Alcohol is the solution
Member
Join Date: Mar 2014
Posts: 25,373
FOMO.
Euphoric Recall.
Been there, almost killed me. I hope you make the decision to take back your life. It's SO much better on the sober side. I agree with everyone else that pausing drinking for four months isn't enough and that whatever it is beneath your escapism will at some point have to be faced, better now than on your deathbed.
It's not just liver and kidneys, either. Do some research on bone and heart damage from alcohol. I know a 50 year old male alcoholic who lost everything when he had to have a bilateral hip replacement due to his alcoholism. His wife (finally) left him, he couldn't work and he walks with a walker now. The house and cars are gone. Sad.
Euphoric Recall.
Been there, almost killed me. I hope you make the decision to take back your life. It's SO much better on the sober side. I agree with everyone else that pausing drinking for four months isn't enough and that whatever it is beneath your escapism will at some point have to be faced, better now than on your deathbed.
It's not just liver and kidneys, either. Do some research on bone and heart damage from alcohol. I know a 50 year old male alcoholic who lost everything when he had to have a bilateral hip replacement due to his alcoholism. His wife (finally) left him, he couldn't work and he walks with a walker now. The house and cars are gone. Sad.
Member
Join Date: Jul 2017
Location: UK
Posts: 322
Its funny how being in the depth of alcohol skews your perspective. I remember thinking a bottle of wine isn't very much at all, how could anyone be satisfied with just one bottle? Even 2 isnt enough to sustain a whole evening drinking, surely. Now I'm not drinking I can see actually that's ridiculous!
It doesnt actually matter if it feels like a lot. Medically its 5 times more than 'safe limits' in UK guidance.
The other thing that stands out is that the only thing that seems to change is whether you're drinking or not. Drinking snack symptom of the problem, not the root. So if nothing changes then there will be a big alcohol shaped hole in your life because you're not filling that gap with something else, whether that be mindfulness, personal development, anything really.
It doesnt actually matter if it feels like a lot. Medically its 5 times more than 'safe limits' in UK guidance.
The other thing that stands out is that the only thing that seems to change is whether you're drinking or not. Drinking snack symptom of the problem, not the root. So if nothing changes then there will be a big alcohol shaped hole in your life because you're not filling that gap with something else, whether that be mindfulness, personal development, anything really.
Member
Join Date: Jan 2017
Posts: 2,407
Alcohol is the solution to life for an alcoholic. Unfortunately it’s a maladaptive solution and becomes a huge problem in itself. Recovery is about living so your solution comes from elsewhere so there is no desire or need to think of a chemical as being any solution to any problem whether it be mental or physical. I was restored to sanity in my recovery so I could clearly see how warped my thinking was in active and untreated alcoholism.
Member
Join Date: Jun 2017
Posts: 2,909
novelty of sobriety wears off pretty quick
Member
Join Date: Dec 2015
Location: NSW - Australia
Posts: 14,542
Glad I could engender a laugh Fallow. I'm dead set serious about sobriety, but have not lost my sense of humour.
Agree with Surrendered. Don't have to be a fall down drunk for organs to be impacted. Terrible, life altering stuff. And it creeps up.
Agree with other as well. You have arrived here with questions, find solution to your drinking. I hope you continue to engage.
If drinking/not drinking produce same results, why not stop and take care of your body? Your mind will follow.
My best to you.
Agree with Surrendered. Don't have to be a fall down drunk for organs to be impacted. Terrible, life altering stuff. And it creeps up.
Agree with other as well. You have arrived here with questions, find solution to your drinking. I hope you continue to engage.
If drinking/not drinking produce same results, why not stop and take care of your body? Your mind will follow.
My best to you.
Member
Join Date: May 2014
Location: Kerry, Ireland
Posts: 2,700
Originally Posted by Flowing 
Not the problem....
This is absolutely true for me and it is what makes it so hard to stick to long term sobriety, I've had 4.5 months before and I start drinking again because I am just about as unhappy at that stage as I am right now in active alcoholism.
I have a successful business, plenty of money, a supportive partner. Alcohol makes everything worse, I am a worse businessman, a worse partner and it's probably going to slowly kill me but the novelty of sobriety wears off pretty quick, I do not get any withdrawal symptoms whatsoever, if I stopped drinking today, I'd feel amazing tomorrow and for a few weeks, but sustained sobriety just makes me feel like a complete outcast, like I'm not living my true life, like I'm just avoiding the real problems, deep emotional problems. I know alcohol is of course the ultimate avoidance but at least I enjoy it, it gives me something to look forward to each day, sobriety just feels far to raw and exposed long term. I'm drinking around 100 units a week st the moment which I don't actually think it that much to be honest
No real questions here but I feel like I needed never it out.
