The Stop Drinking (or using other substances) thread - Hello, my name is "kiwi farmer", and I am an alcoholic.

[RollerGator]

I smoked weed every day for over 10 years, would take pills and try psychedelics but I've been drug free since the start of the new year. I still drink but I've never really done that in excess, just have a beer or two while watching a movie. But on Christmas, New Years, Thanksgiving, or a friends birthday I'll get wasted.

If you try to replace drugs and alcohol with all that god nonsense, you're gay. You don't need a higher power to control yourself, you have all the power. A man who has total self control is more powerful than a man who commands an army

I usually drink a lot every night 'cause I'm bored, but in the last few weeks drinking has seemed really boring, too.

What do you do when everything is boring?

TV is boring, the internet is boring, work is boring, food is boring, weed is boring, booze is boring, everything is boring.

What do you do to fill the endless boring hours?

Make something. Mans purpose in life is to create. If you can't draw or paint, try sculpting, paper maché, carving wax or wood, or if you're computer savvy blender can be fun. You'll get a feeling of satisfaction and pride in it. I made Cartman from South Park out of paper maché recently it was pretty fun, just put on a podcast or YouTube videos on in the background and time flies.

 

[SpergioLeonne]

If you try to replace drugs and alcohol with all that god nonsense, you're gay

But that way, if you relapse, it’s gods fault

 

[Ughubughughughughughghlug]

I honestly did a pretty good job for a month or so of drinking moderately. When I say moderately, I basically mean <80% the govt definition of heavy drinker, plus extra rules. Just drinking normally, like a beer but not getting drunk. But I found an excuse to buy some liquor a few days ago, and drunk through it quickly. I'm less angry about that than I am aggravated that it means a lot of inconvenience with my measurements (drinks per day) I'll have to deal with for at least two weeks now.

 

[Tuxedo_Zemus]

I hate to shill reddit, but r/stopdrinking is a really good board. They've got a really kind community that's been around for years and it's easy to search for topics that you're interested in reading about. I had no idea about post acute withdrawal syndrome and thought I was losing my mind, but that sub really helped me a lot when I was in a bad place.

I'm close to a year sober now after about 8 years of drinking 8 to 10 beers daily and it was hell for months 2 through 5. It is possible though, and I don't miss the drink anymore either.

 

[Tuxedo_Zemus]

I'm trying to shed fat, get swole, and quit the ciggies. First two seem to be going fairly well, the latter goal is kicking my ass and spitting in my face. I'm smoking a lot less (like, A LOT) but can't seem to kick it. Send me thots and prayers. I wanna be able to run without gasping for air and feeling like my heart's going to explode so there's no way around it, bros

Get a box of nicotine patches and a low nicotine vape kit from the gas station. The patches will work wonders and the vape will take care of the habit of physically smoking a cig.

 

[Ughubughughughughughghlug]

I think I've found a set of basic rules that help to go from heavy drinking to moderate, normal drinking. I was actually inspired to post here because I violated one, but they go:

1) Never drink liquor. Yes, liquor does have SOME kind of culinary and cultural value, but it is designed, by nature, by intent, to be a method to get drunk more efficiently. Just don't bother with it at all.

2) Don't drink two days in a row. This is the one I violated today. If you can't go a day without drinking that's bad, and even if it seems benign, you've set a precedent, it's easy to fall into a cycle. You can be drinking what feels like a moderate amount every day because you're not getting drunk, but the total alcohol per day is quite high.

3) Never "binge" drink. Aside from just the definition of "heavy drinker," I feel like getting drunk has very different effects than the moderate drinking and will create a pressure to drink more. If you get used to drinking one beer or one bottle of wine then you start to get used to it and train better drinking habits. This does rule out red wine by default (since a bottle of red wine is drunkening).

4) Don't buy more than you intend to drink in one sitting. Combined with #3, this effectively means being limited to a can (like a tallboy) of beer or a bottle of white wine. This is more expensive, but for me it's either that or not drink at all (which I don't do well at).

5) Drink out of the proper glass. For a long time I owned no drinking paraphernalia. You'd think buying some would be harmful, but I find it to be the other way around; instead of ignorantly pouring (literal) glasses of things like wine I sip it out of the proper glass at the more appropriate rate. I may drink the same amount (whatever I bought) overall, but there's more of a feeling of control (training yourself to be a normal person). I have a beer stein for lager and a wine glass for wine, both of which can be used for other things too (I like to use the wine glass for chocolate milkshakes, refill it as needed).

 

[A-Stump]

An old man once told me 'I'm an alcoholic until I drink my last beer'.

