Current Events > I'm trying to stop drinking since I drink way too much.

(+) Yeah! (+)

Starting today. Ever since last January when my mom died and my family pretty much fell apart Ive gotten drunk every night with rare exceptions. And here lately my pace has been high. At least a six pack of tall boys and a couple shots of liquor. So yeah this is just me acknowledging this problem I have and since I like CE I figured Id share my journey with you guys.

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If you were drinking that much for so long be careful about withdrawals when going cold Turkey. If you start to feel strange it wont hurt to just check in with your doctor so they know.

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the first step is often the hardest, so kudos for that. the longer you let it go the harder it is to give it up.

personally, i tried to regulate my alcohol intake for years but was always unsuccessful in the long run. i'd behave for a few days and only have my 'allowed' amount but then i'd slip back to my old habits. i found the only way to manage my drinking was to abstain entirely.

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Good for you. There's too much alcohol abuse on CE lately. Best of luck!

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VipaGTS posted...

If you were drinking that much for so long be careful about withdrawals when going cold Turkey. If you start to feel strange it wont hurt to just check in with your doctor so they know.

Ill definitely keep a close eye on how I feel.

Giant_Aspirin posted...

the first step is often the hardest, so kudos for that. the longer you let it go the harder it is to give it up.

personally, i tried to regulate my alcohol intake for years but was always unsuccessful in the long run. i'd behave for a few days and only have my 'allowed' amount but then i'd slip back to my old habits. i found the only way to manage my drinking was to abstain entirely.

I feel Im the same way. Just dialing back wouldnt work.

LostForest posted...

Good for you. There's too much alcohol abuse on CE lately. Best of luck!

Thank you.

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same. last week i drank 2 bottles of wine and a 6 pack of beer within the span of 3 days. i felt horrible for the next 2 or 3.

i got this app called "HabitBull"

basically it you tap the days you successfully do something you want to change, like not drinking for me, and it tracks your progress. shows you a percentage of how many days you succeeded, etc.

i find it helpful. sorta gamifying it.

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Yeah, just stop - sometimes in the name of something you can quit the monkeying around.. but it can be hard

as aspirin said, sometimes dialing back wont work.. didnt work for me tbh

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Solidarity.

nowadays it just takes a glass of wine for me to get tipsy... >_>

RedJackson posted...

Yeah, just stop - sometimes in the name of something you can quit the monkeying around.. but it can be hard

as aspirin said, sometimes dialing back wont work.. didnt work for me tbh

Its dangerous to go cold turkey. Your body becomes dependent and there are serious dangerous side effects. Tapering is best but that is difficult on your own because the addiction makes you want to keep drinking. Supervised detox is best for that reason but lol covid

Its tough, but you can do it. Sorry to hear about what youve been through.

I'm doing the same, TC. Now I'm finding it VERY hard to sleep for the last three nights and it's really effecting me. I lay down and just toss and turn and can never get into the deep sleep. I'm getting some rest, though. I never feel that 'tired' when I wake up, just. . .I don't know. My body is rested up but my brain isn't.

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Yeah insomnia is a common symptom of early stage withdrawal. Be careful everyone. It is my understanding days 2-7 are the most important to watch for withdrawl symptoms like seizures.

https://americanaddictioncenters.org/withdrawal-timelines-treatments/alcohol

Also please drink water and stay hydrated

Chairoff posted...

Yeah insomnia is a common symptom of early stage withdrawal. Be careful everyone. It is my understanding days 2-7 are the most important to watch for withdrawl symptoms like seizures.

I'm not deep into it like TC is, I was lucky enough to catch this coming on and have to put the breaks to it now. But thanks. Insomnia was the reason I started drinking in the first place.

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I've tried a few times this year but it's been tough. I really gotta give it a college try as me and my wife drink far too much. The other green stuff helps with insomnia at least. I try to keep the consumption of alcohol down to at least Friday - Sunday and not any actual work day but I gotta stop that.