This is absolutely true for me and it is what makes it so hard to stick to long term sobriety, I've had 4.5 months before and I start drinking again because I am just about as unhappy at that stage as I am right now in active alcoholism.
I have a successful business, plenty of money, a supportive partner. Alcohol makes everything worse, I am a worse businessman, a worse partner and it's probably going to slowly kill me but the novelty of sobriety wears off pretty quick, I do not get any withdrawal symptoms whatsoever, if I stopped drinking today, I'd feel amazing tomorrow and for a few weeks, but sustained sobriety just makes me feel like a complete outcast, like I'm not living my true life, like I'm just avoiding the real problems, deep emotional problems. I know alcohol is of course the ultimate avoidance but at least I enjoy it, it gives me something to look forward to each day, sobriety just feels far to raw and exposed long term. I'm drinking around 100 units a week st the moment which I don't actually think it that much to be honest
No real questions here but I feel like I needed never it out.
100 units a week is ALOT! Here, the weekly recommended alcohol intake for a man is 17 units a week- it's less in other countries. I was drinking around 80-100 units every week for a few years in the height
of my addiction and trust me where it ended was not a pleasant or pretty place.
Blue Belt
Join Date: Jul 2015
Location: Soberville, USA
Posts: 4,174
If you are lucky, when you are really ready to quit, you will know it.
Plenty of successful people were not so lucky...Elvis, Prince, MJ etc were not so lucky.
Booze is a drug just like opiods etc. It is insidious and legal.
It cause permanent brain damage and will eventually contribute or directly lead to the death of anyone that uses it.
Everything I am saying is common sense, the problem is booze makes the addict (anyone that is drinking more than a few units a day) think otherwise.
Booze alters the ability of the brain to generate natural dopamine/endorphins/adrenaline.
It take years of suffering, left brain vs right brain, to normalize. RX drugs can lead to another lifetime addiction.
It is a viscous cycle.
If you decide to listen, you will forever thank SR for saving what is left of your health and life.
Love and Thanks.
Plenty of successful people were not so lucky...Elvis, Prince, MJ etc were not so lucky.
Booze is a drug just like opiods etc. It is insidious and legal.
It cause permanent brain damage and will eventually contribute or directly lead to the death of anyone that uses it.
Everything I am saying is common sense, the problem is booze makes the addict (anyone that is drinking more than a few units a day) think otherwise.
Booze alters the ability of the brain to generate natural dopamine/endorphins/adrenaline.
It take years of suffering, left brain vs right brain, to normalize. RX drugs can lead to another lifetime addiction.
It is a viscous cycle.
If you decide to listen, you will forever thank SR for saving what is left of your health and life.
Love and Thanks.
Member
Join Date: Oct 2018
Location: Christchurch, NZ
Posts: 517
It is indeed the solution.
Anyone who claims alcohol is just Poison and no good for anything but ruining your life ain't no real alcoholic and it's no surprise that they have little trouble giving up something they obviously despise and by the sound of it, never did much for them anyways.
I know that cycle so well. Stop for a bit, all's well, but life goes slowly grey then gets downright painful until, like it or not, booze is going back in because you just can't stand another meaningless, emotionally draining, painful day of sobriety.
It's quite unfathomable to a lot of ex drinkers who stop and never experienced this phenomenon, but lots of us do experience it.
Try reading the book alcoholics anonymous. You'll identify strongly with the type of alcoholic described and it lays out a solution that can replace alcohol as a solution. 😎
Anyone who claims alcohol is just Poison and no good for anything but ruining your life ain't no real alcoholic and it's no surprise that they have little trouble giving up something they obviously despise and by the sound of it, never did much for them anyways.
I know that cycle so well. Stop for a bit, all's well, but life goes slowly grey then gets downright painful until, like it or not, booze is going back in because you just can't stand another meaningless, emotionally draining, painful day of sobriety.
It's quite unfathomable to a lot of ex drinkers who stop and never experienced this phenomenon, but lots of us do experience it.
Try reading the book alcoholics anonymous. You'll identify strongly with the type of alcoholic described and it lays out a solution that can replace alcohol as a solution. 😎
Member
Join Date: Nov 2015
Location: East Coast USA
Posts: 1,068
One more thought. For folks who do not have a problem with alcohol it's not a solution. It's something they occasionally use in fairly small amounts. When alcohol becomes the "solution" it's almost guaranteed to be a problem or at best a problem in the making.
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