what finally made your quit stick?

[Nelz]

what finally made your quit stick?

A very bad day with AL, ended up in a bad place. Told myself I wont ever go there again, and if I start drinking, it is possible that I will, so I just dont drink anymore.

And the support of this place as well

[DriftyAlison0]

what finally made your quit stick?

What made my quit stick is that I was ready 100% to quit and used the tools and my faith to get me to where I am today 2 years sober and never looking back.

[Chief Bromden]

what finally made your quit stick?

I have been wondering about this question for a good couple of hours. I was tempted to say:

a) I can't really answer as I'm only 345 days in
b) I don't really know what was key, why it works

Not very helpful. So I thought a bit more.

I knew I had a problem early on. As soon as I felt that finding something to drink became so bloody important, I started to feel like a caricature of myself. I knew I wanted to stop 4 years ago.

But it took me a long time before really trying, because I was horribly afraid I might fail. I thought it couldn't be done.

Something clicked when I was reading the memoirs of a musician I deeply admire for 35 years now. I'm not going to name him, but as I write this, he's back at #1, age 61... You probably heard one of his songs today.

He wrote about his addiction, and about finally checking into rehab in 1994. He, as he called it, "stopped stopping". He's been sober & clean since then. The book is simply stunning. My mind went: OK, it can be done. Let's try it. Let's give it all I got.

I'm not saying that was the only reason why I at least tried, but it was certainly a big factor.

As written elsewhere, I went into rehab too. Spent 70 days there learning about addiction. About the tools you have to beat it. I continued to read books about addiction after I quit rehab. I continued to read on here every single day. I'm not posting often, mainly because I don't think I have many "answers". But I do learn a lot just by reading, by seeing what works and what doesn't. About the pitfalls of drinking again after a long sober stint. About medication that I thought was silly (antabuse), and then learn that it is not silly at all, that it actually works for some. That we all need to find our own tools, that there isn't just "the one way".

[catch22]

what finally made your quit stick?

[QUOTE=paulywogg;1509511]ive been wondering about this for a bit as ive been doing good,then not so good this year,what was it that finally made you quit for good?[/QUOTE

For me i felt like i hit bottom mentally more then physically took a over dose. No ome knew on here. I did share a little abt it. Got home from hospital and felt soooo small n.hopelessness i knew i could not hurt my family no more .
I was powerless over. alcohol......Am.over 3yrs stil wrkin hard at it.

[Tess-2]

what finally made your quit stick?

Fear of death. Desire for life. I was going to die via "natural causes" (probably heart failure) or suicide, whichever came first. MWO came along and gave me hope. I needed hope.

[leila]

what finally made your quit stick?

The quit stories

I have read all the stories on this thread and you are all inspiring me-- I keep being afraid of the detox process. I no longer enjoy alcohol.

Can people write and talk about exactly how they detoxed? At home or in a detox unit etc. What you did and how you felt.

That would help me.

Leila::thanks:

[paulywogg]

what finally made your quit stick?

excellent question leila,i would like to hear the stories also

[Tess-2]

what finally made your quit stick?

leila;1510205 wrote: I have read all the stories on this thread and you are all inspiring me-- I keep being afraid of the detox process. I no longer enjoy alcohol.

Can people write and talk about exactly how they detoxed? At home or in a detox unit etc. What you did and how you felt.

That would help me.

Leila::thanks:

Dear Leila,

I "detoxed" at home. My "poison of choice" had been massive amounts of beer, so the most difficult part of the process for me was mental, not physical. I cannot speak very well to your question. It is my understanding that detox needs to be medically supervised for some of us.

You no longer enjoy alcohol. I get that!! I have friends in AA who say, "I couldn't get drunk and I couldn't get sober." Our bodies want to heal. We abuse ourselves terribly. At least I know that I did. Still, given half a chance, my body and my mind began to heal.

Detox, in the simplest of terms, is your body working so hard to rid itself of poison. Alcohol is poison. Alcohol is glamorized in our culture but, bottom line, it is TOXIC. Thus, the need to detox.

The fear of the detox process is real. I feel your fear. I only wish you felt half as much fear when you pour poison into your body. But I understand. I do!! Because I did the very same thing for years.

This I will say before I sign off: we alcoholics will detox or die. Those are pretty much our two choices. Our bodies can only take so much poison. Detox is the best choice. Then comes new life. Then comes joy. ~

[kuya]

what finally made your quit stick?

Leila, the fear of detox is what keeps so many drinking, yet many can stop cold turkey with no problem at all. I did from 15 units daily for years. It depends on many factors so care should be exercised.

All I suffered was fear, I had no physical symptoms bar feeling anxious ( mental?) and out of body. After 3 days I started to relax and it was pretty much plain sailing from there.

Proves the adage.....'there is nothing to fear but fear itself'

[spiderwoman]

what finally made your quit stick?

My situation was similar to Byrdy's; a massive fight with my partner, ironically not about my drinking but certainly due to my attitude because I was a heavy and habitual drinker.

The fight took place on a Saturday at about 4pm and it was all about a hot dog!!!