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Bad_Mojo posted...

I'm not deep into it like TC is, I was lucky enough to catch this coming on and have to put the breaks to it now. But thanks. Insomnia was the reason I started drinking in the first place.

I've quit cold turkey before and been fine, but i know its dangerous. With this last relapse ive been going so long im afraid ive reached the event horizon.

The serious symptoms like tremors and seizures are what im really afraid of reaching.

Have you had especially bad nightmares or night terrors? That's always one of the first and worst symptoms of withdrawal for me personally

Kaldrenthebold posted...

I've tried a few times this year but it's been tough. I really gotta give it a college try as me and my wife drink far too much. The other green stuff helps with insomnia at least. I try to keep the consumption of alcohol down to at least Friday - Sunday and not any actual work day but I gotta stop that.

Green is so much better for you than alcohol. The laws are so backwards

You either feed a disease or fight It with *everything you eat or drink, to paraphrase someone. Stop drinking now and you will thank yourself in 3 months.

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Chairoff posted...

Green is so much better for you than alcohol. The laws are so backwards

It is. My state finally made it legal so I have some more time before I can even get it anywhere, but those will be the good days. My biggest issue is I hate the whole song and dance of getting it from some guy. Will be way way better to just go to a damn store.

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I'm an [Oregon Legal] partaker as well, but that never helps me sleep. Even the more hard hitting candies don't help me sleep. They make me feel better, but not sleepy.

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There are people here that can help you with this, guys that have intervened with our crew before like @metallica846 and @DrizztLink that successfully kicked it and have been sober for a while. I'm a lot further gone than you are and I don't see an end in sight, I'm always around for support regardless.

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Bad_Mojo posted...

I'm an [Oregon Legal] partaker as well, but that never helps me sleep. Even the more hard hitting candies don't help me sleep. They make me feel better, but not sleepy.

Yeah insomnia is another thing with green when you take breaks; but all in all it is much less toxic on your body.

Chairoff posted...

Yeah insomnia is another thing with green when you take breaks; but all in all it is much less toxic on your body.

My biggest issue is lack of appetite. Which my waist could probably use. I went to PA with my wife for her 30th and it felt like I was never hungry.

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Chairoff posted...

It is my understanding days 2-7 are the most important to watch for withdrawl symptoms like seizures.

i had a seizure 4 or 5 days after quitting cold turkey. shit is no joke. and yeah, sleeping was REALLY hard for the first week.

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gone cold turkey a few times and never had any seizures, but I would get DTs like a mother fucker. could never figure out what was going on and why I got those until I seen people here talking about how they had similar issues

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Giant_Aspirin posted...

i had a seizure 4 or 5 days after quitting cold turkey. shit is no joke. and yeah, sleeping was REALLY hard for the first week.

same. i had one after quitting cold turkey 3 days later. youve got this, tc. just be careful.

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I was like that until covid happened. Then I took 2 and a half months off. Since early june, I have been drinking only about as many times as I've not been drinking, so like a 1:1 ratio. Used to be probably 20:1. I get withdrawal effects quicker now, but that just makes me stop quicker, and the effects don't last as long before going away and aren't as bad initially either, mostly just nausea and anxiety and mild insomnia. I am definitely improving. When I start up again, I want to stop again within a few days to a week or so (used to be up to months). It has been working for me.

I definitely couldn't do a permanent abstaining, going on some "get super sick if you drink" meds or something like AA. The mere thought of those types of approaches just really depress me and lead me to self-loathe. The sacrifice involved in anything like that is far too great of a price to pay (and it's a price where I am giving up sense of self and identity, not just alcohol). Everyone is different though and I don't consider myself to have any kind of addiction. I've done other classically addictive substances and engaged in addictive activities. My brain does not react the same way. Plus I can have 1 or 2 at a family function or before dinner if that's my initial plan, without having more and it's fine. When I'm in a stint of not drinking, I can have booze in the apt. even within constant line of sight and not touch it or want to touch it if my plan is not to touch it. Therapy for underlying issues (of which alcohol is essentially related in a tertiary way) would be ideal, but I have put that off because of the virus.

