...whether your still a practicing alcoholic or recovering alcoholic. If you have some experience, strength and hope to share please do so....this board doesn't get much action...would love to hear from other alcoholics about how they're doing it. Peace & Serenity, VWGirl
VWGirl, I think alot of ppl are afraid to share if they don't have alot of clean time...i personally think that if i know something that may help another, i will share it...even with just 3 weeks or 3 days....sometimes we may have information that will help someone else, no matter where we are
I am not ready to quit drinking! I know I want to at times, but I dont want to have to quit completely. I keep trying to proove to myself that I can drink within control, but the truth is, I can't. I can somtimes, but other times not. My new thing is that I have been drinking ONLY on Saturdays. Ok that's fine, but by the time Saturday comes, I am so excited, I just drink my face off and waste my whole day Sunday being hungover. I wait and think about Saturday when I can have a drink, (or two,or ten) ALL week. It sucks, I dont want to have to quit drinking, because it is a real good social thing. I enjoy it a lot, but I just dont want it to be a neccesity! I get much out of AA and I cant even bring myself to say that I'm an alcoholic. I dont want to be!!!!!!!! Well, that's my sharing thing for the day, i'm sorry it cant be more positive. I'm still very confused right now.
Hello Mupmup,
I was the same once I didnt want to stop drinking completley,
I thought what is left in life for me if I cant drink, So I decided to stop for 6 mths keep everyone happy where saying you are drinking far to much including my doctor,
I done my 6 mths and then broke the news to my mates "Im Back" but only drinking light beer and not so often, like you I said saturdays only, and did I make a pig of my self on those few saturdays, I started with the light beer, then to help the light beers on I would knock down a few bourbons etc,
I stopped for 6 mths started again, and really it doesnt work sorry to say Mupmup, I ended up drinking heavier than I ever had done more often than I ever had done, till I have stopped again this time for good.
The time period of starting on the light beers only on saturdays to getting my s*** together and really being serious about stopping and doing was 6 years!
Like I was saying I would think if I cant drink what the hell have I got to live for, I work hard pay my bills on time surely I can have a beer on a hot day !
Now I am nearly 6 mths off it again and for good this time, at the beginning I found it hard to fill in time when I usally would be drinking ,at pub etc,
Now there isnt enough time in the day for me, you will find other things to keep you busy, I took up reading books, which I thought was a waste of time when I was drinking, yeah a waste of drinking time! Now I enjoy reading, not saying thats all I do!
Mupmup only you will know when its really your time to give it away forever,
Sorry bout rambling on,
Take Care Ginge
I was the same once I didnt want to stop drinking completley,
I thought what is left in life for me if I cant drink, So I decided to stop for 6 mths keep everyone happy where saying you are drinking far to much including my doctor,
I done my 6 mths and then broke the news to my mates "Im Back" but only drinking light beer and not so often, like you I said saturdays only, and did I make a pig of my self on those few saturdays, I started with the light beer, then to help the light beers on I would knock down a few bourbons etc,
I stopped for 6 mths started again, and really it doesnt work sorry to say Mupmup, I ended up drinking heavier than I ever had done more often than I ever had done, till I have stopped again this time for good.
The time period of starting on the light beers only on saturdays to getting my s*** together and really being serious about stopping and doing was 6 years!
Like I was saying I would think if I cant drink what the hell have I got to live for, I work hard pay my bills on time surely I can have a beer on a hot day !
Now I am nearly 6 mths off it again and for good this time, at the beginning I found it hard to fill in time when I usally would be drinking ,at pub etc,
Now there isnt enough time in the day for me, you will find other things to keep you busy, I took up reading books, which I thought was a waste of time when I was drinking, yeah a waste of drinking time! Now I enjoy reading, not saying thats all I do!
Mupmup only you will know when its really your time to give it away forever,
Sorry bout rambling on,
Take Care Ginge
Hello VWGirl.
A couple of the things I remember hearing when I first came to AA and are still important to me today are. And these are not in the Big Book they came from people who had been around a while before I got here.
1... If you sit in the barbers chair long enough you will get a hair cut Meaning when your new to recovery.If you start hanging around the Bars, we call them Pubs. Hotels, Clubs that sell alcohol .theres a good chance you may pick up a drink. So try and avoid them for the first few months.
Ask yourself before you go in.Do I have any business being in there? I still do the same today if I dont have a reason for being in there. Like seeing a show with family or friends .Or going to have a meal with family or friends. etc I dont go in. There are many more venues that cater for such things.
2... No new Relationships for the first year. Any relationship is as only healthy as the people in them. I have seen the wreckage that has been caused buy people jumping straight into a relationship with another recovering alcoholic. We are at or most venerable when we first come into recovery. Get yourself well first .And if your married work on that relation ship.
Ask yourself if I get into a relationship is there any chance that one of us or both of us may drink if things go wrong. It could be the death penalty. Someone said a relationship between two new recovering alcoholics is like two Garbage Trucks colliding. My life is unmanageable come share it with me.
These are only suggestions .There will be those who say. But you dont understand my case is different. O/K?.
