Alcoholism Support Group
Alcoholism is the continued consumption of alcoholic beverages, even when it is negatively affecting your health, work, relationships and life. If you think alcohol is causing you to lose control, it's time to seek help. Our group is a safe place to vent, check in, get back up if you fall, and reach sobriety.
I have had extended periods abstaining from all alcohol that have lasted as long as 4 months. But lately things have gotten worse.
For most of my drinking career, I was a binge drinker, Going 4 or 5 days with no alcohol and then getting really smashed at a party at my home or someone else's home.
For the past year I have gotten much worse and have started drinking on almost a daily basis usually a pint of bourbon or gin on my way home from work.
I have decided I must stop or will face certain brain damage, loss of memory, diabetes, and eventually a DUI.
What has worked in the past for me is to substitute a passion to lose weight and get in good shape through a daily exercise regiment and counting calories using an on line calorie counting website.
I also plan to visit this website several times a day in the beginning to maintain my committment.
I can accomplish all things through Christ who strengthens me.
For most of my drinking career, I was a binge drinker, Going 4 or 5 days with no alcohol and then getting really smashed at a party at my home or someone else's home.
For the past year I have gotten much worse and have started drinking on almost a daily basis usually a pint of bourbon or gin on my way home from work.
I have decided I must stop or will face certain brain damage, loss of memory, diabetes, and eventually a DUI.
What has worked in the past for me is to substitute a passion to lose weight and get in good shape through a daily exercise regiment and counting calories using an on line calorie counting website.
I also plan to visit this website several times a day in the beginning to maintain my committment.
I can accomplish all things through Christ who strengthens me.
I found AA and it was suggested that I was beyond human help, mine or that of anyone else. It was suggested that I rely on a Higher Power, in my case God, to remove the obsession to drink from me. I let Him and he did.
Yes, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me, but in the case of my alcoholism, I decided to let God accomplish this for me.
I see by the last line in your post that you are a spiritual person.
I am sure this is a common thing to hear from someone with alcohol problems.
I am very committed to this first step down the road to being sober.
I would like to try posting my progress and getting support from kind soles like yourself.
Thanks for your posting.
Welcome to D.S. and I genuinely hope that your approach to sobriety works out for you. Like ScarletAngel, I needed to find the help of God through AA in order to deal with alcoholism, although I considered myself a private person who figured that I could fix it on my own.
What I learned in AA is that I had an obsession of the mind where alcohol was concerned and that I would be in great danger of drinking until that obsession was removed. You can substitute many things for drinking but if you are an alcoholic it is probable that the tape will still be running in the background, telling you that a couple of drinks would do no harm. The danger is that after a period of sobriety you will have a bad day and feel low or a good day and feel like celebrating, and the message in the background will become a lot louder.
AA shows you how to turn off the tape.
The reason we go outside ourselves and seek help is that we have a track record of listening to the wrong voices in our head. The program helps us stay balanced when the whole world goes TILT.
Our friends and our sponsors give us objective feedback and they tell us when we are full of it.
But I realize that I am not going to talk you out of it, so go for it and remember we are here if you need us
Eric
I too tried the healthy regimen - eating well, hitting the gym, etc. I found that it worked only for so long - for me, that is. If it works for you, then that's amazing. But the progression of alcoholism, and it's cunning powerful and baffling ways can sneak up on us at any time.
I wish you the best of luck.