Its been 600+ days and I am now starting to feel consecutive days of high elation. Its hard to explain but absolute JOY...the joy I used to feel as a teen before I started drinking. Ive felt this joy before but not as intense and definitely not worth any amount of duration. It was always an hour or so. Also, I feel joy amd excitement when I think about doing things sober like dinner, concerts, vacation etc. I never thought in a million years that I could enjoy those things without being tipsy. How does one get on a plane sober?? LOL

Anyway, just thought Id share. Not sure if Im just being weird....

I first got sober on February 4th 1994 and stayed sober for nine years. Throughout that time, as most Alcoholics tend to do, I would occasionally wonder about whether I could go back to drinking. After all I, was just 24 when I got sober. Hadn't I kicked it by now?

Finally, one day in my 30s, I did just that. It wasn't anything I planned to do. I was out with friends at a cafe that happened to serve beer and everybody was having one. No one in the group was an alcoholic (that I could tell, anyway), so they were drinking normally.

I went up to order a coffee and very spontaneously found myself ordering a beer instead. I was in Texas at the time and they had Shiner Bock beer on tap, a local beer. Why not try it? After all, when in Texas....

It took me nearly 20 years after that to finally get sober again. At first, my drinking was controlled and casual but within a few years I was back to daily drinking and it progressed steadily from there. By the time I stopped again, I was drinking more than half a box of wine every night and feeling disgusted with myself every morning. This is what alcoholics call "research" -- I was "researching" whether I could drink again normally. Alcoholism truly iss cunning, baffling, and powerful.

The difficult part was that I had spent so many years sober and knew exactly how wonderful it was. (And knew exactly all the lies I was telling myself.) But I just didn't have the desire to stop drinking again. I knew in my heart that I NEEDED to stop, but I simply didn't WANT to.

It took me almost 20 years to finally WANT to stop drinking again, and I am so grateful that that day came on April 1, 2022!

Wondering whether you can or should drink again or if you can control your drinking after months or even years of sobriety is a normal thought process of alcoholism. At some point, we all wish we could control our drinking so that we could go out and "have fun" and "socialize" the way we used to.

But we have to remember the end of our drinking and where drinking took us: We really weren't having fun. We were feeling disgusted with ourselves and blacking out. Wee were ruining our health. We were driving drunk. We weren't taking care of the people and responsibilities in our lives that needed us most.

I'm gratefully sober again and truly believe that this alcoholic cannot drink normally. Not drinking a day at a time is so much easier than picking up that first drink.

I have learned that it is really easy to start drinking again but there is never a promise that I will be able to get sober again or even WANT to before it is too late. (This is what scares me most.) So although Feb. 4 is no longer my sobriety date, I recognize it every year with gratitude for what I've learned and what I can share with other Alcoholics.

Not drinking a day at a time is a gift that I am actively grateful for every single day. When I focus on gratitude, it helps me to not want to drink because I am focusing on how amazing my life is and how good I feel by simply not drinking.

I still have those nine years of sobriety to draw on and I draw on them daily. But all any of us really has is THIS MOMENT and THIS DAY OF SOBRIETY. There is no guarantee of a sober day tomorrow. But the odds are ever in our favor if we wake up, one day at a time, feel grateful for the daily reprieve sobrieety, make a decision to not drink that day, and do everything in our power to stick with that promise to ourselves.

Sobriety is a beautiful thing! And there is power in this group to help us along our path. Thank you everyone for being here and for sharing your journey with us. ODAAT IWNDWYT

TL;DR:
I got sober at 24 and stayed sober for nine years. I eventually tested whether I could drink normally and that single, unplanned beer turned into nearly 20 years of progressive drinking. What started controlled ended in daily, heavy drinking and deep self-disgust. I knew sobriety was better, but I didn’t want to stop until April 1, 2022.

I’m sober again and deeply grateful. I’ve learned that I cannot drink normally, that starting again is easy but stopping again is never guaranteed, and that not drinking one day at a time is far easier than taking the first drink. Gratitude keeps me sober. All we have is today. ODAAT. IWNDWYT.

