Need advice. Been drinking everyday for 3 months straight.

Every time you feel the need for a drink go out and smoke. I've found it to be the easiest way to ween myself off of anything. With the shakes honestly I'd say try and work through them but if it takes a shot it takes a shot. Preferably smoke joints or blunts or something because they occupy a lot more of your time. You got this, man

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Yeah best of luck man with the addiction. I have never walked a day in your shoes but it sounds to me like you want to beat this so you will. I definitely think MJ can help you if yoi can substitute somehow. Best of luck man to you and don't be afraid to reach out from family in friends.

 

If you want to stop, stop...If you don't want to stop, do not stop.

I just think if you have the want, the will should be readily available...Not tryin' to say anything here, but more often than not the people who don't quit don't want to quit.

But I love you anyway.

 

Thats a bit...You need to either set your self parameters or your going to be in big trouble. Ideally give it away, it sounds like your genes have or are not suitable for drinking- at all. (nothing to be ashamed of).

I drink a fair bit- every night but im only talking approx a 6 pack of beer or a bottle of wine. I was drinking twice that so made myself only have the first drink after a certain time..and i also only have a small amount in the fridge so i cannot "get the taste".

You need to want to change. Like really WANT to change. if you dont your just kidding yourself and the people around you.

Yes you can go cold turkey safely. You haven't been going for years yet. Wont be easy though.

Yes u can substituent smoking for drinking..its probably better for you health wise. You do get thirsty so maybe try a old fav drink like Choc milk. (no kidding)- its even got lots of suger that you will crave.

Good Luck.

 

Take it from a recovering/ex addict, you don't want to smoke every single time you crave a drink. Long story short it's not healthy for your mind, recovery, or relationship with ganja, use it, just not abusively
I definitely know what you mean about not wanting to use Benzos, my doc prescribed me a bottle (to counteract shaking) of those the first time I tried to quit, I ended up just adding those to the list of addictions. FUCK PILLS!

I highly recommend cold turkey, easiest way to quit, those "last drinks, smokes, or pills" are always the best ones, so just skip that part all-together. No offense but IMO, the shot a day idea is terrible, it only perpetuates the problems you face. For some, weaning off works but way too many people end up not giving it up for me to recommend weaning. Sometimes you just got to grit your teeth and get through it.

While the symptoms reach their worst try to remember that while it's not pleasant, your situation isn't anywhere near as bad as it could be. Some people, myself included have suffered through withdrawals lasting longer than a full month with intense hallucinations lasting 2+ weeks. I don't mean to sound like an A-Hole but perspective helps recovery.
But most of all I recommend either AA or a support group, having peers who've been through the same shit is vital to your long term sobriety. Psychedelics therapeutically administered also help addiction.

 

I'm going to start by saying that everybody is different. DTs can be extremely dangerous and I would advise that you use caution when attempting to detox from alcohol.

I don't think I need to share my whole backstory every time but here's a little info: My whole life I've had an issue with drugs and alcohol. Mostly cbvvbbvlls and liquor. Not big on bvcbvbs. If I had to be honest, most of the time I felt powerless and felt like I just couldn't fuckin stop. I went to prison for a really long time. When I got out, I couldn't do anything besides drink due to random parole drug tests for 3 years. Before I got out I promised myself I'd never touch hard drugs again and I never did. However, everyday after work I'd stop at the liquor store, pick up a handle of sobieski and basically go to town, black out and wake up for work in the morning. I'm a high functioning alcoholic. I kept showing up to work on time and nobody around me besides my live in gf mentioned anything about my drinking so it turned into a permanent fixture in my life. I didn't even think about it anymore. Come home, black out, do work. Come home, black out, do work. I can't tell you exactly how much time passed by like this. Around 5 years maybe of drinking everyday, almost a handle (I'm a big dude), and my tolerance started to reverse a little bit. My liver hurt pretty bad. I would have to take a week off after really bad bouts of drinking here and there because my body just wouldn't keep anything with liquor in it down. I'd have the shakes really bad and I'd want them to go away so I'd drink a shot, a highball or a beer and my body would puke it up exorcist style immediately. After a few days of forced sobriety, I'd be ready to get back at it again. Reverse tolerance aggravated one thing - belligerence. I would wake up with awful injuries. Either self inflicted or I'd be blacked out talking shit to people and getting what I deserved for it. I wondered how it's possible I'd be so drunk in the morning and my live in gf told me that I'd wake up from sleeping in a sitting position, bend over and grab the booze, chug it and then go back to being passed out. I sleep drank.

