Hello Gratefulee,

What you are experiencing is quite normal among people who have had a sober period. It leads many back to drinking and they find out once again just how bad their problem really is. Some of those people will make it back and others will go on a downward spiral from which it is very difficult to escape. You don’t have to go through that painful experience but you will have to be very vigilant in order to avoid it.

First of all, although when I was drinking, I always built up the weekend as something special, in truth it is not different to any other day. Therefore, if I can stay sober on Monday or Wednesday, why not Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

You need to be fully committed to sobriety but it is also helpful to know the exact reasons why you cannot drink safely and why one drink will lead to many more. If you have not done so already I would urge you to spend a good part of your weekend listening to the two gentlemen at the link below. For some reason the link is not clickable on DS so you will need to copy and paste it into your search engine.

https://youtu.be/phHXCn25MmY

Thank you, PJ54. I did start to listen to the link the other night when you first sent it. I wanted to "save" it for when I really needed it. Probably this weekend will be when I really need it. Do you (or anyone out there) know anything about the drug Anabuse (not sure if I'm spelling it correctly) to help with cravings? I would think that if it worked, everyone would be on it. Just wondering though if anyone had any experience or knowledge on that. Thank you in advance.

I have no experience of Antabuse but it is a drug that makes people sick if it is combined with alcohol. I believe that it works for some people but not for others. Unless the person is committed to sobriety he or she will find a way to drink. Your doctor is the best person to advice you on Antabuse and other such drugs.

Here is a piece from Drugs.com: Note the bit at the end where it suggests behaviour modification. Antabuse is a short term solution at best.

Sorry, I didn't copy the bit from Drugs.com. Here it is:

What is Antabuse?
Antabuse (disulfiram) blocks an enzyme that is involved in metabolizing alcohol intake. Disulfiram produces very unpleasant side effects when combined with alcohol in the body.
Antabuse is used in certain people with chronic alcoholism. This medicine can help keep you from drinking because of the unpleasant side effects that will occur if you consume alcohol while taking Antabuse.
Antabuse is used together with behavior modification, psychotherapy, and counseling support to help you stop drinking. This medicine is not a cure for alcoholism.

Thank you for that information. I have an appointment with my GP next week - I will ask him what he thinks also.

This is the usual issue that happens. Once the drinking is stopped the little idea that ... maybe it wasnt so bad... or maybe it will be different... or I was too quick to make the decision that Im not compatibile with booze (alcoholic) and so I would be feeling better and I would jump back on the merry go round. For me it was always the same result. I would drink too much and then I would begin the self hate and shame and remorse and HAVE to drink more to feel better. Well that is the insanity part of this thing. Doing the same thing and expecting a different result.

The way for me to get better was to plan on not drinking one day at a time. I dont get too upset on forever or 'that wedding' or 'this weekend' I just make plans not to bend my elbow today. Also I have made many friends in my meetings and have learned lots about the root of the disease of alcoholism.

So if you find that you are needing help that is the vital step to getting sober. Because I just couldnt have done it alone. I tried many, many , many times

1is2many

I just joined today as well. I started a different thread about losing my mom to alcohol. She passed away 10/14 and I just got home from her funeral. She lived in OK and I live in MN.

I drank every day for a long time and then limited it to days when i didn't work the next day. It hasn't been enough.

I understand getting bored completely. My wife is content to drink once a year and it seems like I need to be drunk to enjoy anything at all.

Your son needs a sober mom to be his role model! Everything you say and everything you do reflects back onto him. You can help your son simply by the life you live so try to stop punishing yourself with alcohol.

The path that you take to get there is irrelevant as long as it takes you to the same sober place, where you can be who God intended you to be, a loving, caring, and forgiving mom, but first you need to forgive yourself. The 12 steps of AA will help you do that and will help you get rid of the underlying issues that trigger your drinking.

