Hi Zack,
Well done firstly for coming here and reaching out. This is a positive step in a good direction : ) I feel for you and your situation, having alcohol so readily available and accessible at work certainly makes choosing sober even more difficult. You’ve done the first step though yeah, you’ve admitted you have a problem/addiction. This is really important, this self-awareness can now, if you choose, help you catapult into better decision making. It’s time to decide, are you a “drinker” or a “non-drinker”. Then own it. Time to put together a ‘sober tool kit’ - this is important so that you can reach in and use one or any of your tools in a time of need. Write down your WHY, why do you want and need to be sober? Why is it so important? What will you loose if you continue to drink? What can you say to your mates at work about why you don’t drink any more. How can you ask for their support? Tell them you’re always going to say No to the drink that matters, the first drink and especially tell this to yourself. Own your sobriety and be proud of it. Set this wonderful example for your children. Take up some other activity or hobby and you can talk about this with ppl at work. Choose to stand out from the crowd, be your own person, and to love yourself enough to put your health and happiness first. Ppl at work will respect you for that. Hell, others may follow. And, try your best to find more time for meetings. They will help. Also, another suggestion, read as much as you can on recovery. Watch stuff on YouTube. Knowledge is power my friend. You can do this, If you really want to and make that firm decision in you head and heart. Your strength is within and the universe has your back. I wish you well! 
The naltrexone didn’t hurt. I was on the monthly shot which I liked. However I would say my main benefits came from AA and IOP and one one counseling
I’m not missing any point my friend. You just say no. It shouldn’t matter what other people are doing.
We are surrounded by alcohol in society. But we have to say no.
We have to change our mindset.
I’m ok these days as I don’t drink. I can go to pubs, clubs, gigs, wherever and not be bothered.
We just have to work at it.
Oh brother can I. My experience is this: if we talk out our feelings we don’t act them out. And, as daily drinker of copious my acting out was to keep drinking. Worked, got off & got lit every damn day for nearly 7 years. Some days a can or two of harder lemonade to feel normal before work. The meetings are what made it matter inside, the people there are just like me and I feel better inside my own skin every time I go. You talked here about how you feel… Proud of you for speaking up. Just work it, cause you’re truly worth it!
Curious to know what " harder lemonade " is please?
I’m from the UK
Thanks
I had no idea this was The Sinclair Method (naltrexone). Interesting. I wonder how many people actually need the drug (the ones that are physically addicted and the ones that use it to escape sometimes become the same person, but that’s not always the case). I wonder if TSM is the direction the sober movement should take? Or if finding the root of the problem within society would be a better place to focus our attention…vs taking a drug to stop the addiction once it’s started. Rhetorical question, why is the disease so common in the first place?
I’m always curious what kind of jobs allows people to drink on the clock. I know in the restaurant industry it’s pretty common, but not at 10am. I don’t know what I would do if at my normal office job, people were regularly drinking. Sounds pretty awful. My ex just got another job in the beer industry and I’m really worried about his decisions. We have two kids together.
When you say this, do you mean hiding it from your partner? Are you actually good at hiding it, or do they call you out and you lie about it? This was how it was with my ex. Wondering if that’s what you mean by “good at hiding it”. Usually people know from my experience…
I’d like to add to Lea’s question here with… “And is this something you’re proud of?”
Just like to also say here that I have worked on my own and drank at work every day.
No one to say anything to me, no accountability.
And I’ve stopped by saying no to myself when I could have just carried on doing what I was doing. No one to tell me different.
It’s a North American thing I guess - here in Canada we have a drink called “Mike’s Hard Lemonade” which is basically lemonade with vodka. I’m assuming “harder lemonade” is basically that same concept 
Ok, we had a thing we called alchopops years ago. Which was basically vodka, or Bacardi premixed with lemonade or similar “pop”
Popular with the kids.
Cheers Matt.
Hooch, WKD, Smirnoff Ice…
God, they were shockingly bad.
I never touched them on purpose. Perhaps when there was nothing else around. Didn’t do anything for me, too weak.
I know bud… I used to work at a place in Hoddesdon and WKD Irn-Bru was considered a ‘Sober-upper’
That’s the other one. Over here it’s either Cider or apple Juice. A bit confusing for me when I started seeing that American’s would be drinking " cider ".
Yea idk how I feel about tsm I’d rather beat it on my own then replace it with something. Everyone works diff though
No not something I’m proud of at all just saying that It makes it easier because I can hide it. My partner knows she’s not dumb. I’m honest with her. She doesn’t know how much I drink but she knows I do daily
I understand that not drinking is something only I can control. It’s just getting started. Breaking the cycle and getting there is just where I’m struggling. I guess there’s really no one way to say how you overcome this or how to solve your problem. Just kinda something you do. It’s an action not really something you can explain or have an answer for
I think your situation sucks dude.
Look at it objectively. If you’re the sole earner, unless you have sick time paid, theres really no chance of taking time off because…well because.
I dont have any personal experience with your situation however, my Dad ‘was*’ an alcoholic and he was the main income, also with 3 kids and a wife. My mum told him one night “I want a divorce” and he stopped drinking altogether for few years. They couldnt save their marriage because the damage had already been done y then but he drinks probably once a month, if that now.
Its very hard to commit to sobriety unless you have the shock of your life which is a direct consequence from your addiction - which is often a moment of complete clarity and the whole idea of alcohol just turns you off.
Another “Dad” related anecdote. Hes a 30/40 a day smoker and has been for 35 years. A couple years ago, he went to the doctor complaining of chest pains and found out that one of the big arteries was so clogged and damaged that he was in imminent danger of a heart attack that would be so massive, the chance of surviving it would be pretty much zero. He had the clot removed and a stent put in the following day. He still smokes 30 cigarettes a day - I asked him why he hadnt stopped smoking, he was told it was killing him. His response was “Yeah, I know but nothing happened. It’s almost like because they fixed it, the shock wasnt enough. If I couldve had the heart attack and survived, I wouldnt be smoking now”. Dad is 52 and theres just no way hes going to make old bones because he just will not give up the cigarettes. It’s really sad that I’m almost resigned to it - I know it’s going to kill him, he had the opportunity to stop now and get healthy but he just cannot say no to them.
Picture you as my dad and myself as your kids and replace the cigarettes for alcohol. I know when my dad dies, I will be so angry because he chose not to quit.
Sobriety is obviously about putting yourself first but there no reason why your partner and kids cant be on par with you.
I was a daily high volume drinker. I spent months reading posts here before I could work out a plan of action for myself. The 8 main elements were:
- To change my mindset.
- To purposefully change as many habits as I could.
- To find new alternative drinks (I even bought a different style of glass as a reminder that this was the new me)
- Remove my DOC from my home
- Avoided places and people that might create a craving
- Created a toolkit of various tactics to use when cravings occurred
- Kept H.A.L.T at the forefront of my mind
- Read and posted here, a lot!