I tried doing the drinking in moderation thing but usually after a few weeks of serious white-knuckling, I'd go on a "revenge bender." Sort of making up for lost drinking time. If I'm being honest with myself, I know in my heart that I don't really have a stop button with booze. The minute there is some liquor in my blood, the part of my brain that I've trained to say "stop here" is completely shut down. It became the most bizarre vicious cycle.

A few years ago I had the worst withdrawals I've ever had in my life during one of those "sick breaks" where my body wouldn't let me drink. Turned out to be the last time. Again, difficult to remember exactly how much time passed but non-stop shakes lasted about a week, maybe 2. I had no appetite for about 6 months. The shits for about a month. The adrenaline shakes lasted about a year. (Loud noises, tense situations, traffic, etc all cause an adrenaline rush where you get nauseous, get pale and start shaking. This dulls over time but is really intense at first.) I realized I hated my job so I quit my job. Took some time off and basically started from nothing again. I was sober for a year and I slowly realized that I hated the person that I lived with for the last 5 years. It was all so different through booze colored glasses. We separated and it turns out that right before I got sober she was going to leave me anyway and even had a side piece. She stayed because I randomly got my shit together but by that time we both had done so much damage to our relationship, there was no going back.

Have you ever tried to start exercising? Like running or weight lifting?

To me, not drinking is very similar. At first you really have to fight yourself for the motivation to get up after a tiring day at work and go to the gym or hit the track. If you're diligent, eventually you'll realize that you don't get sore anymore. Fast forward some more and it will be an everyday part of your life. You won't be able to imagine a day without going to the gym or taking a jog.

These days I go out to bars, attend parties and I am frequently a designated driver. I make my sweet crepe batter with Rum. I cook sauces and deglaze with wine and make chili with beer. It NEVER even crosses my mind to pick up a drink.

When I first got sober, I would constantly obsess over all of the shit I couldn't do anymore. Bars, parties, friends, celebrating with liquor, birthdays, drinking with grandpa, etc. "My friends will bust my balls." "How will I be able to do _____ without having a few drinks?" I have no idea why I did that to myself. I made my first year of sobriety unnecessarily difficult. It's total bullshit. There is nothing that I can't do because I'm sober. Quite the contrary, my days in comparison are extremely productive and fulfilling. Plus, I'm always available to drive.

Summary.... summary? Summary! OH YEAH! Here's what I'm saying basically: If you quit cold turkey, be careful. Take it one second, then one minute, then one hour, then one day at a time as you feel you can handle it. Try to focus on how disappointed you'd be in yourself if you tossed away however amount of sobriety time because you're too weak. Don't focus on the things you won't be able to do anymore. It is a lot like losing a loved one. (and believe me, liquor to me was a deranged best friend, not a drug of choice. I remember having conversations with liquor alone in a dank basement, convinced that I'm not worth loving and that liquor was my only friend.) What I mean by this is that time will pass, the pain will get duller and staying sober will no longer be a conscious effort. It just will be. I don't even consider myself "staying sober" anymore because I have absolutely no compulsion. I just don't drink.

Also, I don't attend AA anymore due to conflicts with marijuana and atheism. I can't do the doorknob thing. I like the program and if it works for you, great. After about a decade of being in/out of the program, I decided it was not for me.

Oh, one more thing. The poster above and I share a common opinion - Don't replace your dependence on liquor with a dependence on weed or any other substance for that matter. I smoked through my DTs but not a lot. Just enough to be able to eat a little bit.

Good luck. The only thing I can compare it to is like being a plant surrounded by weeds that are sucking away all of your sunlight, food and water. Getting sober helped clear away most of those weeds and I feel like I can finally face the sun and grow.

 

How the hell are you dependent on alcohol when you dont drink that much? I used to drink a 70cl bottle of whiskey/gin a night or 10-12 beers a night and I didnt become dependent on it I was just partying everyday lol I stopped after 6 months with no problems..

 

Reduce the amount you drink each day. Use weed to help u in doing so if necessary. Withdrawal isn't fun, but its certainly not going to kill u. The longer you perpetuate this addiction,the harder it'll be to quit.

 

I hate to be a wet blanket but if you're getting the shakes you probably can't quit on your own although some do. You may need to go in for detox.