Congrats LFS, that's quite an accomplishment.

Nice LFS, you are a role model for us!

Our methods can differ, but the goal is the same.

Congrats LFS.

i almost became a drunk..
drank about 500days nonstop, every day, from morning often and beer after beer thruout the day.

i dont know how or whats up but today is like 4th day no drinking. feeling just fine and energy leves rising.

i dont need alco anymore.
i need poker.

Congrats LFS. Kind of unrelated, but do you still eat canned salmon every day?

is there quiting MJ sub?

Ha, that's a blast from the past. No, I don't. Why? And thank you.

Grats LFS, that's a big accomplishment.

Just found it funny that you ate an oily salmon salad every day for like 5 years. Nothing more than that.

I'm exactly 5 years sober today. Like I say every year in this thread, giving up alcohol was, by far, the best decision I ever made!

To be a little presumptuous here, if you think you may be drinking too much, you probably are. Maybe do something about that going forward.

Grats LFS

I am finally making a real move to cut alcohol mostly out of my life. I've been a fairly moderate to heavy drinker most of my life - but I always was careful to stay below the recommended maximum daily/weekly # of drinks and worked with my therapist closely to monitor it for any problems. In therapy, we concluded that drinking was providing a valuable coping mechanism for me that has worked really well for me for a long time (I have pretty bad anxiety and depression and have been prone to taking very stressful jobs), but was definitely not healthy. We agreed we'd monitor it and I would agree to consider stopping if I ever noticed any of the classic "warning" signs of problem drinking.

I did a fair amount of analysis on it, and even if I'm being brutally critical of myself, alcohol has caused me very few if any significant problems in my life, so I never really considered it as something I should consider stopping. I enjoyed it, it helped me unwind enough to make it to the next horrible day for a while, so why fix something that isn't broken?

My dr brought up liver concerns a few months back, and while it looks good now, he says it definitely won't be sustainable for a long time, so I knew the clock was ticking anyway. So, long story short, in the last ~month or two, I have very little idea as to why, the drinking started to progress in a way it never had before. I was drinking far more than I realized, and actually seriously considered for a few seconds that someone had been stealing beer out of my fridge, until I found the empties that I clearly had consumed.

A few other things happened I don't want to talk about and now I'm living with some pretty wonderful people I care about a lot, one of which is a kid I'm mentoring that I have an enormous influence on, and I don't want to set a bad example. That combined with some of the warning signs I was seeing made it a slam dunk decision to just stop.

So, actually, it's been surprisingly easy, and I feel really bad for saying that because I know it isn't for everyone. I didn't know if it would be easy or hard because I genuinely have never tried to stop before in my life. First few nights I slept like ass, so I took a sleeping pill, and then that went away. Have not had cravings other than some brief ones yesterday that passed very quickly. Let me make it clear that I do not consider myself an "alcoholic" in the AA definition of the word, I just think that my relationship with alcohol was unhealthy and causing me probable long-term harm. If that makes me an alcoholic, ok, I don't really GAF about labels. I vehemently disagree with the philosophy of AA and would never consider going back there. I do, however, see the value in therapy and rehab if it is needed. I made an agreement with my therapist that if I had actual difficulty stopping that I would check myself in to rehab. Thankfully, that hasn't been even close to becoming necessary.


The only time I've drank in the last few weeks was I had a few beers on my birthday the other day, which I think is very fair. I don't really see a problem for me having a drink every once in a while, maybe every 1-4 weeks in moderation. We'll see how that goes. Right now since it's new I'm just leaning towards total sobriety as long as is reasonable.

I have been using MJ but my therapist does not see that as a problem, as long as I'm willing to accept some of the issues with its use, like my memory starts to become shitty.

Today marks 17 years clean/sober for me. Seems like only yesterday, lol.

Congrats mark!

You are awesome!

Still no alcohol since Sept. With the warmer weather (BBQ and golf) I've found myself craving an ice cold beer every now and then. I've discovered Athletic Brewing beer to fill that craving,which is a game changer imo. I have also started to enjoy the odd cigar a couple times a month as a way to relax. Between the Athletic Brewing beer, cigars and morning run/workout I feel no urge to drink alcohol and have never felt better.

Nice one. keep it up!

2 years ago to the day a doctor in the hospital told me I had 6 months to 2 years to live. I am still alive today.

Not a drop for 2 years + 2 days.

Spent a week in hospital then with ascites and jaundice.

5 more days a few months later admitted with hepatic encephalopathy.

Observable symptoms now gone.
Encephalopathy has not repeated with medication.

Blood work has improved and is okay now given i have cirrhosis.

Last ultrasound showed a mass but mri result came back as benign.

Lost 50 pounds after switching from rum and fast food to near vegetarian diet (eat fish and some chicken and turkey). Started exercising a done.

Feel great now , like i was 15 years yonger. Currently have no need to go on transplant list and could live decades if I continue to dodge liver cancer.

Alcohol ruined my life. I never tried to get quit until I was told I was dying. I post this to urge people to quit. It can be done. I drank 10 to 20 drinks daily for at least 5 years and was heavy drinker before that.

I have had no problems even thinking about relapsing. The hospital was my detox. They did also give me 3 weeks of Valium.

All the time I think about why didn't stop earlier. I thought okay this my last bottle many times and found myself at the liquor store the next day. If I got help even 6 months earlier could have changed things.

Thanks for writing that. I'm glad you're ok and hope you get many years of bonus time.

There's an excellent documentary about AA's Bill Wilson available on Amazon Prime now, Bill W. Very well made, might even be considered inspiring by some.

Curious, how balanced do you think it was kioshk? I know a lot about Bill already, the good and bad, but would be interested to watch it if it wasn't a total hero worship piece.

One my gripes with AA was the religious nature of it, and I don't mean the higher power stuff, but it has it's services, holy book, set rituals, and a saviour figure. And, like all religions, has it's fundamentalists, who I feel can start to take over. There's no questioning of the program or the text, and any is seen as an attack, or 'your addiction' speaking.

Barely been drinking since May 1
Took all May off.
June 1 went to Top Gun Imax and had 2 beers.
Had a scotch last night.

Been drinking a lot of craft 0.5s. I actually like them and quell the desire to drink.

I think it was balanced but I'm pretty pro-AA myself so consider the source. It's definitely favorable in tone but doesn't portray him as perfect, talks about his depression battles, his LSD use, his extra-marital affairs etc.

I have a few friends who have really cut back drinking recently, even over heard 2 young guys talking at a store the other day how they stopped drinking last year. Get some Athletic Brewing NA's they really are great.
I came across this Twitter thread today.