Awesome post Jayus. So day one it is. Try not to put too much importance on "day 1." I used to do that and somehow my crazy booze brain could rationalize drinking on day 2 if I made it through day 1. So strange, but I'm sure I don't have to explain that such crazy rationalizations is part of the struggle. Everyone reading this can relate. Anyways, do something good today that makes you feel better. Tell a family member how much they mean to you. Talk to someone who is lonely etc....These things give me a buzz much like the booze did. The days will add up on their own....we just need to make sure we change our lives and stop the narcissism, which I believe is the driving force of an alcoholic.

The terrible thing that got me to stop drinking was that I realized that i could not think of life without drinking. That scared me. I realized that I had the power to quit and I did.

Hello JAYUS,

Up until today I have never hit the sort of rock bottom that some people experience in the sense that a lot of bad things that have happened to other alcoholics have not happened to me yet. However, once I went to AA and learned a little about alcoholism I realized that where drinking is concerned there is practically no difference between me and the person sleeping rough on the park bench with a bottle wrapped in a paper bag. It is just that the guy in the park either did not want to get help or did not get it in time whereas I was somehow guided to a room where there were people who had recovered from the same problem.

Dont get too carried away by the fact that you have not progressed as far as other people because if you keep drinking there will be a spare spot on that park bench for you too. I had not hit rock bottom but I KNEW without a shadow of a doubt that the game was up. It took a while longer to admit that I am an alcoholic and longer still to ACCEPT the reality of where I was. It looks like you are now at the admitting stage but have not yet accepted that you cannot drink safely. Accepting is not just about words but is something that requires action. I cannot tell you what to do but what I had to do (once I got over the poor me) was to becoming willing. I became willing to humble myself and to ask someone for help as I could not do it on my own.

Other peoples drinking stories were of little use to me and even the horrors of my own drinking became buried in some deep recess of the mind, with the thought that maybe it wasnt really that bad. I learned that where alcohol is concerned I suffered from a form of insane thinking that left me defenceless against picking up the first drink. My thinking is different today and I can have sound judgement regarding alcohol. I could have continued with the endless struggle against the urge to drink, thinking that it will be different this time but it was suggested that I could try a different approach. Up until today, that suggestion has worked and if I stay on that course, those yets need never happen. Maybe you need to try something different too.

I like what both Claudia Black and AA say on the subject. For myself I got sober at a very early age and the real kicker was understanding how I drink and what happened when I drank. On another hand My oldest brother died at 66 this past January a very well respected and very successful trial lawyer, father and acclaimed deep sea fisherman.The reason being he wore his body out from being a high functioning Alcoholic.

I could go on and on after being sober for such a long time and knowing the ins and outs of so many others Ive been close over the years. But I think in so may ways the similarities far outweigh the differences i may have wanted to use in early sobriety to justify my lack of urgency on the question of am I or can I get up and continue one more time!! Or would it be better to just make my bottom where I was at at this time and leave it at that! Not having to do any redos as a sober person has kept the momentum in the forefront of my sober life without any questions about how I drank or presented myself to myself with the drink question, As my Buddy spiritual Dan whos been missing in action now for so many years used to say ," Only you will know for yourself": Now get BusY))

Among today's incoming A.A. members, many have never reached the advanced stages of alcoholism, though given time all might have.

Most of these fortunate ones have had little or no acquaintance with delirium, with hospitals, asylums, and jails. Some were drinking heavily, and there had been occasional episodes. But with many, drinking had been little more than a sometimes uncontrollable nuisance. Seldom had any of these lost either health, business, family, or friends.

Why do men and women like these join A.A.?

The seventeen who now tell their experiences answer that question. They saw that they had become actual or potential alcoholics, even though no serious harm had yet been done.

They realized that repeated lack of drinking control, when they really wanted control, was the fatal symptom that spelled problem drinking. This, plus mounting emotional disturbances, convinced them that compulsive alcoholism already had then; that complete ruin would be only a question of time.

Seeing this danger, they came to A.A. They realized that in the end alcoholism could be as mortal as cancer; certainly no sane man would wait for a malignant growth to become fatal before seeking help.

Therefore, these seventeen A.A.'s, and hundreds of thousands like them, have been saved years of infinite suffering. They sum it up something like this: "We didn't wait to hit bottom because, thank God, we could see the bottom. Actually, the bottom came up and hit us. That sold us on Alcoholics Anonymous."



" It Will Never Happen to Me" is a line spoken by all who have been raised in a family where one or both parents have a problem with addiction. In addictive families most children move through adolescence appearing to survive the problems and hardships of life. They abide by the laws Don't Talk, Don't Trust, Don't Feel. As resilient as children are, their survival techniques frequently contribute to a variety of problems in adulthood among them depression, inability to maintain intimate relationships, marrying an addict, or becoming addicted.
While continuing to recognize alcohol as the primary addiction within families, this 2nd edition of It Will Never Happen to Me broadens the concepts to include addictive disorders such as other drugs, money related addictions, food disorders, relationship, sex and work addictions and expands upon the family rules and roles, family violence and shame.

Changing Course is the sequel to It Will Never Happen to Me, and is specific to any and all family issues impacted by chronic loss that emanates from physical or emotional abandonment. Whether your family life was too chaotic, rigid, enmeshed or disconnected you endured abandonment experiences. As a result, your world-view has been colored by chronic loss that still dictates how you live your life today. In this book Claudia offers a framework for understanding the recovery and healing process from childhood family pain that has carried forward in your life and she will help you to understand the beliefs and behaviors

Claudia Black


Billy

one mooore thing:)))

http://quotes.justdharma.com/

Good luck! I hope you are able to stay sober. As others here have probably already said, I would recommend AA meetings. I found ones online that have been helpful.

Today is another day #1 for me - I went 12 days without alcohol and then drank a little on the 13th day but last night (day 14) I basically drank a whole bottle of wine.

I am trying hard to stop because of the stupid and sometimes dangerous things I do when I'm drunk. The negative impact these actions have is damaging my relationship with my wife and I don't want to lose her.

So good luck - we're all in this together.

Rich

The brain that got me into this problem was not prepared to get me out of it. I needed help. I couldn't quit without help.

My neighbor called me last week. Her husband had hit the bottle heavy and she thought he was dying as he was talking incoherently, his eye were buggin out of his head and he was extremely sick. She asked me to come talk to him. I went there for her and didn't go for him. When asked why, I asked back, Have you ever tried talking sense to a drunk?" Case closed. So he was throwing up periodicly and every time he stopped throwing up, he would reach for his vodka and take another drink! Common sense would tell me that if something I am drinking is making is making me ill, I would stop drinking it! Nope! Not to an alcoholic.

I gave her what little support I could and went home. After giving him a couple of days to get over his hangover I spoke to him about it. Told him how worried his wife was and how sick he really was and he did what I use to do...Minimized and lied. He said he only had a couple of drinks but must have drank on an empty stomach. I said ya ok, it's your life.and death and it's not how I choose to go.

I went through detox, followed by an IOP followed by 3 months of relapse prevention group counciling. Throughout all the treatment, AA meetings were mandatory and I still attend them today, 7 years later!

I am happier now then I have ever been but I wouldn't be that way had I not received all the help. One thing I learned is that there are alot of people willing to help but you can't be afraid to ask.

God Bless!

I could not get and stay sober on my own. -1is2many

This is real. All those things you don't want to happen will happen. My 1st day was 7 days ago...I had 8 years..and started drinking again after quitting my job in March of 2014...I ended up on IVs last week in hospital - dehydration and vitamin deficient.

When I drink...I don't eat, shower or associate with anyone. it is a progressive disease...wherever you are now...will get worse. I promise....So I pray this Day 1 is your last...but if it isn't..don't give up.

Jayus,

Sending prayers for you.

Thank you everyone for your support. I have survived Day 1, and although I did do the normal "I can just start Day 1 tomorrow" and "I'll only have a couple" last night........they were only thoughts and I didn't put them into action, so day 1 sober was a success!!

Feeling good today and going to work out a plan so that I can try to make this sustainable. Thanks for all the great posts!

I know what you mean about not learning from seeing other people's mistakes. I watched my sister drink herself to a horrible death. And I kept drinking. Every time she went to the ICU including the last time when she bled to death internally, I was drinking myself to a blackout stupor.

You have to stop for you. It sounds like you are in that place where you are tired of the what drinking has done to you and where you know it will end up taking you.

Congrats on Day 1. Keep going, it is worth it, and you are worth it.

I'm so like you in where you today . My life is pretty good for the most part- I have a great loving family, awesome husband, great job , etc. but I feel I'm not who I want to be because of my drinking . I'm ashamed of myself and who I've become in my 5 years of drinking heavily. Nobody would think that about me because on the surface i dont seem like that. i only drink at home and look like a social drinker in public. I don't do anything really bad but
I would feel so bad to my three boys and my husband if I got seriously sick from all the drinking .
I hope you success ! I'm on day one too !

Ok...Jayus! Where are you check in? If you drank its ok..just keep trying and communicating about it...if you hold it in..it has more power.

Hey all so I made it through 5 days and failed during the super bowl. Thought I'd just have a couple, as always. I'm a little disappointed because the first 5 days seemed easy....too good to be true.

I have to say that drinking one day out of six wouldn't be so terrible as an ongoing thing...but I still don't like to feel like I can't drink like a normal person. I need to address the issue....whatever that may be. I wasn't upset or stressed out yesterday. I just had that same insane idea that I could just have a few, get a little buzz and go to sleep. Turned into having 8 and only getting 5 hours of sleep.

Looks like this problem isn't going to go away on its own. Thank you everyone for your posts. Back on the wagon today!!