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try some 5-HTP 100mg 1 in the morning , one at lunchtime . do not drink while trying this ! 5-HTP http://www.progressivehealth.com/using-5-hydroxytryptophan-and-alcohol.htm |
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i have a feeling me and this guy could hang out and have a few drinks over smoking some briskets one night  Quoted:
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how bad do you have to fuck up to have that absolutionist view? backstory? 
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I often have a drink when I get home from work because it helps remove the urge to fire half my staff. (talk about taking one for the team...) You sir, are A Great American! |
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My wife would have a couple of beers after work each day and a few more on the weekends. Then she was putting away a 6 pack a day at least with probably closer to 12 on weekend nights. Then it went to rum and coke. Until recently she was going through a 1.75L bottle of Bacardi every two days of so. She doesn't drink much now but hasn't quit completely. The only thing that has slowed her down is that she is too sick to drink like that now. She is spending a second night in the ICU tonight. Was up there twice last week too. She has Cirrhosis now and is in liver failure. All the vomiting, diarrhea/incontinence , not being able to eat hardly anything, being too weak to get to the bathroom in time has really cut back on her drinking. She will be 46 in December. If she makes it to December. She has the fluid building up in her abdomen and lower legs now. Tuesday she had to have some fluid drained from her belly. They took 5.3 liters out. Her electrolyte levels are so low her heart could stop. That's why she is in the ICU again. It's not a pretty way to go. Once the liver is damaged it can't heal. Drinking to excess is damaging you liver and eventually it is nothing but scar tissue. She still thinks she isn't that bad and doesn't believe the doctors. She thinks she doesn't drink that much. Stop now. If not for you, do it for your family. Worst conversation I have ever had was trying to explain to our 18yr old daughter last week that her mother is dying and might not make it to the end of this year. |
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Absolutionist? Is that even a word? I have a tendency towards compulsion. All or nothing. I wish I could change that, but I can't. All I can do is recognize it and adapt. I quit drinking and funneled my compulsion into shooting, boxing, MMA, and lifting heavy. I'm pretty fucking happy with the results. Maybe some day I'll learn a way to overcome that compulsion. In the meantime, I'll just keep channeling it into positive things and away from negative things. |
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OP, you are on your way to alcoholism.
Folks that can "handle their liquor" are the ones at most risk. It sneaks up on you and then BINGO you are a drunk. Lots of alcoholics in my family, and I enjoy drinking. But I am "blessed" with a metabolism that won't let me drink every day. And I refuse to let drinking stop me from other pursuits....like work, getting up early to hunt, etc. For awhile, I was one of those guys who would drink beer until it was gone. It took a little will power, but now I can have 1 or 2, even though the fridge is full. I was fully prepared to never drink again if I wasn't able to figure that out. Alcohol will wreck your life if you let it be in charge. |
| If im low on cash Ill buy two of these bastards and get pretty damn drunk. If I down a third one I will be absolutely drunk in the morning and feel like shit the rest of the day. Beers are another thing, I usually have like 8-12 a night, Coors Original. Wake up in the morning feeling like a crisp $100 bill. I really need to take a break though. |
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I have thought for years that drinking every day is a problem (yeah I know about the 2 drink a day bit is good for your heart or whatever).
I rarely drink during the week, but on weekends I tend to drink a lot of beer. I would strive not to drink during the week. Also, hard booze seems to be a common thread for those who are addicted - especially vodka... Good Luck. |
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OP, I was a pro bartender for almost a decade, and I'm an alcoholic. I'm 2 years and 5 days sober.
