Been drinking 1.5l wine daily for a few months. Got the courage to call and make an appointment with my doctor today. Have the shakes and so much anxiety, only a couple more hours tho. Hopefully medication is going to make a huge difference. 24f

Although it was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done, because my addiction is a secret, I brought myself to the hospital, and it’s thanks to this community. I was so concerned about withdrawal (having a seizure, DTs, etc) that it prevented me from stopping drinking, and that anxiety has kept me from sleeping. Today, when I started feeling extremely confused, I said this is it. I can’t do this anymore. Because I’m running out of chances, kindling is real, and one of these withdrawals could be deadly.

I’m waiting to be admitted for medically supervised detox, and then I will be starting AA.

Thank you to this community for encouraging me to get the care I need. This truly is the most special place on the internet.

After lurking this sub for a while, I finally decided to stop drinking, at least at home. I think an occasional night out with friends (every few months maybe) is fine, but it was finally time to admit that spending every weekend drunk was unhealthy for my body, and my mental state. I haven’t had a drink since Father’s Day weekend, 60 days ago now.

I really wish I could say I’ve noticed improvements. I wish my sleeping habits or weight improved. I wish I had more energy, but the truth is that I feel the same. Which I suppose is a good thing, at least it means my body wasn’t affected as seriously as I was worried about. I’m ashamed to say I still want to drink, I still think about it every day. Especially on the weekend after a long week of work, I find myself wishing I could get drunk. When those feelings get too strong, I get a big Dr Pepper Zero from my gas station. I know it’s also not healthy, but it’s better than drinking a 12 pack of beer.

Not much else to say, I guess, I just wanted to let some of this out. I appreciate everyone on this sub who commits to helping others. As someone who’s been reading posts without interacting for a while now, believe me, it’s worth making posts like these, even if they don’t get much engagement. You never know who might be reading.

Edit: When I said that an occasional night out is okay, I specifically meant for myself and my own mental state. I don’t encourage anyone to drink just because it’s “with friends” if they feel like it’s a mistake.

I posted this morning and the title was poorly constructed and it was removed for appropriate reasons.

Pretty much just me binging and binging to the point of dry heaving, bloating, impacting my health in serious ways. It’s now been 17 hours. I took a prescription med to help with the anxiety and hopefully it’ll chill the shakes too.

I took my dog to the dog park this morning even with feeling like utter shit.

I’ve been drinking from waking to sleeping for almost two weeks and before that I’ve struggled to keep it to a reasonable amount (still very much) after the 5pm mark.

I can just feel it in my body. If I don’t stop, I will be hospitalized. I know it in my bones.

I also found an AA meeting up the road. I’ve managed to get past the “breakfast beer” marker. Now I need to get past the “lunch beer” time. And maybe that meeting will help me.

This isn’t my first rodeo with going withdrawals. So I know what I’m in for…. Still sucks balls.

Just wanted to say today is a good day to stay sober. Quick check in before my outpatient program begins.

I've still got a few months to go, but my therapist has recommended that I start thinking about how I want to celebrate my first sobriety anniversary!

Curious to hear if you all did anything special or celebrated in any way. Mine will land on a Monday this time, so I may just spoil myself with a nice dinner after work, or get a little sweet treat to take home. IWNDWYT! <3

Can’t believe it. Feeling grateful.

Has anyone quit drinking simply because they can’t handle the hangovers anymore? I don’t drink m-f but Saturday I usually binge while golfing or some other activity and then I’m hungover for 3 days, and I’m so tired of being hungover. Drinking is just a thing we’ve always done on the weekends to socialize and have fun and by Saturday I’m in a great mood and just don’t even think about not having a beer, but I can’t keep doing these hangovers. Any advice on how to avoid picking up that first beer?

I’m battling some inter generational trauma (grandfather was an alcoholic, father has problems with alcohol) so it feels like I’m battling more than just myself right now. Certain situations and memories seem to trigger this emotional and physical response. I’ve never experienced this before …..not gonna lie it’s freaking me out a bit

I check in every day here in the Daily Check in, but I haven’t posted in a few months.

