Haven't had a drink since Xmas 05
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: N/A
Posts: 15
Haven't had a drink since Xmas 05
Hi,
I came on here shortly after I realized I hadn't drank anything for a while after Xmas last year and in the middle of that decided I wasn't going to drink anymore because I figured I had done my share plus the fact that I have an all or nothing addictive personality with everything I do. I just wanted to say that coming here every so often during the beginning and just working out whether I wanted to go full force with not drinking or not was really good for me. It gave me something to do at night when insomnia hit, and I took to reading the messages as being part of a group a little bit(though I mostly read).
I haven't been on in a long while to read or anything because after figuring out I didn't want to drink anymore and sticking with it, being that I sleep naturally now and the rest of that stuff has stopped for a long time, I have kept my willpower in just basically making that mental commitment to myself and feeling really good about it for my family, of which I welcomed my new baby girl this past April, making 1 boy 5, 1 girl 2, and 1 girl 2 months.
Occasionally I miss it, but I know I will dive in head first if I even take a sip. It really sucks to know myself that well, and to not be able to let myself go and get drunk now and again, but I just remember how crappy it would be waking up hung over and all the other miscellaneous bad things that can happen from it.
This message board is really good, and I am glad to be able to have place to post my small victory (considering that not many of my friends know I completely quit to the point of not even having 1 beer) so it feels good to share that. So thanks!
PS. I got some money too by selling my keggerator which I thought I would never do for the fact that I was sure I was gonna maybe drink again and never shell out the money for a new one, but that's one less thing around to tempt me and more money in my pocket. Take care!
I came on here shortly after I realized I hadn't drank anything for a while after Xmas last year and in the middle of that decided I wasn't going to drink anymore because I figured I had done my share plus the fact that I have an all or nothing addictive personality with everything I do. I just wanted to say that coming here every so often during the beginning and just working out whether I wanted to go full force with not drinking or not was really good for me. It gave me something to do at night when insomnia hit, and I took to reading the messages as being part of a group a little bit(though I mostly read).
I haven't been on in a long while to read or anything because after figuring out I didn't want to drink anymore and sticking with it, being that I sleep naturally now and the rest of that stuff has stopped for a long time, I have kept my willpower in just basically making that mental commitment to myself and feeling really good about it for my family, of which I welcomed my new baby girl this past April, making 1 boy 5, 1 girl 2, and 1 girl 2 months.
Occasionally I miss it, but I know I will dive in head first if I even take a sip. It really sucks to know myself that well, and to not be able to let myself go and get drunk now and again, but I just remember how crappy it would be waking up hung over and all the other miscellaneous bad things that can happen from it.
This message board is really good, and I am glad to be able to have place to post my small victory (considering that not many of my friends know I completely quit to the point of not even having 1 beer) so it feels good to share that. So thanks!
PS. I got some money too by selling my keggerator which I thought I would never do for the fact that I was sure I was gonna maybe drink again and never shell out the money for a new one, but that's one less thing around to tempt me and more money in my pocket. Take care!
Member
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Recovery
Posts: 3,229
Good for you! You have a lot to be proud of. Sober is definitely better. I can relate to what you said about taking a sip and then diving in head first. Been there. Just keep remembering the bad stuff of what alcohol did to you. Always keep that in your mind because it will help you if you start to get those thoughts. Don't listen to the thoughts because they are lies.
Keep on moving forward down the wonderful sobriety road!
Keep on moving forward down the wonderful sobriety road!
Member
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Charlotte,NC
Posts: 167
Congrats on not drinking since X-mas.
I had to laugh at the keggerator. That's a funny word. Considering the fact that my frig was mostly filled up with beer, that would have been an ideal
aplliance back in my drinking days.
I had to laugh at the keggerator. That's a funny word. Considering the fact that my frig was mostly filled up with beer, that would have been an ideal
aplliance back in my drinking days.
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: N/A
Posts: 15
1 year yesterday
Hi,
So I realized throughout the year that indeed the last time I drank anything was on Xmas last year. That being the case, the day after Xmas this year would make it 1 year since I hadn't had a drink, but not necessarily since I decided to stop drinking as I wrote in my first post on this thread.
