Trapped
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: London
Posts: 4
Trapped
Hi everyone, this is my first post. I'm just looking for a bit of advise on the severity of my drinking and to connect with some people in similar situations.
I am a 23 year old binge drinking male living in London and i have been drinking since the age of 18, near enough about every weekend since. I started drinking excessively around 3-4 times per week in clubs with my school friends, although back then there wasn't any negatives effects from drinking and it was just a mandatory part of growing up and experiencing the freedom of being able to buy and drink alcohol in clubs.
As the years went by and we got to about the age of 20, my friends progressed in their everyday lives, got full time jobs, went to uni and even though they still drink, there has always been significant difference in the way i drink compared to them. I would always be pestering people to go out, some people whose company i didn't even enjoy, just to be out.
As the years went by my tolerance of alcohol increased and i was drinking around 700cl of vodka before i even entered the club, every single night i would be blacked out and i would wake up in the most dangerous of places (phone boxes, parks, etc). After these nights, i would feel really depressed and suicidal and i would often continue to drink through out the day. I've messed a lot of relationships up with family, friends, colleagues and girlfriends due to me being stuck in this awful habit.
I've managed to cut down the drinking to just Friday and Saturday night but every night i am still blacked out, losing mobiles, losing wallets and not remembering a thing. Even though i know that it's a bad decision, i convince myself that the next night will be different. This wreckless life style has caused me to have acute abdominal pain just below my rib on my right side for a number of years now but my doctor has yet to find a diagnosis. I have recently just managed to go out a month without drinking, but i went out last weekend and nothing has changed.
Sorry for the long post, but im just curious to know if anyone is in a situation similar to this and i've been meaning to get this of my chest for a long time now.
Thanks.
I am a 23 year old binge drinking male living in London and i have been drinking since the age of 18, near enough about every weekend since. I started drinking excessively around 3-4 times per week in clubs with my school friends, although back then there wasn't any negatives effects from drinking and it was just a mandatory part of growing up and experiencing the freedom of being able to buy and drink alcohol in clubs.
As the years went by and we got to about the age of 20, my friends progressed in their everyday lives, got full time jobs, went to uni and even though they still drink, there has always been significant difference in the way i drink compared to them. I would always be pestering people to go out, some people whose company i didn't even enjoy, just to be out.
As the years went by my tolerance of alcohol increased and i was drinking around 700cl of vodka before i even entered the club, every single night i would be blacked out and i would wake up in the most dangerous of places (phone boxes, parks, etc). After these nights, i would feel really depressed and suicidal and i would often continue to drink through out the day. I've messed a lot of relationships up with family, friends, colleagues and girlfriends due to me being stuck in this awful habit.
I've managed to cut down the drinking to just Friday and Saturday night but every night i am still blacked out, losing mobiles, losing wallets and not remembering a thing. Even though i know that it's a bad decision, i convince myself that the next night will be different. This wreckless life style has caused me to have acute abdominal pain just below my rib on my right side for a number of years now but my doctor has yet to find a diagnosis. I have recently just managed to go out a month without drinking, but i went out last weekend and nothing has changed.
Sorry for the long post, but im just curious to know if anyone is in a situation similar to this and i've been meaning to get this of my chest for a long time now.
Thanks.
Member
Join Date: Aug 2013
Location: C.C. Ma.
Posts: 3,697
Hi and welcome.
I had drinking experiences like yours and they only got worse because I’m an alcoholic which is a progressive condition and never gets better as long as I drank.
Recovery began when I finally got honest with myself about MY drinking and accepted the fact I cannot drink in safety one day at a time in a row.
The earlier we stop often the easier it is to stay stopped. There are many here that will offer ways to stop and stay stopped.
BE WELL
I had drinking experiences like yours and they only got worse because I’m an alcoholic which is a progressive condition and never gets better as long as I drank.
Recovery began when I finally got honest with myself about MY drinking and accepted the fact I cannot drink in safety one day at a time in a row.