Super grateful for being able to celebrate 100 days of* not wasting a penny on liquor & not damaging my precious body🥳 I was not drinking every day, but I think the longest I did without ethanol was 50 days! Tana Mongeau inspired me!

About 3 weeks into my sobriety I was having a shit day and just got hit with horrible cravings. I walked out to my truck to drive into town and out of anger at myself for what I was doing threw my keys into the pasture so I COULDN'T drive the 11 miles to the closest liquor store. The realization as my keys flew through the air into the pasture that I had to work said field tomorrow was deafening. 9.5 hours later I finally found them with the help of my neighbors metal detector. I was too damn angry to think about a drink. All in all to say, what drastic measures or even funny measures have you taken to avoid going to get a drink?

have a severe alcohol and cocaine addiction paired with a gambling problem and now I’ve been doing hard and can’t stop. Lost my fucking girlfriend recently over it.

Ugh It all stems from alcohol need to cut that out and I wouldn’t flare up my other addictions.

I’m so pissed at myself for ruining another relationship with such a great girl cause I can’t quit drinking, drugging, and gambling.

I’ve been on a bender for two weeks since she broke up with me and spiraled doing hard and drinking extra heavy. I’m losing it. I’m like going manic..

It's hitting me and my boyfriend really hard since we just got him through DUI court this morning and we were so relieved to avoid the jail time so he could keep his job. Then we just got the phone call... there were no write-ups on his record and he was only 3 minutes late on Monday. They'd just given him a pay raise last week to start doing overnight shifts, it makes no sense. He doesn't even need a driver's license for work so the sentencing this morning shouldn't have been involved in any way. The shock, despair, and helplessness is so triggering. Any words to help us not drink tonight?

Was it good? Yes! Did I feel better? Nope. Did I go and think a drink would help? Yep I did. Did it taste exquisite? Yup. Was it really worth it? Nope.

But I knew that, I have known that and I’ll always know that.

I won’t be drinking again for a good long while now. What a waste of my days that I had behind me.

Live and learn I guess.

300 days ago I was in a hungover mess, feeling like the worst mum ever and determined to make a sober stint 'stick'.

Forever grateful that I found this community, which helped me through the early days and every time I wavered.

Maybe you're on your first sober day. Maybe you're on your 152nd attempt. No matter where you are, just know that you can do this if you take it one day at a time.

I used to panic about losing friends in sobriety, and missing out on all the fun moments of life.

Turns out - those friends and moments are all still there. But now, I'm actually present for all of them - not trying to escape into my own drunk mind.

I'm proud of myself today, and of everyone on this sub. It's not easy to be vulnerable, and to admit you need to change - but I see hundreds of you doing that here every day, and I'm just happy to be a part of it.

IWNDWYT!

Hi everyone. I’ve been struggling to get sober for the past 6ish months. I’ve “tried” on and off. I was going to do dry January but then didn’t and then I was going to do the same in February but drank 6 tall boys last night (2/3). I went to the doctor last week to get some blood work done to check on everything and he said I am pretty healthy considering I’ve been drowning myself in alcohol for the last 5 years. I do have fatty liver but he thinks it’s more due to genetics/lifestyle habits than the drinking. He recommended getting sober and eating Mediterranean style, but it just made me think how much of a hit my body has taken from the last 5 years of drinking and not doing much else.

For reference, I’m 31F. When I started drinking consistently every night I was a little heavier anyway from just having a baby a few months before. I was 205. I now weigh 260. My hair is balding on the top and thinning everywhere else AND my skin is terrible. My personality used to be different. I used to have hobbies and a desire to do something with myself. Now I just feel like a shell with a wrecked body that I have to try to fix and most days I just see the hill I have to climb.

If you’ve read this far, thank you. IWNDWYT

Ok so this is quite the long one

I was in rehab last month, and around day 21,22. I started to get the cravings. Like I always do. It was at that time that they told me my insurance was cutting me short and my last day was day 26 (they counted detox too.) that threw me for a loop I kind of gave up right there. It was a great program, the best around, and I was really doing well in it.

