I’m back to drinking just about every night and its taking its toll on me physically and mentally. I know the benefits to quitting but I just enjoy cracking open a beer(s) at the end of the day. I haven’t been to an AA meeting yet but have thought about it in the past. I just feel the problem isn’t bad enough to totally quit but I can’t seem to take a few days off like I used to. I’ve gone up to 2 weeks of no drinking and I’ve gone 2 weeks of straight binge drinking. I’ve heard the saying once it clicks, it sticks. So here I am asking what was the “click” for you? What helped you just finally quit? Thanks!
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AA had helped me stay sober for over 6 months and counting.
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A really bad hangover that lasted a couple of days.
The realisation, when I woke up on the kitchen floor, that I could loose everything!
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Woke up and I couldn’t remember leaving the bar, going home, or even finishing my last drink. I woke up feeling like I got hit by a bus and asked myself how many times am I going to do this before I just say enough. I was just tired of it and tired of how alcohol affected me. I was a binge drinker not an everyday drinker. I never lost a job, got a DUI, had any legal troubles, never became homeless or anything. Honestly, most of the people in my life never knew I had an issue. But I did blackout regularly, have emotional breakdowns, and even a psychotic break from reality due to intoxication. I started hiding how much I was drinking too which I knew wasn’t good. I just got sick of it all.
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The fact that you’re on here asking this should be your red flag. Mine was liver cirrhosis at the age of 28. I was throwing up blood, jaundice in the face and skin, itchy all over, no appetite and my liver was 31 cm enlarged. (A Normal liver is 16 cm) MELD score of 28 ( highest before death is 34) and am on the list for a transplant. Do yourself a favor, man. The beer isn’t worth it…alcohol is literally a poison to your brain and your body. If you have to ask yourself or even question if you’ve gone too far, you already have. Take it from me…life’s worth living. Good luck 
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Can you please just delete my account?
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I decided to be better, and then got after getting better. Discipline is what has helped me. It really comes down to wanting to be better and having the discipline to say “no” to the drink that matters…the first drink and to say “no” to the hardest person to say “no” to…yourself.
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For me I couldn’t stop drinking until I was done drinking. I was willing to do anything to get sober. Then I did what other people suggested and went to AA.
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Being sick and tired of being sick and tired is what stuck with me. Plus, alcohol stopped working too. In the end it was fleeting/brief enjoyment, followed by nothing but consequences (physical, emotional and situational). I’ve tried many times to quit before, and had far deeper “bottoms” in the past. I just got really fed-up one day (2 months ago) and called it quits. It was really easy! But, staying stopped is where the work comes in. This forum has really helped me in my journey to stay sober.
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It had to become painful enough that I had to change. Once that happened I was able to stop.
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I knew I should quit. I knew I needed to quit. I knew I had a drinking problem and I knew I was an alcoholic. But none of that knowledge did anything for me until I decided to quit. I woke up one day and I was done. Didn’t have a hangover, didn’t have a traumatic experience, just was done. It wasn’t a walk in the park, but it was easier when I surrendered.
Previous quits were like a chore, like I was deprived. I felt like a baby whose blanket was taken away, this quit feels totally different. It’s hard to explain, but when you’re ready, you’ll know it.
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I knew for a long time that I was holding myself back. I was never improving on my running since I was always starting again and always hung over. I knew I was putting on weight as I sat in bars night after night. I knew that I was pouring money down the drain. I was aware that there were too many nights and fights I couldn’t remember. I knew that waking up with terrible hangovers and in places I had not meant to be or with people I had not meant to be with was problematic and dangerous and becoming more scary and sad than fun. I knew all of these things for a long time but kept on drinking.
And then one day, on the way to the same destination, fighting with a friend over nonsense in a bar, she confronted me with a shitty thing I had done to her a year prior to which my only defense was “but I was drunk”. As much as I wanted that to be a sufficient defense, I knew it wasn’t. I couldn’t defend what I had done.
I knew I didn’t ever want to feel like that or be in that position again.
I apologized to my friend. Then I put down my beer mug and walked out of the bar and have not had another drink since. Four years, seven months and counting.
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I’ve been on the merry go round for too long now. This last streak is one of my longest. 34 days ago I blacked out before even leaving for a bar. Lost an expensive coat. Threw up in my apartment hallway.
It’s too early to say it’s stuck but damn it’s scary. Like @Englishd said I had to truly decide I was done. I’ve done this many times but apparently didn’t believe myself. My mentality has gotten better, learning to love and appreciate my life has been a slow process.
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Simple went to meetings helped me stay sober wish you well
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Things that helped me quit, in no particular order:
Realizing how many relationships I’d lost, and being on the verge of losing another.
Multiple car accidents. All single car, and minor, but still.
The physical aspect of everything. From hangovers to my doctor expressing concern over my liver function not being at 100%.
Thinking of all the friends I’ve lost to alcohol.
Having the police wake me up, on two different occasions, in a drive thru.
Realizing I have a long list of “yets”, and I want to keep them that way.
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I always knew I had a problem. Started drinking when I was 19. When I was 22, I got two DUIs in the same year. Thank goodness no one was hurt. Though I did flip my car the first DUI. Even after all that, I kept drinking, I was a bit more “responsible” to keep out of jail, but I still drank like a sailor.
Fast forward to age 30 and I’m still going at it like I was 22 with the addition of cocaine. What got me to finally realize I need to stop was about two weeks ago on a Friday, when I blacked out in front of co-workers (I’m in a higher position than them), made one of them uncomfortable, drove home, parents saw me blacked out (I’ve always had this part of my life from them). That was enough for me. The weekend I was completely broken down, tried to apologize as best I could to everyone and my parent. I even now take a different entrance and exit to work to avoid showing my face.
Also, I am in the process of buying a house, and also planning to get married next year. I realized that if I keep going it’s not a matter of if I will get arrested or die, but a matter of when. And when that happens my life will come crashing down. All the positive things coming in my near future will be taken from me. And I will not allow that to happen.
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For me it was feeling like i couldn’t drink enough to feel satisfied and the almost all day hangovers.
I have no desire to do a meeting or a program. I need to find the strength inside me and so far 116 days. It’s unimaginable. I am taking one day at a time and didn’t force myself into a goal. It really just happened. I keep reminding myself that i can’t just have one or two drinks like everyone else. I’m special. 
so are you.
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My kids,my health -i dont want to die through drink i was doing a full body check before i drank …are my eyes yellow …no.id press my liver does it hurt…no.is my skin a normal colour…yes.is my urine dark…no is my ankles/abdomen swollen…no heartrate is raised but never mind and off id go with the £2cider at 8.30 on a saturday morning looks of pity from the tesco lady serving me as im paying in 5p s.sober im still anxious about damage i may of done but i dont obsess over the damage im doing anymore
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Wow, so relatable. I’m all to familiar with the “full body check”
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