I have a few more if you want to hear them let me know. If not let me know.
God Bless Lionelc
A couple of the things I remember hearing when I first came to AA and are still important to me today are. And these are not in the Big Book they came from people who had been around a while before I got here.
1... If you sit in the barbers chair long enough you will get a hair cut Meaning when your new to recovery.If you start hanging around the Bars, we call them Pubs. Hotels, Clubs that sell alcohol .theres a good chance you may pick up a drink. So try and avoid them for the first few months.
Ask yourself before you go in.Do I have any business being in there? I still do the same today if I dont have a reason for being in there. Like seeing a show with family or friends .Or going to have a meal with family or friends. etc I dont go in. There are many more venues that cater for such things.
2... No new Relationships for the first year. Any relationship is as only healthy as the people in them. I have seen the wreckage that has been caused buy people jumping straight into a relationship with another recovering alcoholic. We are at or most venerable when we first come into recovery. Get yourself well first .And if your married work on that relation ship.
Ask yourself if I get into a relationship is there any chance that one of us or both of us may drink if things go wrong. It could be the death penalty. Someone said a relationship between two new recovering alcoholics is like two Garbage Trucks colliding. My life is unmanageable come share it with me.
These are only suggestions .There will be those who say. But you dont understand my case is different. O/K?.
I have a few more if you want to hear them let me know. If not let me know.
God Bless Lionelc
Hi Mupmup.
While reading your post and you mentioned only drinking on Saturdays it reminded me of something from the Big Book Alcoholics Anonymous. On pages 31-32 and here is just a bit
In some instances there has been brief recovery,
followed always by a still worse relapse. Physicians
who are familiar with alcoholism agree there is no
such thing a making a normal drinker out of an alcoholic.
Science may one day accomplish this, but it hasn't
done so yet.
Despite all we can say, many who are real alcoholics
are not going to believe they are in that class. By every
form of self-deception and experimentation, they will
try to prove themselves exceptions to the rule, therefore
nonalcoholic. If anyone who is showing inability to
control his drinking can do the right-about-face and drink
like a gentleman, our hats are off to him. Heaven knows,
we have tried hard enough and long enough to drink like
other people!
Here are some of the methods we have tried: Drinking
beer only, limiting the number of drinks, never drinking
alone, never drinking in the morning, drinking only
at home, never having it in the house, never drinking
during business hours, drinking only at parties, switching
from scotch to brandy, drinking only natural wines,
agreeing to resign if ever drunk on the job, taking a trip,
not taking a trip, swearing off forever (with and without
a solemn oath), taking more physical exercise, reading
inspirational books, going to health farms and sanitariums,
accepting voluntary commitment to asylums -- we
could increase the list ad infinitum.
We do not like to pronounce any individual as
alcoholic, but you can quickly diagnose yourself.
Step over to the nearest barroom and try some controlled
drinking. Try to drink and stop abruptly.
Try it more than once. It will not take long for you to decide,
if you are honest with yourself about it. It may be worth
a bad case of jitters if you get a full knowledge of your
condition.
Though there is no way of proving it, we believe
that early in our drinking careers most of us could
have stopped drinking. But the difficulty is that few
alcoholics have enough desire to stop while there is
yet time. We have heard of a few instances where
people, who showed definite signs of alcoholism,
were able to stop for a long period because of an overpowering
desire to do so.
God bless Lionelc
While reading your post and you mentioned only drinking on Saturdays it reminded me of something from the Big Book Alcoholics Anonymous. On pages 31-32 and here is just a bit
In some instances there has been brief recovery,
followed always by a still worse relapse. Physicians
who are familiar with alcoholism agree there is no
such thing a making a normal drinker out of an alcoholic.
Science may one day accomplish this, but it hasn't
done so yet.
Despite all we can say, many who are real alcoholics
are not going to believe they are in that class. By every
form of self-deception and experimentation, they will
try to prove themselves exceptions to the rule, therefore
nonalcoholic. If anyone who is showing inability to
control his drinking can do the right-about-face and drink
like a gentleman, our hats are off to him. Heaven knows,
we have tried hard enough and long enough to drink like
other people!
Here are some of the methods we have tried: Drinking
beer only, limiting the number of drinks, never drinking
alone, never drinking in the morning, drinking only
at home, never having it in the house, never drinking
during business hours, drinking only at parties, switching
from scotch to brandy, drinking only natural wines,
agreeing to resign if ever drunk on the job, taking a trip,
not taking a trip, swearing off forever (with and without
a solemn oath), taking more physical exercise, reading
inspirational books, going to health farms and sanitariums,
accepting voluntary commitment to asylums -- we
could increase the list ad infinitum.
We do not like to pronounce any individual as
alcoholic, but you can quickly diagnose yourself.
Step over to the nearest barroom and try some controlled
drinking. Try to drink and stop abruptly.
Try it more than once. It will not take long for you to decide,
if you are honest with yourself about it. It may be worth
a bad case of jitters if you get a full knowledge of your
condition.
