Anyone ever successful with cutting down drinking without quitting drinking all together . I need to curb my drinking. I binge drink whenever I go out and typicallyhave 5-12 drinks if I'm not driving. Have had a lot of hangovers recently and I always tell myself I need to stop.

I get nervous when I'm out so drinking makes me feel less nervous (think I have social anxiety). Would like to hear if anyone has set a limit of say 4-6 drinks and has been successful. I don't drink during the week but I def drink too much on weekends and feel like I can't have fun without drinking which is kinda sad.

Im friends with a chick that is going to be a doctor and she acts like I have a massive problem. Think she could right and a few friends have said I drink too much. I've also lost some friends from saying too much while drunk. I feel it's normal for mid to late 20s to drink a lot especially for nightlife on weekends. Ill prolly have my liver values tested by a doctor soon to make sure I'm not smashing my liver too bad.

Everybody's got their own deal. Jimmies aside, my personal belief is that neither you nor me nor anyone can make someone else drink, nor can we make them sober. If your tales of successful moderation are enough to convince a real alcoholic that they really can try drinking again, then they were going to do it eventually anyway, and you may therefore actually be helping them to get to real step one. An alcoholic who isn't quite sure if they're really an alcoholic is bound to take the test sooner or later.

Get it checked out by all means, but your liver will be fine. You'll have elevated GGT because even a single episode of binge drinking will elevate that, but the other markers should be OK. But I'm definitely not saying don't check it, you should get it done.

Couple of suggestions for curbing binge drinking:

- Learn to meditate and have a meditation session immediately before going drinking. I'm planning to do this if/when I start drinking again, it was one of the few things that helped when I was drinking heavily. It gives a calmness that stops you just smashing 3 drinks in a row without really thinking about it.

- Don't start drinking until later in the night. Have a few non alcoholic drinks first. If you're a binger it's way easier to do that than try to restrict yourself after you start. Partly because you're relying on your sober brain to be sensible, rather than your drunk brain, and partly because it's less annoying to restrict yourself if you know you're going to get to drink later in the night.

Drinking to fix things (because you're nervous, or because you feel like you can't have fun without it) is a red flag for future alcohol problems. My drinking took a similar path into alcoholism. You should recognise that "I need alcohol to relax socially" and "I need to drink to have fun" are beliefs you have about yourself that have no independent reality outside the fact that you believe them. There are plenty of people in the world who can socialize and have fun without needing to be drunk and there is no reason you can't become one of them. Put some work into trying to fix those things instead of taking a fatalistic attitude ("I can't have fun without alcohol, that's sad, but it's just the way I'm built I guess, can't do anything about it"). Talk to friends, see a counsellor, do some thinking about how you're going to fix your issues without using alcohol to do it.

Yeah, I mean I guess a recovering alcoholic who remains angry that other people in the world get to drink without it turning into a disaster is probably not staying sober in the long term (I think in AA they call that a "dry drunk", right?). It shows an incomplete acceptance of having the disease, and that sort of jealousy in general is poisonous. I know you meditate, have you done it in a Buddhist context? Jealousy is the great enemy of sharing joy with other people.

Thanks for all the info and advice. I'm the type of person that thinks it's crazy when people won't drink and feel like I need to drink to have fun sadly. I feel awkward in social situations and speaking up so I feel drinking helps me get out of my shell. I think if I could hold drinking to say 4-5 drinks on a night out as a victory as I might only go out once a week with friends. I'll prolly see a counselor though.

I feel like I wanna relive college so I binge drink on weekends. I almost want to not go out bc it would totally stop the problem but I have to socialize with friends, etc.

Yeah, this sounds exactly like me other than that I don't have the social anxiety issues. Late 20s was the time that my drinking began to go off the rails. It's a time when there are major changes in life, with people starting to get married, have kids, get serious about their careers etc. If you're going a different direction than the white picket fence, like I did, then it's easy to be like "wtf why is everyone so lame now, let's get drunk and have fun, JFC what is wrong with you people". I know exactly what you mean about wanting to relive college.

