Well, I know I have a problem. I drank just like every college kid and loved to party down on trips to beach, lake, football game, the regular places throughout my twenties. couple drinks a night on the weeknight, and sometimes no drink at all for several days. then the divorce came and the use went way up..needed it to help fall asleep. but it never affected my job, i would never have even thought about having a drink before or during work. but the last couple years, the use has gotten significant. my nightly use has gone from 5-7 beers about two years ago, to upwards of 10-15 starting in the afternoon and into the night. i am able to work from home alot, so its easy to crack one open at noon and start then..i'm not getting drunk, just keeping a constant slight buzz til i go to bed. of course, i can't wait for the chance for a party, going out, or tailgaiting on the weekend--because it gives me the "social o.k." if you will, to crack one open even in the morning. and those times i can be ocassionaly drunk. but my tolerance has gotten so high i dont get drunk that often. One of the reasons for this need to have a constant buzz is self-medicating--as ever since my separation and divorce i started having alot of anxiety and occasional panic attacks. Started off on a nice dose of Xanax--one .50 pill in the morn and one at night, then one my own, went back to one pill, then only a .25, then cut those in half and so on. didnt ever want to be constantly reliant on Xanax. But as my use of it declined, my drinking has gone up to take the place of it's effects. Guess what i"m trying to say guys is that I really need to get my act together. My fiance has noticed my excessive use and I always use the excuse--"well how often do you ever see me drunk, I just like the taste of beer." Excuses of that nature.. But i have gained almost 30 lbs in the last year, it has affected my motivation to go to the gym (because who wants to go to the gym after having a few beers), and my blood pressure has going into the borderline range pretty consistently. I want to get back to the guy I was before..A couple beers a night, the occassional weekend party, and going days without having even one...God they were only there just a few years ago. I refuse to go to any facility to get this done, but am totally willing to go to a counselor consistently to help. I have started making a chart of my drinking yesterday..this is probably not the way to go, but am going to try and cut one beer out evry day to every other day. each day drinking one less until i get down to 1 AND THEN NONE FOR A DAY. this way my body doesnt get shocked trying to go cold turkey and i can gradually try and reduce my anxiety, get in the gym, feel alot better.....Am i just kidding myself guys or is this possible. I am reaching out here for the first time. Please anyone advise.
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any help or advice out there
- Thread starter light17
- Start date
Hello and welcome to the forum Light17. I apologize for the delayed answer to your questions.
My story has a lot of similarities to yours. When i came to the point of trying to control my drinking, I tried various methods to do it, none of which proved successful. I would repeatedly accumulate a few days or week and then again for some silly reason, fall off the wagon. I found too that the more I tried to control it the harder i fell off that wagon.
My tolerance level in the end progressed to a point where I no longer got any effect from the alcohol and although I also liked the taste, it was the calming effect that I drank for. At that point I started look for other mood altering substances to get the stress relief I felt I needed.In spite of the fact that the alcohol had little or no effect I still needed to drink regularly. I had stepped over the line from a mental addiction to a mental AND physical. one. The physical aspect made it next to impossible to limit myself to just 2 or 3 drinks because once they were into me I no longer could consistently muster the willpower to resist the craving for more. The result was that I could not predict how much or what was going to happen once I picked up.
This eventually led me to hitting a bottom after I had lost everything of any value.ie friends, family, wife, and a financial mess. I quit cold turkey, stumbled to Alcoholics Anonymous and finally managed to stay quit for close to 14 years now.
Will you be able to do what millions of others haven't been able to do? Maybe. A number of things you mentioned in your story make me think you may have already stepped over the line and will only be able to quit with a lot of help but in the end only you can be the judge of that. That you are on this board asking the question in the first place makes me think you suspect the worst yourself, so perhaps it is the best answer to your own question.
My story has a lot of similarities to yours. When i came to the point of trying to control my drinking, I tried various methods to do it, none of which proved successful. I would repeatedly accumulate a few days or week and then again for some silly reason, fall off the wagon. I found too that the more I tried to control it the harder i fell off that wagon.
My tolerance level in the end progressed to a point where I no longer got any effect from the alcohol and although I also liked the taste, it was the calming effect that I drank for. At that point I started look for other mood altering substances to get the stress relief I felt I needed.In spite of the fact that the alcohol had little or no effect I still needed to drink regularly. I had stepped over the line from a mental addiction to a mental AND physical. one. The physical aspect made it next to impossible to limit myself to just 2 or 3 drinks because once they were into me I no longer could consistently muster the willpower to resist the craving for more. The result was that I could not predict how much or what was going to happen once I picked up.
This eventually led me to hitting a bottom after I had lost everything of any value.ie friends, family, wife, and a financial mess. I quit cold turkey, stumbled to Alcoholics Anonymous and finally managed to stay quit for close to 14 years now.
Will you be able to do what millions of others haven't been able to do? Maybe. A number of things you mentioned in your story make me think you may have already stepped over the line and will only be able to quit with a lot of help but in the end only you can be the judge of that. That you are on this board asking the question in the first place makes me think you suspect the worst yourself, so perhaps it is the best answer to your own question.
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justanobserver
Still Wondering...
light17 - please accept my apologies for not saying hello or replying.
wecome to Recovery!
I am a recoveing alcoholioc and addict and I do undertsand where your at.
Am not trying to pass the buck but Lion of God's post sais a lot where your at right now.
I wont advise you on how to return to a couple beers a night but I will advise you on seeking out an AA meeting and that you attend one.
here is a thread that I putting together that has a list of links:
Alcohol Recovery Links
You have any questions or need to talk, you can always PM me.
And I want to thank Lion of God for all his input thru out the forum - a ton of knowledge and experience hard earned.
wecome to Recovery!
I am a recoveing alcoholioc and addict and I do undertsand where your at.
Am not trying to pass the buck but Lion of God's post sais a lot where your at right now.
I wont advise you on how to return to a couple beers a night but I will advise you on seeking out an AA meeting and that you attend one.
here is a thread that I putting together that has a list of links:
Alcohol Recovery Links
You have any questions or need to talk, you can always PM me.
And I want to thank Lion of God for all his input thru out the forum - a ton of knowledge and experience hard earned.
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ForAMomentIWillFly
Just your everyday superhero :/
Benzodiazepines and alcohol both effect the same receptors in the brain. If you start to ween yourself off, you'll be fortunate to do it alone, you will probably, with what you've said above, start to go into delirium tremens. DT's are not fun. To combat that, a lot of doctors will prescribe Xanax to relieve the symptoms, as your body is still getting receipt of something effecting the gaba receptors, but your body isn't actually getting alcohol.
for you. It's hard. Maybe find a friend, somewhere, and be completely open. Ask if they can help you. A lot of places will have county health departments which can also counsel you so you know you need to be accountable as well, in case money is a problem.
for you. It's hard. Maybe find a friend, somewhere, and be completely open. Ask if they can help you. A lot of places will have county health departments which can also counsel you so you know you need to be accountable as well, in case money is a problem.
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Talk to your Dr. about upping the xanax to stop the drinking. Then taper off the xanax. Of course you should see a qualified doctor and do this under their care if they deem it appropriate.
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justanobserver
Still Wondering...
I wont ever recommend xanax to anyone - it can be addictive. very addictive. I watched someone I knew long ago try to come off xanax and it wasnt pretty while she was trying (other drugs were involved as well). she never did get off it.
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If someone is on many drugs it gets that much harder to deal with. If this fellow has one doctor and he's on booze and xanax, which kind of work the same, he might be able to work with his Dr. to down shift to low dose xanax and maybe off it all eventually.
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