Newbie alert

[Clanger152]

Hi I came across this site via drink free app. As you will have guessed I would like to free myself of the vicious circle around my neck of drinking too much. I'd love to hear from others in my position and look forward to giving and receiving support x

[chloe40]

Hi Clanger152

Great to have you join our friendly Community.

You've come to the right place, you'll find lots of support here for sure.

Try and pop in here and post each day with your progress if you can, and let us know how you're doing, it really helps.

In the meantime, have a read of our recent posts.

You can do this!

Chloe

[LilyAnnepuppy Ambassador]

Welcome to this community. You’re in the right place. Drinking is a vicious cycle. Been there. Done that. It was hell.

Keep coming on to share your progress. Are you looking to moderate or stop? I can share my experience strength and hope about how I stopped (and stay stopped). But my experiments with moderation failed miserably.

We have a number of members who are in all phases of alcohol consumption. You’ll get some good responses.

[Clanger152 in reply to LilyAnnepuppy]

Hi lilyanne. I would love to be able to moderate but ATM I think it's safer for me to stop as I find it difficult to stop at 1 or 2 drinks. Maybe in the future I could enjoy a drink without binging. Thank you for your support x

[Hidden]

Welcome! I am fairly new as well. Got into a bad habit of drinking every night. Now trying to moderate and take 3 days off drinking a week. The first week was hell, I was so anxious. And really cross with myself! Then it got easier. I have a psychological addiction rather than a physical addiction. For me personally, it's all in the mind. It's having the confidence to believe I can do this. I want you to believe you can do this as well. I don't know how much/what you drink and you don't have to say. What you will find on here are moderators and tee-totalers. None of whom will tell you what is best - only you know if you need to stop completely.

Decide what is important for you. For me it is being able to get all my work done, getting good sleep, exercising and not getting depressed/anxious. If I can achieve those things and still enjoy a few drinks then fine. If I can't achieve those things then I need to cut down further. It's finding that balance. By the way, I still drink over government recommendations currently and I would like to work towards being a two-totaller. Two drinks then stop. At the moment it is three! Improvements are being made. I do feel happier. Alcohol is tricky, tempting beast. Let us know how you go.

[Clanger152 in reply to Hidden]

My worst problem is that once I have a drink I can't stop until it's all gone. So if there is one bottle of wine in the house I drink it all, if there are two bottles I drink both of them unless I fall asleep first. Sleep is probably not the right word, more like pass out due to being totally intoxicated. I don't like admitting this but it's the truth. I have never expressed how much I drink to anyone else including my GP. If she asks I just say I drink occasionally. I want to stop this vicious circle. This is day 2 of the rest of my life. So far so good. Thank you so much for your support x

[LilyAnnepuppy Ambassador in reply to Clanger152]

Thanks for the update. I understand exactly where you’re coming from. Why only have one drink? That never made any sense to me. I can’t understand people in the bars who let the ice cubes melt in their drinks. Or who leave a half of a drink and walk away.

[WilliamG in reply to Clanger152]

I was the same way with alcohol in the house: if it was there, I would drink it all. I learned that the hard way, so I tried to moderate my drinking by only picking up a half pint of vodka and a six pack of beer every day on my way home from work. I did this for years until my mental and physical health got so bad I couldn’t do it anymore. That was 4 1/2 months ago, and I’m finally starting to feel a bit better. I wish you the best on your journey, and remember that you don’t have to do this alone.

[Clanger152 in reply to WilliamG]

Thank you William. It's good to know I have your support and I'm glad you are now in control x

[SoberDrunk1]

Losing control after we take 1 or 2 drinks is a very common trait and also tangible effect for problem drinkers. But what is subtle is inability to stay away from alcohol. After a few days/weeks/months, the mind will trick us into believing this time its going to be ok and we succumb to that incidious thought. Usually it comes in the form of this time i am going drink only natural wine or low carb beer or I will drink one day a week. And it all seem to be in control for a few days but invariably it goes south from there. The book AA points it out that an abnormal drinker will never ever regain control over his/her drinking. The worst part is he/she will pursue this into gates of insanity or death.

[Clanger152]

Tbh I think I'm better off not having any. I have tried af wine but it just doesn't cut the mustard with me. I have also tried martini style drinks that are diluted with lemonade but find it difficult to stop if there is still some in the bottle. I'm going into day 3 today and working until 8pm in a supermarket. A habit is to pick up a bottle of wine on way out but my plan is to change direction on way out so that I don't go near bws dept. If I can do 2 days surely I can do 3. Thank you for your support x

[Smokey101]

it’s not easy but leads to you feeling so much better and in control. I’m at the start of trying to address my alcohol intake. Just taking it one step at a time