It's very important to recognise a lot earlier than I did that alcohol is incapable of fixing problems. Whether it's "I get nervous", "There's not enough fun in my life" or whatever, trying to fix things with alcohol is going to make them worse in the long run. One of the things you learn from meditation is that your attitudes and beliefs and even who you are as a person are not fixed and are actually largely an illusion. It's one thing for me to say this like some sort of lame Facebook word-picture and it's another thing to have direct insight into the truth of that, which is what meditation can achieve, so I recommend it if you're interested.

If you're thinking "yeah but **** that, drinking is one of the funnest things in my life, I'll just cut down to 4-5 drinks and still get dat college-days flavor", or if the idea of going out and not drinking scares you a bit, then alcohol already has you in its grips and just forcing yourself to drink less won't fix that. Drinking less but not changing your attitude to drinking won't hold up in the long run. I'm not saying don't cut down, but you need a two-pronged attack.

I'm not saying there's even anything wrong with binge drinking on occasion btw, it's not good for you but life isn't always about doing what is good for you all the time. What is a problem is binging to try to fix things that bother you. It's like there's nothing wrong with eating the occasional icecream because icecreams are delicious, but there is something wrong with sitting and eating icecream because you're lonely, or stressed, or whatever, and that is how you try to distract yourself from things. The distinction is kind of subtle but very important.

saturation point has been reached, this isnt fun. I dryed out for a week only do to it again, very painful. Try forcing beers down your gullet when the body says no, result is sleeping in 1-3 hour sets followed by trips to the gas station for more...I'm smoking marlboros and pounding coors pints just to cope with the lonlieness but it magnifies it. One week clean I felt top of the world, strong as an ox but now a puddle of disgrace.

Quitting alcohol has been on my agenda for a decade yet here I am **** posting on my death bed, id love to be "struck sober" but suppose it takes work and dedication something I really haven't ever been able to produce.

Maybe my only contribution will be a cautionary tale about the perils of addiction, most die from addiction I'm well on my way....

Hey Hank, sometimes an old-timer will ask a newcomer to talk about the craziest alcohol-related thing they ever did. They'll tell stories about driving drunk, stealing stuff, saying horrible things to good people, all the stuff we do. But the craziest alcohol-related thing actually happened when we weren't drunk: we took a first drink. Each of us has had clean periods where we felt great and could envision our new lives without alcohol, then went right back to where we started. I used to quit at least once a year in January, just to let my body rest and to prove I could still do it. I've heard that insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result, but I think it's pretty ****ing insane to do something over and over KNOWING that everything is going to fall to ****, and then doing it anyway.

And for me, accepting that was absolutely necessary. When it comes to alcohol and drugs, I'm insane. They exist in a blind spot that when push comes to shove I just really have no control over. I don't got this.

You're right, a lot of people don't make it. But some do, people that were just like - or worse than - you. Seems like it'd be worth a try.

Good thread. Add me to the list of those that want to cut down on drinking. I noticed that in my case, I tend to start drinking between 4-10 PM. It's just a habit. I'm trying to replace the habit by keeping myself busy at night.

I know the drinking is disrupting my life because I can tell my mood changes when I drink. That's what's scaring me.

Does anyone know of any foods that help curb the urge to drink? I've looked online but it just says fruits and veggies for the most part. Well yea, but which ones?

My dad (mid sixties) lost one friend two years ago to alcohol and another is in Hospice care now. Both were told to quit drinking by their doctors or they would die. Neither did. Both had reasons to live - family, friends, jobs, etc. The power of addiction is unreal, or probably more appropriately put, very real. It definitely makes me give consideration to my own drinking habits, which I've been trying to curtail considerably since the new year. I don't know that my post has much of a point, but I'd like to say I hope all of you out there that struggle with addiction find the help you need to make it through.

One interesting thing, and not so little frightening, is how your goals change like you were changing your shirt. One thing to accept is you are not going to keep your word, however much you believe it right then. But I want to underline there's a big difference between giving up decision partly and giving up decision totally, even if they both are "giving up decision". Two steps forward and one step back is still one step forward. Try not make it two steps forward and three back.

You'll get there.


LFS: I think you trained for your final decision by always trying, am I right? You kind of need to do your homework before delivering?

