# My alcoholism is over!!



## The Green Shield (Feb 6, 2017)

I'm pleased to report that the days of drinking too much are officially over. I tested what would happen if I went one night with no liquor and the results?


I'm starting to notice a distinct improvement in my health (mental and physical) since I stopped drinking. Anxiety level is lowered to near non-existence and I have more energy. 



The craving is still there, but I will treat it with coke, sprite and tonic water.


Huzzah for me!!


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## Ultraroel (Feb 6, 2017)

Whoiooooo!!

I'm still off and on with my smoking! But this is inspirational!
Good luck and all the best !


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## Phil Istine (Feb 6, 2017)

Well done on your abstinence.
I don't want to spoil the party but if it is alcoholism, it's never over.
To say it's over would mean that it's safe to drink.

It isn't.

(wet blanket alert)

ETA:  Just noticed the humour.  Reading comprehension failed me first time around   It's been a hard day.


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## The Green Shield (Feb 6, 2017)

Ultraroel said:


> Whoiooooo!!
> 
> I'm still off and on with my smoking! But this is inspirational!
> Good luck and all the best !


Thanks, happy to be an inspiration. 



Phil Istine said:


> Well done on your abstinence.
> I don't want to spoil the party but if it is alcoholism, it's never over.
> To say it's over would mean that it's safe to drink.
> 
> ...


True, the craving will be there, but I think I'll treat it _just_ like I treat anxiety: It's there, I know it's there, but it's not the boss of me. It can just sit in the caboose and scream all it wants and I don't have to listen to it.


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## Ariel (Feb 6, 2017)

Good on you, Greenie.


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## Aquarius (Feb 6, 2017)

Well done and congratulations!


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## msjhord (Feb 6, 2017)

Congratulations, TGS!  This is fantastic news.  You will continue to note improvements in your health on all fronts.  Some subtle, some dramatic.  

Not that it compares it all, but I gave up soft drinks in April of 2015.  It was MY addiction.  And the more caffeinated, the better.  But, I turned 40 this past year and, with that approaching, I kept thinking that I needed to do SOMETHING to improve my health.  I'd gotten up to 210 lbs.  Now I am at 170, give or take one.  I feel better, I'm not in as much constant pain, win-win.

Keep up the great work!!


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## escorial (Feb 6, 2017)

long may it continue....


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## The Green Shield (Feb 6, 2017)

Thanks everyone. =) In truth, it's the evenings I'm dreading as those were my usual 'drinking times' when I would let myself drink anywhere up to two to three beers every day. Of course, it was at home but still...


But I'm going to take it one day at a time, indeed one hour at a time and just treat the cravings like my anxiety. I know it's there, but I don't have to listen to it. It's not the boss of me. I am the boss of it.


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## aj47 (Feb 6, 2017)

I can't speak from this specific experience, but I've had other choose-not experiences.  

You can try to plan for it and be proactive.  Have something in mind so that you aren't having to tell yourself *no* but are telling yourself *yes* to something else. Something you do want.


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## The Green Shield (Feb 6, 2017)

AstroAnnie, know what the problem is? All the other stuff I enjoy doing (gaming, reading, writing, surfing the internet, etc.) I did with beer.  This puts me in a strange predicament in which I must now re-learn how to do all of that without the beer being involved. It's possible, but damn it feels very strange.


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## SilverMoon (Feb 6, 2017)

Congrats to you - the boss of you! I'd been addicted to cigarettes for years and well know the anxiety of giving up my "false friend". What finally helped was changing my self-speak:

Rather than saying "I must QUIT smoking" [-X, I began saying "I will be smoke FREE":angel:. Replacing thoughts of deprivation with those of liberation helped tremendously. We should never underestimate the power of what we tell ourselves. The re-learning won't' be all that overwhelming. One little step....

_Think I'm addicted to smilies tonight...LOL 
_


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## Bard_Daniel (Feb 7, 2017)

Great stuff! : D


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## The Green Shield (Feb 7, 2017)

SilverMoon said:


> Congrats to you - the boss of you! I'd been addicted to cigarettes for years and well know the anxiety of giving up my "false friend". What finally helped was changing my self-speak:
> 
> Rather than saying "I must QUIT smoking" [-X, I began saying "I will be smoke FREE":angel:. Replacing thoughts of deprivation with those of liberation helped tremendously. We should never underestimate the power of what we tell ourselves. The re-learning won't' be all that overwhelming. One little step....
> 
> ...



That's an interesting point. Instead of using 'negative language', I can use 'positive language'. Since I respond well to positive reinforcements, saying things like, "I'll be beer-free tonight, so...tea and writing/gaming/surfing the internet/reading time!!"


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## SilverMoon (Feb 7, 2017)

> Originally Posted by *Green Shield*
> 
> That's an interesting point. Instead of using 'negative language', I can use 'positive language'. Since I respond well to positive reinforcements, saying things like, "I'll be beer-free tonight, so...tea and writing/gaming/surfing the internet/reading time!!"



 So glad this is helpful. 

