How do you stop relying on alcohol?

[Cain Spencer]

How do you stop drinking? Has anyone here done it?

 

[Hupomone10]

How do you stop drinking? Has anyone here done it?

Yes. In 4 days I will celebrate 3 years without a single drink. Prior to that, I was a severe alcoholic for at least 6 years and an alcoholic on-my-way-to-severe for a while before that.

How do you stop drinking? It's harder than you thought back when you started this drinking process, isn't it!

Part of the answer is included in the title of your thread: how do you stop "relying on alcohol."

And that is a big part of it, at least for me it was. Learning to rely on Christ instead of alcohol, for life's situations.

That's a start.

Just to let me (or us here) get to know you and your situation, I have a couple of questions if you don't mind:

1. Have you admitted to yourself and to God that you are powerless over alcohol and alcoholism, or do you still believe you can control it?

2. What methods have you tried and failed?

3. Do you know Christ as Savior, or are you still on the way?

Blessings,
H.

 

[Cain Spencer]

Yes. In 4 days I will celebrate 3 years without a single drink. Prior to that, I was a severe alcoholic for at least 6 years and an alcoholic on-my-way-to-severe for a while before that.

How do you stop drinking? It's harder than you thought back when you started this drinking process, isn't it!

Part of the answer is included in the title of your thread: how do you stop "relying on alcohol."

And that is a big part of it, at least for me it was. Learning to rely on Christ instead of alcohol, for life's situations.

That's a start.

Just to let me (or us here) get to know you and your situation, I have a couple of questions if you don't mind:

1. Have you admitted to yourself and to God that you are powerless over alcohol and alcoholism, or do you still believe you can control it?

Yes, completely. I can't control it.

2. What methods have you tried and failed?

Methods? I just can't seem to go a day without it on my head.

3. Do you know Christ as Savior, or are you still on the way?

Blessings,
H.

He is my Lord, believe me there are no issues in that realm!

 

[Broken Hearted]

Lots of coffee. For me I love coffee so when ever i want to drink alcohol i would just go get coffee its tough at first but with alot of prayer and things you can do it. Just find something else you enjoy drinking and stock up on it and drink it instead. Im not going to guaranteed it will work but it might becuse the meetings and things fo me well they made me worse.

 

[Hupomone10]

Yes, completely. I can't control it.

Methods? I just can't seem to go a day without it on my head.



He is my Lord, believe me there are no issues in that realm!

Very good.

My advice and the things that worked for me would be useless unless you have embraced Christ as Savior.

One suggestion I would like to make immediately: I have a passage of scripture to share that would be good if applied properly. I have read this passage every day, along with the little icon picture, and I am coming up on 3 years. That's not all I've done, but God's Word makes a difference. Let's put God's Word into action. You may copy this, place the image in the middle, and read it at least 3 times a day for at least a week; then every day until this passes. It's not a cure, it's just putting God's Word into our head with a proper image of who the thief really is.

Proverbs 23
Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has strife? Who has complaints? Who has needless bruises? Who has bloodshot eyes? Those who linger over wine, who go to sample bowls of mixed wine. Do not gaze at wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup, when it goes down smoothly! (desire it not; don’t daydream or follow the fantasy; don’t play the movie) In the end it bites like a serpent and poisons like a viper. Your eyes will see strange sights and your mind imagine confusing (perverse) things. You will be like one sleeping on the high seas, lying on top of the rigging. "They hit me," you will say, "but I'm not hurt! They beat me, but I don't feel it! When will I wake up so I can find another drink?" Insanity!

(image here)
​

John 10:10
10 "The thief comes only to steal, and kill, and destroy; I came that they might have life, and might have it abundantly.

"Alcohol is not a friend;
it is a thief;
here only to steal, kill, and destroy."
​

 

[hotsauce5000]

i said this at an aa meeting and was later congradulated on it and another time quoted on it...........

i was asked if it was hard to give up beer by friends.
my answer was..." thats an easy and hard answer, the easy part is just dont pour alcohol in your mouth, the hard part is dont pour alcohol in your mouth."

so you see its very easy for it to be hard to do.

i know what you mean about getting it out of your head, especially if it has been a large part of your life.
a couple of things that helped me (besides the court order)
1. remembering all the hanovers
2 remembering all the times i didnt remember what i had doen or where i had been.
3. remembering the smell of jail
4 remembering waking up in jail.
5 remembering all the times i had to call my parenst and ask their help to get me out of jail.
5 remembering all the pain i brought to my family.

these days when i think about wanting to escape reality by getting a buzz, i can simply remember those things without having to experience them again.

i hope this helps with what you are looking for.


hotsauce

 

[Cain Spencer]

Just 1 minite.

