well you were 7 months sober, dont throw that away because of 1 mistake. Get up your feet an walk... ill pray for you

Ren

I hope you are alright and no serious damage was done. I know that you damaged yourself and sometimes that is the worst. Try not to over analyze what happened. It just did and now it is time to move on sober again.

It takes alot of courage to admit that you slipped. I never had the courage to admit that and I'd just stay out there drinking. I'd try to act like I was doing all the right things, but I wasn't.

Don't let the guilt and shame get you. You drank because you are an alcoholic...that's waht alcoholics do. Pick yourself up and get back in the program. Work harder to a better life of sobriety. My prayers...........

Hi linajoy, i feel for you as I know what that experience is like. I relapsed after a similar amount of sobriety and then again another twice after that.

The week before my last relapse I had done a step2 chair at my home group and been complemented on how good it was, how I had really "got" recovery etc etc. The following week I was sitting in that meeting drunk and humiliated. My pride didnt want me go there and have everyone see what had happened but I had to go back as I had no where else to go.

After that final relapse I not only accepted my powerlessness over alcohol (I had had this acceptance before but self knowledge avails us nothing) I also accepted the absolute necessity of honestly and thoroughly working the 12 step program if I intended to stay sober.

As I always say on my posts now - i am not saying that the 12 step program is a neccessity for everyone but for me I needed it.

I have now been sober for 6 years since that last relapse so it is possible for you too. As others have said it is great that you can be honest about what has happened.

Don't lose the hope, get back with the program and sobriety is possible for you as for everyone else who wants it and puts in the action.

Feel free to PM me if you would like to talk more.

shit happens.

It won't be like starting over. Having seven months will make the go easier

I am praying for you now. I'll say to you what someone said to me during my darkest hour of relapse (day before yesterday) :

It may not feel like it, but it is now when God is holding you.

I don't believe that a person is starting over. That is 7 months that you have, where your brain was healing and thinking correctly. Whoever wakes up the earliest has the most sobriety.
Learn from it and grow. Life is a learning experience,, live and learn,, Don't use.

well done 4 the 7 months thats great, really, u can get back on track, u have just enetered my world of drunk, sober , drunk, except i dont have the courage u have to go so long u wanna chat hun im always here xx

Please, don't be hard on yourself. Everyone deal with situations different. We rely on coping skills, but sometimes we get caught up with all kind of crap...then our old habit/s convince our brain that drinking or using is the solution to all our problems. (Balony).

By coming forward and acknowledging was has happen, you are back on the road to recovery. Stand firm and hold your head up high. You have nothing to be ashamed of. Tell your self that "I am a beautiful person".

my first significant amount of sobriety lasted 3 months.Amonth of that was in a treatment center.One thing I did learn was to get right back into a program of recovery right away.I did that and lasted 4 months.the next relapse was at 7 months.I tried to figure out what i was doing wrong.The fact is the only thing I was doing wrong was not doing everything I could.Then I got this awesome idea.What if I went back to AA and did all of the twelve steps.So thats what I set out to do.Even got a big book.Somehow ended up with a sponser,that wasn't part my plan.Did all the steps in about 9 months.My one year medalion says freedom on it.

Think of it like learning to ride a bike

Get back on the saddle - you no longer need to depend on the stabilisers - you know you can do it without

Good luck

I had managed to put together 14 months, When I wasnt at work, I was at the 12-Step Hall, It was my safe place, and kids ate lots of T.V. dinners. I went to so many meetings.
My Grandmother passed away in May and my aunt passed away in June. (They were the only two people in my family that hadnt disowned my sorry ass).
In July I went to an AA campout, The God Campout 800 recovering Alcoholics, Meetings going on every couple of hours, My Big Book in the bottom of my back pack, (first thing I packed). Someone I had gone up with lit up a joint. The whole weekend was a bong fest. LOL see I can laugh at it not-not then
I got back into the city, bewildered at how this could have happened. I struggled with how I could ever go back and face them (AA friends) and even if a wanted to.
Then the thought occurred to me that if I continued with the weed, it would not be long before I had a bottle in my hand. God, that scared me terribly.
I went back to AA, I was honest with them and they embraced me, encouraged me, and I found a sponsor that day, started working the steps with diligence. Ive been sober quite a few 24 hours, my life is surprisingly different now.
I gained much from that experience, thought Id share it with you, let you know I understand, I think most of us are retreads. Dont judge yourself, but learn, take with you the knowledge, put one foot in front of the other. You can do it!
HUGS!

Well that sucks. :(

Do not let this get you down, because those bad feelings will not serve you well right now. Let the bad stuff go, and keep only the good stuff (I'll get to that in a moment). :)

Did anything happen or not happen, which led you back to the bottle?

If so, learn from those warning signs, be able to recognize them, and let them serve you on your path of sobriety. Stay focused on the solution, and not on the problem.

This is not starting over because you already have seven months of experience to build upon. Let this add to your experience, not detract from it.

I hope this helps.

Andrew

Hi, its me Esther. I relapsed last nite and waking up to the fact is so hard to swallow. Lets keep the faith. Stand up and walk proud that we still have the same goal, the same thoughts regardig this disease. I've got to go to a meeting today. Little hesitation b/c it seems like every time I go to a meeting they ask me how long I've been sober. Time and time again its always "I've been sober for 1 day) Who the fuck cares I guess as long as I'm showing up to meetings. I can't look back. I'm moving forward. I CAN DO ANYTHING THROUGH GOD WHO STRENGTHENS ME. That in its of self give me hope. Lets not give up...EVER. Its doable we know this.
Please let me know if you need anything. K.
-Esther
:)

heres a thought for all who keep relapesing. When Bill and bob were both alive they would get with the person who relapsed and see what they were and werent doing. Almost always it was found that they werent doing the steps as dierected by the BB. So my question would be for you where were you at in the steps when you relapsed? Did you have a sponsor? DId you do a 3rd step decision with your sponsor and then follow it with a thorough 4th and 5th step. DI you do your hour review and then steps 6 and 7 right afterwards. DId you then go on to finish writing your 8th step that you began in your 4th step page, by the way that 8th step list is from page 67 directions, did you then review that list with your sponsor and go over how to make the approaches to the ppl you have harmed. Did you finnish all of your ammends and then began doing step 10 thru 11 every day as directed on pg 84 thru 88. Did you then take all those experiences and begin to put all those principles you learned from the above actions into all your affairs and then began to approach the still sick and suffering alcoholic in meetings to take them thru the steps for that is what the BB says in working with others will insure us and give us immunity from ever having to drink again. Now answer me those questions and if the answer is no to one or all the questions than the BB says these are the actions you need to either do or youll drink again. I know this from my own exp of being in AA in 1992 and didnt do the above actions till 2001. No wonder I kept getting drunk just like the founders who wrote the BB said would happen if I was a real alki. This illness always gets worse and it doesnt matter how long one is sober its what he or she does during that sobriety time and how one lives every day. Read the post on spiritual malady on this site I didnt write it but posted it from another site it says what we need to do.