Just out of interest 'Ages'

[Flip Top]

Hey ladies and gents I only joined this forum yesterday after another night of heavy binge drinking the night before. this is a link to my first post

https://www.mywayout.org/community/f1...llo-40251.html

Im 30 years old and have been binge drinking for good few years now and I always think to myself I cant be alone with this at my age.

So I thought it might be good for anybody who reads this to either post a comment with there age or just there age if they want to.

Hope im making sense there

[Flip Top]

Just out of interest 'Ages'

30

[Bandit]

Just out of interest 'Ages'

Hi Flip Top

Just read your link post and can relate on so many levels

I am going to be 40 in the summer and cannot believe I am that old!. I have been drinking for about 23 years now and feel like I have missed out on about a decade due to drink. I really wish I could get back some of those years, especially the 25-35 mark.

It is good that you are recognising that you maybe have issues now, you are young and it would be great for you to deal with it now instead of going round in circles for years like i feel i have.

I wish you all the best
Bandit:h

[greeneyes]

Just out of interest 'Ages'

Lets just say I drank waaaaaay longer than you, even though I'm just 29.

[Flip Top]

Just out of interest 'Ages'

Bandit;806429 wrote: Hi Flip Top

Just read your link post and can relate on so many levels

I am going to be 40 in the summer and cannot believe I am that old!. I have been drinking for about 23 years now and feel like I have missed out on about a decade due to drink. I really wish I could get back some of those years, especially the 25-35 mark.

It is good that you are recognising that you maybe have issues now, you are young and it would be great for you to deal with it now instead of going round in circles for years like i feel i have.

I wish you all the best
Bandit:h

I joke about my favourite shape being a 'circle' :target:

[Bandit]

Just out of interest 'Ages'

Ditto Flip Top

I feel very often like a mouse on one of those wheels..feeling like I am putting in loads of effort (in fairness from time to time with many crap times in between) but never getting off the shaggin thing. Me thinks it time to ditch the wheel

Bandit:h

[Flip Top]

Just out of interest 'Ages'

Bandit;806437 wrote: Ditto Flip Top

I feel very often like a mouse on one of those wheels..feeling like I am putting in loads of effort (in fairness from time to time with many crap times in between) but never getting off the shaggin thing. Me thinks it time to ditch the wheel

Bandit:h

I heard someone say something at my friends 30th about me and it made me so angry. You say to yourself that you are going to be good then it just ends up turning into a huge bender like tuesday just gone when I said I would just have 2 pints and it ended up being a 9 1/2 hr drinking expedition on a weekday. That makes me so unhappy in myself as I know exactly what effects it is going to have on my anxiety levels, relationship + more.

People say dont worry about what other people say but it hurts so much when I hear it.

[Bandit]

Just out of interest 'Ages'

Try not to worry too much about what others think except those that mean something to you.

I am the queen of 'making a fool of myself' and the 'everyone talking behind my back',especially in my past job. But none of these people really cared about me and due to the path life has taken me I do not see them anymore. The only one I hung onto was my husband who knows I have issues and supports me.

If your partner means a lot to you then confide in them and they will help.Do not worry about anyone else, the sad reality is that they will not worry about you, just talk about you, prob negatively behind your back , a good way forward is dont give them anything to talk about and at the end of the day do you really care about any of them?

Your life is your own and at the end of the day you are the only one that will ultimately take care of yourself

Best Wishes
Bandit:h

[JackieClaire]

Just out of interest 'Ages'

Hi FT,
I'm with greenie on this I'm 29ish (a big 'ish' admittedly )

More seriously though I really don't think that age,colour,creed,job,male or female makes any difference to why we drink.

We are all equal when it comes to our struggle with alcohol.

J x

:l

[Flip Top]

Just out of interest 'Ages'

Im not sure how to read the ish bit lol
I feel that some of my friends that I have known for years dont really txt, call me anymore which hurts alot. I remember years ago on boxing day, I went out for a drink and I txt my mate saying are you coming for a beer? He got a lift down and he came to meet me but I wasnt there because id had too much and couldnt handle it, I hate myself for putting myself in that situation not being able to meet somone because id had my fill.

