Over the past year or so I've found myself having at least one drink a day. I enjoyed having a glass of wine or a beer with dinner or later on in the evening. Well, slowly, the number of drinks have increased and I can't seem to stop. I have one drink, and it feels so good to have that warm feeling that I find myself reaching for another... and another. I don't usually get super drunk, but I like to have that buzzed feeling.

I'm afraid now, though, because I've tried to cut down. If there's any alcohol in the house (there almost always is), I will drink it even though I promise myself to take a break. Then I will promise myself just to have one drink, only to have more. I've taken the 'do you think you're an alcoholic' tests on the internet and failed. I'm afraid of what this could be doing to my body. I'm afraid of it getting worse. I just want some tips or ideas on how to stop or control my drinking.

Take control of your life and join Alcoholics Anonymous. You are jeopardizing your health. You could be destroying your liver and you only have one of them, you could have heart disease, diabetes and if you smoke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (known quite commonly these days as COPD). It will get worse, no doubt about it, but why tell us, tell someone you love who needs you around for the next few years. Do you have children? Okay, tell one of them.

YOU can't CONTROL, YOU CAN ONLY STOP AND NEVER HAVE ANOTHER DRINK AS LONG AS YOU LIVE.

Thanks for your reply. I don't smoke, am 39 years old, and in good physical condition. Is there any way of helping myself without going to AA? I know that may seem dumb to you but I'm a private person and I guess I'm too embarrassed to go to an AA meeting. My kids are young... too young to help me. I think my husband is in denial because I've spoken to him before about my fears of drinking too much alcohol and he continues to bring it home. He seems to be able to control how much he drinks and I guess he doesn't want to stop drinking all together because of my 'problem'.

One of you has to take the initiative. I have lived with this problem and I know it has to be conquered. NO LIQUOR IN THE HOUSE ABSOLUTELY.

Make a call to your local chapter, or not so local chapter; it is as it says, anonymous and you will meet people in varying degrees of your problem and hear how they are dealing with it with the help of experts. Please try for your family's sake.

First it is a matter of really wanting to. First get all of it out of the house. PERIOD, get rid of it. Next if you can't stop on your own, got o AAA, go to professional counseling anything you can do.

I'm on a different page...
You've done the more difficult part: You've acknowledged to yourself your concerned, and perhaps as equally important, you've "confessed' to us.
From here, it's as up to YOU as anything. Joining a group will help... if you go. Kind of like joining a gym and not going.
I do wish your husband was more understanding. I didn't realize my problem until I saw how my wife, and my life, was being affected by it.

That being said, you will be confronted with this kind of temptation your entire life. It's up to you to determine how strong you and your will are, as opposed to how strong YOU feel the bottle pulls.
We are all capable of tremendous things. You are of free will, or you wouldn't have written the words you've put here. Like I said, you've seen the difference.
Now, become the strength that is within you. I'll be here.

Thank you all so much for your input - it really means a lot to me. I know that I keep trying to deny that I have a problem with alcohol, but it's getter hard to ignore. I've heard a lot of the 'rock bottom' stories and I don't want to go down that road before I clean up my act.

I'm going to have another talk with my husband and I will personally remove all the alcohol from the house myself. I hope that will be enough to keep me away from drinking. If that fails, I'll take your advice and go to AA and see what they have to offer.

It's sort of funny... I had a boyfriend in my early 20's that was an alcoholic and I totally didn't 'get' it - how could someone want to drink so much? Booze just made me sleepy at that point in my life and so I didn't understand how a person could become addicted to it. My Dad is an alcoholic and some call it a disease... maybe it is, I don't know. Thanks again.

I did it. I spoke to my husband this morning and told him that I'm getting rid of all the booze in the house. He looked at me sort of funny and asked what for? What for? Yesterday I started the day with 2 beer. Then ended the night with the 1/2 bottle of wine and another beer. Talk about head in the sand!

So officially, it's Day 1. Wish me luck. I can do this.

Hello G:

Yes you can. The cool thing about AA, is that you have a sponsor who you can call when you're feeling like one sip wouldn't hurt. The anonymous thing works too. If you can do it by yourself, then go for it. But, there's help available if you can't. You don't need to be soooo strong.

excon

G -- I married into a family of alcoholics (they hid it well unfortunately... ), so you have my best wishes and prayers for success as you head toward sobriety. I strongly encourage you to go to AA and stick with them. You will make many friends and have a strong support system. Let us here be on your team too.

My hat's off to you for admitting to yourself that you have a problem and taking concrete steps to deal with it. But like excon says, you don't have to do it without help. Actually, getting help is the fun part of it, so don't deny yourself that.

