Good luck getting sober. You can do it.

Rumpleminze is great. 100 proof and tastes like Listerine.

Part of the GOAT shot, liquid cocaine.

Gl wu. Make a deal with your girlfriend that when you crave alcohol she'll give you a bj. Then exploit it.

Thinly veiled cute gf brag.

GL OP, i quit drinking for 9+ years starting when i was 19. I did it with a 12 step program and a lot of work, this will not be an easy task on any level. If you are going to try a 12 step program my only advice would be to commit fully, and know that step 1 is admitting to god, yourself and another person that you are powerless over alcohol. If that is irreconcilable with you then try something other than a 12 step.

it's admirable you want to help people and already understand that service is the crux of AA, but at 120 days sober you should probably be mostly listening and working on your own sobriety.. no hate or disrespect at all, just my honest opinion

GLGL (and to Wu too)

Really? Admitting to God? How about just be true to yourself and admit you need help, like he's doing.

I didn't write the big book, that's what it says. And i don't see how the projection of your issues with its verbiage will help OP here.

A lot of people have a problem with the use of the word god, myself included, but you can interpret that however you want.

My point was to call out that a 12 step program worked for me, and it has worked for thousands of others, but that its not easy and you have to really commit to it. Not to try and scare anyone off because it includes having a relationship with "god" or a higher power of your choosing.

I am not claiming its the only way, only that it was the way i chose.

But how does God feels about gambling and kinky avatars ?

I think the newcomer has as much to say as anyone. They keep me honest and remind me of my own story of why I needed to stop drinking, that's why they are encouraged to speak up in the rooms. If I had to listen to boring old people with long term sobriety, I'd just talk to myself, lol. Plus, I think their story is very relevant for others who are new to the program.

The god thing is only problematic from the outside. It's difficult to explain how non-religious the concept is to people looking in. I just tell others that I am a Taoist Zoroastrian and their eyes glaze over and they move their minds past that issue. (It's really much more complex than that for me, lol!)

Whatever, it sounds like you could use some sober time OP, but I can't tell you that. Only you will know when you are sick and tired of being sick and tired. (I'm at 24+ years of being happy, joyous and free. The reason I might sound a little preachy is not because of the program, but because I'm old.)

Good going everybody, both the alcoholics and not.

Long term sober, short term sober we are all equal. Alcoholic is what we have in common and nobody is more knowledgable or 'experienced' just because got a few more months or years sobriety.
I despise AA but i respect it as it has helped hundreds of thousands in some way or another.

Maybe this is inaccurate, but while there's no doubt I've been a problem drinker, I would not consider myself an alcoholic yet. Either way, I want to give up alcohol permanently, with the reason being that I feel there is a very very very high chance I will develop a dependency later if there's not one now. AA could still be beneficial just to see some people in similar situations, but I'm not looking at it as a program that could cure me. The main thing is just not wanting to drink anymore. That sounds easy now, having just thrown up for two days straight, but we'll see if I have any temptation coming up.

By the way, the problem with Rumple Minz is that I now have a taste aversion to my toothpaste...

I didn't end up in hospital, but I had the exact same idea after a very intense blackout drunk session last Friday. I even text some friends saying "I've quit drinking from now on".

It's now Tuesday and I'm sipping on a cool beer.

You're an alcoholic wether you want to believe it or not.

Alcoholic isn't a diagnostic term. There used to be a distinction between alcohol dependence and alcohol abuse. Dependence meant you were addicted--your tolerance was increasing and if you stopped drinking you'd experience withdrawal symptoms--and that you'd drink more than you intended. This is what people usually mean by alcoholic. Abuse simply meant your drinking was having negative consequences in your work/personal life etc.

Now these have been combined into a single Alcohol Use Disorder, classified as either mild, moderate or severe depending on how many of the symptoms you have. If you care, here's a list of the symptoms. You probably have some degree of Alcohol Use Disorder, as do lots of people who would never think of considering themselves an alcoholic.

