[jh7777]

I am an alchoholc, I have been drinking around 12 beers a day for about 4 years some nights more and I want to quit but I don't know how and really don't want to go through a treatment program. Is there anything a medical doctor can do to help me stop this habit if I have the drive to do so. I had a panic attack today because I tried to just stop. My blood pressure was 178 over 98 and my resting heart rate was 121. I am scared and wanting to know if anyone has any advice on how to get this under control. I felt like I was having a heart attack or something so I went to walgreens and got the results listed above. I really want to stop this. I am functional I make a good amount of money and work two jobs. Just looking for a little help to find out if there is some where to help other than treatment. Thank you all for your answers. Please understand I am turning to non judemental people and experts because my family would just judge and I don't believe that is what I need right now.

[Luck0rN0t]

Seriously. If you have the desire to stop drinking, and it sounds like you do - give A.A. a try, or two or three... I know it can be daunting the first time you set foot in the door, even embarrassing, but the beauty of A.A. is that everyone in those rooms has been where you are at. Most people do not walk through the doors of their first AA meeting even wanting to stop, so you are one step ahead of the game. There is hope! Lord knows that people have tried to stop - limit how much they drink, only drink on weekends, switch from hard alcohol to beer, drink only natural wine, take a trip, don't take a trip, move locations, exercise more, make promises to themselves and/or others to not drink. It drives you crazy. You are smart, well educated, have a good job... and yet while you seem to have control over every other aspect of your life, alcohol has this power over you that you cannot control. It is a crazy phenomenon that some of us have and is really an allergy... a disease, not just a habit.

You make the decision when you wake up in the morning that you are NOT going to drink today... yet, on the way home, you find yourself, for some reason... any reason... or no reason at all... stopping by the store and picking up that 12 or 18 pack. You wake up the next morning with regret and disappointment, wondering how it could have happened... again?

A.A. is not a cult or some crazy religious group. It is a huge family that struggles with alcohol addiction and you will probably be surprised and even amazed at how many other struggle/have struggled/are still struggling with the same demons and fighting the same fight, in their own way. It is not just a matter of willpower, it is not something that doctors can cure, alone or even with drugs... the addiction goes far deeper. We alcoholics have much in common, just different faces with many, many of the same stories. The gift of A.A. is free and the best thing you can do for another alcoholic is reach out... we want to give back what has been given to us so freely - freedom from the obsession to drink. It is not easy, but it is simple.

If you have the desire to stop... make a call to your local inter group office (24 hours a day) or find an open A.A. meeting in your area and just give it a try. Sometimes, that phone call is the first step... talk to someone... someone who understands and has been where you are and can share with you what they were like, what happened and what they are like now. Someone to listen and someone who does understand and WILL NOT JUDGE you. Period. We members of A.A. are all alcoholic. And the only 'requirement' for membership is the desire to stop drinking.

You are on the right track and sound open to suggestions... don't stop now, just one more step...

I am an alcoholic and what I said above is not me talking about you... it is me talking about me and every other alcoholic I have ever listened to or met... and I'm only 8 months sober... NEVER could I imagine going 24 hours without a drink and feel anywhere "normal". The only way I felt normal was after a few drinks... and the more drinks, the more normal I felt. One was too much, but one more was never enough for me. If any of what I have said sounds even remotely familiar, it is because I am a recovering alcoholic and I go to meetings and I listen to other people's stories... and they are all the same but different, if that makes any sense.

Good luck to you... please, you have already made the first step in reaching out and asking... take than next step and make a call or find a meeting in your area. If you wish to PM me, I would be more than happy to help point you in the right direction or just listen... It really is a life or death decision. If you can't imagine life without drinking and you can't imagine life continuing to drink... take just one more step. Alcohol is cunning, baffling, powerful and patient, but there is hope and there is help. At the very least, please give it a try... you already know what the alternative is... and it will always be there, waiting patiently

[smoothy]

Why the adversion to a treatment program? That's exactly what you need and for good reason... its not something some people can just stop cold turkey.

Treatment offers that help.

You aren't going to continue to get away with it forever... its going to catch up to you eventually... consider this very real story... guy I used to work with... very nice and smart guy was a heavy drinker in his younger years... was dry for the last 20 years of his life... had to have a very common and relatively minor surgery at 60. Well complications to due liver damage from the years of drinking... adversely affected his recovery and 6 months after the surgery when he can in trying to be allowed to come back to work... he looked like someone that walked out of a concentration camp... he wasn't allowed and 4 months later he died. Another guy I knew from work died at 40 from drinking......nope..no accident....no complications...he simply died watching tv with a drink in his hand....at home, result of too much alcohol for too many years.

THe effects of the alcoholism don't stop , and they don't always correct themselves... but seeking treatment will keep them from getting worse and at least give you a fighting chance of seeing old age.

I suggest sucking up whatever adversion you have to the treatment option... and get it. You will stand a far better chance of recovery than you will doing it any other way. Places like AA also give you a support group that helps you with a program proven to work, and a sponsor you can call before you do something dumb and fall off the wagon. Going it alone doesn't give you that option. And as many options as you can get to help you stay dry are exactly what you need. A recognised course of treatment offers all of that and more. A half baked go it alone route doesn't.


DO you have family, grandchildren, nieces and nephews? Would you like to be there for them when you are a ripe old age? Maybe that offers more incentive than doing it just for yourself for some people.

No harm or stigma to getting help from a treatment program...they already know what works and what doesn't long term. Take advantage of what they have learned to help you reach your goal.

[AntC]

I agree with both answers. I found from personal experience that I could not do it without 90 days of inpatient treatment. Many people I know have gotten sober from just going to AA, but I think they are the exceptions. AA has been critical to my staying sober, but AA could not "get" me sober. There is much more to this disease than just " a drinking problem". Treatment helped me change the way that I "think" about life. AA helps me to keep my mind "right". I hope you are able to get sober whichever way you chose.

[jh7777]

To all of you and your advice, thank you for giving me some information to think about I have taken your info and am going to start a treatment program to begin with. To answer your question Smoothy why I was so adverse to it was because I didn't want my family to judge me but it had to be done, I believe those who have an issue with it will get over it and should see the positive that I am trying and want to stop what I have been doing that I shouldn't be. I will also be attending AA meetings once out of the 6 month treatment program, I have already started on my own by reducing what I drink by one every other night, as they told me not to stop abruptly, I also went to a medical doctor and was put on High blood Pressure meadicine which I hope to not need once I am off the Booz for awhile. I really REALLY appreciate everyone's input that they gave me here. I had no where to turn to not be judged or ask a friend who would be bias and say no your OK and that's what would have happened. I do have family that counts on me so I do want to be around to provide for them for a long time and even though I say that I guess I would also like to say I am doing this because I want to not because someone is making me and as Ive been told having the want to stop for good is the first step in the right direction as well as knowing and admitting I have a problem. Again thank you all for your answers and thank god for people like you that are here to guide the lost. THANK YOU!!