Poll of the Day > what is the best way to quit drinking? please read OP

(+) Yeah! (+)

i cant afford it very well right now, but regardless i keep making trips to the store. i have quit on my own once before for a year and a half, i remember the first month being pretty tough but managed.

its been getting out of hand lately though and feel like this time could be harder. i want to drink, but i don't. i guess because i feel generally lousy when i don't drink, depressed and anxious that makes me do it, but after i feel even worst, like today just wishing i didn't do it.

thank you.

Do shrooms

@Jen0125

Do you consider yourself an addict? At minimum you seem like a problem drinker. Normal people don't have to worry about how they'll stop drinking.

Not drinking when you're an addict or problematic drinker takes 110% self control. It's not easy. There's no easy method. You literally just have to force yourself and will yourself to not drink.

Jen0125 posted...

Do you consider yourself an addict? At minimum you seem like a problem drinker. Normal people don't have to worry about how they'll stop drinking.

Not drinking when you're an addict or problematic drinker takes 110% self control. It's not easy. There's no easy method. You literally just have to force yourself and will yourself to not drink.

definitely addicted i believe. when i feel like shit after drinking, the next day like today i feel like drinking again. sometimes i'll resist a day or two which is hard, then something just snaps and i'm riding my bike to the store. its almost like i'm hypnotized or something, like it just happens.

usually on the first drink i tell myself, tonight will be an easier going night with drinking, not going to go all out. then most of the time i end up blacking out.

i also say a lot that it will be the last time for awhile, then i go back the next day or couple days. if i had income i would probably keep drinking, but i cant afford it, its $8 every time and the money i have, is all i have at the moment. i have asperger's and never had a job, but keep thinking i want to get one to support the habit.

Honestly literally all you can do is self control. If you can afford therapy that's great. But you really need to just NOT go to the store. It's not easy to do but it is what it is. The longer you go not drinking the less you'll think about it. But it took me 2 years before all those thoughts left. So it's a long process.

Like you say it's almost an unconscious process when you go to the store. When you notice yourself on the bike turn around. You have to make that choice.

Jen0125 posted...

Honestly literally all you can do is self control. If you can afford therapy that's great. But you really need to just NOT go to the store. It's not easy to do but it is what it is. The longer you go not drinking the less you'll think about it. But it took me 2 years before all those thoughts left. So it's a long process.

Like you say it's almost an unconscious process when you go to the store. When you notice yourself on the bike turn around. You have to make that choice.

i have a therapist but we've never discussed the drinking, talked about it a bit with my medication provider as she asked. what do you think the therapist would say if i brought it up? like what kind of strategies do you think she would recommend that might make the self-control process a bit easier to handle?

thank you by the way for your posts,

Talk to your general therapist for sure. They will help you figure out why you feel dependent on alcohol and teach you emotional tools to overcome that. Self control can only come from you. I can only continue to stress that yes, it is extremely difficult. But you have to make the opposite choices than the ones you've been making.

Mensis posted...

Do shrooms

Inky cap mushrooms are edible and perfectly harmless normally, but if any alcohol is consumed it can result in flushing, headache, nausea, vomiting, and palpitations within 5 to 10 minutes. The effects are similar to the drug disulfiram and can occur up to 3 days after ingesting the mushrooms. Because of the peculiar effects the mushroom is sometimes called "tippler's bane".

Like disulfiram, a chemical in the inky caps blocks the action of an enzyme that breaks down alcohol, causing an immediate hangover.

While I don't have a problem with alcohol (never liked it) I do with soda. I know that may seem silly, but i'm diabetic and have tried for years to stop drinking it all together, but I keep "falling off the wagon" and getting it again/drinking it.

I have tried tons of things as substitutes etc, but part of the problem is I sometimes get depressed and just don't gaf anymore and that is usually when I start drinking soda again, and then it's super hard to stop (especially since I already bought it!!).

A BIG problem is friends/family who are totally unsupportive and do things like say "oh come on, just one order of gelatto won't kill you" or buying and offering me soda when I visit them (Even though I have said I'm trying not to drink soda many times) etc.

I don't know if it's the same for you, but I would try and avoid people who drink alot, or avoid them if they still drink in front/around you or offer you alcohol. For me that is really hard to resist.

If there are other things in life you like besides alcohol, perhaps treat yourself to that (if it's healthier) if you make it all day without it, and then all week, then all month etc. Maybe even have a bigger bonus for each longer length of time (so every day you get a brownie at the end if you didn't drink, at the end of the week you get a massage and at the end of the month you get a video game of your choice (just random things you might like).

It sounds like for you it might be the feeling of being drunk more than the actual alcohol consumption that you miss like, so maybe like others suggested you could try something that might be more healthy to get a similar feeling. Don't know if pot is legal where you are, but that could be an option, but there may be other methods as well (even some people say excersize can replace it, and it's way more healthy).

Anyway best of luck, if you could find a friend to support you and be there for you, someone you can talk to when you get urges etc, that would be great as well. Even with that a support group m ight be a good idea, and it's a place you might find that friend if you don't have one.

captpackrat posted...

Inky cap mushrooms are edible and perfectly harmless normally, but if any alcohol is consumed it can result in flushing, headache, nausea, vomiting, and palpitations within 5 to 10 minutes. The effects are similar to the drug disulfiram and can occur up to 3 days after ingesting the mushrooms. Because of the peculiar effects the mushroom is sometimes called "tippler's bane".

Like disulfiram, a chemical in the inky caps blocks the action of an enzyme that breaks down alcohol, causing an immediate hangover. In the past it was used as a form of aversion therapy for alcoholics; drinking results in becoming so ill that the very thought of alcohol becomes associated with misery instead of pleasure. It's been replaced by safer drugs like disulfiram and calcium carbimide.

I'm going to make a vodka pasta sauce with that mushroom now.

You probably need a drawdown period with a replacement rather than trying to quit cold turkey.

You can also stick to drinking skunked booze so you build up a revulsion associated with the substance.

This seems a interesting topic. I have no advice on how to quit drinking because...well... I'm still drinking. I wouldn't consider myself a addict but do drink way more than I should each day and have done for months. I very rarely go out to drink too as it costs more and I'm not really a people person. I drink because I enjoy the taste mostly. I am slightly worried about stopping drinking due to seizures that could possibly happen but that just might be my anxiety talking. I guess the only way I can stop is to drink less and less each day until the point where I have days where I don't drink and I can get myself back to a normal amount of alcohol a week. I'll try that theory out eventually.

I think you have to gain satisfaction from avoiding the habit (goes for any habit). it doesn't work if mentally the avoidance is only stressful and bad. if you focus on mentally feeling good about avoiding it, that can become your new habit.

Start by reducing intake and try to wean yourself off over time. Probably less intimidating than trying to cut yourself off completely from a vice

Metalsonic66 posted...

Start by reducing intake and try to wean yourself off over time. Probably less intimidating than trying to cut yourself off completely from a vice

Tapering doesn't work for everyone.

Also be careful going cold turkey anyways because alcohol is one of the withdrawals that can kill you. If you're a seriously heavy drinker you may want to consider going to a detox center to detox for a week or something if that's possible. It's usually covered by insurance if you have that. But seizures are a risk with alcohol withdrawal.

Jen0125 posted...

Tapering doesn't work for everyone

True