Giving up drinking........... (page 2)

BrendaCloutier

Hi. My name is Brenda and I'm an alcoholic. I finally got clean and sober in May of 1990. I had a 3-shot relapse in April 1997 during the deaththroes of my 3rd marriage. I have been clean and sober since.

If I go back to drinking now, my alcohlism will take up, not where I left it in 1990, or even 1997, but as if I had never quit. That is part of the progression of the disease. My body does not process alcohol NORMALLY just as a diabetic's body does not process sugar NORMALLY.

How long until I was clear? Well, I did AA meetings VERY regularly for 8 years. I haven't been to one in over 2 years now and I may or may not go if/when I feel like it. I have come to a point - finally - where I know I cannot drink, and I know what it will do to me, and I'm simply not willing to go there. For "there" is hell on earth, in my skin.

A more direct answer is it takes the body at least a year to clear out all the residue alcohol in the system for a long-term regular drinker.

Oh, I want to drink from time to time. Not just one, but get totally smashed! It's usually when I'm in a lot of emotional or physical pain (and unfortunately I have chronic pain...). However, most of the time I no longer envy those who still drink (normally or alcoholicly) as my disease has nothing to do with them, and I often go out to pubs with friends.

I also understand the end-of-the-week celebration that alcohol can provide. My own feeling is that replacing Alcohol with Marijuana is replacing one drug with another. In AA circles it's called the "Marijuana Maintenance Program". However, Alcohol and Alcoholism is far deadlier than MJ. Over 90% of alcoholics die from alcohol consumption.... illness or accident. MJ has a much longer half-life than alcohol does.

I'm not anti-MJ, I just don't believe in using one drug to replace another.... I believe in MJ occasional use - several times a year maybe, and especially medicinal use, just not regular recreation. When using MJ to replace alcohol, it becomes a psychological crutch and difficult to put down, although not physically addictive as alcohol is to an alcoholic.

Vitty, good luck. If you or anyone else has any questions, please pm me or email me.

Bren

BrendaCloutier

PS

Tips on staying sober:

One day at a time can be a real bitch. Try living your day in 1/3rds. Sober until noon. Noon until dinner. Dinner until bed.

Then there's that "OMG I just have to have a drink!" Wait 10 minutes. Set a timer if you have to. Have a glass of something NON alcoholic - a favorite beverage. We all have to drink liquids, find a non-alcoholic beverage you enjoy and make that your drink of choice.

When out, I will often have my No-tell Coctail

OJ
Club Soda
Bitters
Lime Squeeze

Its my treat to myself.

When one is craving a mood-altering substance, it is often in reaction to something else.

Remember to H.A.L.T.

Hungry
Angry
Lonely
Tired

rebel8

((brenda))

Cygnus

I used to live my days in anticipation of getting drunk. Timing things I had to do around pounding 8 beers and getting a nap. An average week of drinking for me would be a couple litres of either Southern Comfort or Black Velvet, and 80-90 5.6% alcohol beers.

Then I found out I needed open heart surgery, pronto.

That was good incentive to quit drinking, and today I have MAYBE a total of 12 ounces of beer a month. I usually take a few sips and blahhhhhhhhhh. I dunno, I guess it was easy for me to quit. Going on an SSRI might have helped too (I went on Paxil and am on Lexapro now).

I have friends who still get bombed. I was at some friends' house the other day, I called over there at 10 in the morning, the one guy who answered the phone insisted I come over and if I wasn't there in 15 minutes he'd come get me. I said uhhhh no way you're driving, I'll be over. 45 minutes later without any warning he passed out in his chair and everyone else went to bed. I'm glad I'm not like that anymore, but I don't judge, and I can easily walk into a bar and drink Pepsi all night. Food tastes better. My cholesterol is way down and my liver enzymes went back to normal. I dunno, I guess I'm lucky.

Giving up PAINKILLERS is something else entirely............ but we won't go off topic. :)

BrendaCloutier

Oh yeah.... my beverage of choice? Mostly beer. Often wine but it gave me a horrid hangover. I seldom imbibed in liquor because I just got too drunk too fast.

My nightly consumption was 8-10 beers OR 1-1/2 bottles of wine. Weekends were a different story.

caty

You'll be fine. You're probably too young to get the dt's from quitting. Association is the hardest part, and once you have that licked, it's a piece of cake. After 5 years (with a year of relapse), I still associate fridays with getting ripped. Just make sure to keep busy during those times, and find something you really like doing instead. Being in bars might be hard at first, but you'll know what you can handle and what you can't. Good luck!

Cygnus

WARNING ------ OFF TOPIC

Isn't caty beautiful?

ON TOPIC

yeah, what caty said too

BrendaCloutier

You're probably too young to get the dt's from quitting.

Caty - it's not the age, but the amount consumed over time that creates the withdrawl symptoms known as DT's. It take A LOT to get there.

ballistic

As you can probably tell from my posts at the weekend, that is when I am drinking. I am also in the mindset of, "what have I worked hard all week for" and "what have I got to look forward to" if I cannot drink at the weekend. I notice the feeling is more profound when I'm not in a relationship. If I have someone to look forward to seeing at the weekend, then I'm not spending all Friday afternoon wondering when beer time is. My days of drinking everynight are a long time ago now though.

caty

yes, and thank god i never had those. my friend who was about 50 before he died of alcohol poisoning would quit drinking about once a year. he'd get the dt's BAD. they looked like the worse flu i've ever seen. poor guy.

Giving up drinking...........

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