I overdid it with booze from the age of 15-40. I was having issues in the year 2012 with pain in my back. I went to the dr and my enzyme levels of my liver were three times the normal. I was dying.

I had quit for 2 years from 2008-2010 without any program or outside help. I had a bad bender on a vacation and just stopped drinking. I will say that this was the most miserable 2 years of my life. I would come home and go straight to bed and be so sad.

This time around ( 3 yrs and 4 mos.) I went to a room of aa. I was so sick that I couldnt quit. I was drinking lots and missing out on life.

I can only say that I am happy today sober. I will admit that I went to a meeting a day for basically the first 3 years. The meeting was at 430 and kept me out of the bar initially, but the thing is that I started to learn why. I have a obsession to find the first one and when I start I have a compulsion to find the rest in the whole state!!

I cannot explain how it worked but I found a group of friends that I would walk thru fire for. We lean on each other. If i have a office party at a bar. I will text one of my network when im going in and when Im leaving.

I am actually happy today. I dont HAVE to drink

it is possible if you take some action and work on the root. see the alcohol was just the mask for the underlying causes. The lack of self worth, the inferiority feeling, the feeling of less than. Those all can vanish if you work for sobriety

And know that you are not alone. There are many people with this issue. as many as 10 percent of the population. Its just that you have to treat it.

Lots of luck on your journey, this is a bit of mine but the main thing is that you need to replace the booze with something. B/c if you just stop there are so many innerforces ( the disease I call it ) that keeps pulling me back. I have a program to lean on. I couldnt have done 3 yr without it.

1is2many

You need to get to the point where you not only believe you don't have to drink, you need to believe that all alcohol is bad for you and you don't want to drink it. Try reading Allen Carr's book The Easy Way to Stop Drinking. His book got me to that point very quickly and I have no remaining urge to ingest alcohol after 45 years of nearly constant and often heavy use. Learn as much as you can about your addiction and it becomes easier to understand why alcohol is your enemy. Your deadly enemy.

I go back to step one. In addition to the suggested Carr book, I recommend the Big Book of AA. Keep it next to the toilet at home, and read it, in small doses, every day.

I'm grateful for AA because I heard horror stories from guys with 2,5,12,20 years of sobriety, went back out because they felt great and believed they could have a drink.

They were all wrong. Those that didn't come back to the program ended up dead.

Enough sense for me to know that I'll never go back.

Sounds like you are overcome with fear.

In AA they teach us to take sobriety, "One day at a time" Only worry about today because in early sobriety, it's seems to be all we can handle.

You know, 95% of the things we worry about never happen!

God Bless!

Happy Friday to you too! I get your point, it's very easy to "forget" what can happen after time and I have personally known people go back to drinking after a lot longer time in sobriety than I have.

I watch what others with the common problem do in the hope of learning what could go wrong for me too. I am not complacent.

I've not wanted to drink for over 8 years but time doesn't guarantee anything. I keep a daily check on how I am doing and what could be improved upon. It's nothing to do with drinking but a code of living and how I deal with challenges and adversity that makes a difference.

Staying away from alcohol just never lasted before for me by treating certain symptoms alone - like doing battle with the bottle - without examining the bigger picture. I have learned a lot but need to explore so much more as I go along. It's an amazing journey. For me the Alcoholics Anonymous programme and interacting face to face with others like me proved - and still proves - very effective. Different things for different situations perhaps but I only have my own journey to discuss with you. I like "a day at a time" for many reasons.

Hello jimINDY,

The answer to your question is, it depends?

I have seen many people who were totally committed to sobriety and would have bet their last cent that they would never drink again, only to be back on the bottle some time later. They had stopped drinking but had not addressed the cause of their drinking. If these people are alcoholics and they are relying purely on their willpower to fight the urge to drink they will be in great danger of failing. This is not just my opinion but the experience of countless alcoholics down through the ages. That is not to say that some alcoholics cannot get sober on willpower alone some can and many cannot.

For those who need more than willpower to achieve long term sobriety there are probably many paths to the same destination. I have not read Alan Carrs book and am starting to feel guilty about that so I will probably order a copy soon as I am intrigued by what he has to say. The only approach that I can comment on from my own experience is the one suggested by Alcoholics Anonymous. The AA approach is to bring about a change in the way of thinking so that the obsession for alcohol is removed. This means that there is no longer a constant fight against the urge to drink but instead, the problem has been removed.

