Wastinglife

Yep. It's pretty much 'maintaining' myself to avoid the withdrawals and anxiety attacks. Beer is my comfort. I hate it but a one hour AA meeting is only one hour out of 24.

Zanna

Sorry to hear you're struggling Any idea of how you can move forwards from here?
I was SO thankful that SR was 24/7, when I first stopped.

icewater1961

What?! I hate beer. Never touch the stuff. I used to do wine (those vintages still call my name) and liquor but beer made me feel like having a swimming pool in my body, water retention. Do you really want to be bloated and red face? Not that I am recommending any alcohol, I for sure can not and should not ever drink. D and others here have some great ideas for recovery plans, I found those threads greatly helpful.

tomsteve

youre absolutely right. thats where the rubber hits the road and when to start using the tools and suggestions. thats when the phone comes in real handy- calling someone else in recovery (or even coming here) has much better solutions that a bottle. plus, the phone is lighter than a bottle.
its the steps we take, not the meetings we make, that help us recover.
theres a whole lot of things that can be done, but beer isnt your true comfort. its a false feeling of comfort. ya gotta give recovery time,WL.
what have you done other than go to meetings?

biminiblue

Well you've been doing that for years.

Only way out is through, my friend.

If one meeting isn't doing the trick, go to 10 in a day.

In early sobriety I went to several meetings on a few days. There is no way to go through withdrawal and early sobriety without anxiety and discomfort.

Gottalife

An AA meeting sure is one out hour out of twenty four. That could be why AA doesn’t claim meetings as the solution to alcoholism. It is actually the steps, worked away from the meetings, usually with the help of a recovered alcoholic, that are the AA path to recovery.

Taking the principles we learn and applying them in all areas of our lives is what provides 24/7 sobriety.

SoberLeigh

Sorry to hear that, Wastinfife.

Maintaining sounds dreadful.

Why not call your doctor and request a medically supervised detox. Then put together a stronger plan. Hope you take Gottalife’s suggestion to work the Steps.

ScottFromWI

Do you have a desire to quit WL? It seems your usage of SR is about the same as AA - you come here and post a statement, and then leave for several days. There's no question that you could quit if you wanted to, but do you really want to? My guess is that part of you does as you keep coming back here, I hope you can make the choice to do somethign about it before it's too late.

SoberLeigh

Here is one of the threads that icewater mentioned:

https://www.soberrecovery.com/forums...highlight=Psst (Psst...wanna know why I'm always recommending recovery plans?)

Rar

I'm sorry you're struggling. I think SoberLeigh has a great idea in seeking a medically supervised detox. It's not easy and no one wants to minimize the agony of withdrawal and accompanying anxiety, but as BB points out, "only way out is through". You're not alone. We've all been where you are.

Anna

WastingLife, it's all about taking action.

What can you do to get through the day without drinking? Come up with a plan and stick with it. You will be able to do this.

Zebra1275

I hate it but a one hour AA meeting is only one hour out of 24.

The Sober Recovery website is open 24/7 every day of the year!

least

I had to drink to maintain too, it's ugly. Get yourself to a detox and get thru the w/d safely. As Bim said, the only way out is through.

Dee74

You've been down this road a lot of times WL. What do you think you can do differently this time to get off and stay off booze?

What advice would you give someone else in your position?

D

FreeOwl

I wonder if you’ve ever considered changing your name?

‘Wastinglife’ seems to reflect this stuck place....

What if you ditched that moniker and chose something more like ‘Lovinglife’ or ‘embracinglife’.....

A small but significant action and perhaps a reflection of the shift in you that could bring about the change you know you so badly want.....

I hope you’ll stop wastinglife, and start embracinglife..... today.

biminiblue

FreeOwl, I suggested that to him a few years ago.

Wastinglife seemed to me to be a self-fulfilling prophesy. When I joined this site I purposely chose a name I knew would speak to me. It's a personal thing, my name - but it has a deep positive meaning to me.