I drank every day for nearly 20 years, and then 3 years ago I stopped. It is possible. AMA

I drank every day for nearly 20 years, and then 3 years ago I stopped. It is possible. AMA

what made you quit? Did you have a job before you quit drinking?

Is that you dad?

Your dad never stopped.

What did alcohol end up taking from you?

I was drinking 1L vodka per day that nobody knew about, plus beer and wine socially. I felt like shit all the time, I was overweight, my blood pressure was through the fucking roof, and I was tired of lying to everyone in my life about everything. I have always had a job, and drank like the alcoholic I was all through law school and while working for a large law firm. Never drank during the day or at work, but drank every day.

Was going home for a drink what got you through the days?

Why drink?
When life so fly?

I drink a handle in two nights. No problems. I enjoy the feeling. There are literally no negatives.

I never understood out of control drinkers. If it's a problem, stop.

Mainly my ability to be honest, but it wasn't alcohol that took it. I just allowed myself to erode into a dishonest detached sack of shit.

Not so much. I didn't look forward to it, it was something I just did automatically. I sort of dreaded it, but I did it anyway. Over and over. Even though I wanted to stop.

Undying thirst.

Right. It was a problem, and I did stop. But for years I could not. And BTW a handle every two days is too much for anyone to be drinking on the reg, in my opinion.

I'll never understand how people who drink this much vodka can wake up and not be going through withdrawal. How did you function at work throughout the whole day? Didn't you ever have to drink in the morning to feel normal? Just curious because my boyfriend drinks every day and sometimes thinks he literally needs a drink. He will even jump up in the middle of the night and take a few shots. It seems he's always sweaty and nervous at night. Probably gonna break up with him soon. I cant handle him anymore

Good on you, OP. I drank heavily myself for 3 years.

>My apartment looked like shit, with trash and empty booze bottles literally everywhere.
>Didn't make any food, only frozen pizzas, and I fell asleep while doing so a couple of times, waking up to the smoke-alarm going off and the apartment filled with smoke.
>Had to be woken up by my neighbours pounding on my door or window.
>It was a living nightmare, and I was on the brink of just ending my own life.
>At one time I decided, while drunk, to go to my fathers house and steal booze from him while they where on vacation.
>Drank like two bottles of whiskey and some wine, and passed out on the floor.
>Was found by my sister, who thought I was dead, so she called an ambulance and I was put in hospital for two days.
>Had been hiding my drinking and never told anyone about my apartment, and when family found out they helped me stop drinking and clean my apartment.

Haven't had a drink in 1 year now and feel like I got my life back again. If it wasn't for my sister deciding to call the ambulance, I would probably still be drinking and living in pile of trash.

I never had that, but some people develop it. I was so hung over every morning it was routine...get up, shower, diet cokes like a motherfucker, go to work, drag ass until noon. Make it through the day, leave work around 8, go home, crack beers and watch TV with the wife, when she goes to bed hit the vodka. Repeat for 10 years. Tell him to get some help.

my wife wanted to call ambulance bc she thought I was having a heart attack when I was really just fucking wasted, because I said I hadn't had anything to drink (she believed me) but couldn't stand up and was bright red. Had to admit it, and the rest is history.

Being a drinker isn't an excuse for being a lazy, nasty fuck.

The alcohol had shit all to do with it.

Good on you. Reading your other posts, it seems like you were fine. What made it a problem for you? Per this

You sound similar to me, except I don't wake up hung over.

Your dude has a problem. Leave him. Not worth it.

So some people don't get withdrawals? Does it just depends on how much you drink or is it genetic? He drinks all day so maybe that's why he gets them. I've tried to get him help multiple times and he stops for awhile and then goes back to it. This has happened like 4 times already. Thats why I'm ready to give up. If he wants to drink his life away it's his choice. I've realized that no one else can stop an alcoholic

I'm 23 days sober this time...

Actually the alcohol helps you become and saty a lazy nasty fuck if you are inclined that way.

It was a problem because for me it was abnormal, unhealthy behavior that put me at risk and made me feel like physical and emotional shit all the time.

The hangovers were just awful.

Maybe genetic, maybe how much you drink, who knows. I have known people who only had a bottle of wine/night end up in the hospital with DTs and others like me with a healthy appetite for vodka go cold turkey with no problems. Certainbly genetics effects drinking though. You are right that no person can stop an alcoholic - I had to go to AA to get the help and support I needed to make it possible for me to quit.

You are fucking awesome. Keep it up!