The outcome woke me up big time and I spent the following day trying to find a reason, or if I'm honest an excuse for my disgusting behaviour over several years. Other than my drinking there wasn't one.

I finally concluded that the reason I couldn't have the things I wanted, do the things I wanted and had no energy had nothing to do with earning too little and trying to do too much but a lot to do with the amount of wine I hurled down my throat on a daily basis so it then became something I had to do, now, never mind Christmas approaching because there would always be a reason not to stop so I did.

Cold turkey from an absolute minimum of 20 units a day to nothing. Apart from one day, about 10 days into the quit when I suffered nausea and dizziness I had very little in the way of physical symptoms, bit of sweating and 'odd' bowel behaviour coupled with extreme tiredness.

Now as I approach six months clean I am still mortified when I think about the things I did drunk, devoutly grateful I avoided physically harming an innocent bystander and so relieved the nightmare is finally over.

[bcp2013]

what finally made your quit stick?

Hi,yes it's Funny we think so much what might happen ,we don,t quit,but for some reason 55 days ago l had enough and just quit,l had a few headaches,but other than that and a few crying spells l still get,think that's met a pause,but anyway that's about it,everyone is different,you should talk to your doctor in case you need to be monitored,depending on how much you drink,just to be safe,all and all Lt,s not as bad as l thought,at least l can drive at night now,restraint bills are way cheaper than with wine,so a few positives from the get go,just keeps getting better,not always easy but those drinking thoughts only last a few minutes,than there go e,easier all the time,LM still quit new at this sober stuff but l like it,LM getting compliments when l go out now,haven't had that for a while,l like being cohearant,anyway just check in with your doc to be safe,happy sobriety,you will love it eventually

[TheSunFlower]

what finally made your quit stick?

I pondered this queston for 10 years. There were 100 reasons to quit....not 1 to drink. But I drank anyways.

What finally happened for me....was knowing I wanted a different life. Knowing that what I wanted could not co-exist with drinking. I could not be one person.....and still drink.

When you actually quit drinking you will find the people in your life that do not drink. There is a lot of people out there that do not like giving up control and acting like an ass.

For me I had two lives....and I had to choose. Be healthy or be a drunk.

[Chief Bromden]

what finally made your quit stick?

leila;1510205 wrote:
Can people write and talk about exactly how they detoxed? At home or in a detox unit etc. What you did and how you felt.

I opted for rehab because of the fear. I was drinking over 1ltr of whisky per day, and always had serious withdrawal feelings in the morning. I didn't want to die while trying to get healthy.

Detox was about 5 days: we were put on a massive dose Tranxene (60mg) to avoid seizures and help not freaking out. Every day, that dose was then lowered so that on day 5, they stopped giving it, as it's a benzo and thus highly addictive.

We were on constant supervision, blood pressure & heartbeat monitored. We went for (supervised) walks every morning. We drank lots of water and fruit juices.

I must say I didn't feel bad at all - I felt out of it. Not many memories to be honest. No sweating or anything, just a bit trouble with getting to sleep. There was lots of laughter (nerves I guess) and that turned it into a rather pleasant experience.

By day 5, alcohol detox is/should be over. The high dose Tranxene was depending on how much you used to drink, but it is always tapered down within the shortest possible number of days.

Then came the xanax detox (had been taking those for 7 years), which was 10 times worse. But if you aren't addicted to benzos, that is not relevant to you.

We had 8 hours of interactive lectures, even some sports, to keep our minds busy. Lots of talking and "comparing addictions".

Different detox facilities will use different methods, but if you plan to go that route, you can always ask them beforehand what methods they use.

Don't let this scare you however, many people successfully detox at home. "Most of the time" you will be OK. I just didn't want to take the risk, and the constant supervision put my mind at ease so that I could concentrate on getting sober.

[Wine-no!]

what finally made your quit stick?

leila;1510205 wrote: I have read all the stories on this thread and you are all inspiring me-- I keep being afraid of the detox process. I no longer enjoy alcohol.

Can people write and talk about exactly how they detoxed? At home or in a detox unit etc. What you did and how you felt.

That would help me.

Leila::thanks:

Hello, I drank a standard 75cl bottle of wine most days (and sometimes a little more). I stopped cold turkey and had no side effects (apart from being wide awake!) and virtually no cravings :l
PS I added fresh fruit/veg juice in the morning plus vits but no other meds.

[lizker]

what finally made your quit stick?

One monday morning i was sitting in my living room with the worst hang over i had ever had. I had just called in for the second monday in a row. Something inside me jus said, "i can't do this to myself ANYMORE." I remember the worst despair and hopeless ness coming upon me, like i could never get over this. I also remember recognizing clearly the source of my misery. On prior occasions i would have nursed the hangover with a beer, that day i sat in my living reflecting how alky had devastated my life. For the first time i smoked a joint that helped tremendously with sleep that night and the next. I never smoked again but it really helped. Anytime i feel that urge coming on i just say " can't keep doing this to myself and it works. It took several tries. Atleast more than 10. Each quit does make you stronger. Even when you relapse, when you abstain, its like you pick up where you left of. Those coping skills and discipline you learnt on previous quits do remain intact depending on how long they lasted