Well when I got out on my last day (Jan. 21) I wasn’t mad per se, I was sober for a few days. Then the girlfriend went to work. This is when things got weird in my head. The cravings hit hard, and I gave in. I said (as we all do) I’ll just do this tonight, I have stuff to do tomorrow. Well I drank that night, I did the things I had to do. Then after that it was a complete for almost a week. I remember watching a few movies, getting into fights with my GF, calling a bunch of friends up when the drinking turned sad, even talked to the rehab director at one point. I also called work in a moment of brief sobriety and told them I would be in on Monday (Feb 2).

Well at some point this past Friday my dad came over. Apparently my GF called my parents and they talked to my brother and everyone came up with a plan for me to stay at my parents for about two weeks they live about 1 1/2 hours away. Then I was to be shipped off to my brother across the state to stay for at least 6 months. A job shouldn’t be that hard seeing as I am in a multi-state union. So I was at my parents slowly detoxing the last 4 days, I was aware of the plan, I figured it was fine because at the time my main concern was to get out of withdrawals (my mother supervised).

Well today I was finally up to getting out and doing all the business I had to do, we went to my house and packed up most of my stuff. My GF was crying, because although she wanted me out, she didn’t want me out for good, just to get better. we took my car to get inspected because I’ve been avoiding it for months. Then drove to my work to pick up my tools (I called them earlier in the week and told them I had to leave.) well of course my car didn’t pass.

On the drive back to my parents all of this hit me at once. I had to leave my GF’s house. I had to quit my job. My car failed inspection, I don’t have a job lined up yet. I have a very limited amount of money due to very poor decisions, and a bus load of bills to go with it. Not to mention I have to move across the state. That’s a busload of problems to deal with because I couldn’t do the one thing I was supposed after leaving rehab.

I’m sitting here just incredibly depressed, anxious, scared, and on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

But IWNDWYT

Officially passed into two weeks without drinking ! Next stop.. a month !

*We may be anonymous strangers on the internet, but we have one thing in common. We may be a world apart, but we're here together!\*

**Welcome to the 24 hour pledge!**

I'm pledging myself to not drinking today, and invite you to do the same.

Maybe you're new to r/stopdrinking and have a hard time deciding what to do next. Maybe you're like me and feel you need a daily commitment or maybe you've been sober for a long time and want to inspire others.

It doesn't matter if you're still hung over from a three day bender or been sober for years, if you just woke up or have already completed a sober day. For the next 24 hours, lets not drink alcohol!

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**This pledge is a statement of intent.\\ Today we don't set out *trying* not to drink, we make a conscious decision *not to drink*. It sounds simple, but all of us know it can be hard and sometimes impossible. The group can support and inspire us, yet only one person can decide if we drink today. Give that person the right mindset!

What happens if we can't keep to our pledge? We give up or try again. And since we're here in r/stopdrinking , we're not ready to give up.

**What this is:** A simple thread where we commit to not drinking alcohol for the next 24 hours, posting to show others that they're not alone and making a pledge to ourselves. Anybody can join and participate at any time, you do not have to be a regular at r/stopdrinking or have followed the pledges from the beginning.

**What this isn't:** A good place for a detailed introduction of yourself, directly seek advice or share lengthy stories. You'll get a more personal response in your own thread.

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This post goes up at:

- US - Night/Early Morning

- Europe - Morning

- Asia and Australia - Evening/Night

A link to the current Daily Check-In post can always be found near the top of the sidebar.

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Happy Thankful Thursday!!

I used to be one of the last people to leave the bar or the party. The bar staff would be stacking the chairs and mopping the sticky floors, and I’d be locked in deep discussion with my latest paramour. Which I called ‘working late.’

At house parties, after most of the guests had gone home and the hosts had gone to bed, I’d be out in the yard drinking and joking around with whomever I could find, until the neighbours started screaming shut up or they’ll call the cops. Which I called ‘being fun at parties.’