 

[William Tyndale]

2) Don't drink two days in a row.

Lmao nigga if that were an option I wouldn’t have quit.

An old man once told me 'I'm an alcoholic until I drink my last beer'.

An old man once told me “one beer is too many and 24 isn’t enough.”

 

[OrionBalls]

Get a box of nicotine patches and a low nicotine vape kit from the gas station. The patches will work wonders and the vape will take care of the habit of physically smoking a cig.

Twizzlers work just as well as a vape.

 

[BlaireWhitesBottom2]

its weird.. i very rarely do drink, and can control my gambling. but my vices are downers (xanax and opiates). im a very stereotypical "highly intelligent to the point of my own sanity being questioned".. my mind goes way too fast and i fucking hate it. now i dont do heroin anymore but i still struggle a bit with them damn double G 249ers

 

[gongwonkyeye]

have just given up smoking. it was ridiculously easy. I was smoking 80g of tobacco a week, took me 6 weeks and a 'paul mckenna' hypnosis book and cd, and it was the easiest thing I've ever done. I haven't smoked now for 2 months. I'm no longer a smoker. the book and the CD cost me £4 second hand on ebay. so frikkin' easy. am impressed by myself. I didn't even listen to the CD and I only read the first few pages of the book, twice. It was that good I didn't even really 'need' the whole thing: the trick is in the first few pages.

I didn't just go 'cold turkey'. I cut down my usage first, so, from 50g plus 30g packet a week, (80g) I moved to just 50g, then to 30g. This took me about 4 weeks.

while doing this, I worked out that I was a smoker mainly because I'd allowed it to become a habit. That sounds so obvious, saying it out loud, but it was the habit part that was rough bit when I'd tried to give up previously. So I decided to cut out the 'habitual' cigs before I gave up properly. The 'marking time' cigs, the bullet point cigs. The one I always have after my dinner, the two when I wake up and drink my coffee, the one I have after a shower, etc. I decided that I was okay smoking, but I'd 'defer' those 'important cigs'. So, I did. Took me a fortnight to 'break the habit' part of smoking.

then, literally, I reached the end of a 30g pack and decided I wasn't buying any more. It was over. I've had a few 'minor' cravings, but they've been easy to shrug off.

I wish I'd done it years ago.

it's really easy, you just have to do it the right way, at the right time.

 

[Ughubughughughughughghlug]

Do any of you have any experience with timer safes? I've gotten to desiring one, thinking about it. The idea is that you have an emergency key (that you don't keep anywhere easily accessible; people often give it to loved ones) and otherwise your safe only opens at certain times of day. If you have the basic self control to be able to pour what you need and put the rest back, and to not, you know, destroy the safe or just go and buy more (some people actually buy safes for SPENDING addictions to set their money in), then you can keep things like liquor in your house without getting into it.

What puts me off is that it's an awfully steep price to pay just to enable me to drink. Like, half of a vacation. I can't use such a thing as a gun safe as the timer would get in the way. But I had a notion that such a thing could be used to store things like bourbon, pour just what I need to make a mint julep or Irish coffee and set the rest back in there. Or to store things I enjoy but cannot buy in small quantities (they just don't sell it in the amount I want) like hard cider and porter.

It seems, from reviews, that they work for mild alcoholics (what I think describes me) but not severe ones.

 

[William Tyndale]

Do any of you have any experience with timer safes? I've gotten to desiring one, thinking about it. The idea is that you have an emergency key (that you don't keep anywhere easily accessible; people often give it to loved ones) and otherwise your safe only opens at certain times of day. If you have the basic self control to be able to pour what you need and put the rest back, and to not, you know, destroy the safe or just go and buy more (some people actually buy safes for SPENDING addictions to set their money in), then you can keep things like liquor in your house without getting into it.

What puts me off is that it's an awfully steep price to pay just to enable me to drink. Like, half of a vacation. I can't use such a thing as a gun safe as the timer would get in the way. But I had a notion that such a thing could be used to store things like bourbon, pour just what I need to make a mint julep or Irish coffee and set the rest back in there. Or to store things I enjoy but cannot buy in small quantities (they just don't sell it in the amount I want) like hard cider and porter.

It seems, from reviews, that they work for mild alcoholics (what I think describes me) but not severe ones.

Bro I wish you could have an out-of-body experience and read that post you just made through the lens of someone who doesn’t have a drinking problem. I mean that respectfully. Maybe go check out a few meetings and see if they’re a good fit. It’s a lot cheaper than buying a safe.