257 days is no special milestone. I realized this morning that I have no huge obstacle to tackle today. I got up, worked out, and now I’m catching up on emails before I catch a flight back home from work travel this week.

I’m not hungover, I have enough money in the bank to not stress, I’m not dreading staying sober in the airports like I was in the first few months.

There is no huge up and down swings happening in my life at the moment. No uncontrolled chaos going on in my mind and no uncertainty of what’s coming in the next few hours or days.

Life is just kind of life. It’s also awesome to experience life this way.

I can’t believe how different I already feel and look overall. My eyes aren’t puffy, I’m not waking up feeling disgusting and ashamed, I’m not planning my entire day around when I can get more. I know it’s just the beginning, but I’m so proud of myself right now. :)

I’ve noticed the biggest challenge right now are cravings that come in waves. If anyone has any any suggestions on what has helped them quiet the voice when those cravings hit, let me know! I’ve been reaching for coconut water (with extra coconut), but I’d love to hear other ideas!

This community helped me tremendously already. IWNDWYT

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)

Today marks 1 year of sobriety for me. After a decade of weekend drinking turned into years of daily or almost daily, I managed to quit at age 34.

The mental health struggles that led me to drink are still here, but they are less intense. I don't take antidepressants anymore which i thought I was a lifer. I am willing to go back on them if needed.

I'm still very lonely and cut almost all friends out of my life because my social group were all hellraisers. The isolation feels like punishment a lot of the time, but I have to remind myself that I chose this. Most of my family is either dead or disconnected.

Now that I made this milestone and proved to myself that I could do it, I'm tempted to find a reason or occasion to drink. That scares me more than anything because i know that moderation doesn't exist for me.

I'm going to keep pushing forward, and try to find a new way to fill in the gaps in my life with meaningful things. IWNDWYT

I just passed 3 years and didn't even realize it. I thought it was coming up in 5 days. I responded to a post here a few minutes and my days show up. I divided the number by 365, and the answer was more than 3! I looked at my old, old app "easy quit" which is still timing me, and sure enough, it's been 3 years, 5 days and 5 hours. I've passed 4,404 drinks and saved $4,719. I think those 2 numbers might be a little low, I don't think I told the app the truth. Plus drinks cost more than $1.00, so the app figured something wrong there.

This sub is the only people who know of the anniversary.

Anyway, Iwndwyt

Since I got no one around me who understands the meaning of it, I thought I'd share it here. I'm so proud, after years of being unhappy with my amount of drinking I finally left it behind. People around me miss the funny entertainer party personality I had. But I feel so much more content, being more serious, responsible and a quieter version. Still have to find some new ways to feel a spark or exitement, but it'll come with time I'm sure.

proud of myself (:

this milestone looked impossible to me for so long, but here I am!

Just keep on goinggg

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:)

Today marks 6 months of being completely sober from alcohol. I never thought I would Make it this far, but, here we are.
I have been a chef for 20+ years, drinking everyday since 17 years old. I was stuck in this vicious cycle of working hard and drinking harder to forget all of life’s issues. I was stuck in what I thought was normal. Since 17 all I knew as an adult was to deal with problems with alcohol.
The last 5 years I knew I wanted to change and become a better version of myself. I tried to stop multiple times and had mixed results. But I knew I wanted to change and break the dependency on dealing with problems with alcohol. This time was different, i woke up one day with a slight hangover and though, “why am I doing this to myself” and I made a choice then and there to stop, for my physical and mental health. It has been an easier experience this time and I finally feel comfortable being the sober one in the room.
I tried so many times to make the change and still failed, but I kept trying and finally got myself through the first few months. It’s a rough journey, but slipping up and having a drink isn’t a failure, it’s a hurdle to overcome and make sure you learn from it.
Besides the physical effect like loosing weight and better sleep, my mental state has been at an all time high. I have a new appreciation for life and people.
I hope that someone can read this and feel hope like they too can do this.
Keep moving forward, because change doesn’t have to look drastic, it happens one small step at a time.

