Drinking Day :-(
 

I haven't had a drink in 14 days. In those 14 days I have had to be in social situations for work where being drunk/hammered is accepted and encouraged. I was able to stay strong. In the same 14 days, I have replaced my drinking with eating uncontrollably. So starting this past weekend I put a stop to that nonsense. Today - I woke up with this crazy urge to drink or eat (not moderately) but just let loose. There was no trigger point (I don't think) but I am feeling pretty awful. Suggestions? :a108:

Just curious, but what type of job encourages being drunk/hammered? You may need to get away from it. Alcohol actually cost me my last job.

I traded my wine drinking habit with a seltzer water drinking habit. I drink it in the morning, all day, and keep drinking throughout the evening.

There is something very satisfying about that "hand-to-mouth" consumption.

If food satisfies your cravings I would say it's better to eat then drink. You can address the extra weight after your sobriety legs are stronger?

Well done on 14 days by the way!

I work in commercial insurance and entertainment is a big part of it. It is not as bad as it used to be but liquid lunch and late evenings are not that uncommon. I have been avoiding them but there a some client events that I cannot mix. Most bartenders seem to be cool, I ask for club soda w/ lime in a short glass and they seem to get it.

The more people get drunk, the more they will not notice what is in your glass, when I was drinking I was more worried about what was, or lack of what was in my glass to care about what others were drinking!!

Order something non alcoholic in a tall glass and no one will know the difference!! :)

As you continue to stay sober, you will notice that not everyone drinks, that people can nurse the same drink for hours and leave social events sober.

You might notice with time that although drinking may be encouraged and accepted in your place of work, there might not be as much of it going on as you think. I was mildly shocked to realize that other people didn't drink like me. I thought "everyone" was out to get smashed. It really isn't the case.

I noticed in early recovery that my addictive behavior didn't restrict itself to alcohol. In early sobriety I shopped additively and developed a pain killer problem. So, it wasn't just the booze, I had this empty spot I tried to fill with clothes, pain pills, ice cream, watching the same programs repeatedly.

I would suggest a program. Taking the booze out of the picture is often just the start of self development.

Anywhere there are lots of zeros there is lots of drinking. Big deals beget big drinking in most cases. It is usually a double edged sword because participation is often encourged through a work hard play hard mentality but for those that cannot control the intake you can be quickly become the lepper.

Thank you for that. Program?

you hit the nail on the head. Welcome to my WORLD.. In just two weeks of non-drinking I am noticing I have my edge back and thinking clearer however people are also looking at me like "what the hell" especially colleagues/friends who remember with drinks only.

I started with an outpatient program: an addictions therapist for over a year. I went back after a year of trying to moderate, and stayed for over 2 years. During that time I started AA. In addition to AA I joined some recovery related reading groups.
There is AA, and there are non-faith based programs like RR. Many people have had great luck with rehab, both outpatient and inpatient. There is actually a lot to choose from!

Ya..that was a bit of a shocker wasn't it? In certain social situations there will be that person..sometimes more than one...that drinks way more than anyone else. The one that makes an idiot of themselves. The one that is far drunker that the others..who keeps jumping up to refill their drink..who keeps getting louder...who starts hanging all over people. The majority are in control of themselves...except for that loud, conspicuous fool.

It freaked me out to realize that fool I was watching..shaking my head, mouth agape in sobriety...had been me. Ugh.

One of my last drinking episodes, I attended a mining convention social event with my cousin. I got pretty drunk and ended up leaving the event with my cousin's buddy to go find weed (I would only ever seek that stuff if I'm hammered). Anyways, we got lost away from the party for like 2 hours..trying to find his hotel drunk..then he had to search his room and bags for like an hour trying to find this stupid joint. Anyways, the search was fruitless. I ended up going to Denny's for french fries before heading back to my own hotel to find my cousin.

I had breakfast with a a crew of guys from my cousin's company and they all were talking about what a drunken fool this one fella was. Everybody was talking about how the guy's "problem" was evident to everyone..that it was just sad and pathetic as he was the son of the company owner.

I ate my breakfast in relative silence. I knew my own score..and it wasn't long before I started the ascent back into sobriety.