Hello LilacBerry,

Welcome to the alcohol forum.

If you are not an alcoholic you should be able to follow through with your decision to quit without too much trouble. Willpower and determination should see you through. If however you have crossed the line into alcoholism it may require a different approach. For an alcoholic, trying to quit by cutting down is like fighting a fire by pouring gasoline on it.

When I was where you are now and everything else had failed, I went to a meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous. That was several years ago and up until tonight, I have not taken another drink.

Hi! Appreciate your honesty. Have you ever tried AA, just a meeting helps get you motivated. Hearing the stories.

Hi Lilac and welcome! I am new here too and have been trying to control my drinking for a couple of years. What has finally made me stop and reflect is the reality is if I have spent two years actively trying to control my drinking, my drinking is controlling me! I am an independent woman, successful in my career so the fact that something is controlling me does not sit well at all! Trying to learn how to stop completely and put this behind me so I can conserve my energy for more positive things! Sounds like you have the potential for a very bright future, pretty sure it will be even better without the booze! Keep making positive steps!

To katerade's point there was one passage In the AA big book that hit me and made me realize.

When I controlled it, I couldn't enjoy it and when I enjoyed it, I couldn't control it.

Stay here and ask your questions. Whether you want to slow down or quit there are a lot of good resources here.

Thank you for telling your story. It sounds similiar to me as how I started out trying to curb, cut down, temper off etc. my drinking. I learned for me that I could not do that as one drink was what the problem was. That one drink on Monday night and then two on Wednesday led to a count that cannot be counted on Friday, then Saturday noon came around and I drank again like there was no enough liquor left in the world. By Sunday I was finished forever with drinking. But, the cycled continued with that first drink on Monday night, wine was generally that first drink. I tried will power, meditation, vegan diet, two forms of exercise daily, service work, etc. and I could not control it, alcohol took over once ingested and I was out of control. You might be a heavy drink and not an alcoholic. I was not a daily drinker. I never got in trouble with drinking, lost a job, a relationship, etc. I did lose my soul. There is no control if you are a alcoholic, there is no tempering of drinking, there is abstinence and with that comes freedom. In the Big Book of AA it tells us that willpower will do us no good. That it simply will not work on alcohol. If you cannot control the drinking, then please do yourself a favor and attend AA meetings every week, just check it out, you might be surprised before your halfway through.

I read all of the amazing replies to your post regarding your attempts to curb your drinking. Great wisdom from those who have experienced similar problems. But only you can decide when you have had enough are through with your addiction. Praying that it will be soon before you waste any more of your precious life.

I think you guys are so brave for reaching out to this help forum.

I read all of the amazing replies to your post regarding your attempts to curb your drinking. Great wisdom from those who have experienced similar problems. But only you can decide when you have had enough and are through with your addiction. Praying that it will be soon before you waste any more of your precious life..