The earlier we stop often the easier it is to stay stopped. There are many here that will offer ways to stop and stay stopped.
BE WELL
Member
Join Date: Apr 2015
Posts: 770
Wow our stories are very similiar. I had to quit drinking young. For the last six months of my drinking , after I realized I really had a problem with alcohol and drugs, I creatively cut back on my drinking. My friends were growing out of it so my acquaintances became more and more shady . Actually , one of the hardest part of getting sober was realizing the majority of my friends at that point were nothing more then drinking buddies that I had nothing in common with.
I completely quit my drug of choice and hard alcohol but Continued drinking beer, wine, and using "only the substances I dont even really like that much." As some sort of justification. Things still did not get better.
I dont know what happened or what was different but the day after Christmas I got fed up and said enough. My last drink was december 25th 2010 and since then my recovery has been a smorgasbord of things that have changed over time.
there are a lot of great stories and advice on this forum -take a look around and see what resonates with you. Best of luck
I completely quit my drug of choice and hard alcohol but Continued drinking beer, wine, and using "only the substances I dont even really like that much." As some sort of justification. Things still did not get better.
I dont know what happened or what was different but the day after Christmas I got fed up and said enough. My last drink was december 25th 2010 and since then my recovery has been a smorgasbord of things that have changed over time.
there are a lot of great stories and advice on this forum -take a look around and see what resonates with you. Best of luck
Member
Join Date: Jul 2014
Posts: 2,978
Welcome TheRoadToNorm.
Most people on this forum can probably relate. Good thing is you are seeing that there is is an issue now at 23. Do something now and save yourself a lot of misery.
Read as much as you can from these forums. It has been life saving info for me.
Most people on this forum can probably relate. Good thing is you are seeing that there is is an issue now at 23. Do something now and save yourself a lot of misery.
Read as much as you can from these forums. It has been life saving info for me.
saoutchik
Join Date: Jan 2015
Location: London
Posts: 16,184
Hi TRTN
Firstly well done for acknowledging that you have an alcohol problem, it's easy to be in denial when you are young.
The other good thing or 'lesson' you have learned is that you can't moderate after a period of abstinence.
So in order to stay stopped I would suggest that you need to replace a lot of your drinking based social activities with other interests that don't involve drink. It's not easy but it's not impossible either especially for a fellow Londoner , try to think of some of the things you were interested in before you drank.
You will find lots of support and advice on SR so keep reading and posting
Good luck
Firstly well done for acknowledging that you have an alcohol problem, it's easy to be in denial when you are young.
The other good thing or 'lesson' you have learned is that you can't moderate after a period of abstinence.
So in order to stay stopped I would suggest that you need to replace a lot of your drinking based social activities with other interests that don't involve drink. It's not easy but it's not impossible either especially for a fellow Londoner , try to think of some of the things you were interested in before you drank.
You will find lots of support and advice on SR so keep reading and posting
Good luck
Sounds like drinking isn't doing you any favors. I hope the support here can help you get sober for good. Life is so much better sober. 
Member
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: California
Posts: 13,036
Lots of great advice above, acknowledging this at 23 is huge. The friends part is huge, I agree that finding some new social activities is going to be important, I wish I had the sense to stop at your age.
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: London
Posts: 4
Thank you for your responses guys. It has already made me feel a lot better knowing there's great people to speak to who have been/are in similar positions.
I agree about the friends part. At the moment i have a few friends who are concerned as they can see there's a problem and then a few "drinking buddies" who i only ever hear from on a friday/saturday.
I agree about the friends part. At the moment i have a few friends who are concerned as they can see there's a problem and then a few "drinking buddies" who i only ever hear from on a friday/saturday.
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: London
Posts: 4
And i also agree that finding a replacement social activity to do on weekends is a big issue. Recently if i don't go out drinking, i just find myself sitting around watching TV. Finding another activity would be really beneficial.
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