... Day 2...

I thought about it a lot, but I got through day 1 with no drink...

I'm trying to drink lots of water and had a couple cups of decaf herbal tea. I don't know too much about body cleanses but I may look into that. I don't want to go crazy with too much stuff right now - but if anyone has suggestions, I'd certainly be open. I won't be quitting my morning coffee just yet!

What are the physical symptoms of quitting drinking? I haven't experienced anything so far except I'm feeling figity and restless. Maybe I'm more pyschologically addicted than physically addicted?

I'm not going to take your coffee! :eek:

Lotsa fluids. Depending on how your level of "intake" was before you may or may not have significant symptoms. Hopefully.. Restless and fidgity is not uncommon.

Consider involving yourself in a new hobby or crafts. Take in a movie or museum... anywhere that doesn't have drinking as an immediate option.

.

cheers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yeah, cheers buddy.

Anyhow... Day 3. I had a great workout this morning. I was feeling really strong. We're having company for dinner tonight and my husband said, "I AM going to bring beer home tonight". Huh? I told him if he wanted beer he could go OUT and drink it but DO NOT bring it into our house! To be fair, I guess I haven't told him outright that I'm an (??) alcoholic (??) because I don't want to label myself as such. I just told him that it's obvious that I can't control myself and will drink (all of) it if it's in the house so I need his support in this. He agreed to this, so I'm lucky to have some support. But then he said, "Not even any wine with dinner?" I said OK. Why should everyone else suffer because of me? I understand his standpoint... I'd hate to have to give up having an occaisional beer if my partner had a problem... but if he had a problem it wouldn't be that much to give up. So, I don't plan on having any wine... this is real life :(

I said it before and I'll say it again, you're going to have to face temptation neaerly every day. Maintain your resolve. You're doing fine!

Hypnosis is very powerful. There are cd's by Wendi Friesen to stop alcoholism on her site:

Hypnosis and Hypnotherapy

I am a hypnotist myself and greatly aware of its power. A great hypnotist is a dream ally.

And here is the specific link to the cd's:

Quit Drinking with Hypnosis, Alcohol Freedom!!!

I don't know if they have an online AA, but you could try to find one. I quit drinking on my own, so I know it can be done. I hit rock bottom in a soppy, drunken state, just before passing out, and knowing how I'd feel the next day. I cried out for help. If there is a God, and you are there, help me, I don't want to do this any more. I admitted that I was helpless to beer, it controlled my life, and I wanted my life back.
Stick with it, one day at a time, just get through the day, hour, or minute. Sidetrack yourself with cleaning, cooking or something you love to do. The minute will pass, so will the hour and the day. The days will get better, then weeks, then months before you know it you will think about drinking less and less.
My one regret is that I wish I'd done it sooner, before my children grew up. I look back now and can't remember some of my son's childhood.

Here:

aaonline.net--Realtime Open AA Meetings on the Internet

Here it is day 7 and I'm feeling pretty good. Last night my husband and I went to a party where EVERYONE was drinking. I went and bought some non-alcoholic cider that looks like real cider so no-one hassled me about not drinking. It really was OK - but just OK. Some of the people were talking about their drink of choice... wine, beer, whatever. I just couldn't help thinking that it's such a drag that I can't have an occaissional glass of wine or beer. I can appreciate a fine wine with dinner or a cold beer on a hot day... why do I have to ruin that for myself?

Thanks, Captain, for the link to the online AA site. I did 'attend' two meetings, but they were painful. The 'speakers' were very slow typers and you just sit there listening to what seem like very rough people (I don't mean to generalize... but that's how they seemed to me) talking about their pathetic lives and how much they've lost because they drink too much. One person made everyone sit there for at least 20 minutes patiently reading her complaints and grievances towards her family (blah blah blah) and then promptly logged off when she was done - it made me so mad that everyone let this person monopolize all that time and then he/she couldn't be bothered to extend the same courtesy towards others. Well, perhaps I can use these people's life stories as an example and not go through those same experiences... but it's really hard to relate to people like that. And honestly, I don't even want to.

So I'm wondering now if I couldn't just take the month of September 'off' from drinking and re-evaluate and set some concrete boundaries for myself. I'm not having a real difficult time not drinking. I still think it would be nice in the evening to have a glass of wine or a beer, but since it's not here and I've resolved not to drink, I'm OK. Do you think all this talk is just my way of justify drinking again? Am I fooling myself? Can't I just try to set my boundaries and stick with them?