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So far, I have not tried to cut out alone drinking period.
I have started drinking with the intension of drinking two beers but ended up drinking three. I have bought a bottle of wine, intending to drink three glasses but ended up drinking four. I have tried to limit my alone drinking to one night per week, but if there is alcohol my apartment I end up drinking, especially if its wine since it will spoil if I save a half-drunk bottle until the next weekend. The worst thing I've done is after a night of social drinking, come home and find I have just enough wine left for a glass so I pour it. This is a red flag to me. Cutting out drinking alone will eliminate this and I should be able to reduce my consumption to 5-7 drinks per week. If I cannot do that, then I will have to consider abstinence.
Life can be better, Much better than you can even imagine. You're struggling with this problem and tying yourself in knots. AA is not the only way. It is time-proven and has helped millions around the world for decades. But it is not your only option. There are a wide range of different programs, which is good because there are a wide range of people who struggle.
You're not ready now. Some people take years before they are ready. Some people never are. Some die in misery. It can be different for you, but you must reach out in person. When you're sick and tired of being sick and tired, reach out in person, pick up the phone, there are a wide range of professionals and programs that can help. One tiny step can open a new world for you.
You are not alone. Lay this burden down -- there is help available. It works if you work it.
Do you live in a state with legal marijuana? It is very easy to quit drinking with a little bit of smoke to help take the edge off and it gives your liver a break.... Just saying. It's all about harm reduction. Who wants to be a teetotaler?
People talk of drinking alone like it's a bad thing. Could you possibly just drum up enough willpower to cut back a little bit? Maybe less days, or less amount? Everyone needs a reward and a decent buzz from time to time.
I don't like the term alcoholic so much because people thing of end stage drinkers. I started out having 3 drinks a night consistently because more would make me sick. I ended up being able to drink a pint of whiskey by the time I quit. what you are describing sounds like tolerance. It's a really bad sign and means you are most likely on the spectrum. I always thought either a person was one or wasn't right from the start. I didn't know you could become one. You are abusing alcohol and it will probably, at the very least, throw you into depression and/or give you sever anxiety.
I quit drinking over 3 years ago and am mostly recovered. This is how I think of alcohol now: "why risk it?" I think that is probably a healthy response to a potentially deadly disease. I didn't go to AA but I agree with total abstinence because it is the only way to make sure this thing can't get any worse. This is not something you want to mess around with.
Do you live in a state with legal marijuana? It is very easy to quit drinking with a little bit of smoke to help take the edge off and it gives your liver a break.... Just saying. It's all about harm reduction. Who wants to be a teetotaler?
People talk of drinking alone like it's a bad thing. Could you possibly just drum up enough willpower to cut back a little bit? Maybe less days, or less amount? Everyone needs a reward and a decent buzz from time to time.
Unfortunately marijuana isn't an option for me, at least regularly, given that I live in what is probably the worst state to get caught with it in. Last time I smoked it however, I also had a single glass of wine but didn't even finish it. I had a take-it-or-leave-it attitude about alcohol while under the influence of Marijuana. Does this mean anything? I would love to smoke marijuana instead on nights I would normally drink alone if it were an option.
My game plan for right now is to cut out drinking alone entirely until June, but still allow myself to drink when I am with friends. If I am successful at this, without it being too difficult, I think that means I am fine in terms of any kind of physical dependence. I am also trying to quit smoking, which to me is a much, much more powerful addiction. Abstaining from alcohol for me just means I have to figure out something else to do for the night. Keeping away from cigarettes...that's a whole different animal. Who knows, this may lead me to make some productive changes in my life because drinking alone, while enjoyable, is a waste of time and I've wasted many nights over the past few years. At least drinking with friends is a means of developing interpersonal relationships.
I got in my habit of drinking alone during a time when I had no social life at all and was very depressed. My recent increase in consumption has coincided with my attempt to quit smoking, as I have used alcohol to take some of that edge off (not a good idea). I realize this now and know its time to cut back, but the thought of abstaining forever is not something I am ready for yet. It may turn out that I have to do it though. I'll have to see how this goes.
I don't like the term alcoholic so much because people thing of end stage drinkers. I started out having 3 drinks a night consistently because more would make me sick. I ended up being able to drink a pint of whiskey by the time I quit. what you are describing sounds like tolerance. It's a really bad sign and means you are most likely on the spectrum. I always thought either a person was one or wasn't right from the start. I didn't know you could become one. You are abusing alcohol and it will probably, at the very least, throw you into depression and/or give you sever anxiety.
