Any Cold turkey stories ??

[keg]

I want to stop this vicious cycle I am in!! I ahve tried to stop (well, really to moderate) but let's face it, that is just one more excuse/rationalization. I start out saying Just 2 glasses a night---maybe that works once or twice but then it is the inevitable slide back into a bottle (or more) a day.

I want to know how many of you quit cold turkey--I mean without trying to moderate at all and without meds or even the supplements (other than maybe the ALL ONE or daily vitamins).

Tell me your story, how you did it, what was your mindset? How did you get the will power? How did you change that habit? Who did you tell you were doing it, if anyone and what did you say to them?

I need to hear your stories b/c this is what I WANT to do and I guess I need some assurance that it can be done. :thanks:

[rubywillow]

Any Cold turkey stories ??

I've PM'd you some info, Keg. Stay around here, OK?

[Rusty-576]

Any Cold turkey stories ??

Quitting cold turkey can be done....I did it.....I drank daily for many years and one day with the help of the great support here (in chat) I quit. I came back for many days weeks and months to get help and support. Now I am back to play it forword because there is no way I want to try even a sip of alcohol, it is not worth the effort to see if I can control it....being AF is so much better than I would have thought!!!

[UrbanFool]

Any Cold turkey stories ??

I did it, although two weeks in I started taking Baclofen as a "just in case" measure.

Although I told my husband (and I think the chat room here --greeneyes was there) that that was my last bottle of vodka, I'd said it enough times (to my husband anyway) that he didn't even remotely believe me. I just got completely sick of the whole thing.

I got a couple cases of bottled water and flat refuse to drink. I refuse to forget the vicious 3-day hangovers and I refuse to forget the stupidity.

[keg]

Any Cold turkey stories ??

Well, there are so many other people who have done it and I just wonder why the hell it has been so hard for me??!! Makes me so mad that I haven't kept the committment of not drinking I keep telling myself. I KNOW now that I cannot moderate--DOES NOT work for me. I have to go cold turkey, and I am scared: not of withdrawal or being ragged on but that I will FAIL. It has become such a habit for me and we all know how hard habits are to break! I bought some Sparkling Grape Juice this a.m. and I am going to drink that out of my wine glass all night tonight and see if that helps...b/c the thought of not having a glass in my hand is maddening!!! Thank you for your support. I guess I will have to just get addicted to my PC and this forum !!!!!! :-):thanks:

[startingover]

Any Cold turkey stories ??

Keg, there are worse things to be addicted to than this forum
Try anything and everything to beat this thing, something will click.
For me it was this forum, taking supplements lglut and kudzu and white knuckling to start with. Now I no longer want to drink, it doesnt consume all my waking hours.
Hang in there, you can do this :l

[dancelot]

Any Cold turkey stories ??

Hi, keg -

First off, my mindset was I FINALLY admitted I was as an alcoholic. I mean REALLY admitted it. Not like I hadn't known, my dad was one, I know a few others, and deep down I knew it from day one.

For the first time, when I took all those online tests (are you a problem drinker, etc.), I believed the results (it suggested I get to my doctor immediately or get in rehab).

I found MWO. The idea of moderating was here, which of course every alcoholic thinks they can do. In my case, I was pretty sure I could not actually stop, so maybe I could learn to moderate - even though about a month before I had - for 2 weeks - then kicked back into full time drinking, and worse than ever.

I stayed on this site from the minute I found it. I stayed on chat for something like 6 hours. Listening to a couple of long term abbers, I quickly realized, no I cannot moderate, and second, but most important, in my case at least, I CANNOT WAIT. I know many people choose a start date, but being the procrastinator I am, if I didn't do it right then, basically I wouldn't. That is God's truth. When I was honest with myself, what am I really like - I put things off, I'll procrastinate for years (really!) if something's unpleasant. I damn well had to take a very close look at the real me, because that's all I had to work with.

I did start supplements a few days in, which did help. I also didn't get the CDs until almost 3 months in (couldn't afford them at the time), and they just made it better.