It's funny, I did a favor for a guy at work, and he wanted to give me money for it, but I was like "No way, it's Xmas time, MERRY XMAS!" to which he replied that he reserves the right to spread the same xmas cheer my way if he wanted. Last Friday he had dropped off at my desk an interoffice envelope with a bottle of 12 year old Tullamore Dew Irish Whiskey (THE BEST WHISKEY EVER IN MY OPINION!) but I don't really talk too much to the guy, so I wrote to him thanking him for it and I let him know that it was my favorite whiskey of all time(he doesn't know I don't drink anymore and I didn't want to be rude), but MAN if I was ever going to drink again, that would be the stuff, but I had that little mental conversation with myself really quickly, and the truth of the matter is that I really don't drink anymore. When I fill out medical forms, I check off that I do not drink alcohol and whenevr else that comes up, and for me and knowing myself so well, I have no dilusions that, as I have written before, alcohol is for getting me drunk, not for tasting a drink and then that's it, I liked to get drunk when I drank, and when I drank the quest was to keep the night going, and it was fun while it was going on, but another truth is, and I realized this a few months ago, I really don't have the time for the way I drink. I have three children with my girlfriend whom I love, and there are not enough hours in the day to enjoy drinking the way I used to when I was in my early to mid twenties(I'm 28 now).
I really don't even think that my girlfriend knew the extent that I was not going to drink anymore, because at a christening we went to last month, she was having some wine and asked me to try it, and I was just like NAH.
I can tell you a few things about myself since not drinking, I am a hell of a lot healthier. I started working out about 2 monts ago, lost 12 pounds(I am 160) and am down to like 13% body fat and actually have some kind of endurance now and really feel like I am in the best shape I have ever been in my adult life.
The other thing about me though is that I really don't care for people too much. I am very sociable when I need to be, but that gets turned on and off, and is not very genuine. Take Xmas this year for instance at both mine and my girlfriends families houses, I basically just sat around eating, surfing the internet at my brothers in his kitchen, I fell asleep on the couch due to lack of sleep from being Santa the night before at 2am. I would much rather be at home with my family, or watching a movie or playing video games, but in the past when I would drink, all that flew out the window and I would find ways to amuse myself because I was compelled to, since I was drunk.
Since it has only been a year, I am wondering how my girlfriend is going to wind up liking this. She only drinks at parties, but if I am a perpetual stick in the mud, I think that is going to get old fast. It's not like we are going anywhere else, but for our entire relationship, I drank like a fish, whether it was playing video games late at night, or at parties. I don't know, my good friend was straight edge for like 18 years, and then his wife got on him about "why can't you just drink at parties like other adults" since he was the only sober one at most events and she felt alienated, it probably won't knowing her, but thinking about my friend and his wife, I just don't want her to think she is missing out on something.
I didn't think I was going to type this much, but over the past year, I have had dreams where I drank, and in them I felt like crap because I was certain I wasn't going to drink, but felt better when i woke up and found I hadn't.
Could I relegate myself to only drinking at holidays, probably not, and I don't want to take the chance of tasting alcohol and feeling false confidence about drinking. It's like I drink Diet Coke now and I forget what regular Coke tastes like, I don't want to remember because then the Diet Coke will taste like garbage, that sort of a thing.
This is a great site, thanks for letting me post, and from now on, I am no longer counting days or years, I am just going to continue not drinking, because I don't drink anymore.
Thanks.
So I realized throughout the year that indeed the last time I drank anything was on Xmas last year. That being the case, the day after Xmas this year would make it 1 year since I hadn't had a drink, but not necessarily since I decided to stop drinking as I wrote in my first post on this thread.
It's funny, I did a favor for a guy at work, and he wanted to give me money for it, but I was like "No way, it's Xmas time, MERRY XMAS!" to which he replied that he reserves the right to spread the same xmas cheer my way if he wanted. Last Friday he had dropped off at my desk an interoffice envelope with a bottle of 12 year old Tullamore Dew Irish Whiskey (THE BEST WHISKEY EVER IN MY OPINION!) but I don't really talk too much to the guy, so I wrote to him thanking him for it and I let him know that it was my favorite whiskey of all time(he doesn't know I don't drink anymore and I didn't want to be rude), but MAN if I was ever going to drink again, that would be the stuff, but I had that little mental conversation with myself really quickly, and the truth of the matter is that I really don't drink anymore. When I fill out medical forms, I check off that I do not drink alcohol and whenevr else that comes up, and for me and knowing myself so well, I have no dilusions that, as I have written before, alcohol is for getting me drunk, not for tasting a drink and then that's it, I liked to get drunk when I drank, and when I drank the quest was to keep the night going, and it was fun while it was going on, but another truth is, and I realized this a few months ago, I really don't have the time for the way I drink. I have three children with my girlfriend whom I love, and there are not enough hours in the day to enjoy drinking the way I used to when I was in my early to mid twenties(I'm 28 now).
I really don't even think that my girlfriend knew the extent that I was not going to drink anymore, because at a christening we went to last month, she was having some wine and asked me to try it, and I was just like NAH.
I can tell you a few things about myself since not drinking, I am a hell of a lot healthier. I started working out about 2 monts ago, lost 12 pounds(I am 160) and am down to like 13% body fat and actually have some kind of endurance now and really feel like I am in the best shape I have ever been in my adult life.