 

[madison1101]

I empathize with your dilemma. I had over 6 years of sobriety, and over 17 years in AA when I relapsed three years ago. It took me going inpatient to a rehab for treatment, after two years of outpatient treatment and continued drinking.

My suggestion would be to go to a rehab facility and see if you need professional help, especially detoxing. It is dangerous to detox from alcohol without medical help, because of the possibility of seizures and death. Don't try to quit alone.

After you have been evaluated, do what they suggest, whether it is inpatient or outpatient rehab, and then go to AA meetings and get a sponsor and work the steps of the program.

 

[Dusk777]

I'd say it has to do with self-perserverance and trusting in Jesus to guide you. My mother has just recently stopped drinking like times before but, she is finding her way to God now so things will be different. At least I believe so.

 

[madison1101]

I'd say it has to do with self-perserverance and trusting in Jesus to guide you. My mother has just recently stopped drinking like times before but, she is finding her way to God now so things will be different. At least I believe so.

Dusk: What is your experience with alcoholism treatment and recovery? A person can die if they do not get medical assistance in the beginning. This is fact. Also, many alcoholics have co-occurring mental illnesses, which must be evaluated and diagnosed, and they need medications or they will drink again.,

Are you trained in the mental health profession?

 

[madison1101]

i said this at an aa meeting and was later congradulated on it and another time quoted on it...........

i was asked if it was hard to give up beer by friends.
my answer was..." thats an easy and hard answer, the easy part is just dont pour alcohol in your mouth, the hard part is dont pour alcohol in your mouth."

so you see its very easy for it to be hard to do.

i know what you mean about getting it out of your head, especially if it has been a large part of your life.
a couple of things that helped me (besides the court order)
1. remembering all the hanovers
2 remembering all the times i didnt remember what i had doen or where i had been.
3. remembering the smell of jail
4 remembering waking up in jail.
5 remembering all the times i had to call my parenst and ask their help to get me out of jail.
5 remembering all the pain i brought to my family.

these days when i think about wanting to escape reality by getting a buzz, i can simply remember those things without having to experience them again.

i hope this helps with what you are looking for.


hotsauce

Good Job, Hotsauce. You are really doing a good job of working your recovery program. Have you completed working the Steps yet? I am on Step Five.

Trish

 

[Dusk777]

I hope I didn't offend in any way. I was sharing my exprience. Of course I believe she will need to go through the processes of recovering like anyone else. God will be her strength in the struggle. And no, I am not a professional. I have not the aptitude for it. Why do you ask?

 

[madison1101]

I hope I didn't offend in any way. I was sharing my exprience. Of course I believe she will need to go through the processes of recovering like anyone else. God will be her strength in the struggle. And no, I am not a professional. I have not the aptitude for it. Why do you ask?

I ask because many well meaning Christians who do not have experience with alcoholism recovery, or professional training, have told me, and others that they can recovery just with Jesus. I tried NOT going to AA, and NOT going to treatment programs, and could not stay sober. I love the Lord, but I need the support of the people in AA, and the discipline of the 12 Steps to help me stay sober, in addition to my love of Jesus. Jesus is definitely my strength and my Higher Power, but I am also a chemical addict to alcohol, and I am also dually diagnosed with mental illnesses, which make recovery more challenging.

I did not mean to seem put off. I just hope you will encourage your mother in her recovery, as it is not easy to say the least. If she goes to AA, she will get great support and encouragement...if you need social support to help cope with your mother's alcoholism, then you might want to check out Al-Anon.

Trish

 

[Your Friend Adam]

I have suggestion for you:

Go to 90 meetings in 90 days and on the days you go to meetings don't drink.

During this 90 period find someone of the same sex (male/male; female/female) to be your sponsor and start doing what they suggest.

Just remember, that if you don't drink you have a chance.

Very important, your chances for sobriety are directly proportional to your own desire to stop, and inversely proportional to your desire to stop for someone else.

