Sounds like me a year ago. I finally just was sick of being sick and tired. Find a room full of ppl that have been exactly where you are right now. I found a bunch of ppl that are just like me and we help each other get well. I love my life now. my last drink was june 9,2012

You can do it as well. I just couldnt do it alone. Prayers from here!!

1is2

Just keep things simple and take it day by day. You will need to avoid drinking buddies, drinking situations and the places where you used to drink.

Do those things today and don't worry about tomorrow until it arrives.

I think that is a great idea! Six months is not all that long. You aren't going to miss out anything by not drinking at a party, having wine with dinner, beer while watching the Super Bowl or anything else. If you can't keep this commitment to yourself to not drink for 6 months, then I agree with you, that you have lost control.

Go for it!

Forgot to add -- at the end of six months you can do an honest assessment on whether drinking is worth the hangovers and all the rest of it. You might find that being sober is a pretty great way to live and stay sober, or you might decide to go back to drinking occasionally. On the downside, you might find that if you start drinking again it gets back out of hand. But that is six months from now. First things first -- and that is not drinking today.

Hello OLA1123,

I hope that I am wrong but I fear that your way of dealing with the problem will not work. What makes you think that anything will be different in six months?

A lot depends on where you are at present. If you can have a couple of drinks and stop at that why not continue to enjoy those drinks? However, if you find that you want more once you start drinking and that you end up drinking more than you had planned to drink then it may be that alcohol does not agree with you and that you would be wise to quit drinking. If this is the case, putting it off for six months is not going to solve your problem.

I am an alcoholic but there were times when I stopped drinking for up to six weeks. The last time I tried to do that I found that I could no longer do it so my only option was to quit. If I had decided to never drink again I probably would find that very hard to handle so what I did was to not drink TODAY.

If you look honestly at your drinking and find that you are unable to control it, the best time to get sober is not tomorrow but TODAY.

Thanks very much guys! Really appreciate it

Hi OLA1123, consider how long alcohol has been a problem to you so far, how many honest attempts you might have made not to drink or swear off, how you may have tried to stop before and ask yourself if you are going to employ the same power or remedy again during the hoped for 6 months of abstinence.

Weigh that against going to AA now if you think you are alcoholic.

My opinion is of little use and I do not know anything about your drinking history but in my experience I left it far too long before seeking the help that worked best for me. I need not have suffered so long but that's me.

I'm new to this so I won't claim to be an expert. But, six months sounds like a long time. My therapist suggested I start with a month. Baby steps ... just for today, just for this month.

I'm going to try that and see how I feel without the dulling and the hangovers.

OLA, I suggest going to an AA meeting.

I know you have that as your "if you can't complete the 6 months of abstinence, but what does it hurt to go?"

What work are you doing in your six months to make sure you can drink in moderation? I enjoy the shares by the people at my AA meeting.

I'm 4 months alcohol-free. I assure you, after a couple of visits, you will feel as comfortable as sitting around in a bar with drinkers.