How many years before you quit?
 

I first drank when I was 12. But that was just one time and I barely drank until a few years ago when I became an alcoholic. My best estimate is I had 3-4 years of this life before quitting, at 22.

How many years before you decided to kick the bottle?

30

26

Which time? Sorry to say I've been back and forth with this crap so many times I couldn't possibly remember them all. Currently, I'll be at 2 weeks tomorrow.

To many
:headbange

Well I quit last year when I was 23. Started binge drinking regularly at 17 but generally kept it to weekends at that point although there were times even earlier than that where I definitely showed signs of having a problem. I'd say 19-22 were my worst years. Overall 5-6 years before I quit.

I was thinking about this earlier today because I remember being really bad last World Cup. I'd drive to a supermarket in a different town, buy a bottle or litre bottle of vodka and come home and drink the whole thing in my room myself while watching the football. Sad, sad times.

Too many. I've lost so much due to my drinking. Lets just say I had my first drink at 13, by 17 I was drinking as much as I could get my hands on it and by 21 I was drunk almost every day. It's been a long downward spiral and I'm tired. I'm 34 years old, and 12 days sober.

Thirty-five years. Daily for 30.

First drink about 13. Drinking every weekend by 17. Quit at 43. So I would say booze stole 26 to 30 years worth of weekends from me (sometimes they were four day weekends), with hangovers spilling into Tuesday. Ewwww. How pathetic. I love SR!

Probably 25 years.
Didn't really drink till 21 yo. and quit the first time at about 46 y.o

10 years of heavy drinking and 15 years of alcoholic drinking

First drank at 16, started weekend binging at 17, quitting now at 33... so I had a good 16-17 years of insane binge drinking with occasional stretches of daily consumption in there too. Alcohol (and drugs) robbed me of my 20s, not going to let it take my entire 30s too

35 easily, this is my first real attempt at sobriety. I've cut back or took some time off, but never intended to stop drinking until it cost me my job. Should have happened years ago.

2013 - 1986 = 27

I don't remember when I had the very first alcoholic drink in my life... it was probably a sip or two, or a glass of champagne when my parents drank (very rarely, I did not have drinkers around me in childhood). I do recall very vividly the first time when I got fabulously drunk on liquor - I was ~13. After that, I had a few years of intense and crazy partying with lots of binges on weekends mainly until ~17, when I quit the whole scene because I got bored with it and discovered other, more "mature" interests (mostly studying). I drank very infrequently from that time through most of my 20's. When I did, it tended to be quite excessive, though.

My real problem drinking (alone at home) started in my early 30's during a very stressful work-related period that more or less put me into the habit of everyday or near-everyday drinking. I quit this year one month before my 40th birthday.
So ~8-10 years of clear alcoholic drinking habit in my 30's, but I did drink on occasion starting long before.

43

Started drinking around the age of 13.

23

Interesting post and some great replies, mine started in my late teens I never drank until 19-20 when a beer seemed like the most horrible taste I could imagine but sadly it was seen as being cool having a beer in hand and all that.
As time went on I started going to the local bars and the gradual decline into occasional at home drinking became a daily event in my life, my side of the family have always been and still are heavy drinkers and my wife's side never or very rarely drink at all, so I finally quit cold turkey at 37 which is my only ever attempt to do so and still going strong at 7 months with very little in the way of cravings thankfully.
Great thread.

20

I got drunk for the first time when I was fifteen. Partied pretty hard in my twenties, but had other issues that put me at the bottom. Starting when I was 31 I was sober for about five years. Started again and it gradually escalated until I was drinking pretty much every day starting about five years ago. So this time, about eleven years. I do NOT want to go back.