Starting today on my 3rd vice

Im a man with too many addictions. However the worst is alcohol. My wife is 8 month pregnant of our first son, and yesterday I drank a lot of beer and even whisky which I rarely do. My online behaviour was atrocious and I offended a lot of people, even got blocked. I woke up decided I would quit - this happens almost in every hangover, but this time I believe I will can because 1) my boy is coming and I dont want him to have an alcoholic father 2) As I said before I have too many addictions, but Im tackling 2 at the moment (gambling and smoking) for a few months and feeling confident. God bless us

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Tbh I don have a plan. Plan is to hold firm for the first two weeks, every time I crave a beer will drink a lot of water, teas and occupy my mind reading or doing some other thing I like, maybe playing videogame, two things I never do after I start drinking. After those 2 weeks With increasing confidence I hope will have more clear on my mind what to do. I had a surgery six months ago and could spend 40 days without drinking but thought about it everyday.

Another “funny” thing is that I only drink beer for years. And I thought beer didnt make anyone alcoholic, only alcoholic are those who abuse with vodka and whisky. Took time to find out how I was fooling myself. But maybe that whisky dose yesterday made me conclude that enough was enough, that I hit a low point, because I hadnt drink distilled for years, I just dont like it, but I was so desperated to drink and didnt want to get the car to buy more so I went for it

I was thinking about a hobby and just realized my whole life is centered in beer. Like a passion.

For some time I had the desire to start playing golf
Theres a course not very far from here but its closed since pandemics started
So I had this idea and just ordered an used indoors golf kit
I have plenty of space in home to play and see if I enjoy it enough before I go to the golf course
The great part is that as I never played neither watched it Before I wont associate with alcohol and betting like I do with football and basketball
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RAVIK Im answering you here because I cant create a new reply for the next 18 hours, Im a new user and posted so much, so there it is:

Thanks for your words. Tbh gambling is not my biggest problem because I dont chase losses and can stay 2 years without playing, then returning and spending money that I deffo can lose, set limits and stuff. So I was never one that risked a car or my savings on a bet, the biggest amount I lost on a month of heavy gambling was like US$ 300 a long time ago. The reason I wanted to stop gambling is because I get obsessive with it and can spend hours and distract from my work or be grumpy the whole weekend because I lost like 20 dollars. Betting for me Is more a stupid litte vice that mess with my humour than something that can bankrupt me or end my life.

I think the addictions are just different. Cigarettes for example I tried to quit before and ended returning but never on the same amount as before. I smoked like 20/30 cigs a day for like 6 years, then stopped for 1.5 years and when I returned I would smoke like 5-6 cigars a day.then had like a month break and went to it again. I was 2 months without smoking but travelled for work, was heavy drinking with a colleague we were outside (the bar was like in a park) and I was surrounded by people smoking so I bought me a pack. As usual the first sucking was great and then it was very shite. I threw away the rest of the pack. Two days later I bought another, smoked again, regretted and threw away. I think on a period of one week I bought like 140 cigs but smoked less than 10, throwing away the rest. This was like 70 days ago, and since then I craved it like 3, 4 times, the first day is bad, the first week ok, then its not that hard IF you avoid heavy drinking near people smoking.

Alcohol is another issue. As I said before my live is a bit centred on beer. I do love beer, I really enjoy the taste of some of them, and its very sociable. All the men of my family drinks a good amount, but Im the heaviest drinker. 90% of my friends enjoy beer more than norma” people, at least half dozen of them are real alcoholics (like I am). I ve had to know a widow neighboor a couple of years ago who lost her husband to cirhosis to understand that beer drinkers are alcoholics too. As you said I need to totally change my mindset. I hope

As you can see Im an obsessive man and will try to focus my obsession on good things like reading, sports or a new hobby not related to alcohol. Thanks for the book tip, I will probably buy it. About therapy I went to see one therapist and a psychiatric like 15 years ago when I had heavy stress problems on work (fortunately I changed jobs and it hadnt happened since) and to be frank I felt that apart from the medication that I didnt fancy taking because of its side effects and I just dont fancy pills at all, I didnt think our talks helped more that lets say talking with people I love or spending time with my pets. In other hand, reading foruns like this really help me because I see the example of brilliant, courageous people fighting with bravery and wisdom even if they have to restart sometimes.

