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8 years ago 0 +0 / -0 115

Ten months

Hi everyone,

I havent posted here in awhile. I quit drinking 10 months ago, after a couple unsuccessful attempts the previous year. I wanted to post here in hopes of giving someone an idea of two that may help them on their journey to getting alcohol under control, rather than having it control them.

I just have to say that this is the best year i have had in a long time. Drinking was really taking a toll on my mental well being. I didnt realize how badly it have effected me until I stopped.

For anyone considering quitting, i can only say that stopping alcohol has no negatvie effects that i can find. I have much better relationships with everyone. I sleep better. I eat better. My mental state is 100 percent better. My only regret is I didnt succeed sooner in stopping.

Life still goes on. Challenges still pop up evey day. But i can deal with life better when Im not drinking.

I had a friend who lost his battle with the bottle a couple years back. It hurts so much when I think about what it did to him. Too much drinking ruins too many lives! I hate what drinking does to some people!

Take care of yourselves everyone.

Gus

8 years ago 0 +0 / -0 115

9 Months Today

Way to go Julie! Im so proud of you! I look forward to our first anniversary as well Julie! (Julie and i started on this alcohol free path roughly the same time. We only know each other through this forum).

8 years ago 0 +0 / -0 115

31 - little chance, lot of hope

Hey Jessmess,

I want to echo many of Julie's comments for you. Once you get the drinking part under control and eliminated, everything else thats problematic becomes less of a problem. At least that was my experience. Before I quit last year, I thought I was suffering from maybe an anxiety and/or depression issue. Once I quit drinking, those bad feelings lessened. I still have bad days; dont get me wrong. But the depth of the downs are less, and the anxious feelings are alot less, compared to when I was drinking. I think drinking too much just exasperates our problems.

And Julie is right - it may seem you cant live without your comfort. But once you quit for awhile, everything becomes clearer. The fog of drinking goes away, and everything makes more sense. Problems become easier to deal with. Again, that was my experience anyway.

And it was tough for me in the beginning. But it got easier as time went on. And now, I have no interest in going back to drinking.

Best of luck in your quest Jessmess. Keep looking for what works for you. Take care

Gus

8 years ago 0 +0 / -0 115

I don?t know where to begin

Bmac, theres no downside to stopping drinking. If you need to take some time off drinking, go for it. Just figure the way that works best for you. It may seem a tough at first, but it gets easier as time goes on.

I was thinking about drinking the other day, and I came to a conclusion that made me laugh outloud. Drinking takes alot of effort! First, you have to plan to go to the store to buy it, go and actually buy it, spend your hard earned cash, carry it home, drink it (which can take hours), pee numerous times during the drinking, get a bad nights sleep, wake up hungover, and screw up galf or all of tour next day. Thats exhausting just thinking about it!

8 years ago 0 +0 / -0 115

Question for people quit a long time?

I am successfully quit drinking almost one full year. I have had very little, if any, temptation to go back drinking at all in the past year. But the last week, I found my resolve slipped a little bit. Its not like I went anywhere near a drink, but I found myself thinking about if I could handle a few drinks. I know the answer to that - probably not, and it would probably set me up on a road that i dont want to go down again.

My question is this: Is it normal after you have quit drinking for awhile to get wondering about going back to drinking? Is it normal to think about drinking when coming up to quitting anniversaries?

I will be quit one full year next Sunday. Hard to believe I have gone through a year without drinking. Its the new normal for me now.

Talk later

Gus

8 years ago 0 +0 / -0 115

First time posting

Hey Tommy,

I am quit one year today. I was in your shoes a short time ago. I tried quitting on and off for years, and I finally drank my last drink May 15, 2015. My good friends on this site (Julie, Ashley and others) helped me get through some big rough patches with encouragment and advice. I got through those rough patches, and I came out the other side in one piece. I survived. Dont get me wrong - im not saying life all of a sudden became pefect. But the problems I created for myself and others by drinking went away. So life is way better!

Like Dave said below, when you have that magnetic draw to go back to drinking, thats normal. You are supposed to have those. But as you move more away from your last drink, those get fewer and fewer, and the magnetic draw lessens. My advice to you is when you have one of those feelings, acknowledge and say to yourself "Im supposed to feel this, and it will pass off in a bit." At least thats how I handled feeling that way.

Your biggest opponent is yourself. I always keep that in mind. I know no outside influences can bring me back to drinking. Only me.

Have a great day everyone!

