How do I stop drinking? Is it just mental weakness? I get smashed almost every night, and it's wrecking my body.
It's at the point where I'm not even making a conscious decision to do it. I woke up this morning puking, and apparently I went to a bar last night. I don't remember actually even thinking about the bar, or even going out and drinking for that matter. Please help...
>>36043781
start a running program
Somebody told me this early on and it really helped me. I don't want to stop drinking, I want to stay sober. Hold onto your sobriety, it is a state of mind that you can lose at times but will always return to.
>I'm not even making a conscious decision to do it
This is very good that you admit this, I went five years drinking and making an ass of myself. I thought as long as I was drinking, I had a handle on my drink because I still was raising the glass to my lips. I had to have handcuffs put on me to realize that I did not have control, because a sober me would never have been arrested.
All I can say to you now is that you seek out the help of AA, it took me two DWI charges to finally start my way on the steps toward piecing my life back together. There is no cure, there is no drug, there is no doctor who can treat alcoholism. Only you can treat yourself, and you will be surprised to find that the most healing part is reaching out and helping others you meet there. There are so many people holding out and hoping to find somebody who can hear their, not just listen to it, but to empathize. You are not alone.
Hey Brother.
How long has this been going on for?
Because if its been a long time the best approach is to cut down gradually. Theres a lot of nasty things happen if you go cold turkey and are a full blown alky.
So is there any recent trauma? Anything to make you want to do this? History of low moods?
Lets sort this out.
>>36044109
Aa only if youre willing to be "spiritual" and admit you have no control over your life muh disease etc.
>>36043781
If you don't remember even thinking or going, you must have blacked out. This either happened before or after you started drinking. If it happened before, it sounds like you need to see a behavioral health specialist. If it happened after, you should probably find an aa group (they really help some people) or take other advice about quitting drinking, because it means at some time you consciously have in to the urge.
Godspeed.
replace with weed
>>36043781
How do I stop drinking?
Simple. Just fucking stop.
>>36043781
Alcoholic here, I usually only make it 5 days of no drinking before I end up getting hammered again, it's so hard to stop when everyone where I live drinks everyday
>>36044415
If he is legitimately an alcoholic and has a physical dependency just stopping suddenly can no shit kill him. He'll have to cut down gradually as much as that sounds like an excuse to continue drinking its not.
>>36044109
>tfw never been arrested or in trouble due to drinking
>tfw most of my friends have all been to jail because of drunken nights
I think if I got arrested for doing something stupid while drunk I'd be able to quit but for some reason I'm the only one of my friends who still acts semi normal when wasted
>>36044457
Didn't know that it could actually kill you if you're addicted to alcohol. The more you know
>>36043781
Damnit OP... drink ice cold water to replace urges... go to a gym. literally getting fit helped me loads. I used all that drinking money on the gym. saved more money then i ever spent... still bugs me on how much ive spent over the course of fifteen years..
Go to alcoholics anonymous
My dad has gone for 30 years now, and it's kept him on track the whole time
Also if you're in new York there will be tons of young attractive women
>>36044449
If you go 5 days between drinks I think you're still in the safe zone assuming youre not blacking out every time you do drink. It's a slippery slope though, just making sure you're making a conscious decision to drink and not doing it as a habit or out of boredom
As BS as it sounds, accepting that you have a problem is a great start.
You are stuck in a habitual cycle that you have lost control over. Your brain making you repeat this cycle in order not to have to go through the hard work of change. You can go to a psychiatrist, AA, or wherever to find encouragement in order to break this cycle, but in the end the only thing that matters is if you, yourself, actually step in and change your identity.
You are what you do. Right now you drink every day. That's who you are. Your brain does not want to change that, so you repeat it every day. The proof? Try not drinking a day and see how your brain makes you feel.
How do you stop this? You just do. Break the habit. Don't drink. Do something else with your time, develop a hobby. Given enough time, your brain will no longer consider you an alcoholic, but someone who doesn't drink. That's your new habit.
I don't know if I'm making any sense, but if you want to quit - quit now. There's no magic fix to your problems down the road.
>>36044449
So? Move, get new friends. The only reason you are still an alcoholic is that you prefer being an alcoholic over making the necessary changes to your lifestyle in order to quit drinking. Own up to it.
>>36044464
Stop rationalizing.
>If X happens I'll be able to quit
>X happens
>Maybe if Y happens I'll be able to quit
Stop pretending like you are not the one in charge of your own life.
>>36044469
Train for something big... train for a 3k/5k/10k. give yourself a goal. stay occupied. my worst problem was letting my mind wander. that fed the fuel drinking only made it worse.
