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Old 07-06-2018, 03:35 PM
  # 21 (permalink)  
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I can’t take the hangovers anymore.
you might find this thread of interest treebeard?

https://www.soberrecovery.com/forums...lly-again.html (Tolerance and kindling - Why alcoholics can't drink normally again)

D
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Old 07-06-2018, 06:17 PM
  # 22 (permalink)  
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congrats on day five.

I felt nothing on two Michelob ultras (2.9%) But two watermelon dorados(10%) got me half in the bag especially if I didn't eat.

It makes a difference what kind of six pack it is.
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Old 07-06-2018, 07:21 PM
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great to hear of day five, Treebeard!

and thanks for asking how it's going with me; i am doing well just hanging out at home on a friday evening. which is what i like to do pretty much any evening

you might want to plan ahead what to do if you should get antsy or crazy drinking thoughts come up. good chance they eventually will.
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Old 07-06-2018, 07:55 PM
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I was right there with you

[QUOTE=Treebeard;6943875]I’m actually wondering if there’s anyone here like me. You see, I don’t drink that much. Very rarely is it more than a six pack in a day, and more usually four. The problem is, I can’t seem to follow my own self-imposed limits, like “only on the weekends

I am also 51. I gave up drinking several months before my 50th birthday. Prior to that time, I tried moderation with sometimes being successful but sometimes not, and I would always end up right back where I was. I could justify my drinking because 1. I was more than a functional alcoholic. I was so high functioning, I was considered a star employee in a tough occupation, and a star mom and I was running marathons. I’d drink a bottle of wine and do a 15 mile training run the next day. I started drinking in the morning to deal with all kinds of stress in my life and then would drive to a high powered client meeting and be given all kinds of praise afterwards. No one had any clue that I had 2-3 glasses of wine by 11 am! 2. I only drank wine and beer. Alcoholics, I thought, only drank hard stuff. 3. After a while, no matter how much I increased my intake, I could barely feel the effects of alcohol. So I must not be an alcoholic if I don’t really feel that drink right? But I would often ultimately black out despite not feeling the effects creeping up. I read in so,e book that alcoholism is progressive and it changes your brain. You need more and more to get the same effect you used to get off 1. The physiological mechanism behind this is that while alcohol floods the brain with dopamine, it also reduces dopamine receptors so that the dopamine has nothing to bind to. This explains the feeling of always chasing the high. Getting drunk is never as good as the first few times, but our brains beco,e wired to recall those positive memories without thinking about the negative effects and consequences. It was strange to me that despite not feeling the effects of large quantities of alcohol, I started suffering physical symptoms. I had nerve pain in my hands and feet -my doctor said that’s alcoholic neuropathy and I was also prediabetic then. I had withdrawal symptoms when trying to cut back. I had insomnia. My skin looked terrible. I felt depressed all the time, almost suicidal. So I quit. I am a completely different person. I am so glad I got off that merry go round. I have a few friends who continue to drink, and just like I saw with myself, their problem is progressively getting worse. I feel sad for them. You are asking all the right questions. Listen to your instincts. This **** is bad stuff. Keep coming to this forum. It is unbelievably helpful.
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Old 07-07-2018, 03:11 AM
  # 25 (permalink)  
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Glad you are with us and getting days under you!

It just struck me, as I reread the posts here, that perhaps reading up on what alcoholism is, its shapes and forms, how it progresses....might be helpful to you in understanding alcohol abuse and alcoholism....I googled some terms and found these-

https://www.helpguide.org/articles/a...ohol-abuse.htm

https://www.recoveryranch.com/articl...-of-addiction/

It's easy to be even slightly disengenious (sp) with ourselves when reading these kind of pieces, but honesty and learning about drinking- and whether we see ourselves in these informational pieces - is critical.

I am not trying to encourage Dr Google methods....I am thinking about the rationalizations, denial and so on I had for a long time, as well as the "basic" (to me now) questions those just deciding to quit often have.

Stay with it.
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Old 07-07-2018, 02:46 PM
  # 26 (permalink)  
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Originally Posted by Fearlessat50 View Post
I am also 51. I gave up drinking several months before my 50th birthday. Prior to that time, I tried moderation with sometimes being successful but sometimes not, and I would always end up right back where I was.....
Thanks for responding. Your words resonate with me. I’m the same, but without being a rock star in my life.

I dig what you said about how it’s great at first, because that’s always been my Achilles heel. I quit for a bit, then have a couple big cans of Busch, and I’d feel like I had discovered the secret to enlightenment! LOL. But after a week or so, I’d still get a buzz, but the sour stomach and depression elements would definitely gain traction.

I’m at day 6 now, and not feeling too stressed out. My first weekend, so I was worried, you know. Interestingly, after sleeping in, I woke up feeling a bit yucky, like I’m so used to being hungover on a Saturday morning, my body didn’t know how else to feel. LOL

Thanks everyone for the links, advice, and support. Really helps.
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Old 07-07-2018, 06:07 PM
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Hang in there Treebeard. My whole outlook changed for the better. The depressive times lifted, I save a lot of money, I lost weight and my health is better. It is so worth it. I drank like you, but it was a monkey on my back. My one weakness.
Today instead of being hung over I biked the bayou, went swimming, went to the grocery store, and hit a flea market all before 4 p.m. I love my life now, when I was drinking....not so much.
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Old 07-07-2018, 09:52 PM
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That’s really cool.
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