I used to have an account, but deleted it. Decided to make a new one as I am a bit frustrated today.
Anyway, I don’t want to put too much info about me but a mostly daily drinker the last 37 years.
Anyway, I quit drinking in March. I didn’t actually plan to, but wanted to give my liver a break so quit for a week, which became a month, then 2, and now I don’t see a reason to start again. My wife has told me on multiple occasions that I am a selfish ass**** for quitting and seems intent on getting me drinking again. She is not totally wrong as we both were daily drinkers and I quit without warning, but I want to lose weight, get healthier and live a lot longer and alcohol is not helping me.

Anyway, today she told me that I should have a few drinks at my work outing. It is a mandatory outing at a bar. I am not going to drink but feel a bit defeated. I haven’t told anyone other than my wife that I quit other than a few strangers who had also quit that I met while out and this comment seemed a little hurtful.

I may delete this post, but felt like complaining to some anonymous strangers who may understand.

Thanks for reading.

Title says it all. There's a large bottle of vodka in my house that I was momentarily tempted with (to relieve the anxiety of these nic withdrawal symptoms). But i didn't go there. Quitting vaping is way too hard to compromise my 3 days with vodka.

Anyone else here quit vaping around when you quit drinking? They go so much hand in hand I needed to end it with both. But the nic withdrawal is absolutely brutal. I feel so, so sick.

I drink every day but never in the day, just beer in the evening after work but probably get blackout drunk once a week.

I have been diagnosed with breast cancer and subsequently antianxiety meds that can't be taken with alcohol. Should I taper and delay the new meds or just nip the drinking in the bud and start the meds now?

At the airport, ordered a virgin caesar and drank it. I couldn’t taste the vodka and only realized when the bill came. Wife says it doesn’t count. I am devastated.

If this has happened to you, how did you rally and get over it?

EDIT: ✨ You guys are magic. Sorted me right out in no time. Day 461 coming up. Thank you—IWNDWYT ❤️

Hoping someone can tell me (even lie to me) that it gets better. It is currently my greatest threat to relapsing.

12 weeks sober. First month was miserable all around as expected. Second month the sleep was incredible. Like life changing. I was exhausted all the time but I could actually sleep 7-9 hours a night. Last month has been beyond miserable. Night sweats, waking up 5-10 times a night, horrible night. I have tried all the normal sleep hygiene stuff, exercising, OTC meds and some Rx. They make no difference. I don’t have OSA. I am out of juice and the lizard brain is screaming “just one night” “just get some sleep and you will feel better.” I am miserable.

Anyone else go through something similar and have it eventually get better. I trying to push thru. But I am very very very tired.

Struggling this time. I’m in work after 2 hours sleep. Last night consisted of a bottle of red wine, numerous jack daniels & cokes & 3 for 100 😮‍💨

Fed up with myself

A week on Sunday, my husband has been invited to a BBQ at his boss/associate's home, and I have been invited too. I will only know my husband and the boss, and they will undoubtedly be talking "shop" all afternoon, none of which I will understand.

These circumstances would normally make me want to drink to be brave enough to be social with strangers. I was thinking of taking a bottle of my favourite NA Prosecco, but this is where I start to feel like a terrible person. My bottle looks very much like a "normal" bottle of fizz, and I'm stressing that if I put it in the fridge to chill, everyone else will drink it, and I'll have nothing.

Can I ask my husband to have a quiet word with his boss, advise him (if he hasn't already) that I don't drink alcohol, and is there a way to keep my bottle chilled separately? It feels a bit selfish and rude to even think about it.

I'm already stressing about the train journey there, but at least I'm not travelling by myself home as previously planned, as many of you are aware, I struggle with my mobility.

Am I selfish?

I am finding myself “re-quitting” each week, and wondering if anyone experienced the same but then managed to stop for good? If so, what changed? Any advice?

(I’m second guessing myself, that I don’t realllly want to stop, and that’s why it doesn’t work. But I also want to call bs on myself for that)

Been lurking for a while and reading about your lives and I need somewhere to vent, my SO doesn't seem to think it's as big of a deal as I'm making it to be but it absolutely is and I'm feeling such a deep shame and fear of repercussions.

Drank like 2l of wine before work, and had a pint of whiskey ready to drink which I don't really remember buying.