You might be able to manage this on your own. More likely, you'll have a plan to go out and not drink, or only have a drink or two, and this might work for a while, but then you'll revert to you're old habits. You might be okay with this as long as you're not winding up in the hospital. If not, while many people benefit from AA and it changes their lives, there are other ways to manage alcohol abuse that have stronger empirical support than AA. If the philosophy and structure of AA doesn't appeal to you, you can just see a therapist or addictions counselor and this will be as or more effective than AA for a random person.

I have a big problem with the label "alcholic" because it means different things to different people. There's not much objectivity.

Almost everyone would agree that the wino sleeping in the gutter, who begs for change until he can afford to buy a $4 bottle of thunderbird at 10 in the morning, is an "alcoholic." What about the lady who drinks a bottle of wine each Friday and Saturday night, but only has 3-4 drinks the rest of the entire week? The guy who has 7 rum and cokes watching football on Sunday, and a six-pack of beer at the Wed. night poker game, but only 0-2 drinks on other days? The person who never drinks more than 1-2, but has that six or seven days a week? Lots of grey area.

That said, the issue is whether someone has a genuine problem with alcohol. OP clearly has that, by his own admission. People without alcohol problems don't get hospitalized for it.

I agree with using whatever works, I don't have any real buy in except what worked for me. It's funny about the term alcoholic, because it's so loaded for most people. When I told a close relative that I was an alcoholic and I was in a program to get sober they replied, "But, your not an alcoholic!"

I laughed and said, "But you've seen me drink seven bottles of wine and go completely nuts many times." And they just said," That's just how you are."

And they're right, that's just how I am, lol. (Interestingly, I can take or leave all other drugs, but alcohol grabbed me and wouldn't let go.

hes all for it

An alcoholic is somebody who cannot control their drinking once they start. A non problem drinker has the absolute ability to take it or leave it once he or she has taken that first drink.
An alcoholic is somebody whom once taken that first drink will uncontrollably continue to drink and drink until he or she passes out, runs out of money or physically cant.
Your description of the stereotypical alky on the street is a misconception. You get 'functioning' alcoholics who can hold down a job and you also get binge drinking alcoholics, not just the homeless alcoholic.

Yeah. I hate the stigma attached to the word alcoholic. I dont tell people im an alcoholic because of that. I just say alcohol doesnt suit me if asked or I 'quit drinking'

Good luck, Wu.

Based on the info you've given us, I think you're most likely just caught up in the college party scene, going out a lot, and getting too hammered. Lots of us did this at 22 and managed not to ruin our lives.

Of course, you could also be in the beginning stages of a raging alcoholism, so it's probably a good idea to stop for a while, let your body heal itself, and take it from there.

For me, it really wasn't particularly difficult to give up alcohol. To be fair, I was older than you (29) when I made a firm commitment to giving it up. If I was 22, I don't think the idea of quitting would have ever crossed my mind. Some ways to help:

The easiest one is to tell people that you don't feel like drinking. They aren't entitled to explanation on why you don't want to drink. If they pressure you beyond that, tell them to go **** themselves. Your true friends will understand and likely be happy that you're making this change because it will improve your well-being. They won't be the ones pressuring you.

Way to help avoid alcohol would be to find a healthy (or at least healthier) substitute for alcohol if you do go to a pub. I normally just have Coke Zero or something like that and max out at 2 in a night. Also join clubs and perform activities that don't congregate around pubs or other places where alcohol is plentiful. Sports clubs and exercise classes are great options.

The benefits have been pretty huge for me. I lost a bunch of weight, saved a lot of money, my seizure frequency has dropped to nearly zero and I realized that self-medicating simply wasn't improving my social life. If anything, it was making it worse by numbing my senses. I wish I recognized that when I was younger.

Good luck.

This is how I feel more or less. On the whole, I'm not any worse than most students. But between my family history and the beginnings of health consequences, I think it's best not to tempt fate. I don't even much enjoy alcohol, so when you add in all the health/ mental benefits of cutting it out completely, I think that's the route for me.

According to this, I have moderate Alcohol Use Disorder, which is what I would have expected. I have never experienced withdrawal symptoms, built up a huge tolerance compared to what I used to, had cravings or really had unsuccessful efforts to control use (yet). The others all more or less apply.

end thread right here, just killed it