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Getting off Alcohol

A

Allein

Bluelight Crew
Joined
Oct 29, 2005
Messages
10,940
I'm not sure where to start with this one so please bear with my lack of eloquence, and poor spelling !
I'm nearly 40 and despite a long career in recreational drug use I never used to drink. I did smoke pot from the age of 16, everyday till about the age of 30. I also took MDMA and speed on a regular basis from abotu 20 years old to 30 years old with a few years of regular LSD use.
Without going into to much detail it seemed that as I started to stop the smoking I started to drink and it crept up on me over the years. The last few years saw me sink into depression and that increased my drinking further to the habitual everyday.
This year has been difficult and I ended up having to go into residential care and take 3 months off work due to a severe bout of depression. I didnt drink for a few weeks, but despite feeling much better I'm left with a residual alcohol problem.
My tolerance is high and I get through a litre of whisky in 3 days, and I know this isnt sustainable in the long term but i manage to function OK at the moment.
I think this probably stems from self medicating for the anxiety that triggered my depression but replaceing it with Diaz Etc isnt an option, my GP wont prescribe due to my addictive personality and I dont want to go down this root anyway.

Does anyone have experinace or advice on getting off alcohol ?
 
Slow down in increments especially if you are that dependant. The delirium tremors can/will take you for a ride otherwise if that is the case get medical help. The narcant is the last option in my opinion as this will definitely bring on the dt's. If you can get by not having to drink everyday then you are doing good. I know how hard it is, can barely go a couple weeks without a brew.
If you have family it should be that much more motivation as I have lost my father to alcoholism as I first handed know the toll it has on the family.
Good luck, makes you wonder how it can possibly be legal!
 
If you are still getting off the stuff by gradually decreasing your daily intake I would switch to vodka until you are dried out. Your body will get the alcohol it's accustomed to but vodka by and large doesn't contain as much toxens as whisky.

I've no idea of the reasons for your depression but regular drinking is almost guaranteed to make it worse.
 
Thaks guys,

tapering isnt soemthing that seems to work for me with anything, its either full on or not at all. but that could just be me making excuses at this point I'm not sure.
When i had a break from alcohol recently as a result of breaking down and going into residntial care it didnt cuase any physical effects that I was aware of despite doctors thinking that it should be.
I'm in a better place at the moment and working through some self help CBT but my alcholhol intake is back where it was.
I know I need to stop this before it starts to drag me back to where I was a few months back, I guess a world where I dont fall back constantly to some kinda drug to get me through is a bit scrarey since that what Ive been doing for nearly 25 years :|
 
Re: the full-on or not at all thing.

Yeah, I know what you mean. Alcohol makes you feel that everything's alright in your world when you're coming up on it. It's a drug that encourages you to have more.

I find this especially when you start drinking hung over, as the change from feeling ill and rough to feeling fine is more prominent.
 
^^

I seem to be like this with everything, at leatst over the last 5-10 years, in my younger days recreational drug use worked. Apart from and epic habit for hash and coffee.
the last 5-10 years has seen my drug use take on a different aspect, sitting in at home doing various stims and alcholol and not being able tostop till its all gone, 2-3 day binges where the norm.
I guess I know what I have to do, stop drinking completly and forever but its daunting to say the least, as I said I've been used to falling back on something for most of my life.:eek:
 
I've been drinking for nearly 20 years (since mid teens) and my drinking has changed too. The last few years have seen me go from someone that was in the bar every night to sitting indoors downing a couple of bottles of wine on a weeknight, sometimes more.

The best way to describe it is somewhere along the line my drinking had changed from being partly social to being anti-social. I can identify with someone from my local AA group who describes his drinking trajectory similar to mine.

I've decided that in my case not drinking is the solution. It's going OK at the moment. 71 days sober tonight. My record as far as I can remember since I was 14/15 years old. :)
 
^^

Are you using anything else daily ??

I think this is my issue but I'm only just starting to realise it. I have used soemthing daily for the last 25 years, my main crutch being hash and tobacco.

I think its time to clean up, but I'm still in a place where I'm considering just moving on to something else
 
Not on anything else no. Although I started smoking again last week after 9 months of giving up. I'm a bit pissed off with myself about that but I was at a work Christmas party and, since I was sober when everyone else was drinking, I decided to take up smoking to keep myself occupied.

You will be bored when you stop drinking. No doubt about that. I'm going to the gym a bit. I reckon exercise is fairly crucial, once you get dried out and rehydrated. The other thing that's keeping me going is looking at my bank account building up.

Fuck knows what I'm going to do as far as relationships are concerned, as drink was always a factor when socialising with the opposite sex.

It's a bit early for me to give you advice on what to fill your time up with, but not feeling depressed, anxious and bitter every day is keeping me on top of things at the moment.
 
^^

Fuck I so nearly ended up up smoking againg after nearly 10 years when I went in residential car for a couple of weeeks or so. I ended up on Nicotine inhalers, but just managed to get off, my missus would have been far from impressed if I had started again.

going back to smokin hash of weed or even just tobacco is very attractive but i dont think its an answer for me.

Its going to have to be a new year with no drink perrminatly i think, i cant begin to undertand how people can just cut down
 
Just watch how you go over Christmas if you decide to make it your New Years resolution to give up.

I know I would use that as an excuse to get absolutely blotto all through Cristtmas and New Year, and that way of thinking could lead to more probs.

Anyway, I'm gonna go now mate. Catch you later.
 
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