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Hi Will! Welcome to the forum :slight_smile: A few things come to mind when reading your post. The first is exactly what @SoberGuyUSA had stated. A plan is necessary. It sounds like you are not a “normie” with alcohol. That means that you will not be able to quit like a “normie.” They can abstain and not think twice about it. However, as an alcoholic, quitting only means a constant excuse, or reason, a self attempted timeline, and craving that sets us up for failure. Moderation is not an option. Quitting for us is not merely abstaining. Quitting for us is to change our mindset. It sounds scary, I know. But once you get a plan, it will make it easier. I would recommend to get some literature. The Big Book or The Naked Mind would be a great start. Research programs that are available. AA is wonderful but may not be for everyone. There are options. Go to the magnifying glass up on top and you can even research options on here :slight_smile: Then, throw out all your alcohol in your house, get the support of your loved ones, and avoid triggers. Keep us updated on your progress because we care :pray:

Also, regarding your gambling addiction, statistically, the best odds of recovery for any addiction is gambling. But treatment is absolutely necessary. I would find a therapist to start with. Professional help is out there and again, lean on us for support. There are also support groups for that as well.

Lastly, I have to tell you. I spent my baby girl’s first eleven years of life as a drunk mother. I just spent the last weekend with her, just me and her. It was WONDERFUL. I can’t tell you about one weekend that was that wonderful in the last eleven years because I was either intoxicated, too tired from the night before, or had a mindset of when I was going to drink again. Your baby is going to need you 100%. Not hungover. Not with a mindset for the next drink. I wish I could redo the last eleven years and would have been more present. But I can’t. I pray that I can fix any harm that I may have caused. You have an opportunity of no regret. Take action now and you will win it all :heartpulse:

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Welcome Will!! I would strongly advise attending AA as I have found it impossible to stop on will power and distractions. Read the Big Book and attend meetings. The best thing I ever did was 90 meetings my first 90 days. You can do this! Just go one day at a time.

Welcome Will! I agree with the others, you need to get a plan in place. I’m not going to tell you this is easy but I will tell you it’s definitely worth it. Here’s a link you may find helpful:
Resources for our recovery

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This was very powerful! Thanks

So this is day 2 I made a bbq… a hard test…
3 months ago I couldnt made a bbq without smoking…
now I dont even remember cigs existed
However I drank a pack while burning the meat
I replaced with a liter of coca-cola… When I fell the smell of coal (because 3 months after quiting cigs I can smell better) along with the taste of coke reminded the happy bbqs of my childhood… that was really nice…
Ill try to dont check this forum all tje time, however, because Im only on day 2 and its overwhelming me a bit… I mean, I could spend the whole workweek without drinking why its so hard now? Because I know this time I cant… so Ill just think less about it till friday

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Day 3

Just knew that my job promotion that I was expecting since october wont probably happen and thers no plan b at all, because it involved one specifically person that is gone. Good lord is exactly the kind of situation I would waste myself on beer. I hate my job and feel betrayed I am angry that I promised my wife I wouldnt drink becaude I would need today to drink a dozen of cold heinekens at the sofa watching a big football game and betting on it, because when Im sober i see how pathetic and senseless the world is

First friday without a cold beer. Work was terrible.

your doing absolutely great mate, works always shit and makes people want to drink but I refuse to give it the pleasure of fucking up the rest of my life, its bad enough while I’m there. But im not god, I don’t get to make the rules. We’re just along for the ride and making the best of it.

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Thanks for the words dolse
Yeah work ever terrible but this week was the worst since 2019. Not because Im on abstinence, is just a coincidence or a test to my willpower. Just gonna order a pizza with a coke as a reward, also next week is scheduled to arrive my golf club and balls :golfing_man:t2:‍♂ To start my new hobby. It wasnt cheap, but if I see how much I spent on booze it was a month or even less!!

One week and my mood is calm but I feel asleep and without energy whole day is it abstinence?

Good job on a week! Sleepiness is your body trying to heal itself. Listen to what your body is telling you. If it says to sleep… then sleep. You should start getting some good rest here soon. Stay the course! You are doing great :+1:

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Hey, hey, hey! (Like krusty the klown)

3’weeks today!
No relapses. A handful of restaurants and other places triggered me a bit. Non-alcoholic beers tackled just fine it twice, others coke/soda did the job.

The biggest difference I feel is my head is more sharp, Im thinking quickly and seeing things clearer, even the jokes are better.

I lost a couple of kilos too and my face seems a bit more jovial and less swollen. I really started playing golf as planned and yesterday I had much fun watching on tv my first big tournament ever. My boy didnt arrive yet but hes due to next tuesday. Anxious as fuck but no reason to try to tackle this great expectation with cigs or alcohol.

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Absolutely FABULOUS!!! Good Job!!!

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Sober, you are now in a position to change your situation. Anger can lead to impulsive, self-destructive actions, or it can lead to a burning determination to change things.

Hate your job? Make a plan to get a new and better one. Maybe you have to take a class or two, get a certification, or make some contacts at a new place. Be sober and motivated to make it happen, then make it happen.

Bid your time. Play the game. Get sober, stronger, better, and when the time is right, make your move.