>>36044477
I used to get blackout drunk everyday for years, I slowed down when I realized the weight I was gaining from the booze
>>36044500
Iktf
I was 210lbs fatass and lost almost 40 lbs from not drinking
>>36044500
Damn, sounds like you put quite a bit of strain on your organs, scary part is alot of the damage doesn't become apparent until your later years. But seriously everytime you would normally drink make that your training time that's what I did and its helped tremendously, I used to drink every night after I got off work simply out of habit, my body started giving me all kinds of warning signs super sweaty all the time, heart palpitations, shakes. I realized I was killing myself, so I started hitting the gym afterwork and wear myself out enough that the last thing I think about is alcohol because I just want some fucking sleep
>>36043781
>Is it just mental weakness?
Yes.
Getting smashed isn't even that fun once you're an adult, join the lightly buzzed every night master race
>>36044549
I definitely did some damage during those years, every time I tried to slow down I'd withdrawal but it never turned into full blown DT withdrawal thank god
>>36044471
This im an alcoholic been sober 12 years thanks to aa it works i have a great life.
Just do a pros and cons list write down all the good shit from drinking and then list all the bad shit and see what out weighs the other.
Good luck man
>>36044582
Iktf bro
>tfw don't even like getting shit faced anymore
>tfw used to drink until drunk as fuck every time when I was younger
nowadays if I drink until I'm legit wasted I get killer hangovers that make it not worth it
>>36044549
>shakes
thats the worst
>>36043781
Just mental weakness
>>36044596
Same here sometimes I'd lay in bed during withdrawal just waiting for a seizure
>>36044663
Definitely. I don't think mine were full on DT but probably from my blood sugar being fucked up. Terrible feeling being hot and cold at the same time with the shakes
>>36044705
I think a lot of it has to do with blood sugar
>>36043781
Would you post your current body? How do you drink and make sport?
I had a time where I was every second day pretty drunk. As I start lifting but not losing wait I decide to just drink once a week.
>>36043781
Hey OPie, you're gonna make it brah.
> former alkie here
> wasted 6 years basically drunk all the time
> gf left at last, havent concluded if she was shit that drove me drinking or she was so perfect that the trauma of loss triggered sobriety
> sober for a year, and loving it, made some solid gains all around, +15kg mussel on a skelly, dank ass car, new gf, friends, got rid of suicidal tendencies and most of depression
> you're gonna make it, just stop, please, fucks sake man get a grip! i believe in you!
what helped me was listening to some spiritual/philosophy shit while sweating out the shakes. "conversations with god" - god loves you no matter what. and alan watts lectures on life the universe and everything.
Read this with your heart and mind:
> when outwitting the devil, it's crucial you don't give him any heads notice - alan watts
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wAGdinXZjSc
this is what actually clicked with me at one specific point, and all made sense - quit at once, and shift your mind to thinking that you have always not drinked, and it will not be hard. hard is to tinker and mark days in calendar when you have not drinked etc, i've done it all and failed and felt miserable.
>>36043781
>How do I stop drinking
The answer is in the question. Just stop.
I'm there with ya op. I spent the last 4 years not not going more than 2 days without getting absolutely smashed. Usually it's an everyday thing.
Today is day 3 of no drinking. Wish me luck.
>>36044885
Good luck!
>>36044885
How u feeling
>>36044885
>Wish me luck
It's not luck, fucker, it's discipline. The reason why you're asking for people to wish you luck is the same reason to why you've been an addict for the last 4 years; you refuse to accept responsibility for your own life. If you really, really want to quit, and are prepared to endure all the shit your brain is going to throw at you, you will succeed. 100%.
Do you really want to quit? Or are you just pretending you want to quit, so that you can keep on living your miserable life without having to face the guilt? The guilt of knowing that it has always been your choice. How long have you been trying to quit? So why haven't you? If you really, really, want to quit, you will.
But at least you're trying, right?
Look yourself in the mirror, man.
>>36044885
I know that feel
>>36043781
Nothing good in life comes from short term gratification. Remember that
>>36044954
Thank you!
>>36044973
Good, no withdrawal effects so far, just a lot of difficulty sleeping.
>>36045081
Nah, I've overcome worse addiction than alcohol before. I'll be fine. This change wasn't just a spur of the moment thing. It was after a lot of careful deliberation.
>>36045144
The sleepless nights are the worse, feel them gains dripping away.
>>36045172
>worse addictions
alcohol is harder than drugs to quit because it's socially acceptable and its everywhere and everyone does it
>>36045172
Aight, that sounds better senpai. I'm just so tired of reading about addicts >trying to quit, and then relapsing. Most of them aren't even trying, just pretending to be so that they can justify their addiction.
>I've tried quitting, I can't!
>It's an addiction!
Yeah, you can be more or less prone to the addiction, but at the end of the day you are in charge of your own life.
If you've gone through the required introspection necessary to come to terms with your own responsiblity, you're going to be fine. Quitting, itself, isn't the hard part, if you have thought it through to a certain point.
>>36045172
>I've overcome worse addiction than alcohol before
Sounds like you haven't overcome addiction at all quite yet. Doesn't matter what substance, addiction is addiction.