[Doggygirl]

Just out of interest 'Ages'

Hi Flip Top and :welcome:

Like many others here, I'm 29. I'm sure I've been 29 longer than you have been 30 though. :H

Kidding aside, I applaud you for recognizing that AL is a problem for you NOW rather than waste more years of your life struggling with it. I too used AL as a solution to all of life's problems. Insecure in a social situation? Drink. Depressed? Drink (and get more depressed in the bargain). Celebrate a special event? Drink. You get the idea.

I can also understand what for me was a completely irrational desire to continue drinking (moderate) despite the constant negative consequenses of my drinking. Alcohol addiction can be insane that way. I read the introduction post that you linked which included bad experiences like:

* The habit is really having an impact on my life the days after a heavy drinking session
* I hate the feeling that it gives me
* I worry about what I did the night before and what people think about me to the point that I hate seeing some of the people that are in my group of friends now.
* I embarass myself and my partner
* Its driving me crazy

Looking at that list, isn't it sort of nuts that we think "I want to still drink somehow?" I understand though, because I thought that way too and many / most of us around here have thought that way at some point in the journey.

My freedom from AL's grip didn't truly begin until I finally accepted 100% that I just cannot safely drink, ever. At that point, the healing and getting on with life could finally begin. And what a good life it is! No more ball and chain.

I wish you well on your journey, and applaud you once again for addressing this at 30 instead of 50 or something.

DG

[Flip Top]

Just out of interest 'Ages'

OK DG strong as an OX it is

[hippie37]

Just out of interest 'Ages'

Hi Flip Top I'm 40 years young. It was about 15 years ago that I first went to an AA meeting to address my problems after I had overdosed on other substances. I was still in the mindset then that I was too young to be an alcoholic and that I just had addiction issues that could be dealt with cognitively if I had a plan of action in place. This of course never worked because my issues ran much deeper and I wouldn't allow myself to open up to people because the beliefs I had about myself were too ingrained in me.

I ended up coming here a few years ago after all that time having given up on myself and allowing things to become worse. Don't let it get that way too. Alcoholism is not age discriminate here and only you can validate yourself as being alcoholic. It's not about how much or how little you drink it's about whether you can stop after the first drink and be comfortable with that. If you can't then don't waste time like I did looking into the semantics of it. Look to your past for answers by all means but recovery is about the solution and what you want to do about your future.

Glad you found this site anyway and keep posting and reading. Tough it may seem right now but I still take it one day at a time and I'm just over a year sober. I got into the habit of thinking too far ahead and getting into the thinking that I had to be doing this or that in order to get well. I put too much pressure on myself early on and I had big expectations of success. when I failed to meet those expectations I came down harder on myself because of it. Have no expectations of others or yourself and just learn to live each day as it comes and you will find it a lot easier in the long run I believe.

Welcome and hope you find your way out here.

Love and Light
Phil
xx

[JimBeam911]

Just out of interest 'Ages'

Flip Top,

I'm also 30 years old, and have been drinking heavily for 13 years, 15 years of drinking in total. In a way we're lucky to have recognized the need to stop at our age, but the fact that we're already at this point at such a young age should raise alarm bells that if we keep it up, we have purchased a one-way ticket to an early grave.

[dancelot]

Just out of interest 'Ages'

I'm about to turn 55, therefore I am also 29. I drank for 36 years, and it is definitely progressive, though I knew early on (like immediately) I had alcoholic tendencies, or was an alcoholic, whatever you'd call it at the time. The point is it was always there.

Flip Top, congratulations to you and JimBeam and other younger folks for doing something about it now. It does not go away, it never gets better, it only gets worse. I know personally of two younger men who died as the result of AL (not in accidents either, but health problems directly attributable to alcohol abuse). One was in his 30s and one was 40.

If you make it into your 50s still drinking you really start to feel you might not get to your 60s or beyond. Looking at that now from a sober point of view, it really is an absurd and sad way to live.

Always remember where you are coming from, and keep a strong respect for that. Keep up the good work!