I have come to the point in my life where I feel it is time to stop drinking. I know others here have. How did you do it?
paul, 2 of the biggest drinkers I know recently quit. Im not sure how they did it, and since I never really drank in my life, I cant really give any advice, But I can say Good luck, and more power to ya! Alcohol is a powerful thing man.
[ QUOTE ] I have come to the point in my life where I feel it is time to stop drinking. I know others here have. How did you do it? [/ QUOTE ] When you can't remember half the stuff you did while drinking yourself silly...or paying the DWI tickets...or getting into fights...or standing in front of the judge...or always waking up with a horrendous hangover. Cold Turkey is the best way. Besides, think of all the money you'll save!!! R-
When you go to the family doctor because you're pissin'pink grapefruit juice and the doctor(who is also an old family friend tells you,"Now I ain't gonna tell you to stop drinkin',but if you don't,in 5 years you'll be on a dialysis machine".Now I drink a lot of water because if I don't,I get kidney stones and also because I don't have any saliva glands(courtesy of a long radiation therapy due to smoking.).Do you still smoke too?
october 17 1994 the best day of my life. and it prob saved it. dont look back today is the first day of the rest of my life. go for it by the way i drank a case and a half bottle plus a package everyday for 22 yrs it only gets better... fuck those people that doubt you they are the loosers one day it a time
Takes big balls to admit a problem. Even bigger to do something about it It's a tough thing to do. Quitting anything is hard, works different for everyone. But if you feel you have a problem life will be much better without. No magic answers, you gotta want something else worse. I haven't stopped drinking, just drink very little, not very often. Life last 15 yrs have been good. Screwed up a lotta peoples lives, as well as my own, before that. Wish I could go back do it over. Good luck we are here for you if you need us.
biggest thing I can tell you is don't go beating yourself up if you slip off the wagon and find yourself having a couple of beers a couple of weeks into it. Just suck it up and climb back on the wagon. You'll find that the instances where you slip off get fewer and further between if you're commited to quiting. And spend the time you would have been out drinkin' working on your car.
Hell, I could of bought one hell of a nice car for what I spent on booze,luckily having a kid made me think that I didnt want to be like my shitty dad and that made me get my shit together.Though I wish I had done it BEFORE i wrecked my 61 olds
I'd werk out how much a week you spend on alcohol. Then spend that amount on rod/kustom projects... Wife? Shouldnt mind the money dissapearing if your not drinking.... Find another drink you "like" and have plenty on hand, drinking fluids is a habit....i drink something all the time.... Good Luck!
Paul I just stopped one day, why? I dont know but I dont really miss it. My old room mate, his doctor told him the same as safari, he is 24. Think about it and do a lot of Praying...Danny ps just tell one of if we see you with a drink we can kick you in the chonees
Mate good luck to you even if you slow down to a six pack on a friday night i found i only drink and smoke outa boredem and stress try to find something else to do that dosent revolve around drink go out visit friends work on a project you will soon be outa the habit and keep a bottle of cordial handy regards Joseph
Paul, I had a bad problem with booze for about 8 or 9 years and I've been good for the last 8years. If I have a few screwdrivers a year now I'm lucky. A few too many 7,7's + Mint 63 galaxie + a tree = WAKE UP CALL. Nov.2 1996 I could have killed myself or someone & I demolished a 2nd owner low mile virgin 63 Galaxie 500 2dr. I practically ripped my right ear off when my head went thru the windshield and got lots of scars on my head to remind me. Don't wait for a wake up call, it aint worth it. Quit now. Billy
<font color="red"> Good luck Paul!......I have only had a few drinks of wine since Oct 26th........I usta pound away $50-$60 2-3 times a week at the 5point( for those who know that place will get the "average person" drunk for $30 or under)and be the one to drive folks home......I have been known to put away a pint and 1/2 of Bushmills and a 12pac of Oly and drive home......I made the decision to quit this and it is hard.....I belive that you have to keep going out to the same places and hang out with the same people otherwise it is all just BS (the quitting that is)......YOU CAN DO IT!!(read with a cajun accent!).......hang in there Mang!.......I quit smoking cold turkey almost 13 years ago it was WAY harder! R E D M E A T </font>
Paul... simple advise that is hard to swallow. You just do it. Plain and simple. Can't be any clearer really. You just do it. It really isn't all that hard. It is in yer head. We have a tendency to make mountains out of mole hills. Just do it. If you need booze to make you happy then you have bigger problems that need to be adressed. Seriously.
February 14, 1997. I was 18 and I got really sick of waking up in puke. About a month before that, I was DRUNK and doped up and hallucinating really bad and I just wanted it to stop, no matter what it took. I tried to take a nap outside in the snow and it was -10 degrees. If my friends hadn't been there I would have frozen myself to death and been happy to do so. I had no concept of time for 2 days straight. I had promised myself I wasn't going to drink that night. I only ever had one hangover- and it wasn't that night. When I was 13 years old, my father told me that I could help myself to any beer that was out in the fridge, so that he didn't have to worry about me going out partying. I had come to believe that I was born for drinking- that it was the ONLY thing I was good at. I could drink 16 beers in 2 hours and not get a hangover. I drank just to get wasted and to black out, and to help me sleep. Eventually, I started pushing it harder and farther until I started waking up in puke. After the night I described earlier, I took it easy for a month, then that day in February, I decided that I'd get shitfaced again. I woke up in the spaghetti I had eaten the night before. I hosed off my blanket, threw out my pillows and sheets and went back to sleep. When I got up I realized that I was lucky and would eventually kill myself--and found that I really didn't miss cleaning up vomit. I found that after you have any amount of time under your belt, you build on that. If you want a drink, you say to yourself that you can't because it would have been a waste of the past x amount of months. I highly recommend AA meetings, find one in your area that is "open" and go. You will hear the best stories of your life. These are people that are passionate about their problem and their decision, and that have told their storeis thousands of times in their minds before they get up in front of 100 strangers. You'll hear some fucked up shit. If you ever need ANYTHING and I can help, get in touch with me.