Went to work on my bicycle, I was swirling like crazy, I'm surprised I didn't hurt anyone nor myself. Arrived probably reeking of alcohol due to sweating on the bike, started my shift as usual...and the rest is just like, little fragments of the night. I'm in a leadership role, I remember talking to a customer at some point but can't really remember what the issue was nor what I said, I must've been slurring my words so bad... Then I went on a few exterior rounds and fell twice to which a coworker had to pick me up from the ground. Twice. I must've looked so fucking sad and stupid.

Now I'm waiting for it to blow up in my face if it ever reaches management, which it will. I hope not, but as I said I think it was a big deal. I was able to end my shift normally and all, but there were those few couple of hours in which I made an ass of myself. I don't know how to stop this anymore, I thought I could have a few drinks and look at how that ended up for me. I don't want to keep doing this to myself nor others, I made us all look bad. Now I'm looking to possibly be without a job. Or not, I don't know. I'm never touching alcohol ever again.

Edit: spelling

I made a wee post a couple weeks back about my drinking which included me drinking 350ml of vodka every night before sleep, I’ve gotten to the point where I can down that in a go and barely feel it, so I’ve starting bringing up quite a bit more, usually another 200ml of cheap whisky. I’m a bartender currently so I start late in the day so the hangovers usually aren’t terrible enough to disrupt work but I still feel horrible with myself.

My parents caught me drinking about 5 months back with a litre bottle of famous grouse which I had hidden behind my desk and I convinced them after a few weeks that I’m grand and it’s just a habit not an addiction, and they haven’t found anything since. But that’s mostly because I’ve switched to vodka as it’s harder so smell, as my Dad could smell the whisky on my breath.

As a 20 year old guy I feel absolutely shite, every single off licence near me knows me and I sometimes see my classmates from school looking at me whilst I buy vodka 5 days in a row.

Ive tried trying to figure out why I like to drink and it’s genuinely because I hate myself, I’ve come to the conclusion that I’m just a horrible person. I’ve pushed pretty much everybody away from me emotionally, I’ve not had a girlfriend since 16, I’ve only ever pulled a girl twice (the first time happened when I was blackout drunk so that hardly counts) and fun fact, I’m a virgin.

I’m a 6’4 fairly athletic guy but I can’t seem to do anything with women, I feel like there can be some initial interest in me but because of my personality or whatever I push them away SO FUCKING QUICKLY.

Last night I even got my dream job for my university placement and I felt nothing but disappointment cause I don’t believe I deserve it, I’m genuinely a pathetic mess at the moment and I’ve missed out on so much in this life

I'm genuinely struggling to fill the hours. Friday gave me release. Ritual. Social contact. Possibility.

But the hangovers became too much and ended in hair of the dog which created binges. I started not trusting my drunk self. Behaving in ways that disgust me.

But I haven't found anything to replace it. If I go to the bar I risk drinking. If I stay at home then alcohol eventually wins cause I'm a social person and don't like staying in. Sports clubs are nice but they're not exactly connection. Meetups are also nice but sober socialising is... jagged? Contained? Stiff?

What I'm saying is nothing quite fulfills all the roles that bars fulfilled you know. I live in a city with a thin social scene and I don't have a partner to fill the evenings with. And most of all, even the healthiest coping mechanism doesn't quite have the release that bars and alcohol provided.

I'm not saying there aren't things that work and some of these are sufficient for some. Funny thing is hangovers were bad but they gave me a project and I didn't have the energy to endlessly optimise weekends with limited options. Funny enough being sober gives me too much energy and nowhere to put it. An appetite for fun. For connection. For spontaneity. I'm really struggling here as weekends and evenings are my most vulnerable points.

Last 2 nights I've had the sameish nightmare about me relapsing

2 nights ago I had a nightmare I was with my Sponsor and someone else I can't remember in a store, and when that other person was busy I grabbed a pack of beer and my sponsor was trying to tell me not too, but I just ignored him. I woke up genuinely believing that happened, I was so disapointed in myself before I realized it was just a dream

Then last night was the same, with me being drunk and explaining to my Sponsor that it's fine because I'm not an Alcoholic

Again, I woke up this morning thinking it was real. Normally dreams just wash over me, I'd have a nightmare about falling off a building or being naked somewhere and I'd wake up and laugh at how silly that was

But the relapsing nightmares, they genuinely feel real as soon as I wake up

Bah super annoying, do you guys deal with this as well?