I don't know if you're familiar with John Cheever. I read his daughter's auto-biography about growing up with her famous alcoholic father. I will never forget what he passed onto her. 

_"It's not so much the drinking that's great. It's hiding the bottles".
_
 The "dance" of addiction. Many don't know just how complicated addictions can be. More applause your way and enjoy many beer-free nights!


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## The Green Shield (Feb 8, 2017)

Shit y'all, the craving is hitting me hard. Coping tips?! D: I'll drink tonic water when I get home, that was my idea.


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## Firemajic (Feb 8, 2017)

The Green Shield said:


> Shit y'all, the craving is hitting me hard. Coping tips?! D: I'll drink tonic water when I get home, that was my idea.




Everyone's challenge is different, my cheating hours are the evening hours also... so when I feel like I cant hang on, I call a friend to come spend the night, or I go to their place... That works for me... Hang in there, and tomorrow when you get up and look at yourself in the mirror... you wont have any regrets... *hugs*... sending good vibes your way...


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## SilverMoon (Feb 14, 2017)

> Originally Posted by *The Green Shield*
> 
> Shit y'all, the craving is hitting me hard. Coping tips?! D: I'll drink tonic water when I get home, that was my idea.



Went through several "tip articles" and finally found something on the more refreshing side. Hope this helps. :joyous:
https://www.promises.com/articles/addiction-recovery/7-tips-staying-positive-in-recovery/


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## sas (Feb 14, 2017)

Although, by most standards, I don't drink excessively, by medical standards I should not have been having that 2nd glass of wine each night. Quite by accident I discovered how to stop. Poolside I was given a glass of what I knew to be pretty good wine, but did not enjoy drinking it, at all. It was in a short, regular plastic glass. It was the glass itself that I liked the most. I know that sounds crazy. Now you'd think I would have thrown out my wine glasses. Are you nuts? Nope, I kept the glasses, but my second pour is warm temperature cranberry juice. I keep small bottles, so there's no need to refrigerate. Or, when I'm really nuts, I pour half wine (only the cheap stuff do I ruin) and half juice. 

Hope you find a trick that works for you, my friend. sas
.


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## H.Brown (Feb 14, 2017)

Congratulations on saying goodbye to the drink. I have recently quit smoking myself and at first I found it to be so hard and kept falling back into smoking when I was stressed or when I smelt someone else smoking. However now after almost a year of perseverance I have not smoked a cigarette in months and yesterday while on the bus I encountered that horrible smoker smell when a women sat in front of me, can now say Ifeel much better for giving them up after smoking for the last nineteen years.

So my words of advice woild be if you do fall off the wagon, get back on it and try again as one day the fight does get easier. Take care of yourself.


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## Bard_Daniel (Feb 14, 2017)

Hope you're still at the battle, GS!

I quit smoking myself and it was a damn hard thing to do. Now, the smell disgusts me. For a while though, the cravings were kicking me in the pants. I kept "quitting" so many times until it finally stuck.

Hope your battle is easier! Hang in there!


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## Theglasshouse (Feb 15, 2017)

It's a tough situation that I can only tell about my experience with my doctor (who is an addiction specialist and who is a psychiatrist)and tell you about it. I don't know if you find this experience I had useful. But he has treated people addicted to the drugs he prescribes (the drugs he prescribes me can be addictive and serves more than one purpose and to treat depression. In my case I have an exacerbated condition that merited me being prescribed it, which is working on making me feel not depressed and I am not addicted: it treats more than 3 conditions along with my main diagnosis, I am hoping you find one to help combat any sort of craving alcohol which is causing you problems). Also, patients who use illegal drugs he treats. I imagine alcohol is in that group despite it being legal. He said to me one day, days ago, such illegal drugs affect the brain with molecules that stay lodged in the brain, which means. It probably means you need a prescribed drug that treats all of your symptoms with side effects and that is not harmful (whatever the case because side effects can be harmful but hopefully provides that solution, temporary or permanent or for a long while as needed until it is addressed). I don't know what to name your symptom as other than me saying it is a chemical addiction your brain that is craving the chemicals from alcohol withdrawal from other than anxiety, because of what I said. I don't want to label you and make you feel misunderstood. You have shown remarkable progress and attitude, and I'm thinking this isn't a counseling thing but a chemical thing that is causing this craving in your body. Besides the fact that depression is a symptom for people with a diagnosis given already that you may have. You are doing the right things. But remember you will need to treat it carefully because overcoming such things can be solved by treated it socially or what the doctor says, or what helps you (the medicines can only do so much, remember that is why we need therapy). But I have no experience in that alcohol is something I am not treated for, I wish you good progress and that you overcome this. Maybe there is more than one kind of specialist for this kind of problem you are having. Make sure you consider your options. Because this could probably be one of the best investments that will make a difference in your life.


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## walker (Feb 16, 2017)

Join a group.

Google my signature. Best.


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## BobtailCon (Feb 16, 2017)

The Green Shield said:


> The craving is still there, but I will treat it with coke, sprite and tonic water.



Congratulations, now you've just gotta kick the coke!

...

See what I did there?


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