Hi, I’m a new member, I live in the UK, I’m guessing most of you are in the USA?
Don’t want to bore you all with a long-winded intro but just thought I’d share a few things behind where I am today. I’m hoping that taking part in this forum won’t just be about me finding help and support but I’ll hopefully be able to help/support others.
I’ve struggled with alcohol for many years now, it started mainly back in 2006 when my dad got ill, but I know that it’s always been a problem deep inside just waiting to manifest itself. I’ve come to understand exactly why they call it 'The Demon Drink".
I had counselling in 2018 where I was told I was what was called a “Functioning Alcoholic” - I was told it was an old-fashioned term that wasn’t really used any more but that a scary amount of people are in the same situation.
I never want a drink in the morning, the thought turns my stomach. I make sure I get all my work done through the day and then at around 8pm open the wine and I can easily drink 2 or 3 bottles before passing out then getting up at 7am the next day. It’s this routine that had me in denial that I had a drink problem, but clearly I do. I have been recommended ‘tapering down’ my drinking.
I tried only drinking on Fridays and Saturdays in July which worked OK (apart from a couple of lapses) with the plan for August being Saturday only but that’s failed miserably. I’ve beeing drinking around 3 bottles of wine every night for the last two weeks or so, promising myself I’d “stop tomorrow/next week/September/2024”.
So this morning I decided to take some steps. I’ve signed up here and just come off the phone to my locall free alcohol counselling service who are going to set me up with some more counselling.
I’d really like to share my journey on here as I think it will help keep me on track and I’d love to be able to help and support anyone on here that wants it.
Thanks.
Hi there im UK but there are people on here from all over the world which pretty much means 24 hour support if u need it, nice to meet u, big warm welcome from me. This site and more importantly the people on it are the reason im just under a year sober…youve definitely come to the right place…no judgement here…we are all in this together 
Thanks, really appreciate it, I just had a quick scan and it did feel like most were US-based which is fine but it’s also good to know that there are UK members and others from all over on here.
Another one from the UK here and sounds like we are similar. Welcome 
Welcome to an awesome supportive, sober community @OldRedEyes there are people from around the world on this app. Usually theres always someone online
Thank you for sharing your story. You are not alone in trying moderation and failing. Commit to a quit day. Tell your therapist. Tell an accountabily partner. Save it to your calendar.
Ask yourself why you want to quit and refer back to this list when cravings hit.
At the beginning its all about keeping busy during those witching hours. At night could you go for a walk? Read a book? Take a long shower? Try to break the drinking routine
Best yet, you dont have to do this alone. You have us now and we can relate
Thanks, really appreciate it, this is just what I need to help. This is the time of day - especially Friday - when I’m thinking of finishing up my work and looking forward to that first drink. I’ll sit and watch TV with my wife and invariably in the programme we’re watching (usually a soap!) they’ll be in a pub or restaurant drinking a glass of wine and that’s when the cravings really kick in. I’ll go out with the promise to only buy a bottle - 2 max - and come back with 3. As soon as the first one is gone (of which my wife will have sipped one glass) I’m already planning on having another delivered (at 3 times the cost in the shop). After having a few sensible glasses (or maybe a bottle max) my wife will go to bed alone knowing that I won’t join her until every bit of alcohol is gone, after which I will attempt to ‘soak it up’ by noisily raiding the kitchen cupboards/fridge. Then I’ll eventually fall into bed, often after falling asleep on the sofa, spend the night snoring and wake up the next day feeling anxious (but not hungover) about what I’ve drunk/spent/eaten/forgotten about/posted on social media.
Typing that out, reading it back and posting it here is the best antidote for alcohol craving that I think I’ve found so far! Thanks
Man i can relate! The weekends were the scariest time for me early on. Theres a friday thread here that gets alot of action. Checkin often to hold yourself accountable…maybe try no soaps tonight?
Hi @OldRedEyes I can relate to your story! I’m glad you’re here.
I came here in April 2022 after trying by myself to quit drinking vodka over a year. I’ve been drinking for decades but around 2009, it was every night, and I would drink until I passed out. I too did not get hangovers like so many talk about. I would get up, go to work and do my job, during the day I could easily think I’m not drinking tonight, had no desire. But around 4pm, I knew I would. If I didn’t already have vodka, I would go buy a 1.75L. I could go thru that bottle in 2 days. Of course only after work. (a lot of us are/were functioning alcoholics)
And I also paid for vodka delivery more times than I can count, spending a ridiculous amount of money 
I came here with a real desire to quit, I made it 21 days before I relapsed. I felt bad and to be honest, some people here made me feel bad about it too. But I got up, dusted myself off and tried again, and again and again. But the 2nd time I said I’m NOT going to beat myself up over a relapse, or let anyone bring me down, because EVERY DAY SOBER IS A WIN!!
There are wonderful people here and many I call friends, some quit drinking and it took the 1st time. I was not one of those success stories. But I’m happy to say it’s been months now that I haven’t had a drink. I no longer think about it every day. I don’t know my exact number because I don’t think my counter is accurate (because of me). I guess the moral of my story is never give up, never let anyone bring you down if you relapse, especially yourself. Believe in yourself and why you want to quit. I truly wish you the best! And again, I’m glad you’re here! 