The difficulty with relying purely on willpower is that when problems mount up or when there is an off day, the buzz that used to come from drinking becomes very attractive and an excuse may be found to drink again. On the other hand, if the alcohol problem has been removed the difficulties of the moment will be tackled in some other way.

Therefore, my suggestion to you is to use this honeymoon period to bring about a change of thinking. Maybe you will find the answers in Alan Carrs book or through counselling but it is important to keep an open mind and to rule nothing out. For me the solution has come from the AA programme of recovery.

How you will be in the future is not something to worry about. What choices you make today are the important ones.

I just have today to be sober.

I had had a liver biopsy while I was drinking, showing the predicted damage. After about a year sober, I had blood tests to check on the progress of the liver, and it was healed. So while I could not feel anything had been going on with my health, there was tremendous healing going on in my body. For this I was very grateful.

I had met someone in my early recovery who was not so lucky as to catch the liver destruction early, and what she went through was pretty awful, with a prognosis about as bad as a cancer diagnosis. I could see that I had escaped something, and never forgot her.


In recovery circles, it's said that the physical healing really takes two years, and I can believe that with all the various systems that get bathed in toxins while we're drinking. And of course, after 7 years, a person's cell turnover is such that we are supposed to be made of all new cells.

All I know is, staying on the sober side allowed me to see that taking a drink would be stepping back on the road to all the bad stuff again.
Now, I've lived 31 years sober, and can answer your question: yes, it gets much easier, and I don't think about drinking at all. But I do believe in the disease of addiction, and daily maintenance to grow myself spiritually, physically, and mentally is something I hope to continue the rest of my life.

I finally have long term sobriety, 649 days or 1.77 years this stretch. I first started getting sober March of 2013 and had a couple relapses but no more relapses now.

To reassure you, yes it does get a lot easier. Eventually the urges and cravings go away. Now I can walk through the liquor aisle at the Rite Aid and not feel the urge to pick up a bottle and it feels wonderful. It feels like liberation.

The thing is, you have to promise yourself and make a firm commitment with yourself that you will never ever drink again, not even just a little bit. As soon as you start drinking again it just goes right back to the point of your worst addiction. You must accept that alcohol is permanently out of your life.

It helps to develop fondnesses for nonalcoholic beverages that you can drink instead, like coffee, tea, coca-cola, tonic water, coconut water, fruit flavored seltzers, juice or energy drinks. Just get into all sorts of nonalcoholic beverages and substitute one of those which you will find you prefer after a while when there is a drinking occasion.

AA is an option you have, it helps some people a lot, other people not so much. It helped me for the year I did it but once I stopped doing it I didn't find I needed it any more. It might be good if you are in early sobriety to check out AA, because the social support and coping skills it offers are helpful. If you disagree with the dogma tho, feel free to leave. AA you can come and go, it's nice like that. And it does help a lot of people.

It does get easier. One of the tricks that I learned was to take care of my problems. If I did not know what to do, I sought counseling (not alcohol counseling) to fix what was broken. The past 4 years I have been taking Dharma classes to learn the way of the Buddha. This is of immense help for me, but you can also get help through professional psychologists. I was really F..... up. I had spend a lifetime avoiding issues simply by drinking away the unpleasant emotions. As I faced these emotions they became less powerful. What was once dragons, became smidgens over time.
I found that I could never give in to the obsession to drink. If I took the first drink the competitions takes over and we have no control over the compulsion. The compulsion is hardwired in the brain. It kicks in as soon as I have the first drink. I can atest to this. I had a drink on the airplane, when I went to bury my son in Vietnam. I had 24 years of sobriety and once I took that first drink, I had to have more. It took me several years to quit again. I now have 4 years. BTW AA was of no help for me. I did it on my on. I came to DS to always remind me that I cannot yield to the obsession.

Thanks everyone. Nice to hear the success stories and get some pointers from those who have made the long term commitment.

So...it's Friday and I'm bored as hell. Normally I'd have a nice buzz by this time. Know I'll have to find something constructive to do in order stay sober. This will be day 6. Looking forward to feeling good and waking up early on a Saturday. Thanks again for the advise.

