Soberwolf

Warning signs of alcohol addiction
Alcohol is addictive. Some warning signs are:

You do not feel right without a drink, or need a drink to start the day
You get very shaky, sweaty, and anxious/tense a few hours after your last drink
You regularly drink more than you intend to
You need to drink more and more to get the same effect
You try to stop, but you find you can’t
You try to control or stop, but find you can’t
You get ‘memory blanks’ where you can’t remember what happened for a period of hours or days
You find that your drinking has increasingly become a coping mechanism

This next link is sourced from the NHS

https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/alcohol...-down-alcohol/

And this next link is provided by carer's trust

this has useful & helpful links for both yourself and family or someone close you care about

https://carers.org/article/alcohol-drugs-and-addiction

SW

ReadyAtLast

Thanks SW
I was never a morning drinker or felt shaky but every night, night after night I drank again. As I held down a job and seemed outwardly normal I probably seemed normal to other people but there is nothing normal or safe about drinking a bottle of wine a night, more on the weekends.

I didn't drink to cope, just drank as it was my normal daily thing to do.

Think what I'm trying to say is even though only a couple of the above statements apply to me I had a very dangerous relationship with alcohol.
If I wanted to continue to drink I'd think oh most of those don't apply to me. But I've always known I had a problem with alcohol. If people suspect they have a problem then it is a problem.

Soberwolf

Thank you Ready at last your reply was helpful and insightful I am hoping it resonates with anyone thinking the same as not everyone thinks the same and everyone is different but with a lil help support and example I hope this reaches as many as possible because at the end of the day I can't force anyone to get sober or even confront them about anything they don't want to talk about yet ... all I can do is be a friend listen & try to help where possible

Thank you once again

HeadEast

Thanks Soberwolf!

Railtek

As of recently I thought I was normal at work.

I came to work sober

But I guess my Smell, lack of coordination, mood swings and slightly slurred speech started to give things away as I noticed I started to get that ,"look"

Soberwolf

This next piece is from the www.niaaa.nih.gov but I sourced it from the links provided by some of the awesome SR front page stuff (Thank you btw)

Increased tolerance.

Over time, you might notice you've developed a higher tolerance for alcohol use and that you need to drink more and more to become intoxicated or buzzed. You might even notice you're drinking the same amount of alcohol, but aren't experiencing the same effects anymore.

Withdrawal.

When you stop drinking, you may notice signs of withdrawal which can range from mild to severe, including symptoms such as shaking, vomiting or delirium. You might start drinking again to relieve the symptoms of withdrawal.

Increased alcohol use.

You may be drinking in larger amounts or for a longer period of time than intended.

A desire to stop drinking.

You might notice you want to cut down, control or quit drinking but have been unable to do so.

Time spent thinking about alcohol.

You might spend excessive time thinking about drinking, working on obtaining alcohol or planning drinking events. You may also start to notice you're spending a lot of time recovering from a hangover or night out.

Letting go of important things in life.

You may become unable to follow-through with obligations at work, school or home due to excess drinking – like not showing up for work, missing class, or experiencing interpersonal problems with family members.

Continued alcohol use.

A key sign of alcohol addiction is continuing to drink despite experiencing negative effects or consequences, whether they're interpersonal, legal or health-related.

FeelingGreat

This is my story too RAL. I didn't drink in the morning or even experience physical withdrawal when I stopped, and my friends were amazed to think I had a problem. I knew for a long while I had a problem, and it was years after that point and many attempts before I was successfully sober.

RecklessDrunk

Sub beer for wine and that was my late teens through mid to late 20s. Even in the days of get up early to run, work a full day, then 4 hours of school at night. I needed a few beers, pot, and sometimes a little shot bottle to wind down. I went a good 10 years without missing one single day of drinking or smoking weed.

I always struggled staying on top of my weight which may have saved my liver. What changed was low carb became more popular and it was clear I could no longer drink every night and do more than look good with a shirt on. So I came up with an insanely strict schedule of diet and drinking on weekends. Sometimes I would even skip a weekend of drinking to quickly drop weight. I felt that my town should throw a parade for me because I went 2 weeks without drinking!

I think what finished me was the opiate crisis in my mid or so 30s. I had dabbled quit a bit with hard drugs in the old days but the thought of that rat wheel cocaine turned me off. I was having a little recreational fun drinking a 12 pack or so with vicodin or percocet or whatever came around. Then I thought boy this stuff would be awesome coming down off of coke or crack. Then so many nights I would ask myself, truly, absolutely puzzled, how can I drink tonight and not turn into a junkie! I don't know how many times was I on beer 4, beer 5 determined not to let it turn into an all out drug binge. The next thing I know I'm either doing a line of or even injecting (a couple times) heroin to stop the madness of the coke or usually crack.

Even though I was charged with a felony, looking back my arrest sobered me up and broke the cycle. It went a lot better than it could have. For one, instead of one of the dangerous cities in America where I shoulda got popped, I get popped and actually locked up in a town known for one of the best school districts. Suicidal at that moment I didn't realize it was a very lucky night.

VinnyMcM

Thanks for posting Wolf. Earlier in my drinking years, I would always google signs of alcoholism. This is a simple straight forward guide that will be useful to many people.

Zebra1275

Thanks Soberwolf.

Reading this brought back some unpleasant memories, which is a good reminder.

Reid82

Yep, same here. If I could use one word to describe my relationship with alcohol, that word would be "toxic".

Verdantia

This is a comprehensive list, SW-thanks. When I first quit in 1990 it was no big deal; I kind of just quit, and didn't drink until 2006. Drinking again was, needless to say, a huge mistake and when I stopped all at once in 2011, I suffered alcoholic hallucinosis within 12 hours, with days of horrifying visual and audio hallucinations. After that I spent days at a detox, a week at a hospital and 2 months in inpatient rehab. I am a firm believer that each quit is harder than the last; to me kindling is a very real phenomenon, as the less done the better. Wishing all a healthy sober new year.

Steely

Thanks Soberwolf. ❤️