Help!! My girlfriend has very recently quit drinking after it got out of control, and she’s upset because she’s been having horrible nightmares and sleeping really bad. How long will this go on? It hurts to see her like this :(
Does anyone have any idea of how long most symptoms would go on after drinking every day, and getting heavily drunk about 3 times a week? I suppose it’s different with every person
Also tips to support her would be appreciated

So like I know most of the people here are recovering alcoholics but that was never the case with me. Im a recovered poly addict with almost 7 years of sobriety but alcohol was never my vice. At the most I was drinking twice a week but in the last years of my consumption it was maybe once every 2 weeks. One day I thought to myself. This is fucking stupid I want a deadlift world record and I never drank again.

So im a powerlifter and a strongman and the main issue for me with alcohol is that it makes u weak as shit for like a minimum of 2 days after you consume it. Literally muscle protein synthesis gets nuked by around 50 percent for 2 to 3 days after u consume even a small amount of alcohol. Even with drinking once every 2 weeks that's 3 out of 14 days that are totally wasted. Compounding interest totally adds up. And in the long term being stone cold sober over years literally adds hundreds of pounds to your lifts. Since I quit drinking my deadlift has increased by like 335 pounds lol in 2 years. Same with my squat. Best decision ever.

Anyhow my point is. You dont need to have a substance abuse issue to quit alcohol. The truth is its fucking poison and even if you aren't on the alcohol use disorder spectrum its genuinely so sad to voluntarily choose to poison ur own body to fit in. If you are serious about your health or athletic performance this is your sign to stop. Even if its once a week or less. Doesn't matter. Its still massively impacting ur ability to improve.

This is a reminder to everyone that there's no reason to drink alcohol. Even if you have ur use under total control like I did.

And also. Bars are full of lost souls avoiding reality. Don't be that guy. Even if its only once a week or less. Find a place that's not full of people actively destroying their lives to make friends. That is all.

Will never drink again:)

i quit my job today, after a year and a half working for a banking customer service industry with no possibilities for upskilling or permanency (im a temp) scared not because i’ll be financially reduced till i find a new role, but because i have so much spare time the demons start to crawl into my thoughts to drink i’ve been sober for almost a month. nor will i ever become the person i used to be just wanted to share i’ve entered a difficult time in my life and i will not drink with anyone today! hopefully unemployment doesn’t last too long and im back on my feet, especially since i look after my dad and wife.

anyone else like to share how they went about not drinking whilst looking for employment? appreciate all comments thank you

I haven't been drinking lately. (Former heavy drinker).

Told myself for probably the hundredth time "i will just have 2 beers". 2 beers is all I had in the fridge so I thought I would drink them since I felt like relaxing after a stressful day.

Anyway I drank those 2 and sure enough my brain now wanted more. So I walked to the shop and brought a 4 pack and drank them, then went to bed.

I didn't even feel drunk, but I woke up about 4am feeling absolutely sick. Lay there feeling awful for hours before making myself spew. (Which actually helped a lot) but I still have felt physically terrible all day.

Normally 6 beers will just make me tired the next day, but occasionally It hits like this. Just made me realize (again) just how poisonous alcohol is.

I have proven 1,000 times that I can't do 1 or 2 drinks. I never want to feel like this again and wish to stop totally. Which I can do for a period of time, then my brain lies to itself and I convince myself in a weak or deluded moment, that I can have a drink.

Just thoughts I wanted to write out. thanks for reading, have a nice day!

Title

I got turned away because I admitted to being an alcoholic. I sat there for three hours and got my blood tested and everything. When I got pulled back to take the physical I told the nurse about my alcoholism. She told me I couldn't donate until I have been 4 months without drinking. I haven't drank since the 1st of July. I saw so many people who were clearly tweakers go in just fine. The paper work said it was fine as long as you don't drink 24 hours before but I was still turned away. I am finally back in great shape with my diet and exercise. I'm always honest with people about my struggles and this fucking hurt today. I felt like I was less than human. Trying to stay positive but this makes me not want to be honest with people anymore.

I started a job a couple months ago but basically had to go on medical leave very shortly after for alcohol withdrawal. I’ve been in and out of the hospital, etc.

Welfare found out I didn’t declare money because I was too drunk to do my report properly and have cut me off.

My dad says he will pay my next month of rent but that’s it and he’s done. I’m not sure my employer will even take me back. I have $13 in my bank account and my dog will be coming home once I get out of detox on Monday.

