Red78

So I had a bit of a crap day, in bed with a migraine but didn't drink last night, but had a headache yesterday from drinking on friday night...
I decided to watch a documentary about Elizabeth Vargas a famous american journalist, it was hard to watch as I was feeling nauseous and had the migraine and it struck me quite hard - what if I was withdrawing from booze and thats why I felt sick??? She said on the doco that she had been a "normal" drinker for years and then she no longer was, her brain and body were addicted to it and she had to drink to feel normal... At what point does this happen?? I've always been a heavy drinker compared to those around me but I don't keep drinking till I pass out and I don't have withdraw symptoms from not drinking, just my AV telling me to drink, a craving.
It had me scared to think that at any time I could cross that boundary and become physically addicted... How many people here were or are drinkers that have withdraw symptoms from alcohol...

On the end of day 2 and can't wait to wake up sober as have my young nieces coming over for the day at 7:30am!!! Better to wake up with a clear head...

Meraviglioso

I don't think that everyone does. I did and do, now, but that wasn't always the case. However, and this is important I think, problems started for me long before physical withdrawal became an issue. I don't think that not going into withdrawal should be used as a marker that "things are ok" if they are not. If drinking is causing you problems in your life, if it is out of you control and you drink more than you want to or more than you should that is reason enough to quit. And good for the person who does get a hold of things and quit before physical withdrawal becomes an issue. You will be stopping before you do further damage to your body and brain, before you have a chance to make further mistakes and hurt yourself and those around you with your drinking.

Oh, also edited to add, remember that alcoholism is a progressive disease. It only gets worse and worse, never better (unless, of course, you quit, then it gets a LOT better). Things very gradually got worse and worse for me until at some point it just fell off the deep end and sped downhill at an insanely frightening speed. Bad, bad, bad, badder, more bad, clucking along, still bad... until all of the sudden absolutely a million times more scary and bad.

Red78

I think today was the 1st realisation that just because I am not a blackout or pass out drunk most of the time now, doesn't mean that I wont get to that point one day as we never know what's around the corner.. I think this realization has scared me a bit..

Meraviglioso

That is great that you recognise that. I always, from the very beginning, knew I had a problem but I didn't really understand how much worse it could get- and boy did it ever get worse. For a long time I held on to little things to make me feel better about things "oh, I don't drink in the morning: "I never get the shakes" "I don't get crazy drunk every time I drink" But sure enough all those things came. Before I knew it I was drinking first thing in the morning, all day long until I did get black out drunk and eventually pass out. The shakes came, along with worse symptoms. It was all there waiting for me.
One thing I remember hearing at an AA meeting, or maybe I read it, that was really eye opening for me was this: "bad things don't happen every time I drink but every time something bad happens I've been drinking" I think this is the case for a lot of us in the earlier stages. As things progress though bad things do start happening every time, even if that "bad thing" is just more chipping away at your very soul.

PeacefulWater12

I was a daily drinker. When I quit I went through withdrawals that felt like the flu. Lasted about five days then I felt a lot better.

Sunshinedays

Red78, I am one of those people that are experiencing withdrawal symptoms now, and my alcohol abuse was progressive. I began going on week long binges for years that got worse and worse, and the last one I went on upset/scared me so much that I went online and gratefully found this forum. I definitely have taken my body too far, so yeah it's definitely possible to take it there to the point of physical withdrawal.

Cascabel

Until the last time I quit, I had never experienced any serious, long-lasting withdrawal symptoms. I was drinking a bottle of wine per day, never less, often more. But the experience of quitting became increasingly uncomfortable after each relapse. Read about kindling; you can read about it here or google it. The final time I quit was clearly the worst and was my "never again" experience. I went into a major depressive episode, experienced several weeks of insomnia and felt as though I had a bad case that of the flu. At least a month passed before I felt normal again. And, then PAWS set in😬.

In my experience it never gets easier to quit so the sooner one gets at it the easier it will be. I'm staying sober for many reasons and one of the main reasons is that I don't want to have to suffer through quitting again.

Kachal

I've only quit once. Prior to this time I didn't want to. I sort of knew I had a problem but I just didn't care. I loved it too much. I drank all day long, but never got properly embarrassingly drunk. I rarely had a hangover. These two things convinced me I was ok. Hiding empty bottles around the house, drinking first thing in the morning, drinking at work, never missing a day, these things made me realise I wasn't. I didn't get shakes in withdrawal but I was super itchy all over for a couple of weeks. I was also really twitchy. I'd be lying in bed trying to sleep and my legs would jerk all over the place by themselves. After I found this site and read about kindling, I realised I could have had it much worse, and likely would if I had to quit again.