Hi everyone - a week ago I made the decision to quit drinking. I had my last drink a week ago last Wednesday evening. I've been doing this alone and stumbled on the forum a couple of days ago. It's been a big help for me, so I thought I'd join up.
I'm a 38 year old fella from Vancouver, Canada. I have been questioning for some time if I'm an alcoholic or just have a drinking problem, but just last night I learned from reading here that doesn't matter. What does matter is that I know I have a problem and am starting to deal with it by quitting alcohol.
My unhealthy relationship with alcohol is relatively new, maybe 3 years old. It's fairly classic: social drinking slowly progressed to 200ml of vodka or 1/2 - 3/4 750ml bottle red wine every day after work with maybe a weekly binge of much more.
It's all been there: hiding the vodka bottle at home, pretending to enjoy a glass of wine at dinner but slipping into the kitchen to take a big gulp of vodka, obvious lies about being drunk, the strong cravings that hit every afternoon at work, altering my route home from work to walk by different liquor stores so the clerks don't notice my habit and that feeling of powerlessness at not being able to pass by the liquor store without stopping even if I didn't want to stop. I got so tired of either drinking or being hung over all the time, but I think the final tipping point came down to vanity. I started to notice little red veins on the bridge of my nose, did some Google searching and got really concerned about where I was headed.
I didn't know anything about alcohol withdrawals, so it's been a week of surprises: the constant light sweat on the night of day 2, insomnia, fatigue and flu-like feelings, very vivid dreams and one scary episode where the room started to spin and I felt dizzy and "off". Thankfully most of those things have subsided and last night was the first night I slept fairly well and the dreams weren't as vivid. The forum really helped reassure me that this is all normal.
My quitting is coinciding with a 2 week vacation in Quebec to visit my spouse's family. It's been interesting. I am out of my normal routine, so I haven't experienced any cravings except one strong episode that lasted perhaps 30 seconds while at a local grocery store, of all odd places. Wine is ever present in Quebec culture, so I've been really proud that I've been around alcohol all this week and have been able to say no. I've been the designated driver on two occasions this past week.....imagine that!!!
Each day that goes by without a drink makes me feel more confident that I can keep doing this, one day at a time. I'm not without my concerns about going back to Vancouver in another week. I'll go back to work and get into my normal routine - the afternoon will come around when the cravings usually start and there will still be several liquor stores within a 5 to 10 minute walk from our house. I'm riding a high right now, but I suspect at some point - perhaps sooner than later - I'll really need your help and support.
I'm a 38 year old fella from Vancouver, Canada. I have been questioning for some time if I'm an alcoholic or just have a drinking problem, but just last night I learned from reading here that doesn't matter. What does matter is that I know I have a problem and am starting to deal with it by quitting alcohol.
My unhealthy relationship with alcohol is relatively new, maybe 3 years old. It's fairly classic: social drinking slowly progressed to 200ml of vodka or 1/2 - 3/4 750ml bottle red wine every day after work with maybe a weekly binge of much more.
It's all been there: hiding the vodka bottle at home, pretending to enjoy a glass of wine at dinner but slipping into the kitchen to take a big gulp of vodka, obvious lies about being drunk, the strong cravings that hit every afternoon at work, altering my route home from work to walk by different liquor stores so the clerks don't notice my habit and that feeling of powerlessness at not being able to pass by the liquor store without stopping even if I didn't want to stop. I got so tired of either drinking or being hung over all the time, but I think the final tipping point came down to vanity. I started to notice little red veins on the bridge of my nose, did some Google searching and got really concerned about where I was headed.
I didn't know anything about alcohol withdrawals, so it's been a week of surprises: the constant light sweat on the night of day 2, insomnia, fatigue and flu-like feelings, very vivid dreams and one scary episode where the room started to spin and I felt dizzy and "off". Thankfully most of those things have subsided and last night was the first night I slept fairly well and the dreams weren't as vivid. The forum really helped reassure me that this is all normal.
My quitting is coinciding with a 2 week vacation in Quebec to visit my spouse's family. It's been interesting. I am out of my normal routine, so I haven't experienced any cravings except one strong episode that lasted perhaps 30 seconds while at a local grocery store, of all odd places. Wine is ever present in Quebec culture, so I've been really proud that I've been around alcohol all this week and have been able to say no. I've been the designated driver on two occasions this past week.....imagine that!!!
Each day that goes by without a drink makes me feel more confident that I can keep doing this, one day at a time. I'm not without my concerns about going back to Vancouver in another week. I'll go back to work and get into my normal routine - the afternoon will come around when the cravings usually start and there will still be several liquor stores within a 5 to 10 minute walk from our house. I'm riding a high right now, but I suspect at some point - perhaps sooner than later - I'll really need your help and support.
! Also, if you haven't done so already, check out the Toolbox -- the answer you need for any problems you encounter may just be there.
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