I am new to this board. I am now two weeks without alcohol. Its seems to get easier every day but the cravings and the thinking about drinking is hard to fight off. I am determined not to go back to drinking. I will not let myself down and drink again. I was basically a functioning alcoholic holding down a full time job never drinking in the morning or at work...but when I got home from work I could knock off a bottle of wine like it was nothing and on my days off could drink wine all day. Almost lost my boyfriend over the drinking. But I have realized the love I have for him is more important than being drunk. How long does it take for the cravings for the alcohol to subside? I can fight them off but I have also quit smoking ...I havent had a cigarette for three weeks. Is is normal to be somewhat depressed when quitting drinking? I am proud of myself for going this far and I never want to go back to drinking but its going to be hard.
Hi spider welcome to the board. Congratulations on your 2 weeks of sobriety .looks good on you!Glad to have you here. Oh the wine the wine the wine hey? lol My addiction too was wine but toward the end it was anything that contained alcohol. I have been sober now for 16 weeks. For me the intense cravings lasted about 4 weeks but it varies for us all. Also the cravings would go away and come back like crazy.Be careful of what products you use or food you eat because some can that contain alcohol can bring on cravings ex,mouthwash,some toothpaste,foods cooked in alcholol .,just be aware because it only takes a little alcohol to start a craving.I am glad you made the decision to choose sobriety. For me it was the best decision I ever made and should have done it years earlier. I now am free. I am no longer a slave to alcohol and no more hangovers. and I am finding so much about myself and about life and about people and things are really beginning to look up for me. I hope it will for you too because there is light at the end of the tunnel. It's like I want to shout to all newcomers hang in there life is GREAT without alcohol it really is. I drank for 34 years and toward the end it was Hell. Now I am finding my way back. There is help and support on this board spider. You have some here that know what they are talking about when they try to help you and give you advice. The people on this board have played a major role in my recovery. Spider I am truly happy to see you here. I wish you all the best in your recovery and keep posting. God bless and take care.
Hi spideryness,
I guess it's different for everyone but I know there were underlying reasons my drinking crept up...and depression was probably part of it for me...anxiety, stress....alcohol took all of that away beautifully....and then paid me back the very same things.....with compound interest of course.....it's taking time to get that out of my system....and for me there are some underlying things that caused a pre-existing depression/anxiety anyway ....which I also need to deal with.
As I say, it's different for everyone...
And a good example of that is you're far more aware than I was when I came here - so congratulations! It's a great place to get help and support.
Best wishes,
Martin
I guess it's different for everyone but I know there were underlying reasons my drinking crept up...and depression was probably part of it for me...anxiety, stress....alcohol took all of that away beautifully....and then paid me back the very same things.....with compound interest of course.....it's taking time to get that out of my system....and for me there are some underlying things that caused a pre-existing depression/anxiety anyway ....which I also need to deal with.
As I say, it's different for everyone...
And a good example of that is you're far more aware than I was when I came here - so congratulations! It's a great place to get help and support.
Best wishes,
Martin
Depression is not only common when quitting drinking, you get a double whammy with quitting smoking too. I had to go to AA to get thru it. Have you considered going? Are you in any kind of counseling? Getting sober is tough but staying sober is even tougher. Welcome to the board. We'll be happy to help you stay alcohol free.
Thank you all so much for your support. I guess I hit rock bottom about two weeks ago when I finally quit. My boyfriend is just one of these people who can have a few drinks and stop I cant. I was drinking wine like it was soda. He came home and told me he found me in the bath tub in the fetal position all clothed.
I dont even remember this or even being there. He left me and told me he could no longer remain a boyfriend to a lush. His words hit home. I realize I had been drinking heavily now for the past six months and he has been more than patient. Every night he would come home from work wondering if I would be sloushed. His love is more important to me than any bottle of wine. I love him so much and I am not changing for him but for me. Even though its only 2 weeks and one day (yes I am counting) I feel mentally and physically so much better.
I dont think I was a full blown alcoholic like Ray Milland in the lost weekend...
but I was on my way. Lying about how much I drank...hiding the bottles...etc.
Forgetting where I hid the damn bottles for fear he would find them. I would always lie about how much I was drinking but he always told me my eyes
would tell him the whole story....We have a great relationship and a love for each other that I dont every want to lose over alcohol. I work in the hospitality
business and alot of people in that business are substance abusers. They are always at bars after work etc. Believe or not I would not go out after to work to bars because I knew I would get wrecked and get a DUI... so I would go home and get drunk alone ......many a drink I had alone. Every morning that same hangover and alot of stomach problems. I want so much to be addiction free.
I believe that once you make up your mind to quit....no one can stop you.
I wake up everyday now appreciating life and what it has to offer. Every day that I am sober is a trimph for me. I know I can do this...and the inner strength I feel is so good right now.. This message board is a life saver and each and every one of you understand what I am going through and I thank you for responding.....God bless all of you....
