No I wouldnt call it relapse just a break you happened to take. I could go long long periods like I did over a year before I quite the last time.

Its the first drink opens floodgates for me. I cant seem to stop when I drink.
Yet the times I only had one are out there too. But the one constantly was followed maybe ten days later by more than I needed for sure.

The plug going in jug means keeping it in jug. The party is over. The consequences have taken the fun out of drinking. So why pick up one more? That only is the engine of the next frikkin train of drinking you or I would ride for as long as seemed right. But right is not to drink that first one!

My sobriety began as a result of an accident at work. (not my fault). I had serious injuries that required surgery and a long recovery. My PT was amazing. The pain from nerve damage was constant and I was drinking to numb everything. After two months she told me that my physical recovery was up to me. Not the surgeons or P therapy, me. That’s what made the click in my mind. Change only happens when we create desire to change.
I’m coming up on 30 months and I haven’t slipped once. I feel lucky (even though there’s permanent damage) that I had such a big wake up call. I look back and realize that I may not have been able to quit without the searing pain as a guide.
Short of broken bones you need to drive home the concept that you are playing for keeps with your life. No one can do the work for you.
So you’re at day one with ten days of practice behind you. Today you know better. More than you knew yesterday. Pay attention to the lessons that come and give thanks. Everyday!!! It’s important to do that. I say it out loud on my daily walk because I wouldn’t be free without the guidance I was given.
There is a vast space in our minds when we open ourselves to it. Addictions keep that narrowed down to a tunnel. Want to be happy? Get out of the dark and embrace the light.

Don’t call it anything. Start at Day 1 and get going again. Don’t look back. Just look ahead.

Imissme,

You didn’t have a relapse. That infers you have a disease you don’t have control over, like a cancer that came back.

You chose to drink because you wanted to get high. Everyone here who is trying to help you went through the same trials. Just admit it to yourself.

When you are truly done and want this to end, it will. But right now you seem to want to be manipulated by your addiction because it allows you to keep drinking.

You can starve that addiction to death, if you truly want to. It cannot feed itself. It has to tweak your head and central nervous system in order to get you to physically pick up a drink and pour it down your throat.

You want freedom? Choose never again. Every time your mind wanders into rationalizing a drink, think about how horrible you will feel the next day. Dream about starving that monster inside you to death. You have that power. Did you read any of my other posts directed to you and go to rational.org and read up on AVRT? Or go to YouTube and search for videos posted by people who tell their story on how they quit drinking?

You have to be willing to do whatever it takes to get past this. Become an expert on every theory on beating alcohol, whether it be 12 Step AA or Rational Recovery, or any of the other philosophies out there. The internet is amazing, but you have to take responsibility for your addiction and start working at it. Nobody on here can do that for you.

Throw those chains of self induced slavery off you today.

Choose freedom, choose never again!

PuckChaser

Hi, I went 11 days and then I drank. I read the posts, but do not comment very often. I started on this site prob 14 months ago. I listen very carefully to what everyone says. It is very insightful. But...again I am on day 3...

I dug up an old post that might help you out. It helped me in the beginning when I was going through group counseling:

https://www.dailystrength.org/group/alcoholism/discussion/factors-associated-with-relapse

Ps: I’m proud of you for your honesty. That’s what will liberate you.
When we tell the truth good things happen. Especially when we tell it to ourselves.

in a strange way, these relapses, whether at one day, ten or 100, are teaching lessons for us. most have many before we truly understand the hold alcohol and drugs have on our lives.

my many relapses have helped to fortify my sobriety today because I know how hard it is to quit and never want to be at the mercy of my addiction again.

don't despair, but learn from this experience and let it give you strength and understanding the next time you have an impulse or craving to drink.

Very grateful to be here! Day 3 and counting. Am keeping my sights close, as some said the idea of never drinking again right now is too daunting, but I remember 30 years ago thinking how can I possibly live without cigarettes? And now I can't imagine smoking one of those!