The other thing about me though is that I really don't care for people too much. I am very sociable when I need to be, but that gets turned on and off, and is not very genuine. Take Xmas this year for instance at both mine and my girlfriends families houses, I basically just sat around eating, surfing the internet at my brothers in his kitchen, I fell asleep on the couch due to lack of sleep from being Santa the night before at 2am. I would much rather be at home with my family, or watching a movie or playing video games, but in the past when I would drink, all that flew out the window and I would find ways to amuse myself because I was compelled to, since I was drunk.
Since it has only been a year, I am wondering how my girlfriend is going to wind up liking this. She only drinks at parties, but if I am a perpetual stick in the mud, I think that is going to get old fast. It's not like we are going anywhere else, but for our entire relationship, I drank like a fish, whether it was playing video games late at night, or at parties. I don't know, my good friend was straight edge for like 18 years, and then his wife got on him about "why can't you just drink at parties like other adults" since he was the only sober one at most events and she felt alienated, it probably won't knowing her, but thinking about my friend and his wife, I just don't want her to think she is missing out on something.
I didn't think I was going to type this much, but over the past year, I have had dreams where I drank, and in them I felt like crap because I was certain I wasn't going to drink, but felt better when i woke up and found I hadn't.
Could I relegate myself to only drinking at holidays, probably not, and I don't want to take the chance of tasting alcohol and feeling false confidence about drinking. It's like I drink Diet Coke now and I forget what regular Coke tastes like, I don't want to remember because then the Diet Coke will taste like garbage, that sort of a thing.
This is a great site, thanks for letting me post, and from now on, I am no longer counting days or years, I am just going to continue not drinking, because I don't drink anymore.
Thanks.
Peace, No More Guilt 9/28/2010
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: MI
Posts: 194
Why to go! I pray I can say that one day!!
How on earth do you ever get to sleep? When I don't drink I can not sleep and with my H next to me everything seems to bother me. Any ideas? Besides sleeping alone?
How on earth do you ever get to sleep? When I don't drink I can not sleep and with my H next to me everything seems to bother me. Any ideas? Besides sleeping alone?
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: N/A
Posts: 15
THANKS EVERYBODY!!! I REALLY APPRECIATE IT!
For me, I didn't sleep at first and had crazy insomnia, which is how I found this place
! I was tooling around the internet, and my OCD kicked in to just look up facts about drinking, stopping, symptoms, etc etc, and eventually enough time passed that I began sleeping naturally*See Below. (A king size bed helps too, so you have your own entire side, I also would use the handed down thin mattressed sofa bed downstairs since when I was up, I couldn't watch movies upstairs in fear of waking the house since we have a 3 bedroom ranch everything is right next to each other).
*After not being able to sleep at night for that period of time, I read facts about KavaKava tincture and got some from Whole Foods, although I don't know how anyone feels about it here since it has been linked to liver things and such. It tasted nasty, but I would take whatever the recommended directions said on the tincture with water like 30 minutes before going to bed. It basically just relaxed me, but there are people on foreign islands that use that as their beverage and drink a nasty muddy concoction all night until they hallucinate. (The stuff I used was like the equivalent of melatonin, or velarian root, but I read it worked better at just calming nerves, getting rest, and stuff). I used that for like 2-3 weeks before bed, and although I don't know if it just carried me through or did nothing for that time, when the tincture was done so was I because it was really expensive! I was sleeping naturally anyway at that point and continued to do so, so I didn't really investigate.
Thanks again so much for your messages and keep coming to this site if you can't sleep!
For me, I didn't sleep at first and had crazy insomnia, which is how I found this place
! I was tooling around the internet, and my OCD kicked in to just look up facts about drinking, stopping, symptoms, etc etc, and eventually enough time passed that I began sleeping naturally*See Below. (A king size bed helps too, so you have your own entire side, I also would use the handed down thin mattressed sofa bed downstairs since when I was up, I couldn't watch movies upstairs in fear of waking the house since we have a 3 bedroom ranch everything is right next to each other). *After not being able to sleep at night for that period of time, I read facts about KavaKava tincture and got some from Whole Foods, although I don't know how anyone feels about it here since it has been linked to liver things and such. It tasted nasty, but I would take whatever the recommended directions said on the tincture with water like 30 minutes before going to bed. It basically just relaxed me, but there are people on foreign islands that use that as their beverage and drink a nasty muddy concoction all night until they hallucinate. (The stuff I used was like the equivalent of melatonin, or velarian root, but I read it worked better at just calming nerves, getting rest, and stuff). I used that for like 2-3 weeks before bed, and although I don't know if it just carried me through or did nothing for that time, when the tincture was done so was I because it was really expensive! I was sleeping naturally anyway at that point and continued to do so, so I didn't really investigate.
Thanks again so much for your messages and keep coming to this site if you can't sleep!
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