Mac1

Taking valium or drinking the next day to feel better sounds like a very bad idea. I was like Dee, once I started taking 'cures' I ended up with no control whatsoever.

If you can stick to 4 pints without any ill effects, why go over that limit? Maybe try that for a while, a few months. If you can't manage that I think it would indicate there is a deeper problem at work and you would then need to seriously consider stopping all together.

Good luck and hope it works out.

JanieJ

Welcome Barclez, Merry Christmas to you my friend

Some good advice above.

If you had to take valium to get over ,say, eating too much cake, would you give it up ? Would it be easy for you to give up the cake ?

I think that the fact you are asking these questions seems to indicate that you think you have a problem.

I know that my drinking just got worse over the years, from binging to daily.

As others have said, perhaps see how easy it is for you to stop/cut down drinking for a few months -if it's not easy, if you think about it all the time and it's a struggle, maybe it's time to reconsider.

Glad you posted, you ll find a lot of support here. Please stay around !

MelindaFlowers

Needing the Valium or more alcohol to feel normal is an indicator of classic withdrawal symptoms. They were for me. You also just feel downright strange the next day, like your in a fog. For me, the first few drinks would clear my head and the fog would disappear. I'd feel great!

But then it would happen the next day and the next.

Then you get yo a point where the alcohol no longer makes you feel good or relieve the foggiest. You feel like crap all the time. Sounds like it is time to stop drinking.

Hangovers are horrible. Drinking causes hangovers. So I stopped drinking. I simply could not handle them anymore.