Been off the booze for two weeks....

Well done OP! And to all who have been so frank and honest about what is such a social stigma, I've been waiting for a thread like this for ages! :)

I have a drink problem, I'd call it high functioning alcoholism. Yesterday I drank 1 and a half bottles of red wine and 6 cans of beer. Pretty common for a weekend day.

The longest I have ever managed to stay off the booze was 10 months back when I was 23, I quit after doing something completely moronic when drunk.
Staying sober felt amazing especially after the initial month or two. I basically told everyone I had quit drinking and they respected my decision and I could socialise, I just replaced alcohol with red bull. But one day I decided it would be nice to have a few beers with the footie, and two weeks later I was back in the swing of heavy drinking as if I had never quit. That was 5 years ago :(

When my son was born four months ago I went to the doctors for a checkup and the blood tests revealed elevated liver enzymes. I thought it would scare me into quitting completely, but I only managed three weeks off the booze.

I bought myself livercare tablets as a get out clause to start drinking again.

The problem for me is that when I try to quit for good my brain keeps interrupting my thoughts with cravings, and I literally have to remind myself constantly that I have quit drinking!

I really really want to give this bad habit the boot so any advice would be really welcome!
 
Good luck to all the drinkers giving up:)
Not to derail the thread but I would like to understand addiction. I personally don't drink/smoke/gamble. But how would you describe needing to feed your addiction. If I had to guess would it be like having your arm in a cast and your trying to get inside and reach that annoying itch and your not happy till you do it.
 
oulton said:
Well done OP! And to all who have been so frank and honest about what is such a social stigma, I've been waiting for a thread like this for ages! :)

I have a drink problem, I'd call it high functioning alcoholism. Yesterday I drank 1 and a half bottles of red wine and 6 cans of beer. Pretty common for a weekend day.

The longest I have ever managed to stay off the booze was 10 months back when I was 23, I quit after doing something completely moronic when drunk.
Staying sober felt amazing especially after the initial month or two. I basically told everyone I had quit drinking and they respected my decision and I could socialise, I just replaced alcohol with red bull. But one day I decided it would be nice to have a few beers with the footie, and two weeks later I was back in the swing of heavy drinking as if I had never quit. That was 5 years ago :(

When my son was born four months ago I went to the doctors for a checkup and the blood tests revealed elevated liver enzymes. I thought it would scare me into quitting completely, but I only managed three weeks off the booze.

I bought myself livercare tablets as a get out clause to start drinking again.

The problem for me is that when I try to quit for good my brain keeps interrupting my thoughts with cravings, and I literally have to remind myself constantly that I have quit drinking!

I really really want to give this bad habit the boot so any advice would be really welcome!
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I should get commission from him but seriously, try the Allen Carr book. It's £6.99 off of the rainforest and it certainly helped me put into perspective what drinking was doing to me, and why I wanted to stop and stay stopped. At £6.99 you don't really have much to lose if it doesn't work
 
oulton said:
Well done OP! And to all who have been so frank and honest about what is such a social stigma, I've been waiting for a thread like this for ages! :)

I have a drink problem, I'd call it high functioning alcoholism. Yesterday I drank 1 and a half bottles of red wine and 6 cans of beer. Pretty common for a weekend day.

The longest I have ever managed to stay off the booze was 10 months back when I was 23, I quit after doing something completely moronic when drunk.
Staying sober felt amazing especially after the initial month or two. I basically told everyone I had quit drinking and they respected my decision and I could socialise, I just replaced alcohol with red bull. But one day I decided it would be nice to have a few beers with the footie, and two weeks later I was back in the swing of heavy drinking as if I had never quit. That was 5 years ago :(

When my son was born four months ago I went to the doctors for a checkup and the blood tests revealed elevated liver enzymes. I thought it would scare me into quitting completely, but I only managed three weeks off the booze.

I bought myself livercare tablets as a get out clause to start drinking again.

The problem for me is that when I try to quit for good my brain keeps interrupting my thoughts with cravings, and I literally have to remind myself constantly that I have quit drinking!

I really really want to give this bad habit the boot so any advice would be really welcome!
Click to expand...


You have got to want to stop, truly and wholeheartedly.
There is no magic wand anybody can wave, nothing anybody can say to you.
My sister in law was warned repeatedly to stop (she would drink at least a 1/2 litre bottle of cheap vodka daily) but chose to carry on drinking and was dead at 42.
Look at your son and do it for him. Don't let his childhood pass you by in a boozy haze and risk the chance of not seeing him into adulthood, or spend money on alcohol that could be spent on him.
 
AmyS said:
You have got to want to stop, truly and wholeheartedly.
There is no magic wand anybody can wave, nothing anybody can say to you.
My sister in law was warned repeatedly to stop (she would drink at least a 1/2 litre bottle of cheap vodka daily) but chose to carry on drinking and was dead at 42.
Look at your son and do it for him. Don't let his childhood pass you by in a boozy haze and risk the chance of not seeing him into adulthood, or spend money on alcohol that could be spent on him.
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You are right of course.
 
Good for you OP. It does get easier with time and you will be pleasantly surprised when the real you starts to come out. You'll find a nice nicer person with a completely different outlook on life. Promise to yourself that there is no going back, stay strong and keep it going. :)
 
oulton said:
Well done OP! And to all who have been so frank and honest about what is such a social stigma, I've been waiting for a thread like this for ages! :)

I have a drink problem, I'd call it high functioning alcoholism. Yesterday I drank 1 and a half bottles of red wine and 6 cans of beer. Pretty common for a weekend day.

The longest I have ever managed to stay off the booze was 10 months back when I was 23, I quit after doing something completely moronic when drunk.
Staying sober felt amazing especially after the initial month or two. I basically told everyone I had quit drinking and they respected my decision and I could socialise, I just replaced alcohol with red bull. But one day I decided it would be nice to have a few beers with the footie, and two weeks later I was back in the swing of heavy drinking as if I had never quit. That was 5 years ago :(

When my son was born four months ago I went to the doctors for a checkup and the blood tests revealed elevated liver enzymes. I thought it would scare me into quitting completely, but I only managed three weeks off the booze.

I bought myself livercare tablets as a get out clause to start drinking again.

The problem for me is that when I try to quit for good my brain keeps interrupting my thoughts with cravings, and I literally have to remind myself constantly that I have quit drinking!

I really really want to give this bad habit the boot so any advice would be really welcome!
Click to expand...

Email your local histology lab and see if they'd show you some liver panels from heavy drinkers. Seeing a normal healthy liver against someone who drinks excessively is like night and day. It'll scare the crap out of you, but for all the right reasons.
 
James J said:
Email your local histology lab and see if they'd show you some liver panels from heavy drinkers. Seeing a normal healthy liver against someone who drinks excessively is like night and day. It'll scare the crap out of you, but for all the right reasons.
Click to expand...

I googled it after the first set of results came in and almost scared myself to death! I have always eaten right and after the bad results I went on a liver diet (grapefruit, garlic, green vegetables, avocados, green tea, seeds, fish oil etc) and my results normalised in the next set of tests. I still want to completely kick the habit though!

For me it runs in the family, my old man bless him hasn't made it past lunch time without having his first beer since I can remember.
 
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