Gus

8 years ago 0 +0 / -0 115

Quit over a year

Hey everyone,

I have been quit drinking now over a year. I tried quitting for maybe 2 or 3 years, so I have learned a few things about trying to quit, then successfully quitting.

I'm not going to get on my soapbox here and tell you all the reasons why quitting is a good idea. All of us have a reason, or multiple reasons, for quitting. I quit for my kids. I want to be there for them, and when I was drinking, I wasn't. And I quit for my own sanity, because I think drinking was destroying me mentally. And I quit drinking because it killed one of my good friends at age 38. If you have decided you want to quit, for whatever reason, just try and figure out how to do it.

I have learned a few things about drinking, and quitting in the last few years. I am going to list them off below. I am hoping my list below gives one of you who are trying to quit, or stay quit, an idea to help you out.

To quit successfully, I had to think about drinking differently. Saying "I'm gonna do it, I'm gonna do it." didn't work for me. It wasn't until I started thinking about drinking differently that I managed to quit successfully.
The first few days are not easy, but it got easier after a few days. And it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.
I had a few urges early on when I quit first. When I got an urge, I replaced alcohol with diet pop. Its not good for you either, but it isn't as bad as alcohol was for me.
After a week or so of being quit, I noticed my sleep patterns were getting normal. Instead of passing out, I was falling asleep, and having long, deep sleeps, waking up fresh.
Not having hangovers is awesome! I have gone now over a year without waking up with a headache, dry mouth, and guilt from drinking.
Since I stopped drinking, my downs aren't as deep as they used to be. I still get down about things at times, as life still happens. But the downs aren't as long or as deep.
You can have lots of fun at social functions without drinking. I have attended weddings, parties, and many other functions without.
Since I stopped drinking, I am more honest with myself and others around me.
Not drinking can be your new normal. I think if you try to quit, you need to start thinking that not drinking is the new normal for you, same as drinking was before. I set that expectation deep in my brain. I expected not to drink, and that mindset seemed to help. I think its called visualizing

This site is a great site to post thoughts and be honest. No one around me really knows I'm quit over a year. I don't want to deal with people's reactions with me quitting drinking. But here on this site, I can be honest. And I get lots of great feedback from friends like Julie and Ashley.

Thanks for all your help and support in the last year everyone!

Gus

8 years ago 0 +0 / -0 115

Quit over a year

Hey guys,

Ashley and Jessmess, it wasnt exactly willpower that got me over the line. I had to think about drinking differently in order to quit. I started picturing myself not depending on alcohol . I had to picture myself not drinking being the new normal for me.

The difference between the old me and new me is my mindset, and how i think about drinking now, vrs how I thought about it when I was drinking. I drank from age 14 to age 41. And my drinking got really bad from about age 35 onward. So the "normal" for me was drinking. Socializing involved alcohol. Winding down involved alcohol. Weekends involed alcohol. Work trips involved alcohol. When I was down in the dumps I drank, and when I was haply I drank.

In order to get me over the line, I had to first get my mind thinking that not drinking in those situations was going to be the new normal for me, and I had to get comfortable with that. I had to tell myself it was going to be OK to go through thosse situations without drinking. And you know what? I went through those situations, the world didnt end, I got through just fine.

I genuinely do enjoy life now maybe 200 percent more since I quit. I am in the game in all situations now. I dont have periods every night that are blanks. i can think better than I have in years.

Jessmess, I can honestly say I cant think of one reason to drink anymore. I have too many great things going on now to screw it up with alcohol. A good friend of mine asked me last September if I would ever consider going back to drinking. I told me honestly that I have as much interest in drinking alcohol as I have in drinking batttery acid. I have no interest in it anymore.

I'm looking forward to your updates Jessmess. I hope you got An idea or two from my posts.

Be good to yourself!

Gus

7 years ago 0 +0 / -0 115

Grateful

D1, I totally get what you are saying regarding the sensation. I drank to oblivion to get the sensation. I wanted to sensation, not necessarily the alcohol. Make sense?

And the quote "No more putting out fires with gasoline." Wow, what a quote! Does that ever sum it all up!!!!

7 years ago 0 +0 / -0 115

One Year!

Congrats Julie! You just made my day 200 percent happier by posting this! I am so proud of you!

Your points are all so accurate. You really hit the nail on the head with all of them. The best points to me are the first ones - we are all on our own journey to sobriety, and we need to figure out what works for us. If we want to quit, we can figure out the path. It might take a few tries, but we can get there.

You are truly an inpsiration for me Julie. Your insights into quitting in the last year have helped keep me on track. Keep up the good work!

Here's to year 2!

Gus

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