You're slamming vodka in large quantities. Thats not "man its hot and cold beer tastes great when its hot", thats "I cant stand the idea of being completely sober right now." You're concerned enough about this behavior to open up to a group of strangers. That tells me its probably worse than even you think. If you drink that often, you'll get a DUI at some point. Its an odds game, and you'll lose. BEST case scenario, you don't hurt anyone or damage property, and you'll have probation and an Interlock, and it will cost about $5k if you don't hire a lawyer. In CO, even if you do hire a lawyer, first offense is going to be the same, but another $3k to the lawyer and a few months fewer on probation. Worst case is you get in a wreck and hurt someone innocent. I had a counselor tell me that if I could put a case of beer in the fridge, and have just one, every other day, for a month, that was a good sign I didn't have a problem. I knew instantly that it would be easier to never drink again than do that. Faith in God and an amazing wife have given me reasons to stay sober. You need to find yours. Yes, what you're doing is a problem. Its not anything to be embarrassed about either, despite what GD posters will say about constant drinking being fine and muh freedoms. Getting a DUI, thats embarrassing as fuck. Having your wife explain to your kids why dad is slurring his words, thats embarrassing and shameful. Dig in and find something better than being intoxicated. And if you quit, really quit. Not just "weekends only" or some excuse like that, just quit. Its affecting you, and your family. PM if you have any questions, insults, whatever. |
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It's very easy. As with many things, it's hard if you are a weak ass unmotivated apathetic bitch that wants to sit around all day making excuses. It's not that most things in life are hard, it's that most people suck at getting off the couch and putting in the work. If you don't want to drink...don't drink. It's easy. If it's not easy, you are the problem. Fix you. Quoted:
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its easy man. just quit. If you don't want to drink...don't drink. It's easy. If it's not easy, you are the problem. Fix you. |
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Keto's a fad diet, doesn't work. . . . Quoted:
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speaking of tacos.... so i did the keto diet a few months back and was able to drop 30lbs. The issue is that i never actually quit drinking and would just do strait vodka or gin  in fact there was a study done on mice in the last 2 years where the kidneys in the mice were destroyed by induced diabetes and then the mice where put on a strict keto diet and the kidneys were regenerated and healed. |
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op
a handle every 5 days will eventually kill you and your liver. I crave when I cook, so I have a double or 2 when I cook. It eases the pain of having to cook. I do that a couple times a week. I hate being hung over so I stop after one or 2. Pour yourself a double and stop. If you just cant stop after 1 double then you have a problem that needs help. If that is the case, then get the help |
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Ask your wife if she thinks you have a problem...
Do an experiment. Make a conscious decision not to drink for a period if time (I suggest 30 days). Se how you feel. Has your life improved? Make adjustments from there. You are in control, habit or not. If you can't stop for 30 days, my guess is that you have a problem. PS. I slowly went from a glass or 2 of wine after work to a bottle or 2 over a 4 year period. It concerned me. I did a 30 day cleanse (for a lot more reasons than just alcohol). Felt great! Anyway, still feels good enough that I don't drink during the week for the most part and only on weekends if in social setting. Basically, I don't drink alone anymore. Works well for me, and every physical part of my life has improved (the rest was always good.) Good Luck! |
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At those levels I would suggest a taper schedule
http://hams.cc/taper/ |
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I used to be the same way. Drank damn near every day from age 25 to 32. towards the end of that i could kill 6-10 a night easy. Picked up a fresh 12 pack nearly every day after work, sometimes i'd start drinking around 6.
Drink wake up hungover and feeling like shit (didn't know it at the time, it was normal) work a sedentary job, feel like shit from that. come home feeling like shit. A beer or 8 made me feel better. rinse/repeat for years. Ate too much, drank to much, and next thing i know i'm a 200# tubby dude at 5'10" at 32yo. I stopped that shit (somewhat) cold by starting to go to the gym and focus on my fitness. Now that i've got the extra weight off i wake up every day feeling like a million bucks. Lifting is motivation to not drink, as my performance and recovery suffer from alcohol. Because of this i'm in better shape than most of the guys in there that are 10 years younger than me. ...and i can still drink when i suits me. No hard and fast rules but i generally keep it to weekends. I'll occasionally have a few on a weeknight but those days are few and far between. Good luck quitting or cutting back. |
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You need to take control of your drinking. You are an alcoholic. I probably am too. I used to drink at least a 12 pack every night for years through my mid 20's. I had a work schedule where I would start work at noon and get out at 9 so I had plenty of time to pound the beers, sleep in a little, and still wake up in time for work. I got a better job that has a regular 9-5 schedule and drinking like that had me miserable or tired every day. It was the job or the booze, so I gave up the booze. I still have it on the weekends, usually about a 12 pack on Fridays and the same on Saturdays while I'm out grilling or fucking around in the yard. If there's something to do early the next day on the weekend, chores to do, or errands to run, I won't have any.
I still crave beer every single day that I don't have it even years doing the same routine. You have to make the choice to stop and take control of it. You'll be amazed to see how much better work and family life is with a clear head (even if you THINK you have one now). I like beer and the feeling of being buzzed so I won't tell you to quit if you don't want to. I'm sure you and I would be better off if we did. Just break the habit of needing it for today to be a "normal" day. If I can do it, you could too. |
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keto does wonders in fact there was a study done on mice in the last 2 years where the kidneys in the mice were destroyed by induced diabetes and then the mice where put on a strict keto diet and the kidneys were regenerated and healed. Quoted:
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speaking of tacos.... so i did the keto diet a few months back and was able to drop 30lbs. The issue is that i never actually quit drinking and would just do strait vodka or gin in fact there was a study done on mice in the last 2 years where the kidneys in the mice were destroyed by induced diabetes and then the mice where put on a strict keto diet and the kidneys were regenerated and healed. |
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technically i do not feel like i get drunk, but i am sure that i get past the point of a legal limit. I usually drink vodka on the rocks and go through a bottle every 5 days. I dont tend to drink beer anymore as it bloats me way to bad. I've seen the vodka on the rocks people turn into a trunk full of empty vodka bottles people. |
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why is that? your typing doesn't seem to be slurred  so why would you tell yourself that you didn't want to drink and then go ahead and do so? |
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There's a guy on here whose sig line is: "The pain of discipline today is less than the pain of regret tomorrow." Who is that? It's been really helpful for me. I've even said it to guys I've coached. It's good advice for life. 