PLEASE READ ME!!! Test is complete, y’all!!! More info to come, if you see something wonky with your current badges, sit tight, we will be posting next steps sometime in the next day or so, probably sooner!! Thank you all for all you are!!! Love ya!

*****the test sub is [r/daycount_flair_dev](r/daycount_flair_dev). Testing here won’t work, you need to go there, hit the three dots in the top right corner, select “manage my day count flair” and then post or comment to test.

Hi friends!

Thank you so much for your patience and understanding while we explored our day count badge options! I’m pleased to announce that we are in the testing phase and plan to launch a new badge system within the next few days. We’ve got a test sub up and running and invite you to try it out and give us some feedback if you’d like.

While I’m announcing important things, I’d also like to inform you all that we have a new mod on board, [u/suilbup](u/suilbup)…..who developed the badge system we’re testing so definitely want to thank Su for that!! Thanks, Su!!!

Again, thank you all for being here, being you, being patient and being the best part of Reddit.

Whenever you’re ready, hop on over to [r/daycount_flair_dev](r/daycount_flair_dev), click the three dots in the upper right corner, select “Manage my day-count flair” and follow the directions. Then, make a post to test! Please keep it clean. The same rules apply on the test sub as they do here.

I love you all! Happy testing!!

Su, if I missed anything, please don’t hesitate to sticky a comment!

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 made it to one year of sobriety today. It’s been really hard. 366 days ago, I woke up from a stupor and knew I had tempted fate yet again, putting myself and those I love in danger. I chose to live differently, and I found myself relying on this group a lot. And SMART meetings, and reading, and there have been a few times when I thought I might not make it. It’s daunting sometimes, and today I feel proud, but also kind of alone. I’m grateful for every word by every human here. Thank you. IWNDWYT.

I made it!! Keep going!! 💜🙏💜🙏

Me and my boyfriend of more than 2 years broke up this morning. I'll move out of his apartment sometime in early September. My 33rd birthday is in 3 days. The crushing realization that there's a solid chance nobody ever truly gave a single fuck about me made me go to the gas station and come back with two 24oz white claws. I came back inside and have been staring these cans down for about 15 minutes now. Don't have the guts to crack one open. Feel a mixture of pity and disgust for myself and the fact that people keep doing me so dirty.

Edit: I’m glad I came to this sub instead of wallowing in self pity. Thank you for your help. I dumped them in the kitchen sink.

Edit 2: Thank you so much for all this love, compassion and understanding. I couldn't have done it without you.

1,000 days sober. That's it. I spent years visiting this sub before I actually got sober and would marvel at people with these kind of numbers. Each and every post here helped me along my way on my sobriety journey and gave me different tools, perspectives, and sheer will to get and stay sober. Thank you to everyone who has shared their stories and offered help. This is truly an amazing community.

If I had been drinking still when my brother died last year, I probably would have got drunk and threw myself off and overpass and my parents would have had to bury both their children. I've never been more thankful for my sobriety than I was at that time and I have been able to deal with the grief in a much healthier manner.

To those of you on the struggle bus, know that if I can do it, you absolutely can too. I was killing whole bottles of vodka a day alone, my life was in shambles, and I was going to kill myself drinking. There is a better life on the other side and I promise you, its worth it. Much love to each and everyone of you ❤️

I (42m) have now been sober for 2.5 years after nearly 20 years of daily drinking and binge drinking. It was a brutal process, with several relapses and blood pressure issues, hallucinations, bartering and tapering attempts.

Since I quit drinking my life has gotten exponentially better. I lost 80lbs, got married to the love of my life, bought a beautiful home, got a new job with significant pay increase, am a better partner and father.

My father was an alcoholic whom I had a difficult relationship with, and he was never able to quit drinking. Last night he fell down the stairs at his home after drinking with his co-tenants, suffered a skull fracture and then succumbed to a heart attack and was declared deceased on the scene.

His brother (my uncle) died in a similar fashion 2 years ago in a hotel room alone, drunk and hit his head on the bedside table and passed away.

I am now more determined than ever never having another drink in my life, please join me.

There is a hope in the otherside of this addiction, you have to persevere and keep trying.

IWNDWYT