Giday EH, and you are right it in my head it sounded so easy to say no but this was not the reality. I will just have one or two and before I knew it I was shit faced.

I tried many things to beat this inability to only have one or two, only beer, only wine, only spirits, never alone, only alone and the list goes on endlessly. The reality for me was once I put the grog in my system I could not stop, I had to drink as much as I could.

There are many programs on offer, personally I went the AA path but there is plenty out there SMART being one and others will come up with other suggestions.

If I may be bold enough to suggest once you have decided to use a program then commit to it, do what it suggests, remembering if you do not get the program then you either try another program or try your own.

WIshing you well G8

I tried many times to quit on my own and failed miserably each time. Having just one beer or one drink was impossible for me and I never understood why the craving to drink like a fish was so strong in me.

After hundreds of times to get my drinking under control, I knew I had to quit. The word control just didn't seem to be a word that my brain understood. There was absolutely no way I could do so without help.

I went through a drug and alcohol treatment program at our local hospital. I learned alot about my alcohol addiction. I was also required to go to AA meetings and it was at those meetings, something special happened. All I had to do was sit there and listen.

That was 7 years ago and I am happier now then I have ever been living a sober lifesthyle.

I hope you can find the path that will lead you to success just like I did.

God Bless!

Welcome endohunt,

In addition to the wonderful suggestions I had to hold myself accountable for my actions and let others know the dark place I was coming from with my drinking. I had to stay focused on where I wanted to get by not drinking and the things I needed to do to become a non-drinker. As has been said the things that help different people vary a bit in the approach, but not in the desire to stop drinking. For me, things that helped/help me to stop drinking at different points in times have changed. Good luck in finding what works for you.

There are so many things in life that don't happen next to a bar :)

Part of the reason I call myself an alcoholic is that I couldn't see them...are they looked like they were no fun ;)

P

I had a compulsion to keep drinking when I had the first one. That's why I call myself an alcoholic. I also dreamed / obsessed over when the next first drink would be.

Today I don't HAVE to drink. I pray and meet up with a few others like me and we , together help ea other stay sober.

Cmon u can too

1is2many

BEFORE, everything in my life involved alcohol. My relationships, my social life, my time.
The same was with me as it is with you: 1 always leads to 12.
The way that you are going to beat this is NOT to drink at all.
You have already tried having 1 or 2 and it does NOT work for you.
You have to be strong and tell yourself that you are done with alcohol.
Your 'friends' will offer you something and you will say something like 'I am taking a break'. They will say 'yeah right, come on, just 1'. You should say 'thanks, but no thanks. But I'll have a blah,blah, blah, How bout a rain check'? And leave it like that.
You will be able to do this.
You will feel fine again and that same 'friend' will say something like: 'so how about that drink'?
"Actually, I lost some of that weight (or whatever) and I gonna stick it out a little bit longer".
Sooner or later, you will feel confident enough to say "I quit that awhile ago, been there done that'.
It took me a lot of work, but it just takes a back bone to say no.
Also, tell yourself that you are not 'missing out' on anything by not drinking.
I am trying to give you a positive outlook on your new life.
Happy Tuesday!!!

Yes- it's difficult, if not impossible, to have ONLY one.

But it is a simple concept to "just" refuse the FIRST one.

If you don't START, you don't have to worry about STOPPING...

: D

Hello endohunt,

Unfortunately there were no people queuing up to offer a drink when I was drinking so the person I could not say no to was myself. It came to a point where no matter how hard I tried to stay sober, I would still drink. It was only when I went to an AA meeting and learned the reasons for my difficulty that it all made sense.

If you start off with one and end up drinking 12 or more your body may be suffering from an abnormal reaction to alcohol, one of the symptoms of alcoholism. Because of this reaction, one drink produces a strong craving for more and each subsequent drink increases that craving. A person who has developed this condition cannot drink safely at all and the only solution is total abstinence.

The problem then is how can you avoid taking the first drink? I don't know about you but I could not do it on my own and had to seek help.

I believe the only "normal" reaction to alcohol is for your body to fight it and try to eliminate it. The reason you drink 12 is because you have become addicted to the high and the only way you can maintain it is to continue ingesting the booze. Now you feel crappie more than you feel good. Stop feeding your body poison

Get up in the morning and do these five things everyday.

1. Pray
2. Read Spiritual literature like the Big Book or something spiritual
3. Go to meetings
4. Talk to other recovering people
5. Serve others and treat them like you would like to be treated.

All of this can take a total of no more than two hours a day and after doing for a while will become second nature and seem more like a privilege than compliance.

Once you've become secure in these fundamentals a teacher will appear to guide you through the steps, you won't want to miss this opportunity, it is ten times better than any effect alcohol could ever produce.

Way to go with your perseverance, it will serve you well on your journey.

Take care and God bless.

1is2many, Right on! This is my mantra. I don't HAVE to drink today. Not "I can't drink or I'm going to TRY to not drink".

Endo, be careful. I had so many excuses to drink, I was selling snake oil to myself!

Just saying no is not easy, and if your friends are always trying to get you to drink with them it only makes it worse. If you have to stay away from them to stop drinking, you might have to. Its a hard choice, but your life is what's important. Trying to stop at 1 won't work when the only safe number is 0.

One other idea, try replacing your drinking ritual with something slightly better: it's better to have 6 light beers than 6 OverProof Rums...if you know what I mean....begin to wean yourself.

I can totally relate ED, it really isn't easy to say no...ask yourself why you drink. Are you depressed? Does it help you deal with anxiety? Is it your confidence boost?
If you deal with the emotional issues first it may become clearer and easier to find the answers to what you need to replace alcohol with.
For instance, Alcohol helps to calm me down when I'm anxious...I need to find another way of calming myself.

The first time I tried to quit drinking, the only thing I changed was I stopped drinking. I kept my old friends and my old hangouts. I did not even know a sober place or people. I knew that they existed but I would have been bored out of my skull.

There is a saying that if you keep going to the barber shop, eventually you will get a haircut. So I had to change my playmates and playgrounds. What I discovered was that I was no longer important to them. I was no longer a part of the drinking group and we no longer had anything in common.

I just told people that I was allergic to alcohol, it made me break out all over town.

Good luck on your journey.