Anyone gone teetotal after heavy drinking..if so how did you do it and for how long have you kept it up ??

[no1andno2]

Anyone ? I need some help and fast..........

hI, I know people who don't drink at all, they are in recovery.

I suppose you need to decide whether or not you have any control over your drinking.

No I dont. I just want to give up and I know it will take a huge amount of willpower but I just need to hide myself away form it for a while

I took a break from drink for about 3 months last year.
It was never planned as being forever.I had been drinking too much

Are you hoping to stop forever?

There is a good book by Allan Carr called how to control your drinking or similar. I recommend it.

oK

Plan you evenings and days- what are your 'trigger' times, etc. Its really important to keep busy, especially in the early days of sobriety.

Also, is it safe for you to just stop? By that I'm thinking withdrawals.

Get rl help. Its difficult to do alone, you need some support from somewhere- friends, partner, family etc. By keeping the problem secret you're just keeping the problem.
Helplines, AA etc. Worth ringing them. go to the GP, would always advise anyone to seek medical advice.

And I don't just know people in recovery, I'm in recovery too

jem thanks for being so honest. I am v v fragile and depressed at the moment so think I will go to the gp.

I find that the alcohol numbs the pace of my life. I put myself under enormous pressure to succeed. Keep house and children beautiful etc. Always acheiving. I rarely sit down. Am always tidying up and sorting etc but always with a glass of wine in my hand. Its like a security blanket.

I live a v high octane lifestyle. Big house income and job and Im not coping although of course to the outside world I am functioning perfectly well.

DH is v supportive. But is v unhappy about my drinking. Most of the time its a bottle of wine a night and more at the weekends.

I would like to be able drink socially and stop after a few but where I am now I cant and so I have to cut it out at the moment and learn to live again. I just want to wake up without a hangover.......

I can empathise with you. I too
"put myself under enormous pressure to succeed. Keep house and children beautiful etc. Always acheiving. I rarely sit down. Am always tidying up and sorting etc but always with a glass of wine in my hand. Its like a security blanket. "

I have cut down in the week - yes it was/is hard but....the rewards are worth it as you wake up far more refreshed and you actually acheive more inthe evening in less time!!

It is hard - keep occupied at "drink trigger" time!

Ive tried cutting down and it doesnt work. Once I have the taste thats it. So I know I must cut it out until I can break the habit. May even be for ever.

My worry is that I will fall part completely. Its tough times out there and the pressure to succeed and keep up is horrendous.

Sounds like you need a lot of help with this - with dealing with the emotions that are driving you to drink, not just the drinking. Where is this enormous pressure you're feeling coming from?

I am wondering this too no1. I have drunk way too much over the past few months. I have always enjoyed a drink but used to follow my own common sense rules. Rules have gone for a burton recently. So I am on a regime to get things back under control - I am giving myself 6m. If after time I am still struggling I will have to stop.

I am wondering this too no1. I have drunk way too much over the past few months. I have always enjoyed a drink but used to follow my own common sense rules. Rules have gone for a burton recently. So I am on a regime to get things back under control - I am giving myself 6m. If after time I am still struggling I will have to stop.

Mrs M. I am an all or nothing girl. Bought up in an austerre non emotional home. Father died youg and mother very driven and determined. No option to fail at all. Siblings very bright ...me not so but I got there by shear bloody hard work.

have acheived top of the career ladder and so its further to fall. I am relied upon for keeping the house , school fees , nice holidays the cars etc. Its big pressure and sometimes I feel chopped up into a million pieces.

The drink numbs the pressure. Quite simply that.

Am I the only one who feels like this ?

You sound as though you are finding life a bit sort of hollow, and that you are putting as much energy into your drinking as you are into all the material things in your life. It sounds a bit as though drinking isn't fun any more.

I too am trying to cut down on my drinking and find space in my life for more constructive things, a bit of space, perhaps?

There is a thing you can look up called DRINKULATOR. It's quite an eye-opener, and for me it would be better if I were a bit more honest!

When my eating was terrible, I felt absolutely compelled to eat, and found myself spinning and out of control and not knowing how to control such an amount of self-destructive energy.

Keep posting - you are certainly not alone!

yes you are right. My life is very hollow. I really do not enjoy anything anymore especially the drinking. I will look up drinkulator. thanks.

My eating isnt good either. Its a destructive thing.

I need to slow down and just get off as it were. Feels like a merry go round.

I just want to bury myself under the duvet right now.

Thanks bladebla

no1andno2,

well done for seeking help/advice in the first place. I know this is not RL, but it DOES count, even if only allowing you to say out loud, so to speak, that you have a problem. Stop wasting valuable emotional strength on beating yourself up and use this energy to persue avenues of help in the real world.

From reading your posts, it sounds like you could do with some counselling, whether specific in regards to alcohol, or simply to address your other life issues. See your GP about referral/find a personal recommendation/open Yellow Pages.

