Does it Count?

I am 80 days sober today. BUT this past week, on 2 separate days, I had a few drinks. I didn’t get drunk and I felt horrible as I drank them but did it anyway. Being a binge drinker, I think I did very well cutting myself off after a few. Since I didn’t get drunk or even really buzzed I don’t feel like I need to reset my sobriety tracker. I know now that I really don’t want or need to drink​!!! So, do these 2 incidents count against my sobriety???

Only you can answer that question. My motto: “Your only cheating yourself.”

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I agree with shattered, only you can decide that one. There aint any rule book! Personally if I have a drink I’ll be back to square one. Bit like those folk who say they’re vegetarian ‘but I do eat chicken’ :joy:

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I’ve been taught that complete abstinence unless otherwise prescribed by a physician and taken as directed is the only thing that counts as sobriety/being clean…I had to give up 9o some odd days one time because I snorted diladen…it doesn’t mean that your starting over on your journey…it only means that you take this thing serious enough to be completely honest…half measures availed is nothing

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I would be resetting the counter if I was in your position. There is more to sobriety than how many days you have abstained. But the counter is an excellent way of helping us gain control of our alcohol use (in my case total sobriety)

If you don’t reset the counter and perhaps lose control of your intake in future - how would keep a track of yourself if you decided to stop drinking completely??

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Your sobriety is YOURS. Whether or not you count these incidents are up to you. Personally, I would still count them because having one drink and stopping there is a slippery slope of having 6 drinks the next week…

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What are your long term goals here? Sobriety or reduction in drinking?

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Couple of things @Robin1 - you drank on 2 separate occasions, you felt horrible (as you drank) both times, and you think you did very well by stopping.
And you’re 80 days sober.
You don’t mention why you did this - and then did it again?
Or why you’d take the chance of really enjoying those couple of drinks after 80 days sober?
And after not enjoying it once, you tried it again - and still managed not to enjoy it.
Is our old friend Mr. Drunk Brain popping back for an encore?
Because it sounds like you’re warming up for the old ‘I can handle / a couple / this now and then / sensible drinking at weekends’ routine.
Even though you didn’t like it.
And you’re not keen on resetting your counter.
Personally, if I’d had one or a couple, pulled back from the edge and thought ‘fuck, what was I thinking!’ I wouldn’t reset - however, if I then did exactly the same thing a day or so later! - I’d reset.

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Its up to you really, you stayed in control with regards to an amount of alcohol consumed. Have you reflected on why you drank? Last time i did sober 80 days i did have 2 half bottles of beer on two separate occasions, i was eating out and an owner gave me beer free of charge… I didnt want to be rude because it was opened already so i drank half. I saw this as a lapse, not a relapse. My relapse came few weeks later, i thought i can moderate now (based on my two half bottles) so got myself a bottle of wine with intentions of 1 glass… I drank most nights after that… I restarted my sobriety clock then… I do wonder whether those 2 beers triggered my relapse so now i inform the owner im abstaining so no freebies :slight_smile:

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Depends on your goals… from my past experience, not pushing reset provided my binge-drinker brain with a false sense of security which ultimately did lead to a full blown episode of binge drinking. Great job on 80 days! If you don’t reset… just be very mindful going forward!

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Sobriety…

I know this question would get a flurry of answers, it always does! For me, what @Zara said.

You have read everyone’s thoughts. After reading them and reflecting, what was your decision, reset or no? No wrong answer here.

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Aw why thank you :smiley: :purple_heart:

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I drink how you drink,my pattern is just like yours and I always have a few and do okay before I compeltely lose control due to rationalizing my drinking.I always reset because I know that I need to be honest with myself, and to me being sober for x amount of days means I havent even had one drink, or a sip.

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As of today, I have not reset the counter. I do subtract 2 days from my total days. I was asked, in other post “why” I drank twice in a week. The first time was totally stress related, so many bad things going on in my family that I can’t control or even help…the drinks didn’t even taste good and I felt bad about drinking. The second time, I stopped in my old “home away home” bar to visit my old friends (which wasn’t a good choice) because my old drunk friends bought me a few drinks (the last one I didn’t finish due to guilt) so I left and now know I can’t stop to visit them again!! To me, they’re just excuses as to “why” I let myself down.

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I did the same thing last November, I had 90 days under my belt and went out and had a few drinks, I didn’t reset my counter thinking to myself I am not giving those up, but I thought to myself who am I kidding, your lying to yourself and nobody else, so I reset. Just Remeber it’s a number… So what! you lost 90 days, but what you learned in those 90 days will be you forever.

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I would reset. Don’t do it to punish yourself but to learn your addiction’s patterns, which are converted to that super cool line graph on the Stats page. That way you can see your addictions patterns and be on your guard next time. (Bit a data nerd…lol) keep it up! Good job not drinking into oblivion! :blush:

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What were is this graph? Mine won’t show much but if I could see the struggle days that’d be interesting

The graph is on the same page where you can see how much money you’ve saved. If you haven’t reset there wont be any graph :smile: