You did it yourself pal. All about being determined and having the focus and will to quit. Never knock or downplay your own achievements.

Ok. I may have had some part in it . Nobody is there forcing liquor down your throat...but acknowledging there's a problem is maybe my greatest personal asset. And problems are meant to be attempted to be solved. This thread may have been to me like AA is for many, even if a bit less intense. I wasn't on safe ground. Maybe I am now? Trying to help others.

Good luck to you all in your attempts!

Quitting ANYTHING is hard, and I think cigarettes and alcohol must be two of the hardest. Congrats. It must change life, change self, experience of self widening??

I think generally speaking that quitting heroin or benzos is probably harder for most hardcore drug addicts than quitting alcohol is for drunks. But that's just from what I've read.

From my experience it was worse to quit nicotine than alcohol. I'm still dependent on caffeine, regularly try to cut down, especially during vacations. It may be I'm hooked to the end of my working career.

Thanks, think it's more about you know you would be worse off if continuing. And in life, like in poker, not losing is equally valuable as winning.

Figured I may as well post. I'm sure I'm an alcoholic. I posted this last Friday in the golf forum, of course drunk as hell, because that's where I normally post.

I have a very good job which means I can buy as much beer as I want (I only drink beer). During the week it's 13 beers a night and then on weekends I go hard. I'm a single guy so that doesn't help. I'm ALWAYS tired. Always.

I have told people about this and they've always been supportive but I never actually change anything. So I've decided to get help. I'll see my primary dr and see what they say.

In the meantime I'm cutting back. I've convinced myself that I'll never fall asleep if I don't drink so I've still been having some. Last Sat it was 6. Sun 6. Monday was bad, 11 (god damn Bills game), Tues 6, Thurs 5 and I'm watching baseball now with no beer in the house. I figure who cares if I can't fall asleep tonight or tomorrow. We'll see what happens Sunday.

Hopefully some of the regulars will respond that are more knowledgeable but if you drink 13 beers a day drinking 0 might be dangerous. You body has become use to fighting the alcohol and might have some dangerous side effects from immediately stopping. Like I said no expert and hopefully I’m wrong. Please see your doctor as soon as you can though and get medical advice.

Interesting. I do have one IPA in the fridge that I forgot about. Like I said, I'm calling my PCP Monday and we'll go from there.

It's odd because I like to travel and when, say, I go to see a friend in Vancouver for a week I'll not drink and not have any serious side effects. The main difference is that I regain energy (imagine that). And then the plane lands and I can't wait to get home and drink.

If you have gone without drinking before without side effects than disregard what I’m saying. I’ve read about alcohol withdrawal and how it can dangerous.

Well I'm reading about what you said now and Jesus Christ it's some scary stuff. And in no way do I think I'm bulletproof.

I know (think?) one night will be fine. I know for sure that I have to see my PCP asap as I'm not gonna kid myself and claim to have the silver bullet (no pun intended).

I like this effort. Cutting down was my main method too. But do it kind of slow and methodically, no immediate stop as pointed out, let some weeks pass. Good luck!

I can relate to this post, however much I may not like it.

Just my opinion/experience.

If you want to stop, I would try to and just listen to your body. You can always go get some stuff if you think you are having a horrible reaction to get yourself to Monday. But if you keep drinking over the weekend, your mind could change come Monday so now is the best time to try.

If you've gone multiple days without drinking fairly regularly you'll know what is normal vs. not. If you are bad enough that you are at risk of some of the severe withdrawl side effects, you've likely gone thru side effects previously. My main ones were nausea, inability to sleep, and huge temperature swings (going from sweating to freezing and back in what seemed like 10 minutes). Unless youve somehow been a 6pack+ a day drinker for the longest time and never actually stopped for a few days.

That was never my route, so I can't relate if so.

Thanks for the input all. So I went to bed at like 10:15 last night. And I'm sure you all know that there is an incredible difference between getting in bed and passing out versus getting in bed somewhat tired and trying to fall asleep. I tossed and turned and checked the phone and it was just after 11. Next time I checked the phone it was after 1 but I knew I had slept in between then (success!). Spotty sleep the rest of the night. Got out of bed at 7:45 and if I had to guess I'd say I got about 5 hours of solid sleep. That's a win for me.

Needless to say I feel completely different than I normally do on a Saturday. Like a world of a difference.

We'll see how today goes. Only about 14 hours to go.

nate - glad to see you've taken a stance to act on things.

my first tip for you: there's no need to check your phone in the middle of the night to see what time it is. just set your alarm for the morning and go from there. looking at the clock in the middle of the night does nothing but trigger your mind to start thinking about how much time you have left to sleep. if your brain thinks it's too little, you won't get back to sleep. if you're brain thinks it's plenty, you're brain is still working and you won't get back to sleep.
just roll over, find a comfy spot, and get back to snoring. your phone will still be there in the morning.

Thanks Red. I don't wanna turn this into a blog (those RebelP posts were awful) but I'm having, for me, a good stretch. One IPA last night. Woke up today and felt fine for the first Saturday in FOREVER. Gee, I wonder why. Drove 2-1/2 hours today to do a 1 hour and 20 minute hike. There is a LOT of time to kill on the weekends.

Did some other stuff, saw The Last Duel (pretty good) and then started slamming beers. Good news, they are the NA kind. I did get a little worried about people posting about withdrawal so I grabbed a 6 pack and am I on beer #4 and ready for bed.

The phone will be on do not disturb and face down on nightstand tonight. No alarm for tomorrow. Don't care when I wake up.

Free time is often dangerous. It's also hard to break habits/connections in your brain that will tell you 'you need alcohol to enjoy a movie or whatever you do to relax, and also to go to sleep'.

I've always suffered with my sleep, but very much exasperated by alcohol. Being tired/sleep deprived has often been a catalyst to the starts of many of my bouts of drinking as, I realise in hindsight, it causes me to just not think straight.

It's getting better though. I have no caffeine after lunch, and get off any screens at least an hour before I go to bed, then normally read for a bit. Also walk 10+ miles a day, often "rucking" (carrying a weighted backpack), which helps wear me out, but I find is also great for my mental health as well.

sleep was one of the main triggers for my ex, i always felt like it was some trumped up excuse but reading these discussions of sleep make me realize while it was still an excuse, perhaps she genuinely felt that way

anyway, she's someone else's problem now, refused to get help, wouldn't recognize she had a problem

Father passed recently, which contributed to daily drinking and cocaine for the last two months....slightly warried about health at this point, i am in my forties...feel like there is nothing i can do or want to do to stop, maybe if i moved to Greenland or smth..

I haven't done it myself but a physical move to a different area hasn't fixed the problems for others based on what I've heard.

Before, I often got very drunk when I was losing big money, and when I won too ... Alcohol is like an anesthetic, you only postpone the problem instead of solving it.

I have finally made the decision to quit alcohol for good and forever. Today is day 1.

Today is the best day to start! Good luck.

i need a day or two

last six months about 2k cans of beer. 330ml

ambition