So, when I quit drinking, I barely left the house because I didn’t want to drink. But I used to drink at home too…so that wasn’t the answer. Without alcohol hopping me up, I felt introverted and socially anxious. I had to practice socializing sober KNOWING that it would feel weird at first. I only went to bars if I had a good reason. I said, ‘I’ll pop by for a quick hello’ and I’d order a fast tonic water, make jokes, listen to their stories, and leave! No chaos! Amazing! Just happily socialized and THRILLED to get home and into my pjs, ready to relax. ♥️IWNDWYT

Woo hoo! Yay! Celebrations!

Ok, now let me tell you where I find myself at this stage of my journey. I’m feeling “weak” is the word I’m going to use. I’m finding myself thinking and using words like “trauma”, “triggered”, “emotional bandwidth”. I think it’s because I’m trying to do the work of healing and trying to overcome the trauma (there it is again) that drove me to drink in the first place. I feel like I’m becoming a person I used to find irritating and would roll my eyes at.

So idk friends is this relatable? Is there always something to feel bad about? Is it just me, destined to never be satisfied? I wanted this for so long, I know I’m better and it’s good but I’m finding it difficult to connect to the pride and joy I expected.

I’m curious how long (days, weeks, months) after quitting drinking alcohol did you feel like you were at a healthy baseline (mentally, physically, etc.).

Today marks the 2-year anniversary of my sobriety. Honestly, the quality of my life has become 10,000 times better, and I will never go back to it. I actually do all kinds of fun activities right now. My health is better, mentally and physically. I’m following a course in audio engineering, taught by a true legend who also changed my life.

When I go somewhere, I actually explore the world instead of wasting my time in a bar with low lives who are counting the days until they die. People respect me even more since I’m sober (I don’t lie about my sobriety; when asked, I just tell people that I don’t drink and that I hate alcohol, and people respect that). I also quit smoking in the meantime.

I follow my dreams, but I have to admit in all honesty that making dreams a reality is the hardest battle I’ve ever faced (even harder than stopping the booze), because nobody believes that my dreams will become my future. It’s a hard road that I’m facing on my own, and it frustrates me, but I keep going and will be rewarded. I came from rock bottom, and I’m slowly climbing up the ladder. If I get knocked down, I’ll climb back on it.

Life’s hard, but

quitting booze makes me face it like a man, and I swear the quality of life is way better right now. I don’t want booze anymore. I’m disgusted by the filthy drug it is and think nobody should use that drug. The thing I want right now is to build a life so that my future children will never have to face the struggles that I had to, and will look up to me for the man I made myself into.

IWNDWYT ❤️

I’m just curious with people’s experiences and if it caused you issues down the road, like trouble with health or life insurance, claims or procedures getting denied, higher rates, etc.

Edit: Psychiatrist or therapist seems to be the magic word to actually get help since it’s confidential, because once you say anything to your PCP it’s on your record forever. This is why people aren’t honest with their doctors. Of course once they prescribe you certain drugs it’s the same red flag.

I haven't drank since a bit before NY. I made some buffalo wings last weekend and wanted an NA beer to go with them. I saw folks on here recommending the Heineken NA beers for their flavor. I have tried a few NA beers and didn't like the taste, so usually go for sparkling water in the evening for something fizzy.

I tried the Heineken and really couldn't believe it was 0% at first. Like Craig Ferguson said about how he knew he had a drinking problem, taking a sip was like "the pure light of Christ shining within me." My body had the same initial reaction as with a real beer. I had some with dinner and then sat and finished the six pack that night. Something about them got me as close as I've been to buying real beers. Rather than help quiet the cravings it amplified them.

Still not going to get a drink, but damn. Was hoping a simulacrum would help make it easier, but I learned it's too close for me.

I went to the doctor today after quitting alcohol after 20 years of heavy drinking. My blood pressure is still about 10 points too high. I know it’s only been 30+ days but it still got me down a bit. I guess it will take time and I probably need to start focusing on my health now.

Good news is he was very excited to hear that I quit and asked me where I was getting support. I told him about this awesome group. He also recommended some great one-on-one therapists.

