It’s been a struggle sometimes, but today marks the day three years ago when I quit drinking.
I felt that quitting drinking was something I had to do. I’d had problems with drinking, though just before I quit, I thought I could finally drink without it being a problem - though getting trashed at an office party made me realize that the only way for me to not do anything stupid with alcohol again was to quit altogether.
I don’t mind if other people drink - I’m not against drinking itself altogether.
Sometimes I really miss alcohol, though sometimes I don’t.
I hope I can stay away from drinking in the future. But if I made it to three years, maybe I can continue on this path.
Good for you. If you need encouragement to continue, I can offer this: my son seriously fell off the wagon not too long ago. The first anybody knew about it was when he was admitted to the ER in the beginning stages of liver failure, exhibiting all the symptoms of cirrhosis. He was jaundiced and having trouble breathing. They had to drain about six liters of fluid from him so he could breathe. It’s called paracentesis and has to be done periodically when the liver isn’t doing its job.
He was in ICU for about a week so they could stabilize him, as many levels in his body were dangerously low. His speech was slurred and he had trouble focusing on even simple things.
For several weeks after release, all he did was sleep and descend deeper into depression, with periodic returns to the hospital for more fluid drainage. When I spoke to him on the phone, he kept drifting in and out.
I really thought we were going to lose him this time around, but he gradually started getting better and is finally now on fairly stable ground after a couple of months of intensive intervention by family members and friends. He still has to periodically see specialists to monitor his liver function. He is doing part time work from home as energy levels allow.
He’s 43.
I relate this to you because every addict thinks that it can’t happen to them, that they are somehow immune to the ravages of substance abuse. But I’ve seen too much of it in my family and know that the damage to oneself and one’s entire family is permanent and devastating.
I wish you all the best in your effort to stay sober. You know you have a problem with it and are doing positive things. Keep it up.
I like booze. I would never even consider getting trashed at a work function though. That must have been a heck of an embarrassing situation to make you quit drinking all together.
You don’t have to minimize your achievement. You saw it was a problem, and you made the change you needed to make. It doesn’t matter it could have been worse. You actually deserve a lot of credit for stopping it before it got to that point. Most importantly, you’ve stuck to it. You have the right to be really proud of yourself!
I don’t remember being embarrassed while the event was going on - I didn’t even imagine that I was all that drunk. The time when I was embarrassed was the next morning at home when I felt a bit too sick, even though there was nobody to see me. I then knew it had to stop.
I know it’s not good to get too drunk at work functions, but in a way, I’m glad it happened, because it got me to finally quit a habit that was a problem.
Good for you, EmilyG! May you have many more such anniversaries!
Chefguy, glad to hear things are on the mend with your son! I remember your earlier thread when things looked dire. Good that things are looking better - must be terribly stressful for you.
