scared
 

Hi all new to this but am a 44 yr old male who has spent the last 25 years drinking and also for a 10 year spell taking cocaine(gave up 9 years ago).For the last 12 years have had a litre of wine a day and a couple of beers more at the weekends and i love it ,diagnosed with fatty liver a couple of years ago and not changed my habits (all blood tests ok as of last week ast/alt ,bilurbain,ferritin,platelets prothrombomin time etc).Trouble is i need to knock it on the head as the anxiety it is causing is causing me some bad problems but decide right today no wine then im miserable all day so buy wine then im happy again.Just cant seem to do it (dont drink ever in the day) but just love my wine in the evening and struggling to think how will i chill in the evenings.Any help would be appreciated thanks rich

Welcome to the Forum Rich!! :wave:

Welcome richie. I drank for about the same amount of time as you and quit around the same age. I too developed some pretty bad anxiety the last couple years of my drinking, come to find out the alcohol was really the cause, not the solution. It takes some time for it to get out of your system, but mine improved dramatically once I had some sober time under my belt.

There are many here who understand, and you can find a lot of information about the different ways people go about getting and staying sober - hope you can join us.

Hey there....

42 and sober for over a year. Drank for 25+ years. Sobriety is sooo much better.

There's lots of help here, if you're ready to embrace sobriety.

welcome!

Welcome to SR richie99. Unfortunately, no real advice. You need to decide for yourself that you've quit, and you need to make the decision not to buy those couple bottles of wine each day.

Hi Richie,

I can definitely relate to your wine habit. A big thing for me has been changing my routine when I get home. I now always cook every night, the more elaborate the meal, the better as it takes up time and I find it relaxing. I also keep a fizzy drink to hand for most of the evening and if I'm not reading, I usually watch a film or log in here!

It was definitely weird for the first couple of evenings and it can be hard to lose that mentality of needing wine or having it as a "treat", but it's worth it and your body will have the time to start healing itself.

Hi Richie, nice to meet you.

When you initially quit, you are going to go through some changes. Anxiety is not unheard of in your early days of sobriety. Stick around these parts a little bit & give sobriety another try!

Richie, your story sounds a lot like mine.

I'm about the same age, quit cocaine about 15 years ago and had been drinking heavily for 21+ years. Was diagnosed with fatty liver back in 2007 so I switched from hard liquor to beer and wine. Amazing how I justified that one! Kept drinking for another 5 or so years.

Got where I was drinking a 3L box of wine each weekend day and over half of one on the week days... plus some beer. Began drinking earlier and earlier in the day until I was drinking in the mornings. Never thought I would be able to quit.

I'm on day 297 today. This is the best thing I ever did, giving up drinking. It does take an adjustment and a lot of commitment, but so worth the effort you will put in!

Glad you found SR. It's a great community with a ton of unconditional support 24/7.

Welcome

Welcome Richie nice to meet you

I also LOVED wine, but I love being anxiety free MORE. Its not easy at first, but I am so much more at peace of mind when not worrying how crappy I am going to feel the next day. "What if one of the kids gets sick in the middle of the night and I'm drunk?" I acted as if it wasn't my fault! You can do it!

Welcome!
The anxiety gets better with time, and is well worth the sufferings for the benefits of being sober.

Welcome Richie :)

You'll find a lot of support here :)
Like you I felt I could never give up my booze - and it was hard dealing with the feelings of emptiness and depression for a little while, but having support here really helped.

If I can do this you can do this too :)

D