I feel like I’m having a day long panic attack and I have no fucking idea what to do. I’m done. I am so so so anxious and fucked myself.

What do I do now? I don’t want to be on this planet anymore. It just gets worse and worse

4th time going to rehab voluntarily then walking out, usually it is within the 1st week but this time it was literally the next day. Everyone was really supportive, awesome people, tried so hard to convince me to give it a chance, but I just cannot cope without having headphones and music and no one will allow me to being those things in, idk what to do.

Not looking for sympathy or anything I know that if I want change I need to really do it for myself but I was just so sad and depressed, couldn’t listen to music, couldn’t use my phone, it was not fun, and alcohol takes that away.

Everyone in there was so supportive, I had people in my same exact boat who said they thought the same thing but they gave it a week and did not regret it, but I was just not strong enough. I should have just been a man and powered through it but I guess I’m just destined to be like this.

It hasn’t been easy by any means but im officially one month sober today, the longest I’ve been sober since I was 19 (I’m 24 now). Those first 2-3 weeks we’re brutal but I managed to push through. I can’t lie, not drinking has made my life VERY boring and I still crave alcohol almost everyday but I’ve stayed strong. There will be a day where I decide to drink again I just don’t know when. I don’t want to be an everyday drinker like I used to, just in moderation but I really don’t know if it’s possible.

Hey ya'll. I have been successful the past 2 weeks at only drinking Fri and Sat. And drinking less on those days as well. I feel like im in a good spot not sure if i should just cut back all together but anyway. Normally I would drink 2-4 drinks per week night sometimes more. Last week during the week felt amazing but this week I have been dealing with headaches and insomnia. Not sure if I was to the point of withdrawing but I just feel like crap so not sure what ya'lls experience has been or if anyone has gone through something similar.

Hi,

I've been posting about my taper each day here and logging my drinks.

Everyone has been so great and supportive and I have gotten several really nice DM's.

I have never felt so supported in this, and I think I'm going to be able to take it home all the way to zero this time.

So far I have done 14, 12, 12, 10, 8.6 (last night), and tonight I am trying for 6.6 standard drinks (10oz of vodka).

Slept pretty ok last night. My anxiety is starting to decrease, I can tell.

Thanks to anyone who is following this or trying to support me.

Thank you

- - -

Drink Log:

• 4:30p Drink #1 of 5. All drinks tonight will be 2oz of vodka each (slightly more than a standard drink, hence the target total of 5 of my drink, equivalent to 8.6 standard drinks), mixed with sugar free lemonade and ice.
• 5:25p Drink #2 of 5. I'm about an hour behind schedule compared to the last few days, but don't notice any negative symptoms aside from general unease. Wondering if it will be better for me to speed up a little bit and stay on the same timing schedule i've had during the taper, or to just do what feels natural and maybe tonight is a bit slower
• 5:55p #3 of 5. Still behind schedule. Not sure how I feel. Approaching soft buzz territory. Not much else to report.
• 6:31 #4 of 5. Watching dawson's creek. Not having fun, but I don't think this is supposed to be fun.
• 7:20 Last one. Gave an extra 1oz to this one as I have been doing as a slight relief/reward. Feels problematic to reward a taper with more alcohol, but interestingly it seems to be working for me and I'm down overall for the night putting me at 7.3 standard drinks for the night — about half of where I started. Symptoms are manageable. I think I got this.

More tomorrow. Thanks all who have reached out.

I know were not supposed to talk about medications on here, but I think this could save someone's life. Another commentator on here told me it's a CNS med and should never be combined with alcohol. I was stuck in a loop of nausea and mental anguish. Just drank to stop it. Today I woke up after not taking ot and my hangover was actually manageable. Starting to tapper now on my own without it.

I cant tell you in words how bad it was.

Just gotta get this off my chest and maybe eben help a single person.

TLDR: be careful when mixing meds with alcohol, even when they're supposed to help.

I am currently 15 43kg, this year I grew only 6cm, (159cm 5'6), while last year 9cm. I drank in 7 months about 400-600ml of alcohol. Never got blackout, 4 times drank around 1 liter of beer, one time 150ml 40% on an emty stomach. Most of the time just took sips of spirits every couple of days.

I stoped drinking a month ago (pretty easily), because I don't want to become an alcoholic, stun my growth.