<font color="purple"> Well, I have never drank, but I grew up in the program because my mom now has 26 years of sobriety. My sister didn't learn from being around them and drank, but she now has 15 years. It is easy to quit, but it is hard to stay sober. AA is a gathering of other people with the same problem helping each other stay sober. Simple as that. It's not a business and doesn't cost a thing, but donations help keep it going (rent and stuff). Always keep in mind, if you fall off the wagon, it's slow enough for you to climb back on. </font>
Go for it dude. I wasted 20 years of my life looking at the world thru the bottom of a beer glass. Then I met the wife, at the age of 36, a few months later made a violent drunken asshole of myself for some reason, and thought "I don't WANT to get drunk again". After that I never touched a drop again. You have to WANT to not drink, not just need to. And there is no such thing as 'just one beer'. It's either beer, or no beer. No halfway point. Don't get me wrong, I've had some great times on a gut full of booze, but the bad, stupid events, arguing with friends, jail, beatings, embarrassment, failed relationships etc far outweigh the 'warm glow' days When you quit, you find can't have fun in the same places you used to, cos bars get awful boring when everybody is shitfaced and talking crap, so get a life at home, build more rods, visit sober friends, get to know the other, sober side of life. Good luck with it, cos if I can do it, anyone can Paul
This is a great topic Paul, which in a remote way can be linked to vehicles, so it really isn't that far off topic. I myself have been feeling the same way as you apparently do. It is a struggle but I won't beat on myself if I slip. Drinking is something I have been doing for a long time and I believe that I am starting to realize the rammifications of being a drunk. I have pissed off many people here already just by going off on a tangent for no reason about nothing worthwhile...drinking just gets me in trouble most of the time. I have a tendency to do and say things that I think are amusing but the average normal person would strongly disagree. I have already lost too much of my life to hangovers and such. I get really pissed off at myself when I don't get things done that I want to do because I am/have been loaded. It's no ones fault but my own and my drinking needed to be curtailed. Going through life drunk, bald and stupid is no way for me to live. I can not offer any real help other than to say good luck. The only thing I can say is that when it seems like I have many problems most of them stem from my drinking habits.
I did the same things a few years ago, stopped drinking, smoking pot, and drugs all together. I came to a point in my life where I had to decide what was the right thing to do and not the fun thing to do. I did it cold turkey, started working on projects and didn't stop until the cravings were gone. Took a while to get use to being sober all the time, and had to watch who I was hanging out with as well. I don't regret it one bit and I can still have a beer once in a great while with out it getting back into a daily routine.
My pop is 63, went through 3 really bad marriages, 4 car wreaks, a year in jail, and fines up the ass all thanks to the bottle. Plus his 5 kids got to grow up with him hardly ever being around, and his wives got to sit around wondering if he was ever going to come home. He was in the program and it worked for him. Simple way to put it.....you just stop. Take it one day at a time and don't drink. Plain and simple. That's what my dad did. He used the program as a tool, but it wasn't the program that made him stop. It was his willingness to give it up. He's been sober for 18 years now.
As folks have said "Cold Turkey" the only way I know. Just stop drinking. Its been 5 years for me . I was a lightweight only a 12pack a day every day. I decided my marriage and health were more important than the friken so called "good times".Besides now you can remember the fun you have. Try and keep busy,hell wash the dishes if nothing else. You may find that you have to find new friends,some of those drinking buddys just quit coming around. Thats not a bad thing. Be strong,keep us posted,good luck.
I recently figured out that if I took all the money I spend every month on liquor & weed and put it towards a car payment, I could be driving a brand new 911 turbo. What a great feeling that is!
Brother Paul, I can't speak from experience... but I can offer you this... we are here when you need us. Sam.
Get medical help if possible. The only way I was able to give up smoking was to use Zyban for 9 monthes . You gotta change your habits. Drink Coke or Sharps, Find a new hang out. A Buddy of mine has a Sharps when the rest of us are drinking and he seems OK with it.
All I can do is echo what everyone else has said. Find support for your choice and be accountable to those people who love you. Change your habits so that drinking doesn't fit. Try climbing mountains or bike riding and drink plenty of water. Alcohol dehydrates the body and that causes all sorts of problems. Remember that we are here for you. Everyone who has posted on this topic I'm sure, would be a listening ear for you. You can do it, bro. r
60's, I wish i had some good advice for you. I probably don't. I gave up hootch about 30 years ago when my stomach told me "every time you send any of that shit down here I'm gonna send it right back up!" Really. If just take a good whiff of bourbon I'll probably upchuck right on the spot. At the very least I'll get nauseous. I can tell you that I quit cigarettes in 1976 by just deciding that I would do it. A spur of the moment promise to myself that I've been able to keep. I didn't try to slow down. I didn't try any gimmicks like the chewing gum or the like (patches didn't exist). I just decided that I wouldn't be a smoker any more. I believe you can decide that you won't be a drinker any more, too. Here's wishing you the best of luck in this decision. We've never met. Hell, most hambers haven't. But if there's ever anything any of us can do to help just ask. I bet 'most everyone on here is willing to do whatever he/she can to help you get through this. I know I am. I also believe you'll be pleasantly surprised at how much better your life will be without a bottle/glass in your hand.
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