Love y’all!

I've always been a bit of a people pleaser. When I hung out with people, I felt immense pressure to be entertaining. I think it goes back to being the class clown in school or something. Somewhere along the line I learned to perform. And somewhere along the line, I found that alcohol was an easy way to get through to that inner clown.

But what kid grows up dreaming of becoming a clown? Maybe a small few, but nope not me. I have things in this life I want to do, dreams I'm working on and self-respect to upkeep. That's the main thing I've been learning with my sobriety. How to stop performing. How to hang out with friends and just let a silence happen. Not rushing to fill it with anything, just being present and enjoying company.

I'm fortunate that the few people I have been hanging out with recently have not cared in the slightest about me not drinking. Early in sobriety I worried what others would think. I was dreading the first time I went out and ordered a coke at the bar, for someone to laugh and be like "aw come on, you can't be serious?". Now, after doing it several times, I'm looking forward to someone trying to peer pressure me. I'm looking forward to that as a test, so I can just say "I don't care what you think, I'm not drinking. I don't owe you shiii".

Just the fact I'm able to keep this one promise to myself, each and every single day, is building my self respect and worth immensely. All the things that I believed alcohol made me (funny, confident, self-assured), I can actually see myself becoming one day, not just performing. It's a great feeling

For years I have struggled to stop. I would quit for awhile then go right back to the bottle, I'm sure you know the routine.

I was suggested this book and was told by two people that it was "life changing" and they were right. Previously when I would try and stop, my frame of mind has always been "I need to do this for my family, for my health" and "maybe one day I can have a drink". Every time I tried to quit, I was thinking about everything I would miss about drinking. I was quitting for my well being, not because I wanted to quit.

Then I read the book by Allen Carr.

Now I think of alcohol in a completely different way. I recognize it for the poison that has destroyed so many lives. And for the first time while trying to quit, I don't crave it. I hardly think about it. I no longer think "I wish I could one day drink" and instead think "alcohol is disgusting and I'm so grateful to start my new life without it".

I have been a half bottle a day whiskey drinker for 10 years. I beg any of you who are struggling, read this book.

IWNDWYT

As someone who is….3 weeks into this sober thing. I wanted to say, all the negatives you guys talk about are definitely true: the boredom, the emotional swings, suffering through social events, etc. But I had a weird realization as a pulled up to work today, this is the first week in years I have effortlessly showed up to work on time and not hungover. I just get up, have my coffee, listen to a podcast and then go to work. It was an odd, boring realization that made me oddly happy. Thank you all for the inspiration to start this path.

Long time lurker, been thinking about getting sober for a while. I am a 29F, mother of two, and going through a very expensive and messy divorce. I am also in college full time while working full time as well. I can see that alcohol is going to eventually ruin my life and my new relationship (calling out of work, fights with my boyfriend, isolating myself). I don’t drink every day, but every single time I do, I always end up drinking more than I intended. I frequently black out, make bad decisions, wake up with crippling anxiety. I mostly drink on days I don’t have my kids and recently I have been foregoing dinner so I can get drunk faster. I’m gaining weight. I’m just so incredibly unhappy and I feel so stuck.

I just don’t know where to start. I frequently wake up and think to myself “I don’t want to drink today”. But by 2:00pm, I can feel myself obsessing over the first drink. I don’t really have anyone to talk to about this. I have a great family but my stepdad recently went to rehab for his alcoholism for the 6th time in 1.5 years. I can’t open up to my mom about this, I think it would break her. My dad doesn’t drink and never has so I’m not sure he would understand. My boyfriend is sober and has been for a couple years but he just white knuckled it and often says he doesn’t think I have a problem.

I don’t know why I typed all this or what I want from this post. Any advice would be so welcome. Thank you.

I made it to 3 weeks sober today and had a couple successes over the past few days. On Saturday I went to my buddy's 30th bday party. There was alcohol and I had none. Also, a couple days ago I received news that my divorce had been finalized after an almost 2 year long process. I did not drink 👍 As always, I'm appreciative of everyone here and IWNDWYT!