My mother is an alcoholic. Been once since she was 16. Still drinking to this day. She is 55.

My problem with AA (member for 5 years in the past) is that they renounce all knowledge of biochemistry in lieu of a comprehensible spiritual-simple taxonomy of reality.
That's it.
Some months/years I'm sober, some months/years I'm not, outside of AA. Life remains the same, fortunately or unfortunately. It's a Gaba-B agonist and will have stereotypically gaba-B agonist effects with neuro- and bio-chemistry. This understanding of our species' biochemistry is absolutely fundamental in understanding what it 'means' to be addicted to anything, and speaks volumes of understanding about what it means to be addicted specifically to a Gaba-B agonist.

sad. glad you survived.

I agree that the absence of science is problematic, especially since when the big book was written the human genome had not been mapped and the biological component of addiction was not understood at all, I used AA to get sober and I firmly believe Icould not have done it without the support of AA. I understand the gripes some folks have with it, but it works for me and I don't overthink it.

Amen to that brother. Your attitude is wise. All of the program is functional, useful, and valuable. Thanks for reading and responding to my post. I can't do AA; I'm too concerned with scientific/demonstrable details in this chapter of my life. Maybe later. You carry the Torch if you can do it, and the Torch you carry is more dynamic/realistic than Evangelical Christian torches, or other hivemind torches, so the power you wield is more realistic. According to my local perspective.
AA as an ideological hivemind is an emergent idea-structure that will pervade for centuries I imagine. Being an aspect of that body will do you, and the world, good.

Realised I was an alcoholic about a year ago. Currently working as a bartender/bouncer/chef at a pub.
actually started drinking less after getting that job (prolly just because actually having a job).
currently have gotten drunk two weeks in a row, every single night.
Can't quit unless I'm broke.
Kinda feeling like I'm only working so hard and being so good at my job so that I'll have enough money for my addiction.
fuck.

It's a loony bin to be sure, full of people with many problems, me included, but it works for me and works for many others that I know. I think at bottom it forces me to recognize something other than self (and I don't have to call it god or higher power - to me it is just "something besides me") and thereby allows me to choose less selfish behaviors. Key among them is the choice to drink to oblivion daily.

that's tough. here is the suggestion that most alcoholics in recovery would give to you - if you want to stop you will have to get a job that doesn't involve drinking and serving alcohol.

I've had withdrawls before, they suck dick, i could sleep and was like hallucinating, couldnt concentrate and i thought i was having conversations in my head while i was daydreaming, shit was fucked up. Anyone had anything similar?

Bless you user. I understand completely. You're right, key among them is the choice to drink to oblivion, which from a Freudian narrative is simply the manifestation of the Death Impulse in everyone. Or a self-directed depressive force. Or a shame-based value-system dependent self-harming influence, contingent on aspects of our ideologies we resolve a la 4th and 5th step with a wise Sponsor. Or in New Age contemporary energy-based ideological systems, it's about unhinging our own energetic static self-harming systems that align with bad-people's views of us, and shifting them to appropriately self-valuing self-growing value systems.

couldn't*

well shit.
The thing I love about my job is that it's sociable.
When I'm working I'm suddenly super good socially, when I'm not I'm fucking retarded.
Feeling like if I quit my job, I'm never finding a good job or good friends again. Currently drinking my sixth Jameson&coke for the evening

just recently started getting the shakes too.
I'm just in my twenties ffs, shouldn't have gotten that far yet

your life sucks and nobody likes you

DTs can kill you. be careful.

your perception is not reality. you feel like drinking makes you better. chances are it does not actually do that, and chances are that even if it does for a bit eventually the fucking wheels fall off. and here's another tidbit - when you stop drinking you lose some of your drinking "friends" and that's OK. and there are plenty of good jobs that don't involve drinking. and 6 whiskies never made anyone smarter, not even Churchill.

no going back to normal drinking, at least not as far as I have observed.

I'm just now starting to drink everyday, so far each day for the past three weeks i've had at least 2 pints of beer and a 5th throughout the day. I can already feel my tolerance building up now. Just got a big settlement so figured i'd tap into my irish roots and be an alchy for a while. Gotta say, it's been pretty fun, writing more music, shits more funny, i'm more sociable, i'm able to outdrink most of my friends at the bar. It's great.

That'll cause him to drink even more. His death will be on you. Also, tits or gtfo

I just know that my dad used to be a pretty hard alcoholic before he met my mother.
Now he drinks at a pretty normie rate.ยจ
still hope for being able to drink, without being alcoholic af? who knows.