Though there is no way of proving it, we believe
that early in our drinking careers most of us could
have stopped drinking. But the difficulty is that few
alcoholics have enough desire to stop while there is
yet time. We have heard of a few instances where
people, who showed definite signs of alcoholism,
were able to stop for a long period because of an overpowering
desire to do so.
God bless Lionelc
Hi All,
I am an alcoholic and addict. I never used to think of myself as an alcoholic cause i wasnt a daily drinker. And I sure didnt need any help to stop. Boy was I kidding myself. I started drinking when I was around 13 along with smoking pot. It was mainly a weekend thing. I didnt see anything wrong with it. It wasnt until I got a little older that I started getting into trouble with it. Doing things that I would never do sober. I then quit drinking and drugging for about 4 years still seeing no problem. I just quit cause my then husband didnt approve of it...lol. Well I did leave him and I picked up where I left off. In between all this I picked up a cocaine addiction for a while...then a meth addiction...never seeing a problem with any of it. I could stop at any time. Then I found pain pills...that was my downfall. That was hell to get off of. I had 2 years clean and sober and thought I had it licked. I went to AA and didnt talk for 6 monthes. Then I got a sponsor and started talking. When I had about a year sober I got cocky. I started thinking ..hell I can do this on my own. I dont need any help or meetings or anything after all I had quit before it was just alittle harder to get of the pills. Well I relapsed ...I relapsed on cocaine and then went to controlling pain pills..lol what a joke...I stopped the pills but right there was the alcohol..I always went back to alcohol when there was nothing else. I became almost a daily drinker...only difference was I didnt drink in the morning...now I did drink till almost 5 am..but that was different.....boy the lies we tell ourselves. I eventually went back to the pills and quit drinking....IT wasnt until I got clean and sober on Jan.12, 2004 that I realized that I am an alcholic and addict. I came to accept it, and I was no longer embarresed to say that I was. Now I dont go around announcing it to the world or anything but I no longer hide it either. I have found that you can have a great life sober. Today I dont need a drink, pill , line or any mood altering substances to have fun. It feels great and I wouldnt trade it for anything. Ok I rambled on long enough..lol anyway hope it helps someone...my email is at the bottom if anyone wants or needs it..God bless..
take care
gina :)
I am an alcoholic and addict. I never used to think of myself as an alcoholic cause i wasnt a daily drinker. And I sure didnt need any help to stop. Boy was I kidding myself. I started drinking when I was around 13 along with smoking pot. It was mainly a weekend thing. I didnt see anything wrong with it. It wasnt until I got a little older that I started getting into trouble with it. Doing things that I would never do sober. I then quit drinking and drugging for about 4 years still seeing no problem. I just quit cause my then husband didnt approve of it...lol. Well I did leave him and I picked up where I left off. In between all this I picked up a cocaine addiction for a while...then a meth addiction...never seeing a problem with any of it. I could stop at any time. Then I found pain pills...that was my downfall. That was hell to get off of. I had 2 years clean and sober and thought I had it licked. I went to AA and didnt talk for 6 monthes. Then I got a sponsor and started talking. When I had about a year sober I got cocky. I started thinking ..hell I can do this on my own. I dont need any help or meetings or anything after all I had quit before it was just alittle harder to get of the pills. Well I relapsed ...I relapsed on cocaine and then went to controlling pain pills..lol what a joke...I stopped the pills but right there was the alcohol..I always went back to alcohol when there was nothing else. I became almost a daily drinker...only difference was I didnt drink in the morning...now I did drink till almost 5 am..but that was different.....boy the lies we tell ourselves. I eventually went back to the pills and quit drinking....IT wasnt until I got clean and sober on Jan.12, 2004 that I realized that I am an alcholic and addict. I came to accept it, and I was no longer embarresed to say that I was. Now I dont go around announcing it to the world or anything but I no longer hide it either. I have found that you can have a great life sober. Today I dont need a drink, pill , line or any mood altering substances to have fun. It feels great and I wouldnt trade it for anything. Ok I rambled on long enough..lol anyway hope it helps someone...my email is at the bottom if anyone wants or needs it..God bless..
take care
gina :)
Hi all, the dialoguing and sharing on this thread is just what this addict/alcoholic needs to see...I am reading that if you are a practicing alcoholic (or an addict) it still isn't working "out there" and that I'm truly not missing anything...and reading other recovering alcoholics post their experience, strength and hope (such as Gina), well, that gives me the reinforcement I need at times to know what works...I'm just gonna keep doin' what I'm doin' and if I ever get the crazy thought to go back out...I just need to remember that it's easier to stay sober than to get sober...I am so grateful for my life today. I was able to go with my oldest daughter to the campus where she will be attending college this fall...I was able to meet with her counselor and help her make decisions in regard to her schedule with a clear head...I suited up and showed up when I said I would ~ I was clear-eyed, not hung-over and didn't smell of stale booze...we had a great lunch and then got her a new cell phone and nothing could be better! My daughters love me and for that I am grateful, that is a gift returned to me by choosing to stay sober one day at time. Peace & Serenity, VWGirl