I was never able to stop on my own and it wasn't until I lost everything dear to me that I knew I needed help. I went through an outpatient treatment program followed by group counseling followed by AA. I remember my first aa meeting where I shared my fears of my broken life and broken heart and the older members told me all I had to do was just stay sober. That, I could handle. So I trusted in their prophetic message to me and like magic, the pieces of my life were coming back together again. I would here similar stories at AA meetings and I was told it's the AA Promises being realized in our lives! My AA sponser use to tell me that good things happen to those who quit drinking and I found that to be true.

So if you want to quit drinking and create a better life for yourself, I would suggest you get help like I did. AA helped me when I got a sponser and did the steps. It gave me a life second to none and I have never been happier!

God Bless!

I know this is not AA but I used to go to AA meetings on the weekends. At the very least I didn't drink in the meetings and I lived two hours away from the meetings. I think it helps to keep to connect with this group every day too.

There is a book called, "Living Sober." which gives practical suggestions on what to do when you want to drink. I bought mine on Kindle.

As far as withdrawals are concerned, I hope I don't scare people off but when I first stopped drinking, I developed a bald spot. My hair eventually grew back and I ignored it. But it showed me how much alcohol was running my life and I didn't hide it. I was glad in a way because it reminded me on a daily basis what alcohol was doing.

You are not alone. The trick is to find a recovery program that you can work with.

Hugs, Koyu

Hi Gratefulee and welcome to this board! One of the most important things I heard in AA, was "you don't have to drink if you don't WANT to". It was like an epiphany. I needed vodka like others needed air. I went to a psych hospital for detox and 30 days of outpatient treatment. The last 24 years haven't exactly been a walk in the park but not a day in my recovery goes by without me being so grateful that I got to raise my kids ( 8 & 11 when I stopped drinking). There are many things I could do on my own but I needed help to learn how to live sober. That's where the 12 Step program of AA came in. Again, welcome and if you need additional support, myself and many other women will be glad to help you. Warm wishes, Dianna

Hello all - thank you so much for all of your warm wishes and suggestions. Well, it's Sunday night and I made it through the weekend without drinking. I kept busy and was fine. Maybe a little urge here and there but nothing I couldn't handle. I am sure it isn't always going to be this easy and I'm going to have my urges that are going to be stronger. Waking up sober is what's driving me right now though. What a great feeling to wake up sober every morning. I got so much "stuff" done this weekend that I wouldn't normally get done because either I was already drinking for the day or I was hungover. I am so thankful just for these 6 sober days.... thank you all and I hope everyone had a grateful weekend as well....

Hi & welcome Gratefulee! I'm new here as well and new to being sober again. My sobriety date is 8/12/16. I attend AA meetings daily... Normally.
I'm still looking for a sponsor because I want to stay sober and a sponsor walks those they are sponsoring through the steps and it is whom to call if struggling to stay sober, ect.

Have you ever considered sitting in AA meetings, daily for 90 days at see if AA is right for you?
I suggest that you do, if you haven't done so yet.
If or when you find that AA is right for you I strongly suggest finding a sponsor (or even a temporary sponsor) and start working the steps. Hugs!

Hello Lexilynn! I have not attended AA meetings as yet. I did, however, purchase and started reading a book called "30-Day Sobriety Solution" and so far it is really inspiring! Today is day 6 of being sober for me. I feel really good about it and am feeling very positive. Today. This site definitely helps. So many people are so caring and giving and offer great suggestions/advice. I'm very thankful to have found this site. Thank you for your response.

Congratulations on 6 days sober Gratefulee! And I do hope the way that you have been achieving your success continues , however if you change your mind and decide that you could use a little extra support... AA is there for you : )

(Or if the current way fails, AA will be there for you. You don't *have* to try out all the different ways of staying sober that some found worked first... But that's entirely up to you.

Most people try a bunch of other methods before entering AA, but found that none of those ways worked.

This is my first day, and I was hiding vodka bottles in the basement. I would wake up in the middle of the night or early morning and have a few drinks. I usually just drink beer but my husband noticed differences in me when I drank vodka. I have to just go cold turkey on my drinking, I've tried cutting down and it works for a couple days and then I binge drink. I hate being addicted.