Everyone is different though. Guess and check, trial and error has worked best for me. Attempting to take the approaches and suggestions of others has not worked at all and even been detrimental. I guess it's because I want to turn back tbe clock to a time where it didn't become inconvenient. This is a bad strategy for many and impossible for a vast majority of people with actual addiction, so I've read. For me though, if I was to turn the clock further back to before alcohol was present at all, there is nothing of value there. To many, this would mean a full reset and start over and quitting entirely (the recommended strategy for addicts as I understand it), because abstainkng entirely is the only way to move forward. The issue I personally have though, is while I can say "I can't move forward unless I never drink again under any circumstances," or "I can't drink again ever, even a small amount because I will just spiral back to where I was," I can't say them honestly, and if I can't say them honestly, what good is saying them?

Some say a person has to hit rock bottom, but I feel like my headspace and lifestyle has always been such to know when I'm too close... like at my worst, I was on a bungee cord and stopping almost within arm's reach of the ground, and since then, I've been up and down a bjnch but never there again because I've been using shorter and shorter cords.

Anyway, that went from a few thoughts to a wall of text lol and it was more me sharing than trying to offer any advice. Again, everyone is different and you have to figure out what works for you. Sorry about your mother and good luck in your efforts.
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@Machete thank you that was was some incredible incite

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I've been drinking more and more and more over the day, much more spread out so I could consume higher quantities, instead of just going the day dry and drinking myself to sleep like I used to. I feel like shit on the daily, but I'm genuinely afraid of trying to quit and getting even more sick. I tried skipping both my morning and afternoon tumbler of liquor one day, and by the end of the day my blood pressure was so high I couldn't think straight and had to break out the bottle when I got home.

Are detoxes even accepting patients right now? I'd rather just be medically supervised.

All good man. I am not often in the mood to talk about such things but I happened to see this topic when I was :). Glad if any of it helps.
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treewojima posted...

I've been drinking more and more and more over the day, much more spread out so I could consume higher quantities, instead of just going the day dry and drinking myself to sleep like I used to. I feel like shit on the daily, but I'm genuinely afraid of trying to quit and getting even more sick. I tried skipping both my morning and afternoon tumbler of liquor one day, and by the end of the day my blood pressure was so high I couldn't think straight and had to break out the bottle when I got home.

Are detoxes even accepting patients right now? I'd rather just be medically supervised.

Ive toughed it through days like that and I've always improved the next day and started to feel normal in 3-4 days, but I would not just recommend trying it. You should look into detox and see if anything is available. At that point, keeping up what you're doing is going to be worse and the situation will get more desperate, so at the very least, making a call and having a professional advise you would be a good course of action.
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Withdrawals are definitely a concern.

For me, the tremors start up first. Probably 12 hours after the past drink. If I didn't get something in me within a couple hours, on comes the "vomit for an entire day" thing and no sleep for days.

Don't consider it a failure to get something to help you through the withdrawal. I'd do a shot of vodka in a glass of water, drank slowly.

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ZevLoveDOOM posted...

nowadays it just takes a glass of wine for me to get tipsy... >_>

Really, I had a glass of wine last Friday, first time I've had alcohol in over 3 years, and nothing. Though, I've always had a high tolerance for booze.

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TC check out r/stopdrinking even if you don't use or hate reddit. You'll get a ton of support there even if you post once a day.

It's great.

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mustachedmystic posted...

Really, I had a glass of wine last Friday, first time I've had alcohol in over 3 years, and nothing. Though, I've always had a high tolerance for booze.

Booze tolerance never really changes with time.

No matter how long I live, my body will react to a drink the same way as today. 2 days of drinking is enough to rekindle a physical addiction and cause withdrawals for me.

If your tolerance is suddenly lower, that usually implies some very bad things about your liver.

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