I dont even remember this or even being there. He left me and told me he could no longer remain a boyfriend to a lush. His words hit home. I realize I had been drinking heavily now for the past six months and he has been more than patient. Every night he would come home from work wondering if I would be sloushed. His love is more important to me than any bottle of wine. I love him so much and I am not changing for him but for me. Even though its only 2 weeks and one day (yes I am counting) I feel mentally and physically so much better.
I dont think I was a full blown alcoholic like Ray Milland in the lost weekend...
but I was on my way. Lying about how much I drank...hiding the bottles...etc.
Forgetting where I hid the damn bottles for fear he would find them. I would always lie about how much I was drinking but he always told me my eyes
would tell him the whole story....We have a great relationship and a love for each other that I dont every want to lose over alcohol. I work in the hospitality
business and alot of people in that business are substance abusers. They are always at bars after work etc. Believe or not I would not go out after to work to bars because I knew I would get wrecked and get a DUI... so I would go home and get drunk alone ......many a drink I had alone. Every morning that same hangover and alot of stomach problems. I want so much to be addiction free.
I believe that once you make up your mind to quit....no one can stop you.
I wake up everyday now appreciating life and what it has to offer. Every day that I am sober is a trimph for me. I know I can do this...and the inner strength I feel is so good right now.. This message board is a life saver and each and every one of you understand what I am going through and I thank you for responding.....God bless all of you....
Hi Spider I used to do a lot of my drinking alone. I drank a lot more than I said I did and hid the bottles all over the place.It's been 16 weeks for me now and I am still finding bottles in places that I have forgotten where I put them.And its kinda funny what you said about your eyes giving you away because my husband used to say the same thing to me lol. Of course it got to be more difficult to hide because sometimes I would be passed out by the time he got home from work. Honey you can still be an alcoholic and function. I worked 6 days a week the early morning shift and get off at noon and I drank from then till I passed out. When I lost my job due to shortage of work then I really drank .believe me!. I would start sometimes at 7 in the morning. Did this for 2 months until I hit bottom so bad that I thought about ending it all and I still wouldn't admit that I was an alcoholic.I am not saying you are one ,but if you think you are the first step toward recovery is admitting to ourselves what we are and admitting we are powerles over alcohol.Do you have the Big Book? It tells you in there that we have an allergy to alcholol. That once we take a drink we crave for more. I am so glad that you are in recovery and it may be difficult at first but It is so WORTH it and so are YOU. Have a Great sober weekend spider and God bless you !
Welcome, spideryness.
Recognition that I was not drinking like "normal" people didn't keep me from drinking. In fact, once I embraced that I might be alcoholic, I gave myself permission to act like my perception of one. If I were an alcoholic, but f***, I was going to be the best one ever!
Loved ones said I had a problem, friends acknowledged that I could drink 'a ton,' people around me loved to party with me because I was a scream--the life of the party. The problem was that I wasn't having fun for the periods of time I wasn't the center of their attentions, blah, blah, blah. I went to great lengths to make people like me--and make it less possible that they'd be inclined to take my drinking life away--by seeking notoriety, recognition, and approval. That didn't work, either.
It wasn't until I was so sick and tired of being sick and tired; that I thought that I was probably destined to die a fully successful, functioning (albeit less and less capably), a**-slapping drunk that I decided there had to be a better life for me. So I took myself to a FREE, unassuming, completely accepting AA meeting and there I met people just like me, who thought they were "different" for their entire lives, who drank like I did.
Until I was willing to look within, I was going to live without. I found acceptance and understanding. For ME. Not my wife, not my family, not my career. ME.
Try it. What do you have to lose? Your lifestyle?
Recognition that I was not drinking like "normal" people didn't keep me from drinking. In fact, once I embraced that I might be alcoholic, I gave myself permission to act like my perception of one. If I were an alcoholic, but f***, I was going to be the best one ever!
Loved ones said I had a problem, friends acknowledged that I could drink 'a ton,' people around me loved to party with me because I was a scream--the life of the party. The problem was that I wasn't having fun for the periods of time I wasn't the center of their attentions, blah, blah, blah. I went to great lengths to make people like me--and make it less possible that they'd be inclined to take my drinking life away--by seeking notoriety, recognition, and approval. That didn't work, either.
It wasn't until I was so sick and tired of being sick and tired; that I thought that I was probably destined to die a fully successful, functioning (albeit less and less capably), a**-slapping drunk that I decided there had to be a better life for me. So I took myself to a FREE, unassuming, completely accepting AA meeting and there I met people just like me, who thought they were "different" for their entire lives, who drank like I did.
Until I was willing to look within, I was going to live without. I found acceptance and understanding. For ME. Not my wife, not my family, not my career. ME.