Welcome to the TS family. Nice to meet you and thanks for sharing. I live in the UK as well, but this community is definitely from all over the world. I like going to bed knowing that this forum is active while I am asleep. And in the morning I can catch up and read through the topics. Hope to see you around and read some more about you.
Hello ! Another (relatively new) member from the UK. My story is similar to yours. No urge to drink at all, then 8pm open the bottle(s). Up early the next day and do it all again.
I also tried the ‘drink only on a Friday / Saturday evening’, which would work for a couple of weeks before I was back to almost daily. Then a couple of days off to prove I could, then back to daily.
It took me around 6 months of trying to moderate before I accepted that, for me, it isn’t possible.
39 days alcohol free and feeling so much better. This forum has been amazingly supportive. I love it.
Hope to see you around here x
Wow thanks so much for the replies, really blowm me away and just the motivation I need to get through this day 1 Friday!
Im UK too!!
I have been on and off for years trying to ‘control’ my drinking and my evenings were spent very similar to yours! My partner just got pissed off and went to bed and i would order more wine in and hide the bottle!!
My last drink i did the same with gin- blacked out and fell really badly- dont remember it like.
Damn those delivery services- makes it very easy to just carry on doenst it
Welcome 
@OldRedEyes welcome! I’m in the US but I can completely relate to your story. Thank you for sharing. I’ve tried quitting on my own and have not been successful. I downloaded this app one day when I decided I needed additional support. Everyone here is so supportive and empathetic. Glad you’re here.
Hi, welcome! I’m also in the UK. I’m so glad you found this forum. I come here every day and it’s my only sober support network. Without this place I could not stay sober alone. Lean on us for support. Be gentle with yourself whilst starting out. Rest as much as you can. Drink plenty of water and take it steady. Remember your H.A.L.T. If you are hungry, angry, lonely or tired these feelings can feel like cravings. Make sure to have plenty of sugary treats in in the early days. There’s a shed load of sugar in booze and our bodies look for it once we stop so some chocolate or some sweets will help. Look forward to seeing you around! 
Welcome to the community! I’m UK too.
I’ve found so much support and advice here, it’s amazing. It is definitely worth looking around the different threads and visiting often.
I hope to see you around.
p.s. is that a Beautiful South reference I see in your user name? They’re from my hometown!
Hey there @OldRedEyes. Glad that you found this place! I was a functioning alcoholic for a number of years who, even when I crossed into drinking everyday and then morning/ daytime drinking, was largely able to get my work/ life obligations met.
But I was still FAR from thriving. Everyday was just a push to meet the demands of life, and then, do everything I could to escape them.
When I found this place about six years ago, I was tired, annoyed and using alcohol to run away from life.
With the fine help of people here, and a willingness to do whatever it took to get sober, I can happily say that I am coming up on six years alcohol free!
It was helpful for me to write out my last hangover in as much vivid detail as I could muster, and also write down EVERY reason I had to get sober. From the vane “so my teeth aren’t stained from wine” to “so I could stop feeling worthless in the morning” I wrote it aaaaaalllll down. Then, in the early days, while I was avoiding any place or interaction that involved alcohol, I would READ BOTH of those writings whenever a craving hit. I was also on here, reading stories, and understanding the approach of those with significant sober time on here.
Anywho, I’m so glad you found this little sober corner of the internet. Congratulations on making a new choice for yourself
Thanks, just woke up on my first sobre Saturday morning in I don’t know how long and it feels amazing. Found the Friday night cravings easier to deal with thanks largely to the responses I had on here yesterday. I feel so much more confident in staying sobre at the moment but know it will be a bumpy ride.
Yes my name is a nod to the Beautiful South song! I loved The Housemartins as a kid and my wife and I both really like The Beautiful South, they were something of a soundtrack to when we got married/bought our first house.
We were listening to a Spotify playlist of theirs one evening last week while away on holiday and having a few glasses of wine (me more than her of course) and when Old Red Eyes Is Back came on were singing along. I obviously knew what it was about, but never properly thought about the lyrics. When I did, it really hit home, not least how I’d spent much of that holiday drinking all evening and not getting up until 10 or 11 and having no energy to do anything all day before drinking again.
I finally realised how much life I was missing out on through alcohol and it gave me that little nudge to change, and that’s when I came here.
Late night delivery services and 24 hour supermarkets have definitely fuelled my addiction but of course I don’t blame them, even in the old days where every shop was shut by 10pm I would still have found a way.
Thanks, I’ve been on a few sites/apps like this but never found this level of support before, it’s really boosted my confidence in staying sobre in these tough early days.
Wow thanks, the H.A.L.T thing is so true, as is the sugar. I’m trying to improve my health overall but in the oast have failed when I try to do it all at once. Right now I just want to cut out the alcohol and this has been an amazingly supportive start to that.