Giving up alcohol

I don’t know that I have any useful tips @MG2879 but well done on the last three days.

It’s tough that you weren’t given any strategies. Could you try telling your friends that you’re giving up and ask them for support? There are some nice mocktails around if that appeals.

All the best and keep trying.

@MG2879 dont mean to alarm you but just stopping alcohol like that with no understanding of the dangers it presents to your health wasn't the best advice aye.

well done on day 3 though that's solid but them shakes aren't good man, maybe talk to gp or id sugest giving ADIS a call there will be a qualified alcohol councilor to talk to 24/7 and they will at least bring you out of the dark and educate you better of any symptoms that could be harmful while your system detoxes.

sorry im not fearmongering and you should give them a call the numbers different for each state and they will give you helpful advice for days ahead also.

i found cold soda water used to feel like a cold beer the way the bubbles hit the throat as something to try maybe i reckon you already noticed zero alcohol beers are twice as much as full strength theres a hidden message in that somewhere surely.

good luck, soon you will feel much better skin will be noticebly healthier you will crash first though body will miss the sugar its used to in alcohol.

Thanks for your reply that so much support in its self.

@MG2879 deciding to give up alcohol is a big decision. Some people drink too much, and I found I could finally give up smoking when I convinced myself of the harm the habit caused. In the end I could still hang around with smokers and not smoke . Figuring out your own motivations is probably key. The fact that it is a huge part of your social life matters. Not sure what you shared that caused the therapist to tell you to stop. I personally never had an alcohol habit so developed a style where I could do the one glass only to socialise and stop just fine. Get a lemon lime and bitters or coffee or hot chocolate… Sometimes if it is big problem, it helps to separate out the chemical addiction component from the social side, anyway that is how I managed substance abuse way way back. If the culture is a jeering one where you have to keep up with the boys that can impact how you manage it.

I used to be tired of my mother harassing others about drinking, and decided to keep a low key non judgmental attitude about all things AOD. Social drinkers can be fine.

Good luck as you figure out your best approach. For some it needs to be all or nothing, maybe once you have established a reasonable level of control with it, you can reintegrate a social side if it is appropriate.

@MG2879 Hi MG2879 i have been off the booze now for a long time and the way i did it was cold turkey (did the same thing with cigerettes many years ago). i just stopped. i didnt have withdrawals so to speak because i was ready for it. i knew it was making me sick and i had my daughters support. good on you for doing this. if you ever need further support add me. love bun xx ohh if you fall down just get up and try again dont give up you can do this.

Gday @MG2879 listen to what @REDLINEZ750 (GdAY MATE!) says because, if you are getting the shakes you 100% should be withdrawing under supervision from Doctors, as the alcohol withdrawal process can affect your body chemistry and, Drs have a lot of science and many years of sorting out people going on the wagon and they know both ways of talking, and medical type ways of helping you get through this time.

For me, like Redline switching to fizzy water was my #1 tactic cause you get the same FEELING...to this day I love my Aussie owned SODA KING machine which lets me pump the fizzy water all year round at a fraction of the cost and effort of buying bottles.

Second, I swapped "drinking and pub" for sitting at home "NOT drinking and pubbing." I actually went into drawing and painting for about three years as my new life after drinking. But one day i found that I didn't want to draw nor paint any more as I had associated it with "not drinking", it became a punishment not a pleasure but it fulfilled its function in my life which was to throw myself into conentrating on that, not feeling sad about the pub. So my point there is if you force yourself do to a hobby you life, you might end up hating the hobby. If you just "find something" to do, you can throw it away when you think youve nipped the habit in the bud.

Then, I kept meditating on all the things that drinking had cost me when the "just one drink" demons came up. I forced myself to think of losing my ex, embarassiing things i had said or done, people I didn't like or who had ruined their lives, the guilt/shame/fear/everything....I forced myself to watch and replay those memories so that I truly had to associate alcohol with 'sending my own life down the dunny" because addition will whisper things in your mind, whatever it takes for addiction to rule, it will try to control your mind.

Then, study what it is that makes you TRULY HAPPY so that you can grow your true happiness and self respect. True happiness has to be earned by doing things mentally and physically, addiction happiness is coming home from work wearing filthy clothes, going straight to the pub, drinking plenty, eating some shit food, going to sleep, having a smoke etc.

To this day 15 years after quitting drinking and struggling with smoking for 25 years, I am still shocked how much work it takes to generate satisfaction without being addicted. But, i look at myself from above and I think, wow, you used to be a wreck and now you're a rebuilt wreck! from a buste dup lump sinking in the ocean, to something that might fit in at a museum all patched up and looking better and with little labels on it that people stick around to read.

And thats were you understand addiction, take stock of what it has done to you, measure up how far you need to go then give yourself a panelbeating before the rust takes over.

It's not easy but, its worth it and think back to your days at the end of school...did you know what you were going to do? Nope but you tried a few things and had an open road. I see that resolving addiciton is similar, it's an unfamiliar and strange/scary journey but old dogs can learn new tricks if we open our minds up to the process and let ourselves be surprised by whats on the other side of tomorrow.

And there's where as I get older I have a lot of admiration for people who have reinvented themselves, once or twice or a few or more times....it's an admirable trait, and we end up with stories and knowlege etc that helps other people and weaves the bridge of life together. So, keep it up and see it as a learning process, yes your brain might hurt from time to time but its hurting from learning new things, not from chasing problems down with a sniff of ethanol. All the best on your new chapter of life and keep us updated.

What an awesome piece of support. I didn't see any other way the cold turkey. Cause I can't stop at just one or 2. Day 4 now and most side effects are gone.