I'm ready and need help
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jun 2014
Location: Kansas
Posts: 61
I'm ready and need help
I came to this forum because I'm ready to quit drinking and want help. Many of you may relate to this. I live in a small town so it's hard to find any meetings and if I took time off work and went to rehab my career would be finished. I wouldn't be fired, just a pariah with no more promotions and possibly on the next round of pink slips. I rarely drank when I was younger (I'm 52) but two years ago my father was in a terrible accident. I saved his life but he passed away 10 days later. The drinking escaladed to a nightly ritual. I went to my primary care physian and admitted I was drinking too much and he said it was only a habit and recommended a therapist. I found a therapist who was trained in PSTD. I told him that I'm drinking too much and he said cut it down to once a week. I stopped for four months while seeing the therapist but then fell off the wagon and it's back to a nightly routine. My wife is not much help because she drinks wine every night. I need to deal with myself first and get healthy. I'm sure she knows she drinks to much but is not ready to come to grips with it. Her go to drink is wine, mine is bourbon. I would drink 3-5 a night or close to half a fifth. Maybe finishing a fifth every three days. Drinking is so deceptive, when we were young my wife and I would have maybe a bottle of wine at Christmas or Thanksgiving and an occasional beer in the summer on a hot evening. Now it has gotten up to a nightly ritual. As soon as I hit the house after work I decompress and hit the bottle. I just want to stop and someone to listen. I did go all of last week without a drink but then the weekend came and I was back on the bottle. Today is day one sober. Thank you.
Member
Join Date: May 2014
Location: Scotland
Posts: 780
Well done for getting here! I'm still very new but this forum has been a great help so far! Being able to read posts has been invaluable to me when I really needed it. I attend AA meetings too but being from Scotland they're all over the place so I'm lucky.
All you need is the want to stop drinking, Your half way there if you have that!
Good luck.
One day at a time.
L x
All you need is the want to stop drinking, Your half way there if you have that!
Good luck.
One day at a time.
L x
Forum Leader
Join Date: May 2012
Location: Wisconsin, USA
Posts: 16,945
Welcome Scotty. SR is a great place to find help, and just about every one of us have been in your shoes at one point. You may not need to take time off work and do full inpatient rehab, but don't discount the value of local support. There may be addiction counselors or outpatient programs available to you, check with your doctor and let them know that the other therapist didn't work out.
SR itself can be a wealth of support and knowledge too - read a lot and ask lots of questions. You have made a great decision, let us know how we can help.
SR itself can be a wealth of support and knowledge too - read a lot and ask lots of questions. You have made a great decision, let us know how we can help.
Member
Join Date: May 2014
Posts: 36
Hi Scotty,
Weekends are tough. For me, living in a small town is also rough as it relates to alcohol. My inner voice is constantly saying "well, not much else to do in this place other than drink. That's why we have 5 liquor stores in a two mile stretch of main street, right?"
I took up AA and exercise. I try to not get home till 9pm. On the weekends I try to find anything to do other than drink. More AA meetings, exercise, read, spend time with the family, swim, spend time here on SR, anything. Just don't drink. The next morning will feel so much better that you didn't. Regret sucks.
Weekends are tough. For me, living in a small town is also rough as it relates to alcohol. My inner voice is constantly saying "well, not much else to do in this place other than drink. That's why we have 5 liquor stores in a two mile stretch of main street, right?"
I took up AA and exercise. I try to not get home till 9pm. On the weekends I try to find anything to do other than drink. More AA meetings, exercise, read, spend time with the family, swim, spend time here on SR, anything. Just don't drink. The next morning will feel so much better that you didn't. Regret sucks.
Member
Join Date: Nov 2013
Location: BC
Posts: 557
Welcome to the forum Scotty, this place is a wonderful support system! I am on day 9 and I too live in a small town. The first time I went to a meeting (years ago *sigh*), I was terrified, because I work in a very public job and everyone in town knows me. What I was forgetting was that they are all there for the same reason I was. They were all alcoholics ... just like me. I fell away from the group while working my steps and didn't return for many years. I'm back now and between SR and those meetings, I have a tonne of support and contacts and information. I lean heavily on both because I know from past experience that I must if I am to take on this monster inside my head. Not everyone does AA, there are many roads to recovery. Find what works for you and follow your own path into the light. Good luck on your journey!
Community Greeter
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Upstate New York
Posts: 51,563
Welcome Scottydog - we're so glad you're here.
I was older when I quit too. Being here with others who understood made all the difference. I found the courage to stop due to the support I received here. We're happy you joined us & that you want to make this big change in your life. You can do it.
I was older when I quit too. Being here with others who understood made all the difference. I found the courage to stop due to the support I received here. We're happy you joined us & that you want to make this big change in your life. You can do it.
I hope our support can help you stop drinking for good. 
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