Got It Good
- Someone has been watching over me up till now which is the only possible explanation for how I have gotten away with my alcohol issues and for how I am able to see them now without a major life changing event. I am a functional drinker who has been playing with fire. I am quitting to see if I can. I want a better me and alcohol is starting to become way too important. It is also subtly undermining my relationship and career. I want to enjoy the real intoxicants like self control and living for life's sake, the beauty of the morning sun, or playing with a child on a warm summer day. I could drink a 12 pack and a bottle of wine almost every day. Why? Because once I start I don't stop. I want to live and be happy not die of an alcohol related illness or accident. At least not if I can help it. Wish me luck, pray for me. I will pray for you too who read this. This is my testimony and prayer for a better life for us free of chemical dependency.
- —Guest Mr Good Life
I finally have control of my life
- I finally decided to quit drinking after my second DUI and 45 days in jail. I am 28 years old and I've been a heavy drinker and cocaine user for the last 6-7 years...but it was the alcohol that really got me into trouble, because I probably wouldn't have made those other bad decisions (i.e. using other drugs like cocaine and crack) if I weren't under the influence of alcohol. I may be young but alcohol has really impacted my life and it finally caught up to me in 2012, when I got two DUI's only 8 months apart...and if you would have asked me a few months ago- I would have been angry and said that alcohol ruined my life...but honestly, I've gained so much clarity that now I know that it didn't "ruin" my life, if anything it turned a light on in my head that made me make healthy changes so that I can re-build relationships and have the life I want and deserve. Today I am 103 days sober and happy! It's been very positive for me and I wish all of you readers luck!! You can do it!
- —Guest lynn
Great Cop
- I've been seriously thinking about stopping drinking altogether. I was pulled over last night, for the first time in 12 years. He knew I was drunk and I did not lie to him about it. He let me go!! I went home, poured out my bottle and I'm done!! This thing no longer controls me.
- —Guest DoneDrinking
The daily drunk
- Hi all I have 2 broken marriages 3 grown up children I missed most of the fun watching them grow up do to my addition and weakness for a beer I have been sober now for 22 days after down loading a app called quit drinking I now save £575 a month and wake up with a clear head everyday I have now found my real self after 30 years my only regret is I didn't try earlier every day I use this app go on give it ago u all can do it
- —Guest bob
All or nothing
- In response to yippers1, cutting down is not an option. Think we have all tried that and so many variations of what to drink and when, etc. and it only leads back to too much drinking again and again. I have 7 months sobriety; it took me 40+ years of drinking, and some really hard drinking at the end, to realize the only choice that would save my life and my sanity was to surrender everything. Instead of learning how to deal with one or two less drinks a day, start learning how to deal with the emotions that will begin percolating up, once you have made the decision to be alcohol free and living a clean and sober life. It's not sexy; it's life-saving and actually feels really, really great.
- —tipsytoo
I Want the real me
- I an 40. I have been 4 days sober. I have been reading all your stories and it could be me writing them. All alcoholic drinks I can take or leave. Except wine. I wish I could just enjoy one glass or two but i will always finish the bottle and i I have another will open that too. I don't stop till i pass out. Looking bak over my twenties and thirties i know everything crap in my life had been down to my "beloved" wine. How can I love something so much that is destroying me. Killing me. I don't want this to be the Case in my forties. To the young people who are posting here, well done to you for recognizing you have a problem and seek help now. Ibfirst went to an AA meeting when i was 30. I never went back. I wish I had. I now have a 9 month old daughter and I don't want to be a drunken mum for her, cheating her everyday by being hungover, breathing stale red wine fumes over her in the morning. I want to be free.
- —Guest Serenity
Did it
- Was sober 11 years last week. Daily drinker, couldn't make it till noon without drinking. Wouldn't give you a dollar for all the booze in the world. After about 2-3 weeks lost the urge to drink. After years of being obsesses with it, that was a miracle. Am retiring next Thursday, sober and optomistic about the future. Just turned 69 too. All of my friends are in recovery and the best folks in the world. Love helping newcomers get through that first few months. You can do it.
- —Guest JDeet
Realization
- I was drinking all night out in town and got into a fight. I was so out of it I could neither defend myself or remember what I said to initiate the conflict. I like drinking heavy, but clearly this is just a false confidence that has masked personal problems I have never really addressed. People see me as a jovial character, but it has only just clicked that they're not laughing with me. I thought I didn't have a problem, but I've realized how much I spend on alcohol. So much that I'm having to borrow money to pay for rent and have maxed out credit cards. I'll say I will have a quiet drink and 9/10 times it will turn into a drink-binge. Unfortunately drink has burned hundreds of relationships, I know deep down it turns me into a very nasty, lieing and vindictive character. A person once warned me if I keep going down this road I'l be in a situation I can't get out from. After another stupidly chaotic night I'm starting to see that he is right.
- —Guest J
I think it's time.
