I quit smoking in October of 2008. I had a small relapse in December, and then again in Febuary '09.
I’ve avoided bars and drinking (check location in my stats) pretty well, but in April I went to Columbus, OH for training, and discovered “smoke-free” bars.
It seems alcohol in-and-of-itself is not a factor in my inclination to smoke.
The flip side is that I think I may be a functioanal alcoholic.
I’ve not had much to drink since last October.
But last weekend, I was invited to a backyard BYOB party, and got blitzed.
I’ve now purchased a very large bottle of cheap Rum, and have had several very strong cocktails every night since last Saturday.
I don’t get “falling-down” drunk, but I put on a very strong “buzz” every night.
Am I an alcoholic? Am I substituting one addiction for another?
I dont’ think you’re a functional alcoholic. Those tend to drink heavily every day and don’t stop for anything. It could be that you have a type of addictive personality. I know that when I get into something I REALLY get into something, to the point I have to cut myself off sometimes so I don’t go all obsessive.
Or, it could just be a phase. I had a martini phase for awhile, I drank two a night and went through three bottles of gin in a short time. Now I don’t even remember the last time I had one.
What happens if you stop drinking? If you pour the rum down the drain and skip the cocktails for a couple of weeks, are you gonna get stressed out/anxious? Would it be a struggle for you to get through a couple of weeks like this without diverting to a bottle shop?
I’m not any kind of expert on addiction, but I suspect that if the above is true, you might want to consider signing up with AA.
If you frequently drink more than you intended, you may be an alcoholic. For any given night that I had that first drink, I could not predict whether I would just have one or two, or whether I would get totally bombed.
I don’t think there is any difference between a functional alcoholic and the rest of us drunks. A functional alcoholic is just one who still has some more digging to do before they reach rock bottom.
Try giving up the rum and see what happens. If you are an addictive personality, you might try substituting a healthy habit instead like a long walk after work. It might just be that you’re stressed and need a way to relax, but obviously smoking and drinking aren’t the healthiest choices.
If you find you can’t stop drinking without serious struggle, go find an AA meeting.
I did pretty much what you described when I quit smoking. I used booze as a substitute for a while. But I reached a point pretty easily with the booze where I just decided to cut back, and did it successfully. And when I finally cut back on the booze, the cravings for nicotine weren’t there any more. Everybody does it differently, and some may object to me saying it, but my opinion is if it works, go for it. It worked for me.
You sound like me, man. I drank heavily, smoked heavily, loved my weed, and did any non-injectible drug available. Stopped smoking over 20 years ago, drinking 5+, and no drugs in a long time other than occasional pot (and daily caffeine overload.)
Smoking and bars go very much hand-in-hand. I remember it being VERY difficult figuring out what I was supposed to do with my other hand while drinking!
You are an intelligent person, and I think only you can figure out what labels apply the best to you. I never considered myself an “alcoholic” - functioning or otherwise. Instead, my self description was “heavy drinker.” At other times I’ve considered whether I had “addictive tendencies.” But the upshot was that I acknowledge that for whatever reason I like to alter my consciousness through ingestion of substances, and consistently tend to indulge in those substances to excess.
More important than labels IMO is how you choose to deal with it. If you are maintaining you job, social relationships, not driving drunk, etc., well, you could just keep going on as you are. Me, I stopped smoking and drinking for a couple of reasons. Smoking - my soon-to-be wife would not tolerate it, and it bothered me that I was so unable to control it. I guess I am kinda caught up in my ability to control my actions and exercise willpower, and it bothered me that I enjoyed and wanted maybe 5 cigs a day, and smoked maybe 50 out of habit, compulsion, etc.
Drinking I quit because I thought the years of excess were having a toll, and because I felt I was setting a bad example for my kids.
For me, I was able to quit both just out of willpower. Which I suspect you could as well. But you have to be sure that you want to quit. Because it is so easy to convince yourself to let yourself slip for countless reasons. For me it was (and continues to be) simply a matter of saying “no” every time the urge strikes. Every time I tried to cut down, I impressed myself with my ability to lie to and cheat on myself!
The demon Rum is going into the cupboard for a few days, at least. I hate the idea of pouring it out; it may only be basic Bicardi Silver, but it’s still $22 a bottle. I thought about giving it to a friend at work, but with my luck, I’d get caught with an opened bottle in my company-provided work truck and be realy screwed.
On the brighter side, there was no additional urge to smoke going along with the additional drinking. But I did just order an extra large triple pepperoni pizza (j/k).
There are a lot of alcoholics from my Dad’s side of the family, and in his day, my Dad pounded back the beer at a fearsome rate. At one point in my life, I was a heavy drinker, at least by American standards; by German standards, I was average, and since I was in Germany at the time…
But when I came back to the states, my drinking fell off to almost nothing; a purely social drinker, two beers or glasses of wine with a meal, that sort of thing. I might go several weeks without any alcohol of any kind (which in and of itself is a sad commentary on my social life :rolleyes: )
I think what bothered me was how quickly I fell into the routine of several evening cocktails, and how quickly I upped the “dosage” in those cocktails. And on work nights, no less. :eek:
Some people talk about clearing the house of booze and staying out of bars when they try to slow down/quit. Never was a problem for me, but different things work for different people.
I have a buddy who keeps track of his daily/weekly drinks. Just counts up the total on a calendar. He likes it, because it really lets him see if his consumption is creeping upwards. And he doesn’t sweat over isolated heavy nights, but can easily see if they start coming fast and furious.
Moderation Management has a slew of guidelines you might want to try. IIRC they say limit yourself to 14 drinks a week, no more than 4 on any 1 day, no more than 1-2 per hour, and no more than 2 drinking days in a row. My problem with those was I treated the limits as goals. Damned if I wouldn’t hit my max 4 per day, 14 per week.
Final thought, alternate drinks with something NA - if only water. You may find you are full, or spending too much time in the pisser, to get as shitfaced as you might otherwise!
