Makrellen

20th day sober
Today at a birthday family gathering, I drank 4 beers, slowly and calmly
This was 6 hours ago, I had and have no want or need for more alcohol

Perhaps I don't actually need to be completely strictly alcoholfree always. Perhaps it's fine for me to drink a bit at social events, as I did today. As long as I don't drink alone at home as I did before

I know some will say "no! this is just your "AV" speaking"
Well.. I think people are different, and have a very different degree of problem with alcohol. Some can't ever never touch alcohol again, while some can as long as they keep it at external social events and only a little bit

I think it all comes down to: "how much do I THINK about or crave alcohol?" and "can I stop easily after just a few or do I NEED more?"
If I have a problem with those questions, in the moment, I will not drink

I'm actually loving my daily sobriety and will continue that with a smile
Never again will I buy beers and drink at home alone

falseemperor

Alcholic person must always stay away from alcohol. 1 beer or 1 bkttle its nkt matter, if u drink 1 beer evrythink gona start again. Drink orange juice.

afloatsober

I fear for you my friend.
But the good news is that if that plan works for you then in my opinion you are probably not an alcoholic....
Be safe tho.
G

Mentium

Semi-slipped?

Stoogy

It may well work for you my friend, just the thought of it makes me know it would never work for me I'm too greedy with alcohol.

Cathryn2001

Your words from April, in a thread you started, entitled "Will I Ever Learn?":

"I guess this is/was classic for many people here.. anyway

I keep going back and forth.. binge days, to deep frightening depression, to abstinence for some days, thinking "now I quit!".. then back to drinking again

I keep falling into the trap "this is not a problem.. I can drink in weekends only"
And I always end up in the dark hole."

Best indicator of future behavior is past behavior. Clearly, you've been down this "I can moderate it" road before.

Best of luck to you.

sugarbear1

I wish you well!

Hugs and love to you

LBrain

It's the same as 'sharted'.

Makrellen

I will keep listening and feel if there is thoughts or cravings for alcohol
And continue daily sobriety, not even drinking on weekends (!)
If I feel a problem/urge escalating I will pull back

I hope I'm not encouraging others with an alcproblem to drink sometimes. This is just for me..

And this forum has helped me a lot

joyfullysober

Makrellen, it was great you could stop...today. I advise you not to put your guard down. It could be the beginning of a relapse. Beware. Good job today. Just be careful.

Take care, Joy

Stiv

I have tried this experiment well too often, it never worked for me, good luck!

huntingtontx

People that don't have a drinking problem don't have to restrict how much they drink or how often. Just saying. Good luck to you and if you need us we are always here for you.

Nuudawn

Sigh........
Been there.
Done that.
My wish is to be permanently flung from that mystical merry-go-round.
God willing.

Makrellen

That's true
But I feel I have truely realized what alcohol is and does, and that drinking like I did was ruining my life. And I don't want that, so I won't
I have also learned from my past "oh weekends only" test
Today I just had a few. Don't want more

grubby

I am confused about this as well, i've done lots of reading and reading since i signed up here and have been comparing notes as well.

It seems there are different types of drinkers, i have read some rather perplexing, disturbing, and bizarre stories on here that go something like this:

"I was sober for a couple months, then one day i had just 1 drink....... then i couldnt stop myself and before i knew it i had drank 14 cans, it was like it happened by itself and i had no control at all, like someone else took over my body and mind"

^ Personally i NEVER experienced this bizarre phenomenon when i was drinking, if i felt that "just an extra drink" would push me over into the "sweet-spot" of euphoria i would go have an extra 1 or 2, but that's it - i would stop there....... there was no "complete loss of control" like some of the more extreme and bizarre stories on here describe.

Even towards the end when i was drinking much more than when i first started, i would have an effective dose of booze and maybe 1 more and stop there. I wouldn't senselessly, unnecessarily, and recklessly go drink an extra 3,4,5,6,7,8 beers like some of the more extreme examples........ that doesnt make sense to me. I tried to binge drink one day just to see what would happen, i ended up in the bathroom puking my guts out 20 minutes later. I would say for the most part, my drinking was pretty consistent.

It seems there is a spectrum of sorts and every person is on a different point on that spectrum.

Cahabr

I did this for awhile and felt like I was successful at it. However in the end I wondered why. Did I feel better for having those few beers? The answer was always no. Prior to my self-control experiment I would binge drink on the weekends. During my self-control experiment I would drink any day because I really didn't feel too bad the next day. It eventually led to me drinking every day AND binge drinking on the weekends. There just is nothing good that comes from alcohol so you have to ask why? Full sobriety is the most rewarding way to live life, it took me until age 38 to learn that, I hope others are faster learners.

Nuudawn

Yikes. I'm sorry..I understand your curiosity about something that you don't experience..but it has a "ring" of judgement or a headshaking tsk tsk to it. A bit much for a recovery site. "extreme".."bizarre"?

Everything is on a spectrum..but drinking more than you want to/should/is healthy...blah blah blah is what addiction is about.
It is a loss of rational choice in the matter.

Are you an alcoholic/addict?

soberclover

THIS time it worked. Maybe NEXT time it will work. Eventually your ability to moderate will stop working. Always happens. For some it takes hours, others days, weeks, months, and like me...it took years. But it always stops working. While you are figuring things out, be careful and don't take anyone down with you.

Fallow

I just got back from my experimenting. It took months but the truth I know now is I will get drunk eventually if I start drinking. Best of luck.

Makrellen

I can only speak for myself and my life..
But I realize, that my biggest problems are probably isolation, depression and social anxiety, and alcohol "helped" with that
But alcohol became a problem
I broke out of that problem, now I must deal with the root problems/causes, instead of covering it all up with substance and momentary feelgood-"fixes"
In the big picture, alcohol did'nt help anything, quite the opposite