I don't mean to denigrate anyone, but I see here so often people write in the morning, "Today I"m going to start". Then the next morning, "Well, I didn't, couldn't, slipped, whatever, so this will be day 1". Again and again. I USED TO DO THAT - MANY, MANY, MANY TIMES! Did it work? NOT EVEN ONCE! By night it was back to it, "I feel OK now, I'll have just one..." What a crock of bullshit! I DO realize everyone here is trying. I'm just saying when something doesn't work, over and over.... There's a saying that insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. Something to ponder, maybe? We're not insane, but that behavior is. Or it's denial with a big D. I also never count my AF days until the end of it. It is one day at a time, and they do not count till they're over.

Also, I tried to follow the example of those who are successful in their sobriety. We can all cry on each others' shoulders, and it's great to find others who understand us, but looking at what works, and seeing what doesn't has been very useful to me. I try to learn from other's mishaps as well. Knowing potential pitfalls, as they are not always obvious.


By staying on chat until after AL sales were over for the night (I had already finished 3 days worth the night before, so none was in the house), then staying on longer until it was so late I really wanted to just go to bed.

As far as who I told, actually it was no one. JUST MYSELF. I did come here every day, sometimes for hours on end. I didn't even post much then, but did read, read, read, and stayed here for sure during the witching hours and whenever I felt the urge or anxiety. It was a great reinforcement.

Using all the tools, like keeping busy, drinking good tasting sparkling water (because the habit of holding and swallowing a drink was SO ingrained), exercising, cooking healthy food, etc, and finding ANYTHING to do that wasn't drinking, and staying up all night doing it if I needed to.

The replacing of old habits with new positive ones was a HUGE part - it felt a bigger challenge than stopping (maybe not bigger, but since it was longterm and every day, it was a major change), much more than I anticipated. This is where the support and information I got at MWO was so important. To me this was a crucial difference. Being armed with so many tools, so much more knowledge than I ever had before makes me so much more confident in my sobriety. Realizing sometimes it is minute by minute, and getting through that one minute does make a difference. Keeping in mind always I can NEVER pick up a drink. And more important than that, that my life is and will continue to be better than it ever was when I was drinking. And every day I am so grateful for this true second chance.

[caysea]

Any Cold turkey stories ??

Hi All
Keg cold turkey here. Dancelot great post with many parts applying to me also . Realizing I was an alcoholic was a big turning point in my life and dealing with al. Dance great looking drink tracker.

Stay Healthy and Keep Fighting
AF 5-16-08

[dancelot]

Any Cold turkey stories ??

Caysea, thank you!

I do love my Drinktracker - filling out and seeing that first week of August was enlightening (also nauseating). Seeing it in black and white was a big impact. I vowed never to lie to Drinktracker, and see it as a tool to keep me honest. I also know the first 8 days of August is exactly what the last 8 years look like, that being the last time I had a sober stretch (10 months). That sober stretch ended because of one time I chose to take ONE drink. That was ALL it took. "Just one and I'm done" - more like "done for". Then it took 8 years to stop. I am always conscious that that 8 days represents 8 years, undone by one bad choice.

[Gearhead]

Any Cold turkey stories ??

I went cold turkey, on day 49 now. For the past six weeks I had a court ordered random Ekg urine screening test that can pick up a single drink days later. Knowing that my child custody was on the line really helped. Maybe having some serious consequen
ce looming helps, not sure. My testing is over, but I have no desire to return to my bige drinking wasting away time, money, health, family and friends.

[mario]

Any Cold turkey stories ??

I went cold turkey in jan this year,just stopped,no medication what so ever, and i am not saying that's the best way cause i was very ignorant about what alcohol actually was doing to me.went through 3 weeks of sickness,,no sleep,tired,diarrhea,vomiting,got massive gout all over my body,paranoid,anxiety,no patience,snappy and i could on and on.but one of the good things that came out of it was while i couldn't walk,i sat down at pc and hey presto i found this site,and the rest is history.:-)