Puckbuck ? nice insights and I too was nicely inspired by yours as well as other posters on here! I was trying to find a sight I stumbled upon b4 but landed here, want to find ppl who quit drinking and now obsess about working out, teasing only a little.

I need that physical outlet and commitment (can't drink everyday and workout, its an either or for me) Working out helps me to stay in touch with my body and relive stress...…..of course I haven't done it in over a decade now! lol aka...been doing some drinkin.

I am assembling my tool box though to make a change and you all are a part of it! The more tools I have, the better.

I have some big cravings as I drank daily but alone so no friends to give up!
Never went to bars so won't miss that. I bought Tequila and brought it home and drank alone as I never really enjoyed being around people who drank.

I learned about cravings diminishing from the American Lung Association when I quit cigarettes years ago, I remembered her saying today it feels like you are this small and your desire to smoke is this big but every minute you don't smoke those circles change in size until finally you are the big circle and this addiction is the small one and she was so right.

So right now my cravings feel huge and intense, like labor pains. I try to be mindful and change whatever I am doing very quickly to distract my brain and reduce my mental pressure and it works. The 'wave' passes and I know my circle just got a little bigger and that Tequila circle just got smaller!

Weird thing, when I quit cigs I had to plan it out first as I was still smoking, then pick a date, have my tool box ready, clean out my house of all ash trays, cigarettes, lighters.....triggers.....ect.

When stopping Tequila I needed to have a full unopened bottle here at my house! Weird, I think but mentally I needed it. Now that my first few days are over I could remove it or not, its not that important anymore. I do realize it could spell trouble for me later on and I will think about that. I just found it odd the different mental approaches to those two addictions that made me comfortable.

I remember a woman from my smoking cessation group who said she needed to have a full pack of cigarettes in her house in order for her to feel comfortable enough to quit. Curious about anyone else's thoughts.

It took me almost an hour to get logged on here, in part bc I am terrible at picking a name! Big stumper for me and I landed on PBR, lol not Pabst Blue Ribbon, but Professional Bull Riders, equally as dumb, Just sayin I like all yours and I appreciate the open support here. Nice people.

Thanks! (sorry got too wordy...brand new and all, less later)

PBR2,

Welcome. Working out is great. Unfortunately for me my gym is still closed during this quarantine and have put weight on. Ugh. I miss the release that lifting provides, and it grants me the solitude to think on matters of my business or personal relationships. (I don’t socialize in the gym). I also still play ice hockey, but the rinks are closed too.

Quitting nicotine was waaayyy harder for me, so if you did that you can crush booze.

If you need help understanding where your urges come from, I suggest going to rational.org and looking at AVRT. You can also do a search for it on YouTube. Having already beat nicotine, you should easily understand the philosophy.

Best of luck and keep coming back!

Choose Freedom, Choose never again!

PuckChaser

Good question. You can look at it this way if you want to. What did you do in that 10 day span? Did you learn of alcoholism and why it seems to control you into having to drink? Did you accept that you are an alcoholic, have no power over it on your own, and need a solution outside of yourself to help you treat it? Did you have any real power over not taking that drink when you did after 10 days?

I have been sober for several years, I have not had a relapse during that time period. I did have two periods earlier in my life that went 11 months each time. During those 11 month periods I was treating my alcoholism and did acknowledge I might need help with being who I was. That person was someone who would twist off and drink despite all my loved ones and others telling me I was not to.

My point is for me it is only a lapse if I have gained knowledge of what the problem is, what it did to me, why it did it to me, what it does to others, and who can help me. If I do not have any answers for that, or if I have not done the work to gain the knowledge of a solution, I cannot relapse, because to relapse implies that I have gone from a problem period into a solution period and then back into the problem period.

The 10 days for you might have been solution driven, and solution orientated, so it is your choice if you relapsed or not, that's the great principle of AA, you get to decide once you can admit you are controlled by alcoholism and need a higher power for help.

I hope that makes sense.

How are you doing imissme? Just a little reminder to keep the window of opportunity open. You opened it and are the only one who can close it too.