At the level you are drinking (7 bottles of wine/wk, is that about right?) your probably do have a physical dependency and you should not just suddenly stop. Alcohol withdrawal is unpleasant, and, more importantly, potentially dangerous. So, again, see you GP.

Go to ONE AA meeting; if you do not like it you have only lost an hour and you never have to go again. AA meetings are not full of smelly old men...

Alcohol is a neurotoxin and a depressant, which means if you drink regularly you will make yourself depressed. Of course a lot of depressed/unhappy people selfmedicate with alcohol, but this is really a v dangerous downward spiral.

It is v good that you have a supportive husband. Support is vital, but also be honest with yourself: it is only you who can do the Not-Drinking; nobody on this planet can do it for you. If you really want to stop (and it sounds like you should ), you can do it. It is very hard, but v well worth it and can turn your life around.

If you are not eating well (alcohol offers LOTS of calories, but nothing else) chances are that you might be malnourished which is another reason it would be a good idea to get medical help for vitamin supplement to help protect your nervous system whilst you are stopping.

Sorry, big long rample. Hope you can find something useful in it. Bottom line, IMVHO, is you should see your doctor.
Again, well done for posting about it. Hope you do really well, I know it can be done .

How are you doing tonight no1and2?

ok. I am sitting here with a cup of tea. Im tired and hot a lot of the time but no other symptoms.

Thanks for your support mummyfor 3.

I will go and see my GP and keep posting on here as well.

When I write it down a bottle a night seems awful. When I am doing it it doesnt.

But it does make me depressed. I know.

Hey, glad you are there and doing okish.

1 bottle of wine=9 units of alcohol at least. So, you being female, the safe limit of regular alcohol consumption is 14 units: being generous about 1.5 bottles per week. I know, it is not a lot, is it?
Would it help you to consider yourself "allergic" to alcohol? Some people find this helps them not to take that first drink.

Anyhow, glad you have decided to see your GP. Do let us know how you get on.

A bottle of wine a day, every day is quite a lot, but probably not enough to make you feel particularly drunk.

The "limits" are set to the lowest common denominator, and nobody really knows how much people can drink before they start getting ill. Feeling hot IS a symtom that your body is trying to cope with being poisoned.

Some people manage to cut down on alcohol quite slowly, just because it's safer.

Is it the drinking or your eating which is giving you most problems at the moment?

If it helps at all, drinking a lot can act as a depressant. I know from past experience. Drinking makes you feel better short term but then you feel really low. If you stop life might suddenly start feeling a lot more enjoyable. Then it's easier to see the pleasure in many other things,

Looks like you've decided on a course of action- thats brilliant.
Well done on last night- hope you slept ok- sometimes sleep patterns are messed up as your body readjusts.

Good idea to keep posting too.

Do feel very low and tearful and its hard not to drown my sorrows in the wine to cheer me up.

If I can get through the first week I know I will be fine.

Have not plucked up the curage to make Gp's appointmet yet. I know them all very well for a number of reasons and I am so ashamed I have got myself into this situation.

How do others cope with all the pressure ???

We are often our own worst critics, and put unnecessary pressure on ourselves.

Try not to project too much, keep things simple, one thing at a time and all that.

Feeling edgy/teary can be a withdrawal symptom too remember.

There is no shame in getting help, I know it feels shaming right now, but its the hardest and bravest thing to do, to take the steps you are taking.
Don't beat yourself up about things you cannot change, thats not going to help ( speaking from my sadly huge experience!) You've taken a massive step to write about it on here, and keep pposting because there are loads of people in similar positions- you're not alone petal.

jem thankyou...........your kindness is overwhelming.

Im finding it hard to concentrate but I know that will pass too.

If only I can see to the end of the fog I know it will get better in the long run.

One day at a time. Tonight will be day 3 without any alcohol. Unheard of for me.

no1andno2

Just to to answer your OP - I used to drink at a similar level to you for similar reasons, and became depressed and unhappy as a result. I can remember a point where I just could not envision a relaxing evening without at least one glass of red wine. It seemed essential.

I took some time off work, started seeing a counsellor, and gave up totally, cold turkey style.

That was in 2000. I have occasionally had a drink - a glass of champagne at Christmas or an aperatif on holiday, but to be honest, I am completely not bothered by it - I often just have a sip or two and don't finish the glass. I guess I have a feeling that you drink to get drunk and I don't want to be drunk or intoxicated so what is the point? Except it is more positive than that...life has opened up and feels safer.

Personally, as ex smoker, drinker and back in the day, a drug user, I don't subscribe to the "once an addict, always an addict" thing...but I guess it depends on the individual. Others will have had different experiences.

I promise you this though: once you get through the tough bit, the feeling of being sober and in control will feel really great. You're facing the tough bit right now - the guilt, the toxic residues both physically and mentally, but it WILL get better, and fairly swiftly.

Seek support in RL. Good luck, and well done for choosing to take control.

Brilliant posts!

Keep it up and good luck