Hmmmm, not sure what you mean exactly, but yeah I tried a million different ways to stop or control my drinking on my own. There would occasionally be temporary success, inevitably followed by relapse. If you're asking whether I made incremental progress towards getting sober, absolutely not. I would say that my efforts towards controlling/quitting were definitely less successful as time went on, not more. So no, I did not "build up" to sobriety. I crashed down into it.

One AA phrase I really like is "my behavior was deteriorating faster than I could lower my standards." Was definitely true for me.

HTB,

Hang in there. You actually seem on the cusp of real change and an honest step one. Have you ever tried AA?

Just thought I'd check in here.....

I have a little over 2.5 years now. What a difference my life is now vs then. For the most part I'm at peace for the first time in my life! One of the AA books says something to the effect of "it is our inability to form a true partnership with another human being". That was so true for me. Most, if not all, of my relationships are real. I am in the first healthy relationship with another woman in my life.

I now run a sober house, have been for a year. The biggest surprise is that I'm surprised what other alcoholics and addicts do when new in sobriety or during a relapse.

If anyone here is going to be in North Chicago on April first I'd love to meet you. The house of recovery I lived in has an annual fundraiser that I've been asked to speak at. I'm not the key note speaker just an opener. There's usually 350-400 people attending.

That place along with being beaten into submission gave me the willingness, open mindedness, and honesty to take that course of vigorous action to recover.

Hope all of you are well!

RRH, that's awesome man, so glad to hear it.

Nice, kudos!

My only hope right now is I never drank "that much"

And then of course there is the AA...and you...

Saving all the receipts of alcohol purchase, will make statistics and present the results in due time. Continuing the experiments, wonder for how long...

RRH,



All,

I have been reading "This Naked Mind" (downloadable free at that link). I'm only halfway through it, but it's good and I think would be helpful to people ITT who may not be alcoholic but want to cut down drinking. The purpose of the book is to make you rethink subconscious attitudes to alcohol by pointing out the influence of cultural factors etc on your existing attitudes. I don't agree with everything the author says but overall it's good and has me questioning whether I ever want to go back to drinking.

Printed a year 2017 calendar on a single A4. The centiliters will be marked. My receipts become numbers and then end up in the shredder.

Trends will be followed. Down on average is the way preferred.

40 centiliters (400ml) this week. Fail? Not exactly, imo.

I started reading this thread earlier this week. Drank Tues, Thurs and tonight. Made an excuse to drink each night. Still down from my normal 5-6 nights a week of drinking.

Not sure if I should cut down gradually or cold turkey. I'm honestly 50/50 at this point.

Had 10 beers Tuesday night, 15 beers last night and 18 tonight. Grr.. pisses me off.

I have to work at 8 AM Sunday so I know I won't drink tomorrow. I also work Wed night so my plan is to keep busy Mon and Tues night so I go 5 nights without a drink.

I hate having to plan this. ****.

Went and saw Guns N' Roses tonight. Felt like a weird thing to do sober. Had a good time though.

Also, I was out last night and briefly considered having a single drink again, but didn't basically just because I decided there was no reason to do so. Then I had a dream that night that I had not only had the single drink, but then broke my rules and had a second! Gasp. Felt kind of ashamed in the dream. Woke up and was kind of amused that my brain now considers two drinks grounds for a bad dream.

Welcome. What's your aim in cutting down at this point? What I mean is, do you want to quit drinking? Do you feel like you want to drink really moderately, i.e. still have drinks but get drunk rarely or never? Do you feel like you want to get drunk fairly often still but just not as much?

I really enjoyed this article: Giving up alcohol opened my eyes to the infuriating truth about why women drink

TL; DR, but imo alcoholics drink because we're alcoholics. I drank/used in times of success and failure, happiness and sadness, excitement and boredom. I drank when I was worried about being poor, and to celebrate when I was flush. I drank to feel less, and I drank to feel more. To say "women/men/I drink because..." implies that by fixing the thing after "because" will make me OK. Personally, I fixed most of those things and was worse off than when I started.

The article is more about the author trying to be an everything-woman in modern times. Alcohol plays(ed) a supporting role. I thought it was pretty well written and made me laugh a few times.