>7 days of sober here
>>36045208
That's one of the things that I really had to think in-depth about when I decided to quit. I'm currently in college and youknowhowthatshitgoes.jpg . It's going to really, really suck being the sober guy considering I was always the first one hitting the keg stands and shots. I've never been one to succumb to peer pressure though, I can admit that every addiction I've faced in my life is out of my own volition. I was the one who snorted the lines, I was the one who raised that glass to my lips.
>>36045226
I appreciate the kick in the ass man. I knew where you were coming from. You're a good bro.
It all hit home when I read an article about a 25 year old man who died of liver failure. He started drinking when I started drinking, at 17. He also drank at the same rate as me. I always had this illusion that because I was young I could get away with anything, I was invulnerable. Reading about someone who died at the end of the same path I was going on was sobering (slight pun intended). It wasn't even about the loss of gains anymore man, I just want to live.
>>36045255
I agree that addiction is addiction, but there are some addictions that take more of a toll on you than others.
>>36045226
Anyone ever managed not to quit entirely but just cut back?
>>36045335
I think the road to cutting back, depending on how far along you are in your habit, begins with quitting entirely for a while. If you can get away with gradually cutting back though, and you know you can keep yourself in check, that's totally doable.
>>36045306
Hell, if you're going to die at 25 there's a bunch of cooler substances to kill yourself with. Alcohol is a shit drug.
>>36045335
Abso-fucking-lutely, it's all about the mindset. Set limits to yourself, and keep them. It isn't, technically, harder than that, it's only about being in control of yourself.
Also, this; >>36045366
>>36045382
>Hell, if you're going to die at 25 there's a bunch of cooler substances to kill yourself with. Alcohol is a shit drug.
Hahaha that's the truth.
>>36044395
I'm doing that now, but weed sucks too. I always get a brain fog the next day which is not great either
>>36043781
I've gave it up recently. Only drank at the weekend and sometimes during the week if I was working weekend. You have to do it gradually by the sounds of things, like cut it down to two nights a week, then less in those two days and then nothing. Your gains will thank you.
>>36045366
>>36045382
OK so let's say I start today, make quitting entirely part of a keto plan for 1 month, I should be able to try having just one or two again when with friends at the end of that month?
All my friends drink, so I'd rather not be the odd one out but I seem to be the only one with a problem
I've had trouble dropping alcohol because I just get so fucking bored when I'm sober and I like having something to look forward to at the end of the day. Anyone else?
>>36045464
For a while. Took up a few hobbies.
You know what, someone i know has done heroin, coke, mdma, ketamine, alcohol, you name it and he still didn't get addicted to anything. He's clean as a whistle now, works as a public relations dude and can start and stop drugs at will. It's all about mindset and genetics. Some people were just born to be addicts because it's in their genes.
>>36045510
>clean as a whistle
Or he knows how to hide drug use effectively
>>36045451
Nah, do it for a year. Prove to yourself that you can abstrain from it.
>I'd rather not be the odd one out
This right here is your main problem. Why do you care what they think? Are they going to look down on you because you're sober? Are you willing to call a person who'd do that your friend?
Do a year sober. You'll become a better person.
>>36045464
There's thousands of things you could do instead, but you default to alcohol. Why? Because that is your life, and while the fantasy of doing something better with your free time is there, the discipline to actually go through with the change in lifestyle is not. Own up to it, accept it. Then make the change.
Learn to play the guitar. Start reading books. What would you like to do with your free time, instead of wasting it on drinking? Become a better person.
>>36045510
I've done heroin, MDMA, alcohol, weed, shrooms, LSD, ketamine, meth, morphine, and probably some minor shit I don't remember.
Never had a problem, except getting caught by the police that one time, I guess.
>tfw you become bros with the officer
>mfw he turns a blind eye to the LSD in my pocket
>>36043781
Alcohol is addictive, even moreso than heroin, and has potentially lethal withdrawls. Taper off, and when you can stop consuming alcohol entirely, sub in some Kava, it still has GABAergic activity so it's somewhat similar.
>>36045557
Someone I know.
>>36045583
>Learn to play the guitar. Start reading books. What would you like to do with your free time, instead of wasting it on drinking? Become a better person.
But I know how to play guitar and reading/bibliophilia is already my biggest hobby. Any other ideas for stuff I can do at home? I work late and I can't work out past 10pm cause that's when my gym closes, so I'm usually stuck in my apartment late at night bored AF.
>>36045704
But that's the point, senpai, I can't tell you what you want to do with your life. Fucking shitpost for an hour, and go to sleep early or something.
I've no idea what your life looks like, but I'd tro to do something like;
>Work out until 10pm
>Go home, shower, fix up some edible gains
>Turn on a movie/series/documentary
>Go to bed, read for a bit
>Meditate for 15-30 minutes (yes, fucker, it's worth it)
>Put the alarm on 08.30 and go to sleep
>>36045704
Get music production software and make music for yourself
>>36045335
i did. but not after stopping a half fucking year before i could start drinking normally again. it also helped that i wasnt full blown alcoholic back then.
>>36045901
>tfw can't drink normally
