I'm desperate
 

I'm a 42 yr old mother of two. I suffer from PTSD and have been an alcoholic for years. My drinking has ranged from 2 a day to more than ten. I don't go anywhere after 4 because it interrupts my drinking. Lately I started d inking first thing in the mornin to get myself prepared for my day. Just one, but it cuts the shakes down. I drink at lunch, then at dinner. I need to stop this. I want to become just asocial drinker and become the mother and wife I was before. I feel li,e I will die soon if I don't get help.

Welcome! :) If you are an alcoholic, there's little chance of going back to "social drinking". I'd aim for complete abstinence if I were you. :)

Hello Clee...I am only on day 6 and so I don't feel that I have the experience to help you...but I did want you to know that someone had seen your post and is listening. I have read many posts on this site and know that there is a wealth of experience on here that will be coming your way ❤

Welcome, Clee. I'm also a mom.

I don't have the ability to be a social drinker; once I start I can't stop, unfortunately.

Why be a social drinker, that doesn't make any sense to me. If you're like most of us just having one drink, maybe two, is a waste of time. I need a buzz and 1 or 2 doesn't cut it. It's so much easier to just take alcohol out of your life. Moderation doesn't work for us. Really think about and get your head around not drinking.

Due to the fact that you have reached the point in time where you are getting the shakes, I seriously doubt that social drinking will ever work for you.

We drunks tried over and over again to control our drinking but, it just never seemed to work out for long.

Followed yet again by a still worse relapse.

As seen from up top the mountain,
Bob

Hi Clee. Good on you for wanting to change. Most of us have tried the social drinking or moderation route and failed. Doesn't work for alcoholics. Sounds like your drinking is increasing?

Please see your physician for recommendations how to safely detox.

Best to you on changing your life for the better!

.. Um.. You can't get there from here (where you are)

.. or .. " out of the blue and into the blaaaaaack,
once your gone you can never go baaaaaaak "

My good thoughts towards you Clee, that you may see the way forward.

Agree, relapses after the hey "I'm okay having a couple drinks" are worse, and there you are in sucky withdrawals again. I'm in that situation now. I absolutely cannot drink, was a social only drinker for years, then I wasn't, and am paying a heavy price.

Read around this site, people's stories, stickies on the top, it really helps.

I'm a mum who also has PTSD - trust me the drinking needs to go Hun.. I'm still only on day 13 but already I'm feeling a million times better

Welcome Clee

I'm no expert, but alcoholism is progressive and for each of us there's a "point of no return." At a certain point in the progression of the disease, it becomes physiologically impossible to return to being a "normal" or "social" drinker.

I'm not qualified to diagnose the phase of your alcoholism, but the things you're describing (drinking in the morning to stop the shakes, drinking throughout the day, feeling like you're going to die) make it sound pretty advanced. I was at your level and wasted DECADES trying to return to normal drinking. With each attempt at moderation, my addiction worsened. I've never heard of anyone being at that level and returning to normal drinking.

If you feel like your life is at risk from drinking, whyprotect drinking? Protect yourself instead! Quit drinking and let drinking be the casualty rather than your health/life!

Happy Sober
 

The decision isn't easy but it is simple
Do you want to be A Happy, Joyous, and Free Mom & Wife?
OR, a drunken mess, struggling and ......?

Welcome to SR Clee.

Glad you are here.

With the problems Alcohol is causing you,you will find it a lot easier if you stop drinking completely,it is difficult in the early days,but doable.

Hi Clee, I have to agree with others, casual or social drinking does work for most of us. There is no point to it. I'm sorry to hear you are struggling like you are, but many have quit and I'm sure you can too. Waking up in the morning and drinking to stop the shakes does not sound like much fun. Maybe some professional help may be in order? Just a thought.

I think that Betty Ford put it best when said, "Once you cross the invisible line, you can never go back." She's right.

Welcome and I hope you feel at home, I can relate to what you are going through as I made a career drinking.

As others have noted when we find ourselves with the shakes in the morning, drinking in the morning.....there is no going back to being a social drinker, I have tried many times over the years and I end up in the ER or Detox, many times both. For me it only takes one and I honestly can not stop for days, generally
weeks.

I echo seeing a doctor to help ease the withdraws a bit if you are going to go through this at home, it's safer and will help a bit with the early temptations to drink and ease the shakes.

I am a believer to beat this sickness we need to have a plan in place and there is a lot of reading here on the site about making one, stay close to the forum, consider an AA meeting, maybe you can met a few ladies with some sobriety time behind them that you could call in case of a need, AA also has toll free support lines.

All the best
Andrew

Sounds like you've hit the steep drop on the mountain.....

Not too far ahead is a cliff.

AA helped me a lot when I got to that point...

Hi and welcome Clee :)

I hope you haven;t been put off by the excellent advice here but I'm afraid IO agree with the consensus - oncve we reach a certain point, I don;t think it's possible to be 'social drinker
's anymore.

I tired tho, for 20 years. Noit drinking at all suits me much better.

My life is not sad or lonely either - I go out and do lots of things nowadays.

I rediscovered a me I'd forgotten about

I was merely existing as a drinker - now I'm really living.

I hope you'll decide to give it a try too :)

D

Welcome Clee - you are among friends who care. I hope you'll continue to post. It helps so much to talk things over with those who understand.