ron1970

I stumbled across this site yesterday and spent most of last night reviewing the forum posts. It’s nice to know I’m not alone in this even though it feels like it.

Quick intro… I’m a 46 y/o male and have been drinking heavily ever since my teenage years. I would consider myself a functioning alcoholic drinking an average of 10-15 beers a day, every day… sometimes more. I managed to drink my way through 20 years in the USAF and two college degrees along with a few years as a DoD contractor after I retired from the Air Force. Beer has always been my “go to” but slamming an occasional very strong vodka & red bull or cranberry along with it has become fairly common. My tolerance is so high I don’t resemble a “drunk in the gutter” type of drinker, nor have I ruined family holidays or been fired, divorced, arrested, etc… Shocking to me when I consider the amount of alcohol I’ve consumed daily for so long.

I can count the number of times I stopped over the years, almost to the number of days.. When I was in basic training I stopped for eight weeks.. Other than that there have been less than 50 days total over the years I have abstained, including a brief stint with AA in my early twenties… At this point I know things are getting worse as I have found myself drinking even more, starting earlier in the day, and isolating myself from my family. I will lose my life over this and I know this can’t continue.

Today I am 4 days sober. I’ve had a bad chest cold this week and took advantage of this illness to get a few days of sobriety behind me (normally I just drink my way through an illness). So far so good, other than wanting to stuff my face with candy bars, I have not experienced any night sweats, shaking, nausea, or anything that leads me to believe my body is in detox. Doesn’t jive with many other testimonials I’ve read. Maybe I’m in for it and it just hasn’t happened yet. God only knows what damage I’ve done to my organs and brain.

I’m glad I found this forum. I’m also happy to be alcohol free, if only for a couple days. I spent the last few nights before going to sleep asking God for strength. I don’t know when, or if, another opportunity for me to save myself will come along, if that makes any sense…

Thank you to everyone who have shared their stories.
Ron

tursiops999

Welcome Ron. It is good to grab this opportunity. There's lots of good info on this site about developing a plan for staying sober ... welcome!

least

Welcome to the family. I hope the awesome support here can help you get sober for good. It takes some effort and changes, but it is so worth it.

peekaboo5

Hi Ron,

We're the same age, and I can relate to everything you're saying. I'm on Day 3 myself and also just found this site yesterday. My only detox issues so far have been headaches, terrible itchiness and some skin sensitivities, and drowning night sweats. Other than those problems, I'm a little irritable and moody...but that's it. Like you, I feel I'm getting off a lightly and am waiting for the really bad stuff to hit. I sorta feel I need to suffer - or rather I deserve to, but if I can quit drinking without going through too much physical pain, I'd be forever grateful.

I'm glad we both found a home here. Best of luck on your journey!

thomas11

Welcome Ron, I'm really glad you are making an effort to quit. With the amounts you listed, there is a good chance you health would deteriorate with more time. As far as withdrawals go, you might be one of the lucky ones. I wish you the best.

OldTomato

Welcome to SR! I hope things work out for you this time around, keep us close.

Soberwolf

Welcome Ron congrats on day 4

Boxer1

Hi Ron, like PeekAboo We are very much alike including age and being on day 4. It's almost exactly the same. Good luck!

Dee74

Really glad you found us Ron -welcome

D

ron1970

Thanks everyone for your welcomes and words of support. I'm halfway through day 5 now and feeling urges to drink but am determined to push forward. Planning to do some Netflix binge watching with my wife later so that's something to look forward to.

Not sure how I'm going to handle Easter Sunday yet. Usual routine is to get good an buzzed before any family gathering (it's a secret, of course). That way people only see me have two or three drinks, even though I'm sure I'm not fooling anyone. My goal is to get through the week-end without starting back up and Sunday will be a big hurdle.

I will post again in a few days.. Not that you're all anxiously anticipating updates from me but it helps keep me accountable to myself.

Thanks again and I wish you all a fantastic week-end.

Ron

Soberwolf

Ron I recently signed up to Netflix I started a thread with some great contributions in the café central section here's a link

http://www.soberrecovery.com/forums/...2-netflix.html

Remember cravings will pass but be sure to check out this link also to help

http://www.soberrecovery.com/forums/...e-surfing.html

And come join us in the weekender thread bud

http://www.soberrecovery.com/forums/...arch-25-a.html

Excellent job on day 5 Ron

Anna

Welcome Ron, you will find lots of support here.

Dee74

why not post before and on Easter Sunday Ron?

You can never have too much support, or put too much effort into making a recovery plan for troubling situations

D