I have quit drinking

If this is the right decision for you, keep your chin up and keep going.

I’m not here to doubt things you say, but from what I read, you weren’t that heavy of a drinker and didn’t even drink for that long. Can you really do damage to your hips with moderate drinking for a couple years? The person in the linked article was drinking 2-3 bottles of wine each day for five years. I can understand that since it is 8-12 drinks per day.

Either way, thanks for the education as I didn’t know this was a thing. And good luck for ongoing sobriety.

You may have screwed up your PAST life, but you can avoid screwing up your FUTURE life.

Congratulations! I stopped at the tail end of 2020. Needed to go into detox and rehab to do it safely, but it’s been great since. Congratulations, and I hope you keep this up! It’s not unusual to have a lapse in the meantime, so don’t beat yourself up over it if you do, just get back on the path. My life and inner thoughts have been so much stabler ever since. I had never really thought it affected me all that much (I was pretty functional), but after stopping, I’ve seen just how much different my moods and thought patterns have been, and despite the rough patch in finally getting help, it was worth it for the much better quality of life I have enjoyed since. Your post is not depressing. It is joyous and celebratory. Go you!

So did my Mother, at 50.

Well, when you add in rotgut gin, and the Government deliberately poisoning drinkers, and the gang violence- likely not.

Stay safe, and get better @X.L.Lent this is a good decision.
Too many people are/were drinkers, and there is no good replacement (the voters actually thought Prohibition was going to allow beer).

Vs Cigarettes- only 15% or so of Americans are smokers, and patches, gum, vaping and snuff/chaw etc do replace the nicotine dependence.

Drugs? We are losing that war too, time to regroup.

Also, if you want a support group that is not AA, look into SMART recovery.

I like to check in from time-to-time, though mostly I work as a volunteer for the friends-and-family program (their version of AlAnon) to keep everything in perspective. You may not need it, and it’s very much a non-judgmental group of people where you use it as long as you need it, but it tries to teach you self-managed ways of maintaining sobriety, based a good bit on cognitive behavior therapy/rational emotive behavior therapy methods, among other things. You may or may not find it helpful; just throwing this out there as a resource.

I have a feeling that you’re either familiar with, or going to become familiar with … very soon … this saying:

One day at a time

I think there’s a lot of power in trying to get through each day, each hour, and each minute/second when that’s all you can do.

I think looking back can cause depression, and that looking forward can cause anxiety.

IMHO.

You’ve made a life changing … a life affirming decision for yourself. You are to be congratulated for that first giant step.

Do the best you can do … one day at a time.

All the best to you.

There are small benefits to one drink a day; there are definite problems from over-drinking every day.

If you cannot stop at 1, then you’re better off not having any. One of the hardest things to learn is when and how to stop drinking.

The question for me was: do I want to drink? Or do I need to drink? Once I realized the answer was becoming more and more the latter, it was time to stop. I do think (and have seen) some people go fine with moderation. It’s a tricky line to toe, and going for full-on abstinence for at least the first six months or a year is recommended even for those who want to moderate their drinking, at least in the programs I’ve reviewed that are not full-out against moderation (like AA). It’s one less thing to think about: no alcohol. In the meantime, if you have other psychological/psychiatric issues in the background, it’s a good idea to try to address those, if you have the means to do so. They will make things much easier. (Or at least I could say, they have made things much easier for me.)

For anyone who wants to moderate their alcohol consumption rather than stop entirely, I’ve been seeing a lot of ads lately for apps that claim to help with that. I can’t vouch for any of them personally, but I’ve used dieting apps like MyFitnessPal, and it seems like this might be another area where that sort of thing could work. My old job had me working with a lot of addicts of all stripes, and from what I read and witnessed firsthand, accountability is one of the key elements to sticking with a program. An actual person/group who will notice and react in a supportive way if you stumble is best, but even a popup reminder on your phone is something.

Not so much for the OP, but it should be also noted that going cold turkey if you’re a long-term drinker can be dangerous (seizures) and a medically supervised detox would be a safe option. Alternatively, tapering, but I would opt for detox.

I had never heard of alcohol destroying bones. Yikes! Family members who had problems with alcohol died of other issues, either directly caused by, or not helped by, the booze.

Congratulations on making the decision to quit! I would definitely recommend finding some kind of support, whether it be AA, some other group program, an individual counselor, or whatever.

For what it’s worth: as you noted, you’re heading into retirement. Yeah, you may not be in as good shape as you’d like, due to the drinking etc. - but by making this move now, you’re going to be in a hell of a lot better shape than if you’d continued the way you were going.

This is a general reply, not directed at the OP.

To reiterate what pulykamell says above: don’t attempt to quit drinking cold-turkey. My brother’s childhood best friend was a hard-core alcoholic. He decided he was going to stop drinking, and the withdrawal killed him. Age 26.

I’d also like to second Chefguy: if there are underlying issues, get real help beyond AA. They are not equipped to deal with anything beyond “don’t drink today.”

– GESancMan, sober 17 years

Yeah, my father was a liver doctor, and he routinely supervised patients who were hospitalized while they quit drinking. The withdrawal can be deadly, and doctors can help make it safe. (Monitoring vital signs and giving other drugs when needed.)

But best wishes in kicking the habit.

It seems depressing only to you. You are to be congratulated for recognizing a problem and doing something about it. I have several friends who belong to the one-day-at-a-time club.

I have stopped drinking except maybe two drinks a year. Why? A friend’s brother died from combining Tylenol and alcohol on a daily basis. He was a mess. I have arthritis and take Tylenol, therefore I won’t take alcohol.

Good luck. But don’t be overly dramatic. I’m trying to figure out what an ortho woulda done if he “so far found no damage” - but you have an appt to go over X-rays. AVN is not exactly a subtle condition. And every time I’ve been to my ortho, they’ve popped up the X-rays instantly.

Sorry your hips hurt, glad you have decided to stop drinking. Take precautions and seek assistance - but don’t automatically presume the worst. And there is not much more annoying than a preachy ex-drunk. (Says the guy some 18 years sober.)

Don’t beat yourself up. Alcohol dependency is a medical issue. You weren’t just being stupid, it is pervasive and insidious. The WHO estimates that more than 5% of the world’s population over 15 suffers from it. In the US, it is estimated that 7% of adults are struggling with it. That’s a lot of people.

What matters is that you’re doing something about it now. Keep it up and don’t give up.

Did you say that you’ve been drinking for four years, maybe 4-6 drinks a day? Did I get that right? OK, if you want to quit, that’s cool. But seriously, that’s not that long, and it’s not that much. Wish you well.

Congrats. I quit back in Jan 2019. After a stroke, I had to quit drinking, and since alcohol and smokes go hand-in-hand, I decided to give up drinking as well.

Yes. It’s important to note that alcohol and acetaminophen/paracetemol are not a good combo and can destroy your liver more quickly. Back when I drank a lot, I avoided anything with it for that reason (and a doctor friend informed me of the dangers).