Godspeed!

 

[Cain Spencer]

It doesn't seem hopeful, I've moved on to other drinks, mostly liqiur.

 

[madison1101]

It doesn't seem hopeful, I've moved on to other drinks, mostly liqiur.

have you tried AA? If you have not been to AA, you are not hopeless.

 

[Hupomone10]

I think it's a good suggestion to go to AA. But also, unless you develop a recovery Plan involving God's truths that you re-affirm every day, there is little chance of recovery. God works by renewing of the mind.

Your mind is full of alcoholic thinking. You have to counter that with right thinking. This comes about by review of these truths every day. One of the reasons AA meetings work is because they go over some of the key truths countering alcoholism when they read the beginning readings from the Big Book every meeting.

Your thought processes right now are wrong. You got here over time, by programming your brain with the fact that alcohol will provide relief to any of life's situations. Your subconscious remembers that, because its only goal is to make you feel better, find some fulfillment the same way you did it in the past. It remembers. The conscious mind cannot compete, not initially. Telling yourself once that you're powerless over alcohol and God will help you is not enough.

God's truth dealing with alcohol, continuously applied, will renew the mind and change those old thought patterns into new ones. Only that way will you find recovery. It's the same way everyone has found recovery. It happens slowly over time, continually and continuously applying God's truth to counter the lies the alcoholic believes, the old "stinkin thinkin".

Like a fellow AA friend once told me: "meetings are good, but they are only half the plan. After you leave the meeting, it's just you and God."

Develop a personal walk with Him. God will add to your plan as time goes on.

-- continued --

 

[Hupomone10]

I wrote to you previously back at the beginning of this thread. I'm wondering if you've taken the advice and gone to meetings, and wondering if you copied that scripture and affirmation I included in that post, along with the picture.

If you do nothing, it's for sure that nothing will happen. Your brain already knows what it needs to find physical temporary relief, and it will drive you to it.

Here's the previous post, which I've found very effective, and even though I have 3 yrs sobriety, I still read it every day. Maybe it's because I read it every day that I have 3 yrs. Who knows?

God's Word makes a difference. Let's put God's Word into action. You may copy this, place the image in the middle, and read it at least 3 times a day for at least a week; then every day until this passes. It's not a cure, it's just putting God's Word into our head with a proper image of who the thief really is.

Proverbs 23
Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has strife? Who has complaints? Who has needless bruises? Who has bloodshot eyes? Those who linger over wine, who go to sample bowls of mixed wine. Do not gaze at wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup, when it goes down smoothly! (desire it not; don’t daydream or follow the fantasy; don’t play the movie) In the end it bites like a serpent and poisons like a viper. Your eyes will see strange sights and your mind imagine confusing (perverse) things. You will be like one sleeping on the high seas, lying on top of the rigging. "They hit me," you will say, "but I'm not hurt! They beat me, but I don't feel it! When will I wake up so I can find another drink?" Insanity!

(image here)
​

John 10:10
"The thief comes only to steal, and kill, and destroy; I came that they might have life, and might have it abundantly."

"Alcohol is not a friend;
it is a thief;
here only to steal, kill, and destroy."

Apparently I can no longer attach images. I try to and it does nothing. The image to copy and paste is on post #5. Copy the above onto a word document, right click on the image at post #5 and paste into the doc.

Read it every day, initially several times, for three months. You may be surprised at what God's Word will do.

And find a meeting.

Remember, if you do nothing, don't be surprised if nothing happens.

Blessings,
H.

 

[Cain Spencer]

Of course I haven't been to AA and no I haven't exactly tried to help myself. That is the point.

 

[madison1101]

Of course I haven't been to AA and no I haven't exactly tried to help myself. That is the point.

Then why do you post about wanting to get help, if you won't go and get the help? Why did you ask your original question? I could not stop without going to rehab and AA. Most alcoholics I know are incapable of stopping without the help of AA and the 12 steps.

I was incapable of helping myself, so I needed outside help. Rehab, in and outpatient, as well as regular attendance at AA meetings and working the 12 steps.

Do you want to stop drinking, or are you enjoying the throes of alcoholism and the hangovers and the guilt, shame and remorse that go with it? The choice is yours. AA offers a solution. www.aa.org