- I am 24, for the past 6 to 7 years I have drank untill I was drunk at least once a week. For the past 4 years I have drank untill I was drunk almost everynight. I have worked in the bar industry for most of my working life so it was common for us all to have anywhere up to 15 drinks after work at the bar. Recently I have noticed that my drinking is causing problems at home and also when I'm out. I've decided to have a month sober and will post again in a months time to update. I just want to say thanks for posting all your stories, it gave me the courige to say for the first time that I have a problem.
- —Guest Bj
Quitting this time
- I have been off the drink for a week now, after a scare where I had bad kidney pains after drinking, and my face swelled up for most of the week. With a clear head I just feel shame for all the years I wasted going out binge drinking once a week. I used to think it was the best thing in the world, then I would suffer horrible hangovers for days on end and no remember coming home that night, I used to fall over, and only realize the next day because my jacket was covered in dirt. I used to lie to my girlfriend, I would tell her I was anywhere else but out drinking, I lied so often to the girl I love, I feel so ashamed now. She was in bed asleep, and I was out drinking myself into the gutter. Only know with a clear head can I see what damage I have done to myself and how that impacted everyone around me. I know I will never drink again as it was a nightmare that I can not go back to. I just hope I have not done permanent damage and can make my girlfriend and family happy once again
- —Guest Joe
Enough is enough already...part 3
- I am going to do this for me, I will not mention it to my family and friends as I plan on letting them read this, when I have completed a sustanstial amount of time not drinking. I do not gain anything positive from drinking alcohol, and after a long hard look back I have used it to block out things from the past and relationships that didn't work out(not due to Alcohol) My heart has been beating irregularly since my 4day"bender" and I am not sure if it is paranoia or alcohol related but I am keeping a close eye on my health. I am happy that this has happened as I am still young and fortunately I do not have children that have seen me like this, but I am an Aunt and I am mortified at the thought of the children seeing me in a state. I am going to keep reading posts as I feel so much better and ready for this. THANK YOU ALL FOR SHARING YOUR EXPERIENCES
- —Guest Cleansed
Enough is enough already... part 2
- So thank you all for your stories. I am grateful that I found them before I did something really regretful. As far as I am aware, I do not get aggressive, and I think I have ups and downs, rediculously happy and then seriously low, I lose my sense of self. My hygiene becomes poor and I get very dry skin. This really is the last time, I am told that I look very young and I can only put this down to the 95% of my life that I am very healthy and not drinking. But I can not risk it anymore, blacking out and not remembering conversations. Finding food that I have eaten that I don't remember consuming. This is not having control. I have a nice mixture of friends some that drink on occasion, if ever at all, and the ones that binge drink. I notice a massive difference in my confidence and self esteem after drinking, and I feel embarrassed at the thought of losing days of my life and wasting precious time and hard earned money on alcohol. I am going to keep on reading through these posts.
- —Guest Cleansed
Enough is enough already... part 1
- I have read through numerous pages on here, and I am definitely ready to call it quits. I am turning 29 and although I am the life and soul when I am sober( I can go for months on end without touching a drop) but then every so often I drink, and this can go on for 2/3days. I think that I enjoy it, but then I realise that I have lost days, and had conversations with people and don't remember a thing. I started drinking at about 13, just socially with friends the odd can of cider. But I finally realised that I can not control it and I am tired of it controlling me. I thought I had control of alcohol, but I believe my last "bender" was a warning. I had drank 3 large bottles over 4 days, I had pains in my liver and could not sleep without waking up and feeling hot and cold, I was hallucinating. I called out in my sleep. I woke up the next day feeling disorientated. But I honestly thought I was dying. This was the final wake up call that I needed. I am done with Alcohol. Thank you all for
- —Guest cleansed
A Life Wasted
- I was brought up with alcohol abusers. Parents who connected negatively in alcohol. Drink partners. I experienced the very bad effects of alcohol. I woke up in the middle of the night as an 8 year old child with the arguments and begged my Dad not to shout any more and please not to hit my mum. So whu oh why do I find myself with an alcohol problem. I struggle to resist wine wach night. I can happily drink every night. I am in love with the stuff there is nothing that gives me more pleasure. It has affected all my relationships. It has limited my relationship with my husband. All the ethings that have been detrimental to my life have been done in drink. I have watched my mother hospitalised through alcoholism. I have passed out on my children. Dear Lord help me to be free of this pain. Let me go forward with freedom. I need to break this behavioural habit or my children will take it with them . Dear Lord help me show them a different way.
- —Guest Guest Nataly
My Story
- I decided about a week ago, when I went to a party that I have been to many times, that I would not drink this time. I am a high functioning professional who is not viewed by anyone as drinking too much, other than me. I know that I have driven when drunk, had lapses in memory with my kids due to it, and feel bad about myself because I avoid evening activities because I know I will be buzzed and don't want to be seen that way. I haven't had any major problems from it - my kids know that I will drive them to whatever party or event they want to go to, but another parent needs to drive them back. They think it is because I go to bed early. I know it is because I go to bed early because I am buzzed. I drink between two and five glasses of wine every day, without fail. Until now. Day three. I can't sleep, I am moody but I really think it is the right decision.
- —Guest joap
