Four years - So lucky to have quit when I did
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Join Date: May 2019
Location: UK
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I'm also glad to hear that you met someone nice.
I can’t emphasise enough how much of a surprise this is to me. I never had the greatest social skills nor charisma, and years of drinking only made this worse. Sobriety really is a new chapter. For anyone starting out or struggling, there really is a better future ahead without alcohol 🙂
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Join Date: Feb 2019
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Congratulations Hodd. Thanks for sharing your journey and experience. It is helpful to all of us here. The teacher in you certainly shines through. Best wishes for a wonderful new year with your new friend.
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Thanks Runner, in my drinking days I read about those in long-term sobriety and thought they must be special in some way, but I’m the least special person you could hope to meet 🤣 Point is if someone as average as me can have a much better life as a result of quitting alcohol, there’s hope for anyone just starting out.
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Thanks Reid and everyone 🙂
Cliche time, but it feels like yesterday (January 2nd 2018) that I went to collect my first packet of Campral, the drug that helps control cravings. I took this for around six more weeks, but my whole thinking had changed, and it was no more than a placebo. In the UK, it takes some effort to be prescribed such drugs with a GP appointment, blood test, counselling and only then being allowed a prescription.
Going to see my GP in around September 2017 was probably the biggest step in my quitting. To ‘fess up to someone isn’t easy, but I felt from that moment on that I was accountable. Even now when I go to the GP about any issue, they ask if I’m still drinking, but they can tell if someone’s lying or not. I’d feel very uncomfortable lying to a GP.
Going to a GP is always a good first step.
Cliche time, but it feels like yesterday (January 2nd 2018) that I went to collect my first packet of Campral, the drug that helps control cravings. I took this for around six more weeks, but my whole thinking had changed, and it was no more than a placebo. In the UK, it takes some effort to be prescribed such drugs with a GP appointment, blood test, counselling and only then being allowed a prescription.
Going to see my GP in around September 2017 was probably the biggest step in my quitting. To ‘fess up to someone isn’t easy, but I felt from that moment on that I was accountable. Even now when I go to the GP about any issue, they ask if I’m still drinking, but they can tell if someone’s lying or not. I’d feel very uncomfortable lying to a GP.
Going to a GP is always a good first step.
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Join Date: Feb 2019
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Hodd. Agreed first step is admitting we have a problem. With drinking being ingrained In everything in the US it is hard to ignore it. But the decision rests with oneself. That is both scary and powerful. We are in control either way.
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Hi Runner, I’m sure like many of us, I was offered a whole load of drinks over Xmas, with the giver being slightly surprised at first that I didn’t drink. I did get slightly annoyed that someone topped up my new partner’s drink despite her saying no (the giver was drunk) but luckily sober me was there to drive home. That’s the problem with drinkers; they lose any sense.
Even last night in my local shop, the cashier (who knows me) joked that I had no alcohol despite it being New Year’s Eve. It’s a very boring part of western culture which doesn’t really exist in other countries. All the more reason to let people know politely that you don’t drink 🙂
Even last night in my local shop, the cashier (who knows me) joked that I had no alcohol despite it being New Year’s Eve. It’s a very boring part of western culture which doesn’t really exist in other countries. All the more reason to let people know politely that you don’t drink 🙂
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Originally Posted by Hodd 
Even last night in my local shop, the cashier (who knows me) joked that I had no alcohol despite it being New Year’s Eve. It’s a very boring part of western culture which doesn’t really exist in other countries. All the more reason to let people know politely that you don’t drink 🙂
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Hi Laza, that’s true. The UK seems to have a lot of people whose only hobby is drinking! Both my former wife and current partner are from Asia, and whilst alcohol isn’t taboo, it’s not the life and soul of the party. It’s really nice to go to an event and just enjoy the food and company. The only downside, and it’s a big one, is the karaoke 😂
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Thanks KTB, Viking and Free 🙂 I hope it’s apparent from my posts that being happy with life has to be priority 1. That has the often unrealised benefit of others around you being happier too. Notice I’ve not once mentioned my main job 🤣 Although I’m supposedly a professional (in engineering) and paid OK, I’ve never understood the concept of a career. I’m marginally better as a freelance employee now than when I was a drinker I suppose, but this doesn’t register for me. I put all my efforts into being nicer and happier and am pretty proud of myself at times, but I’m a dreadful employee and proud of it 🤣
Be happy with our lot, folks. Never get stressed about working for someone else. There are way more important things to get stressed about.
Be happy with our lot, folks. Never get stressed about working for someone else. There are way more important things to get stressed about.
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