 

[Ughubughughughughughghlug]

Bro I wish you could have an out-of-body experience and read that post you just made through the lens of someone who doesn’t have a drinking problem. I mean that respectfully. Maybe go check out a few meetings and see if they’re a good fit. It’s a lot cheaper than buying a safe.

Well if it wasn't a problem I wouldn't be posting here, would I?

I don't really want to do any meetings, because I don't have it out of control. I've been cruising below the govt heavy drinker/binge drinker standards for a while, the key to it was changing from buying bulk alcohol, or complete teetotaling, to a can/bottle a few times a week after work. More expensive per unit, but a lot easier to manage. But I wish I could have more options.

I do think the idea of spending all that money for that is unjustifiable, though. I suppose the upside is that if it doesn't work well then a person can still use the safe to store handguns and money (you can disable the timers), but it wouldn't be large enough for long arms.

 

[NOT Satoshi Nakamoto]

Do any of you have any experience with timer safes? I've gotten to desiring one, thinking about it. The idea is that you have an emergency key (that you don't keep anywhere easily accessible; people often give it to loved ones) and otherwise your safe only opens at certain times of day. If you have the basic self control to be able to pour what you need and put the rest back, and to not, you know, destroy the safe or just go and buy more (some people actually buy safes for SPENDING addictions to set their money in), then you can keep things like liquor in your house without getting into it.

What puts me off is that it's an awfully steep price to pay just to enable me to drink. Like, half of a vacation. I can't use such a thing as a gun safe as the timer would get in the way. But I had a notion that such a thing could be used to store things like bourbon, pour just what I need to make a mint julep or Irish coffee and set the rest back in there. Or to store things I enjoy but cannot buy in small quantities (they just don't sell it in the amount I want) like hard cider and porter.

It seems, from reviews, that they work for mild alcoholics (what I think describes me) but not severe ones.

Yes. They're stupid. Stop being an addict, then start buying things.

 

[William Tyndale]

Well if it wasn't a problem I wouldn't be posting here, would I?

I don't really want to do any meetings, because I don't have it out of control. I've been cruising below the govt heavy drinker/binge drinker standards for a while, the key to it was changing from buying bulk alcohol, or complete teetotaling, to a can/bottle a few times a week after work. More expensive per unit, but a lot easier to manage. But I wish I could have more options.

I do think the idea of spending all that money for that is unjustifiable, though. I suppose the upside is that if it doesn't work well then a person can still use the safe to store handguns and money (you can disable the timers), but it wouldn't be large enough for long arms.

I’ve told this story before on here but I’ll tell it again. I took an online “am I an alcoholic” test several years before I had the guts to quit. One of the last questions was “if you’re not an alcoholic, why are you taking this test?” Or something to that effect. The fact that you’re here indicates you know you have a problem. The answer might not be “less” like you want it to be. The answer quite possibly could be “zero.”

 

[BobbyBriggs69420]

The answer might not be “less” like you want it to be. The answer quite possibly could be “zero.”

spent about 7 years after realizing I had a bad problem trying to do less, "zero isn't for me, the alcohol still runs my life that way man" I had big lists of rules too like that other guy and lists of when exceptions to those rules could be made. (ffs they call it "moderation")

I'm hugely lucky I didn't fuck up bad, like actual life changing maiming ways in those years, and equally lucky that when I got kinda high use again a couple years ago and decided I "needed to take a week off to reset" that during that week I realized that it's gotta be zero for some people and I am one of them.

 

[Ughubughughughughughghlug]

Cigars have worked wonders for getting my alcohol consumption down.

I know that sounds retarded, and it probably is. (FDA supposedly says that 1-2 a day and you're not statistically significant to have elevated chances of mortality; I'm in the 0.5-0.7 range.) And also it is a thing for people to cycle addictions. But at least on that point it works. The key is that cigars (nicotine buzz + meditative breathing pattern + forcing myself to sit on my porch) gives me the same kind of positive experience I used to want out of alcohol with none of the negative. It's just easy to not drink now as long as I keep it out of the house. I don't feel the urge to go buy it.

 

[AnimeSucksCopeAndSneed]

I would like to remind anyone struggling with alcoholism two important facts:

1. That's a lot of empty calories you're consuming. I hope you want a gunt.
2. That's a lot of money you're burning. I hope you're rich.

I firmly believe damage to health and damage to wallet are the best motivators for sobriety.

 

[⋖ cørdion ⋗]

Getting fucked once a week is helluva cheaper than being even a moderate smoker. That shit has gotten so absurdly expensive that I don't even fault myself for the money used on alcohol.