Try it. What do you have to lose? Your lifestyle?
I am having a really good day. The posts on here are so encouraging. I guess admitting to myself that I had a problem was the hardest thing I ever did. For some reason alot of people feel that your only an alcoholic if your drinking day and night...not so I was a functioning alcoholic.....(they say there is no such thing but I felt like one). I would put in my days work and reward myself with alcohol when I got home. It got to the point where I would be calling people I knew and not remembering conversations in the morning. If I didnt have redial on my phone I would of not known who I called. People knew I was drunk alot
but I think they were too nice to say anything. Most of the people I spoke to are people who drink alot too. You know they say misery likes company. I think a whole new set of friends will help me alot. It would be nice to socialize
with people who dont need a bar stool up their butt to have a good time.
I have reached within myself and I know I can do this. I do not want to drink again. I know if I have one drink it wont be enough until I have wacked down another bottle of wine. I know its a disease and I have to be strong and stay away from it. I am taking one day at a time and I think I am going to be okay.
I have alot of confidence in myself.
but I think they were too nice to say anything. Most of the people I spoke to are people who drink alot too. You know they say misery likes company. I think a whole new set of friends will help me alot. It would be nice to socialize
with people who dont need a bar stool up their butt to have a good time.
I have reached within myself and I know I can do this. I do not want to drink again. I know if I have one drink it wont be enough until I have wacked down another bottle of wine. I know its a disease and I have to be strong and stay away from it. I am taking one day at a time and I think I am going to be okay.
I have alot of confidence in myself.
Hey spider it amazes me what you post because it appears you are so much like me in things you did while drinking but maybe we all did the same things anyway. I have invited people in for meals when I was drinking and had forgotten all about it. NOT A COOL thing lol. For the last year and half maybe two of my drinking I would write notes to myself of who I talked to what I did etc and put them in places where I knew I would find them the next morning. ex in my wallet,in my pill bottle,in my cig pack in my makeup case. Crazy stuff. and sometimes I read it and I wouldn't have a clue about it. Had no recollection at all of what I had written or even writing it. I have also been talking on the phone to my grown children who live away and had no memory of talking to them. I know I talked to them because it used to be written in my notes lol. Alcohol will make us do insane things. I think I started to reach my bottom when I didn't even do any xmas shopping for my oldest kids and their spouses because I couldn't stay sober long enough to do it. Instead I gave them money in a card. They are grown I know ,but that was pathetic. I did manage to get my youngest a gift because she was with me. But the guilt and remorse I felt was terrible and I stayed TOTALLY DRUNK all xmas. I don't even hardly remember it at all just bits and pieces.I know I'm going on about me but I wanted you to know a little about me. I know when I came to the board first people shared some of their stories with me and it made me feel "normal" I didn't feel so different so that is what I am trying to pass on to you. On this board we are all different people but with our disease we are ALL THE SAME. You do seem very confident and I believe you will conquer this. We all knew when enough was enough. I am happy for you. in doing what you are doing and I am proud of you for your courage because it do take courage and strength and will power. I truly am grateful that another human being will not be lost to alcohol. God bless,take care and be grateful and thankful .((( ))))) keep smilin
Pirate:
You sound like a great person and I guess all of us alcoholics do some pretty strange things when we are drunk. One time I actually hid my phone so I wouldnt use it. The battery eventually went dead so when I went to page the phone I couldnt find it. Have to laugh about it now. After awhile the lying to everyone starts to get to you. You tell people your not drinking and you drinking as you are talking to them on the phone. I used to pride myself in sounding so sober when I really wasnt. I would call people and play my message back to myself before I sent it and I have to say I didnt sound drunk.
Thats pathetic but its true....I used to buy my wine in all different locations so people wouldnt think I was constantly buying alcohol. Oh the tricks of the trade.
Every day is a new triumph for me and I am so glad to rid this demon out of my life......
God bless...(and I am not religious at all)
You sound like a great person and I guess all of us alcoholics do some pretty strange things when we are drunk. One time I actually hid my phone so I wouldnt use it. The battery eventually went dead so when I went to page the phone I couldnt find it. Have to laugh about it now. After awhile the lying to everyone starts to get to you. You tell people your not drinking and you drinking as you are talking to them on the phone. I used to pride myself in sounding so sober when I really wasnt. I would call people and play my message back to myself before I sent it and I have to say I didnt sound drunk.
Thats pathetic but its true....I used to buy my wine in all different locations so people wouldnt think I was constantly buying alcohol. Oh the tricks of the trade.
Every day is a new triumph for me and I am so glad to rid this demon out of my life......
God bless...(and I am not religious at all)
Giday Spider
Keep building the gratitude and posting your experience, strength, hope
light and love Zac
Keep building the gratitude and posting your experience, strength, hope
light and love Zac
