kinzoku

Just wanted to chime in with the fact that I'm another young alcoholic who has quit, thought at this point I can only claim five months. I had some deep rooted concenrs about what it meant to quit in my early twenties and I can tell you it all works out pretty awesome. Good luck, keep it simple, one day at a time. Really.

Soberish

Hey there torched and welcome to the forums. I'm glad you decided to quit drinking because that is a lot of alcohol to be consuming especially at such a young age. If you continue drinking, and I'm pretty sure you realize this, it will just become worse and consumption will be even greater. If you continue to go down this path with drinking, at some point you may get the physical withdrawals that will make it even harder to stop drinking. You're young and you've got the time to put into sobriety, make it your number one goal in life and don't look back.

I'm 27 years old and like you I've always knew I had a problem with substance abuse. Your subconscious mind will eat you alive if you dont address what you know to be true, which is that you have a problem with drinking. I was your age 5 years ago and I wish I would have just called it quits then but its so easy to get wrapped up in the day, week, or even month and keep looking for that instant relief. Take it 1 day at a time but look at the bigger picture as well, which is having a happy successful life without being shackled down to hard liquor.

I'm rooting for you! It won't be easy but at some point it gets easier. Strive for what you want and put all your efforts into this. Your top priority is not to drink, and that's at any cost. If you slip up, know that it happens, and just get back to your plan of sobriety. If it keeps happening then that just means you need to add something else to your recovery plan. Get on here and brainstorm with us. Please continue to post here. Your post here is inspirational to me in a weird way, it really caught my attention and I just want you to know you can do this.

Stay strong,

Soberish

jryan19982

Im in my early 30s. But I remember what it was like in my early 20s. I went to college, and drank, and drank, and drank. Then after I graduated I stopped for a few years. Sure I had a glass of wine with dinner once a month (or maybe less). Then something just clicked and I started drinking more often, more drinks... I also had issues with substance abuse and when I quit that I think thats when the drinking took over. Just one addiction replacing another.

Now I no longer do drugs, and I have strung together quite a few sober months, multiple times over the past year plus. I can tell you without a doubt that life is so much better without drugs and alcohol. Its winter so its harder to experience the outdoors etc, but trust me when I say that if you stop for good while you are that young, it will be easier, and you will have more to enjoy versus if you dont quit until you are 40, 50 etc...

I am only in my early 30s so I think that is still youngish. And I often fought with the thought that I am still young so drinking wont hurt, Ill just stop later. Well it eventually started to creep up on me. Drinking once a week, turned into drinking every weekend, which turned into drinking 4 times a week, which lead to drinking every day, which lead to drinking 6 beers a day on the week days and much much more on the weekends.

I could feel this dark cloud of depression creeping over me. I wasnt happy doing anything. Sure that first drink made me happy, but after that it was all down hill. I made some poor choices, never got caught doing any of them, but had I been caught I would be in jail for a while (dui etc) I hope you dont get there. And you can control that. Stop now, stop for good, and live your life.

TorchedGrave

Thanks everyone for the replies and support. It's really encouraging.

@Soberish,
When you say that if I continue to slip up I'd need to add something, you hit the nail right on the head. I've known too for a while now that my biggest trigger is boredom. Being that I have no serious obligations (i.e., done with school, not working) drinking was essentially my job, whereas, during my previous 69 day best, it was quite easy simply because I was just too busy to even think about alcohol. Staying busy is key for me.

@jryan,
I've started to feel that dark cloud creeping over me. I was just not happy with my life. I'd wake up, drink all day, sleep at night, then rinse and repeat that every day.

BTW, just as a quick update, I just woke up from what I believe was a much needed nap. Given the way I've been drinking/sleeping for the past several months, I figure I've accumulated a moderate amount of REM-sleep deficit. I just had a quite refreshing ~4 hour nap, which I've almost never done (unless I've been jet-lagging).

That's all for now guys. Thanks again for the posts.

Soberish

Hey torched, hows it going today? Glad you were able to get that nap in. Keep us posted and take care.

TorchedGrave

Day 2

I feel like I slept like a baby last night, which is awesome. So far so easy. You really can't do anything but take this one day at a time. It makes the goal seem so much more achievable.

In other news, I'll be going home soon, so I'm excited for that. Sure it's been fun here for a while, but there's truth to the saying, "Home Sweet Home."

Soberish

Thats good to hear your on Day 2 and that you're looking forward to going back home. How long have you been on vacation?

TorchedGrave

Surprisingly, I've only been on vacation for roughly three weeks, which strikes me as odd because last summer I was here for five weeks and wasn't nearly as eager to return home as I am now (though my memory could be mistaken). There are of course a bunch of factors at play, but I believe most significant of all is the weather. I absolutely love the summer heat, and utterly detest cold, rainy, cloudy weather.

Soberwolf

congrats on day two

Dropsie

Good for you.

How can we help??

TorchedGrave

Hah thanks for the support guys.

Thankfully, today's been quite an easy day. It's definitely because I've spent practically all day (7+ hours) fiddling with my phone trying to fix a system update that went terribly awry; it's essentially unusable now. It's definitely frustrating. Normally I would say that at least it's keeping me busy, but it really isn't. It's the annoying kind of busy, not the productive kind of busy.

Here's to another day!

Soberish

I'm the same way, I love the warmer weather, either the spring or summer. The colder weather can bum me out a bit.

Any kind of busy is good busy as long as its not drinking. Hang in there and if it gets tough remember to post here

TorchedGrave

Day 3

So far so good. I've been sleeping much more soundly lately. I'll be home tomorrow, which is nice. Except that I'll be returning the blizzard aftermath in NYC...

Soberwolf

Your doing fantastic Torch

Dee74

glad you're doing well Torch

D

Soberish

I've always wanted to see NYC. I heard about that blizzard there and actuallys saw a picture someone took that they say looks like an impressionist painting. Day 3 is great, keep up the good work.

TorchedGrave

NYC is definitely nice, and it's hard to find a place that rivals it, especially after having lived there for 20+ years.

I'm mostly looking forward to getting through these first couple of weeks. Based on some reading, it seems that that is when cravings have peaked and begin to subside. Time will tell though. Going home today.

TorchedGrave

It in fact seems that my cravings have begun to amplify, likely since yesterday. What's funny is that it may simply be a case of mind over matter; that is to say, I've read about alcoholism and it's possible that I put the thought into my head about cravings, and now it's happening. Like a placebo effect? Whatever though.

Soberish

I think you may be right, its mind over matter. Cravings eventually pass even if only for a short time. The longer you go without drinking the less the cravings occur, at least for me. Have you read about "urge surfing"? If not you should do a search for it on google or here on the forums, its some good stuff and can come in handy

TorchedGrave

I'll definitely check that out.

Thanks man.