether this was because I was making up for missed time, lower tolerance or whatever-I don't know. It doesn't really matter. I just know nothing changes.

Abstinence does not mean sudden control

SoberLeigh

I failed miserably at moderation, every single time. Alcohol must remain "my past", forever.

Thepatman

Failed at moderation also.

1 or 2 beers was an tinny little appetizer for me, only a wine barrel would be enough.

Johnston

Short answer is no. If you want long answer, PM me.

SkyBlueSky

I am still struggling with drinking at the moment, but I have tried to "re-calibrate" my drinking. It NEVER worked. As everyone has said, I never wanted to stop drinking. When the first drop hits my tongue, I don't stop until my body shuts down. My advice is to not chase moderation; just quit drinking altogether. It's scary as hell, but other than the desire to drink, everything will be better.

GracieLou

I stopped drinking for five months. Had one drink and drank again for ten years. True story.

I don’t want to do that again, I am running out of decades to waste. I am an alcoholic. It is the first drink that gets me drunk.

CAPTAINZING2000

I've never tried to drink again once I made a serious decision to stop.
I've seen what happens to the people that do all the time. The results aren't very good.

livin14

Thank you for all your input. As of now my life is better off the alcohol, I'm sticking with that for now.

KateL

Congrats on 3 weeks. I could never moderate xxxxx

heath480

It depends if you are an Alcoholic or not,if you are an Alcoholic you need to accept you can never drink again.

I stayed sober for 3years,drank again and it took me 16years to put the drink down.It really is easier to stay sober than to drink.

Dee74

I was a out of control drink who sometimes, through luck, could manage not to drink to excess - at least until I got home.

Those were very few times, and they got fewer and fewer the more years I drank.

Once we cross that invisible line - from wanting a drink to needing one, or wanting to not to sip but to get wasted - I don't think you can go back livin'.

D

HighWireGirl

One or two was never enough. Neither was ten.

DefconOne

'Cause you and Tequila make me crazy
Run like poison in my blood
One more night could kill me, baby
One is one too many, one more is never enough

Kenny Chesney - You and Tequila (Feat. Grace Potter)

Mags1

It's a no go for me, too. I know I have to abstain and at first life without alcohol was scary but it's got heaps better.

There is a life after alcohol. My world hasn't got room for booze in it, I'm pleased to say.