JimINDY --- first of all if anyone tells you it is easy to stay sober, RUN!!! Run away as fast as you can. They are just a drunk waiting for a drink. The longer I am sober, the simpler it is to stay that way. I am 33 1/2 years sober now and I do it One Day at A Time, with the help of AA and my sponsor. I don't drink, I go to meetings, I got a sponsor, I work a program of recovery. Life is not easy.... things happen, good things and bad things. I drank for a long time over things. At 11 months sober I was released from the Navy after 15 1/2 years service. At 16 months sober I was living in the streets of San Diego. At 2 years sober my sponsor died of cancer. At 6 years sober I almost drank over a relationship. At 8 years sober a good friend died of cancer, followed by losing my job, having an ex say some things that hurt deep, followed by my current girlfriend committing suicide over her drug addiction. That was followed by two more deaths of close people. At almost 18 years sober my father passed. This caused conflicting emotions..... I was sad he died cause he was my father.... I was also glad he died cause he was my father. 18 months later my youngest brother died from emphysema one month before his 50th birthday and 2 months before he would have had 19 years sobriety. A year later I underwent open heart surgery while quitting smoking at the same time. 9 months later I was reunited with my youngest son after 20 years of not seeing him or knowing where he was. Through all of that.... I did not drink. Did not even think of drinking.

I was pissed off at alcohol for causing all my problems. I came to realized that after I quit drinking... I still had those problems. I suggest (I do not advise) that you get to AA meetings, get a sponsor, and start the Steps with the guidance of your sponsor.

Good luck Jim... I hope you find God and His Peace....

Bob .... aka Happy2

Congrats on day 6 Jim! These are the hardest days and it has gotten easier for me with each passing week. Friday nights were my toughest day of the week, as I usually went out and partied with friends to celebrate the end of the work week. After three months of sobriety, it's not such a big deal now.

I also made some changes in my habits to make it easier. For example, instead of going for drink of Friday night, I might go to dinner with a friend (like tonight) or eat at home and go to the gym. It's amazing the number of people working out on a Friday night instead of bellying up to a bar. The point being is I always have something planned.

As far as long term sustainability, I attend an AA meeting once or twice a week and believe this helps to supplement my work here at DS and my private efforts. Took me a couple tries to find a group that I liked, but I did find one. Practicing the 12 steps is not only a good method to stop drinking (abstinence), but also to help us work on the root causes that led us down that path to begin with (recovery).

I'm glad you're pissed out, as this will help to fortify your willpower in the early stages. To secure your long-term sobriety, you will need to do the additional work of recovery which I guarantee will change your life. It's not easy, but I know you can do it.

I have been sober over 5 years. I don't think about drinking. I don't miss it. I don't worry that I will drink again. I am a non drinker -- it is who I am and how I live. Picking up a drink now would be a conscious decision that would go against everything I have worked for over the past 5 years.

When i quit I found the first days, weeks, and months challenging. (I drank large quantities of vodka every day prior to quitting.) It got easier over time. At about 8 months I felt like I had changed from being a sober drunk who was refusing to drink, to a non drinker.

I quit on my own, and found the journey to be exhilarating, even though it was difficult at times. I used willpower in the beginning -- I had to breathe through cravings and tell myself I wasn't going to drink. But when you no longer want to drink, willpower is not required.

At least for me, and where I have been for the last several years, it is easy to stay sober. And I am not a drunk waiting for a drink.

I have about 11.5yrs sobriety (DOS 07/04/2004).

Alcohol is a non-issue in my life. I am no longer effected by alcohol. I am not tempted by the presence of alcohol, nor am I threatened by it. As it is stated on pg 85 of the Big Book of AA, "The problem has been removed".

Living a sober life is easy; it is a way of life now. I am a non-drinker, plain and simple. No struggle about it. It's just who and what I am now.

I would suggest that you try to get your head into the present not the future or the past....your doing what many would call future fucking yourself....
you have today sober it is a good thing...one day at a time...only one...the people who reply with multiple years of sobriety have lived that way every day...that today I cannot drink....that is the goal for today...that I cannot drink....I am going to bar in about two hours for fund raising concert for friend of Bill Ws who has Lyme Disease and has been bedridden for some time and needs financial help....will this threaten keeping sober being in a bar? No because many of the others there will be sober too...and I do not have to drink today...

do not put one foot in tomorrow and one foot in the past and piss all over today! Just live for today one moment at a time!