oaktowntyler
Greenlighter
- Joined
- Jan 7, 2018
- Messages
- 1
Hi all, I have not-so-recently started drinking again after having almost three years alcohol-free under my belt, and now I'm back to being physically dependent on this poison. Here's a quick rundown even Jim Halpert can dig (bad Office joke, sorry):
During my AF time I finished a business degree while working nightshift, transferred into an administrative position within the company I work for and even attempted (though without much success) to taper and quit weed (my lesser, long-term vice). Things were looking great, but feeling drained from weed tapering (probably lower dopamine levels or something), I got weak when the green wasn't available and bought a six-pack of beer (which I didn't even finish over an entire three-day period). I'd survived alcohol relapse and "nothing happened" so a few weeks later, I though I'd "practice drink" so I could accept alcohol politely at parties and be social without being a lightweight and not being able to "handle" the bevvy because of my then AF lifestyle--how concerns change! So, after the end of an unusually-brief Mensa meeting I started drinking and watching music videos, losing my administrative job and being transferred back to "the field", sinking into the quicksand that is the life I now struggle to escape.
(Fast-forward about a year and a half...) My drinking usually ranges from five to seven drinks a night, seven days a week. My use pales in comparison to the habits of others, but after dropping my numbers to three beers a day this week (starting Monday), I felt crappy all week and even had a minor anxiety attack while approaching the checkout line at the grocery store yesterday. It's obvious that withdrawals are strong enough to where I am not quite ready to jump off the booze cruise, but I want to quit so freakin' badly that I think I'll drop to two drinks in a day or two. I can't afford a panic attack at work or in public--or really, anywhere--so maybe about another week of tapering? That's my aim
IMO, a tapering is one of the best ways to quit for multiple reasons: first, it minimizes withdrawals as a person reaches the "light at the end of the tunnel"; second, it forces a practice of a certain self control that most addicts/"fiends" are notorious for lacking; third, it allows for a private and independent healing process that doesn't have to be used against the individual at a later time. I don't want my history to convince a doctor that I "shouldn't have" a benzo or painkiller just because I had issues with alcohol addiction/dependence. Another thing on the topic of quitting has been that people shouldn't enjoy the booze on their way down the tapering process, but I disagree in that we should struggle to keep as much of the fun-and-positive from the good and the bad, and practice trimming the negative with as much control as possible.
Well, I could probably talk forever on this topic, from experience and all of the things I've had the pleasure of reading, so I hope to succeed in this taper and tell you all about it. Thanks for reading and I hope we can all beat this downward spiral!
Tyler
During my AF time I finished a business degree while working nightshift, transferred into an administrative position within the company I work for and even attempted (though without much success) to taper and quit weed (my lesser, long-term vice). Things were looking great, but feeling drained from weed tapering (probably lower dopamine levels or something), I got weak when the green wasn't available and bought a six-pack of beer (which I didn't even finish over an entire three-day period). I'd survived alcohol relapse and "nothing happened" so a few weeks later, I though I'd "practice drink" so I could accept alcohol politely at parties and be social without being a lightweight and not being able to "handle" the bevvy because of my then AF lifestyle--how concerns change! So, after the end of an unusually-brief Mensa meeting I started drinking and watching music videos, losing my administrative job and being transferred back to "the field", sinking into the quicksand that is the life I now struggle to escape.
(Fast-forward about a year and a half...) My drinking usually ranges from five to seven drinks a night, seven days a week. My use pales in comparison to the habits of others, but after dropping my numbers to three beers a day this week (starting Monday), I felt crappy all week and even had a minor anxiety attack while approaching the checkout line at the grocery store yesterday. It's obvious that withdrawals are strong enough to where I am not quite ready to jump off the booze cruise, but I want to quit so freakin' badly that I think I'll drop to two drinks in a day or two. I can't afford a panic attack at work or in public--or really, anywhere--so maybe about another week of tapering? That's my aim
IMO, a tapering is one of the best ways to quit for multiple reasons: first, it minimizes withdrawals as a person reaches the "light at the end of the tunnel"; second, it forces a practice of a certain self control that most addicts/"fiends" are notorious for lacking; third, it allows for a private and independent healing process that doesn't have to be used against the individual at a later time. I don't want my history to convince a doctor that I "shouldn't have" a benzo or painkiller just because I had issues with alcohol addiction/dependence. Another thing on the topic of quitting has been that people shouldn't enjoy the booze on their way down the tapering process, but I disagree in that we should struggle to keep as much of the fun-and-positive from the good and the bad, and practice trimming the negative with as much control as possible.
Well, I could probably talk forever on this topic, from experience and all of the things I've had the pleasure of reading, so I hope to succeed in this taper and tell you all about it. Thanks for reading and I hope we can all beat this downward spiral!
Tyler
