i’m quitting alcohol

[pixi]

i got really drunk before work. 7 shots and 6 standard drinks. obviously made a fool of myself and everyone knew. managed to keep my job somehow but i'm humiliated and i don't want that to be me anymore. i want better for myself. if anyone here has any experience with quitting an addiction, id love some tips or even just to hear your success story. thank you

 

[onthefence]

I can completely relate. It's a big wake up call when you realize you have done something that puts your job at risk. If you are drinking that much on a regular basis don't quit cold turkey- you will have to taper down to avoid DTs. The last time I quit drinking it was because I went to an AA meeting drunk and almost ended up getting assaulted by another member. Unfortunately I'm back at it now… I should have known it was playing with fire to think I could just get drunk once to feel a little better.
I'm proud that you are working on this!!!

 

[Jack_Nimble]

Dopamine Nation and the Dopamine Nation Workbook are quite helpful. Written by Dr Anna Lembke. She's appeared on many podcasts. If you look up her name on YouTube there's all kinds of videos.

She mentions AA also. She mentions some people say they don't wanna join AA cause it's a cult. She then says well it works cause it is a cult. Lol

 

[parasite_eve]

Good on you for making this choice!

I quit drinking a few years ago, pm me anytime if I can be a support. I did it cold turkey after a similar incident but that's not best practice. Pandemic helped because I could no longer socialize with my autoimmune disease.

So glad I did because it aaved me tons of $, time, humiliation, and I got in the best shape of my life. (Now I can be a pretty corpse, yay.)

 

[SmilingNoMore]

Hey, it's do-able. Today, I'm sober for 1 year, 1 month and one day exactly. I drank since the age of 13 and just about all of my adult life. The first thing I did waking up was to have a drink. I never got drunk really, as I was just in a constant "haze" I guess. I was on light white wine mixed with soda water, so it wasn't strong, but it was continuous. I even had this while at work without anyone knowing since there was no smell and I had my own office. Finally, in 2023 my liver couldn't take it anymore and I developed severe ascites. I had to have fluid of up to 10kgs at a time tapped from me for 9 months. I looked like a pregnant skeleton, since I also developed sarcopenia and lost all muscle mass. After what I believe was a visit from the death angel, I finally quit. All I can say is, don't let it get out of hand, liver disease is not a joke and not worth it. For me, the non-alcoholic versions of wine and beer help. I never really had a craving for alcohol since the day I decided to quit. I wish you all the best

 

[Tod]

I wish u all the strength needed for the upcoming battle. It's not easy to overcome addictions.
It will be hard but absolutely worth it to go through life sober and be free.
The most important advice I can give you is to fight one small battle at a time. Don't think too much into the future. Sometimes the urge to drink will kick in and all you can focus on is staying sober for another 5 minutes and then another 5 and so on. Don't think about what will be in 1 week, 1 month or 1 year. Fight the battles as they come and stay focused on the very moment. Why do you wanna drink? Is something stressing you out, etc.? What could be the reason for the urge or is it just the addiction itself knocking on the door again.
Also it's very important that you won't beat yourself up if you ever struggle. There will be setbacks and this fight will keep on for a long time but I can promise that it will get easier over time.
Good luck mate on your battle to achieve control and freedom in your life again.


I myself struggled with alc all my life and sometimes I still binge drink but it's no longer the daily bottle of vodka or similar amounts. Also some other drugs have been quite the battle but I'm off H and Benzos entirely and rarely smoke weed or do some party drugs.
I personally don't manage my shit without these exceptions but I stay strong on limiting my drug abuse to 3-6 times per year and I limit myself to specific drugs.
Just smoking is the one shitty addiction I don't rly get under control because smoking cigs helped me to overcome every other addiction. One day I will conquer that one too tho

 

[missedmybus]

For me, the way to kick alcohol after the physical dependency (which you should get past with medical professional) was to force myself to do pushups until failure/force myself to read until craving passes, and daily meditation.

In the meditation try to recognize patterns/triggers that get you drinking. If you meditate on those a lot, you will start recognizing them as they happen in daily life.

The exercise and reading thing are a bit of a pavlovian style conditioning I think.

I also like to go to concerts, and this was impossible for me when I first quit drinking, so I started volunteering at the concert venues I attended the most. After a year or so, I was able to start going to concerts again without cravings. The people that work at the venues knew about my drinking problem, so there was some social control. And also I would always have people to talk to if I felt out of place/awkward.

I don't know if this will work for you, but it did work for me.

 

[platypus77]

i got really drunk before work. 7 shots and 6 standard drinks. obviously made a fool of myself and everyone knew. managed to keep my job somehow but i'm humiliated and i don't want that to be me anymore. i want better for myself. if anyone here has any experience with quitting an addiction, id love some tips or even just to hear your success story. thank you

Go for it, I quitted a few years ago.
I feel better, and do less stupid shit now.

 

[Regen]

Dopamine Nation and the Dopamine Nation Workbook are quite helpful. Written by Dr Anna Lembke. She's appeared on many podcasts. If you look up her name on YouTube there's all kinds of videos.

She mentions AA also. She mentions some people say they don't wanna join AA cause it's a cult. She then says well it works cause it is a cult. Lol

Hahaha, no, AA is definitely not a cult. However, if I had read these strange-sounding 12 steps before I got to know the meetings - I don't know if I would have dared to do them. This God-in-the-steps thing is a little different than it seems at first glance. In any case, it is absolutely not a religious program and certainly not a sect. I have seen many people recover from various serious addictions, and that has deeply impressed me.

 

[Jack_Nimble]

I think the term cult is used loosely to describe how obsessed many members become with the program. Which is a good thing! To stave off such a strong addiction one must always be vigilant. But like the 30 meetings in 30 days award. Or former addicts simply frequently talking about their meetings and how it was such a good meeting.

Some addicts see this obsession from former addicts and say "I don't wanna be like that, sounds like a cult." Instead of arguing the semantics of a cult definition the DR simply continues with the loose definition to state that is why it works.

The god thing though is why I could never get with the program. It states one must believe in a higher power. Their book also states feeling sorry for those who don't believe in god. I've read their "We Agnostics" chapter some years ago. I just remember reading it multiple times and it not making sense.

 

[JealousOfTheElderly]

I struggled with alcohol for a long time. I would drink a bottle of wine an evening all because of a toxic job. It's the only way I could cope. It ruined my sleep, my weight, my health, my immune system, etc. etc.
I left that job and quit drinking cold turkey. I replaced the alcohol with sparkling mineral water or seltzer water and at times, kombucha.
Now I sometimes slip up and have a glass a week or every two weeks. But I go easy on myself when I do.
I also try to go for a 5 km (3 mile) walk daily.
My quality of live has improved greatly since I stopped downing alcohol and using it as a coping mechanism.

 

[missedmybus]

For me, I had a few drinks march last year when I lost my job. And before that was november 23 (my ex' bday + weekend retreat that fell through.). That one was a heavier one compared to the general public.

I come from a bottle of hard liquor/day in combination with pilsners, benzos and amphetamines.