Correct. Like other addictive substances, prolonged exposure to alcohol over time leads to physical dependence. It's just a little more difficult to get to that point than it is with say cigarettes or methamphetamine, due to normal drinking patterns and the social acceptability of alcohol. It's easy for a mild problem to fly under the radar. Where I differ from AA thinking is whether or not somebody with a mild problem, in which they had not reached the point of physiological dependence, can ever drink again. I know plenty of people who went through phases of heavy drinking in their twenties only to taper off as they get older.
One big difference between smoking and drinking is that cigarettes generally aren't as big of a part of social interaction as alcohol is nor do they have the intoxicating effect.
A lot of AA dogma is based on outdated prohibition-era research. There is a difference in the brain chemistry of habitual drinkers vs truly addicted drinkers. Addicted drinkers have no choice but abstinence for life, while habitual drinkers can moderate. Addicted drinkers keep drinking even though they know its causing them problems, including withdrawal symptoms like severe hangovers and the shakes. I plan on drinking with friends on Friday night. If I can avoid the liquor store in Saturday without a lot of effort, I think that will be a good sign that I fall into the latter category.
My biggest issue when drinking alone is its so easy to pour that extra glass of wine or beer beyond what I would prefer to drink.
I believe there's not that big a difference between the effects of alcohol and the effects of nicotine on the liver; the liver does and must filter both.
I agree in general that being overparanoid about drinking doesn't help, though. You can in fact BE overparanoid as a person, without its meaning you are an alcoholic. "Don't think of purple elephants. If you can't stop thinking of purple elephants, you unquestionably beyond a shadow of a doubt, have a fatal and lifelong permanent aversion to purple elephants. To deny this is to die." I mean, don't they even say stuff like "if your tolerance vacillates, that's a sign you're an alcoholic"? It's a chemical that alters in certain quantities, we know this now; wouldn't your tolerance change regardless, if your intake amount changed?
I tried AA at one point in my life. I can't do anything that's all or nothing. As soon as I say I will "never" ...... I'll fail.
That's why I don't know the date of my last cigarette. I knew that if I put that pressure on myself to quit forever, I'd fail.
I drink sometimes, and sometimes I overdo it. But, I don't drink all the time, and my drinking never affects my life negatively - as in, none of my neighbors or my landlord have been affected. I don't drink and drive.
AA people, in my opinion, are cultish. They believe you're in denial if you think you can "control" your drinking, if you've ever wondered if you might have a problem. But, the "problem" is, that our society makes us constantly wonder if we have a drinking problem.
I live alone and rarely socialize. So, if I drink alone, does that make me an alcoholic?
I don't think so.
Trust your gut. Make a decision that works for you.
Correct. Like other addictive substances, prolonged exposure to alcohol over time leads to physical dependence. It's just a little more difficult to get to that point than it is with say cigarettes or methamphetamine, due to normal drinking patterns and the social acceptability of alcohol. It's easy for a mild problem to fly under the radar. Where I differ from AA thinking is whether or not somebody with a mild problem, in which they had not reached the point of physiological dependence, can ever drink again. I know plenty of people who went through phases of heavy drinking in their twenties only to taper off as they get older.
This isn't about AA. There are other options out there. I used a recovery website instead where only about half the people are using AA. Is what you are basically saying is that you don't want to quit entirely. A mild problem flying under the radar is generally known as the adaptive phase. Changes happened in my body that I was unaware were happening. If I had pulled back early on I may have avoided the whole thing, who knows? I don't know where you are on the progression but usually by the time a person figures out something is wrong it is already too late to go the moderation route. I never actually tried moderation because I know I have no desire to control my drinking. If I am going to drink then I am doing it to get drunk. No point in one drink to me.
You have to make up your own mind as to how you want to go about this. Be careful because it sounds to me like to are headed for trouble. You don't have to use the word Alcoholic either. I prefer to say drinking problem.
And I need to pipe up on people who smoke pot who think it's better than drinking alcohol.
In my experience, people who smoke pot do so most of their waking hours, if they can. Smoking pot = inebriation.
You can say it's for medical purposes and fine, maybe it is. But, while you are medicating for your pain, it renders you drunk.
For some bizarre reason people who smoke pot don't think they are inebriated. That it's different. That it's not equal to someone with a drinking problem.
Well, it is. It's an addiction to a substance that, although it may alleviate your pain, makes you inebriated. And you can't tell me that has nothing to do with the reason you smoke it.
If you have AIDS or cancer, I give you a free pass. But, I sure hope you aren't driving.
I'm amazed at how many people who smoke pot for medicinal purposes think they aren't too inebriated to drive. Well you are.
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