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Where are you going to a meeting tonight? Yes, you can just turn up. Try to get there 15 minutes early - you can get a tea or coffee, there will be people smoking outside, and it will save having to walk into a meeting that's already started which can be intimidating.
Have you got a Where To Find? I attend meetings in South East London.
Also, one more tip. Obviously, the goal is not to drink. But, if you have had a drink, PLEASE don't let that deter you from going to a meeting. EVER. You are always welcome, drunk or sober and, as long as you don't start throwing chairs, you will never be turned away.
I had a discussion with someone else recently about naltrexone. Here is the gist of what I think - it may help you one way or the other, though bear in mind it's only my opinion:
"Sometimes, when I hear about things like this - and it's not the only one (antabuse, but also kudzu, various herbal remedies, the works) I am, not tempted exactly, but a little bit wistful and curious.
And then I remember.
I don't know exactly when my active alcoholism started, but I remember at least a year of "normal" drinking, maybe two or three, before the wheels started to fall off. Now, whether I had the "ism" all that time is a moot point - but you would think that, during that period, I could have made different decisions about my actual drinking that would have spared me a lot of pain.
And the thing is, I didn't. I had no real desire to be a normal drinker or even an awareness of what that is. I could have drunk two pints once a week; I didn't. I drank until my money ran out. I drank every night and, when there was a party, I would drink to excess. Every time. I didn't even intend to get drunk. My definition of drinking was that you drank until something forced you to stop. Drunkenness was just an occupational hazard, not a goal in itself.
So why, now, would I want to be a normal drinker? Answer: I don't. If there was a magic pill that enabled me to drink like I used to and not suffer any ill effects, I'd probably be well up for it. But a pill to cut down? Why bother? If I'd found one glass of wine once in a blue moon pleasurable, I'd have done it. I didn't.
As for a pill to stop ... Well, I've already stopped, without any medication or ill effects, and I'm happier than I ever was as a drinker because I don't feel vulnerable. So what use would a pill be?
If you really want to be a social drinker, then this could be the miracle you have been waiting for. If you want to stop, this may also work - but do you want to be on medication for life?
And if you don't want to be a social drinker, then why try to become one? It's like building Sharon Davies a paddling pool in her back yard.
As always, just my opinion. But, for me, I honestly don't see the attraction."