This image helped motivate me to lose over 130lbs. |
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but i really dont feel that i get shit housed. I just like the taste and the relaxing buzz that i get after a few. When you get home from work... fix your favorite drink: same size, same potency (no fishbowls, no doubles, etc.). Enjoy your drink. Do whatever you do to unwind, etc. but do not drink any more. Continue this for at least 3-4 weeks, not just one week to show you can do it. Since you are doing this with an objective in mind, this should include weekends- 7 days, 7 drinks... not 5 days good behavior with a guilt-free weekend of reward. One of two things is likely to happen: 1. You either get accustomed to that one daily drink, like an obese person gets used to eating half of what they used to. Great, have one drink when you get home, or don't have any all. Just beware of that "see I proved I could do it" back pat followed by a return to the former habit of the daily few. Or; 2. You experience the same or sharper cravings to have another once the drink's calming effects begin to wear off. This may accompany an increased sense of relief come 6pm when you finally get home to that one evening drink. The goal may be accomplishable with you setting your mind to it, but you are aware that it was a struggle, and perhaps now you are looking forward to resuming your drinking as before. Alternately, you find you did not make 3-4 weeks of drinking consistent. On week one, you had a very rough wednesday at work and deserved a second one... just one though. On week two, you had that wedding/card game/etc. and it would have just been weird not to have a few drinks to join in and celebrate. Whatever the situation or excuse was, you did not stick to the experiment you agreed to do, and dont see the point/have the willingness to restart and do a perfect 4 weeks.This is a red flag. If you have any additional questions, etc. feel free to PM me as well. |
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Going through a big bottle of vodka every 5 days sounds like a lot. Telling OP to not drink is only going annoy him, making him want to drink. OP will realize if it's a problem, if kids start mentioning it, or wife won't leave you alone over it, maybe go a day a week without to start, limit to two shots (2.5 floz / 70 ml) on the days you are drinking none if you start getting the DTs, if that happens, you MUST talk to a doctor about quitting if you realize you really need to (getting DTs is a hint, typically). If you honestly have a racing heartbeat, jittery hands, and you're shit's fucked up if you don't drink for a day, then just try cutting down, limit yourself to 6 shots per day to start (1 shot = 1.25 US Fluid Ounces or 35ml) That's an 80 proof liquor to 5% ABV beer equivalent, roughly. Basically, go from a 12 pack to a 6 pack a day. Wait longer before your first one, wait longer between them, AND have at least equal amount of just water or gatorade (no caffeine, electrolyte and water replenishment to save your liver) between them. I'd also suggest talking to your doctor about it so he can do a liver function check and all the other blood panel to see how low on iron you are, etc. Get Drinkwel from amazon and you won't have the hangover problem, but that's not exactly going to dissuade you from drinking.
OP has two choices: He can continue on as is if amounts haven't increased in the past decade. -OR- OP can drink more to forget about all the issues that come with worrying about not drinking, alienate his wife and kids, have a nervous breakdown, end up in a divorce, drinking more due to that stress, and end up being fired because of being.. not hungover.. while at work. Then, once everything is gone, He'll decide he should probably not drink. All OP has to do is go to an AA meeting and listen, while being as sober as possible, to hear the above story repeated with slight variances, just listen, don't justify or speak. If OP has been drinking and assuming it normal for most of his adult life, and it's not a "growing/increasing" problem, then OP is fine, but this thread may have been his subconscious. I'm not telling you to quit drinking OP, just try laying off to please your wife, though you'll probably be an asshole without the buzz until you deal with everything being the same, but moreso, since you'll feel it. If you have a temper, you may want to try this while in another town. There are functioning drinkers around, it used to be the norm prior to the 90s. Just like there are functional people who smoke weed. They are a smaller number now, though, due to the stigma that's been placed on alcohol so it's looked at as if you were also smoking 2 packs of Marlboro's a day (hearing 'you shouldn't smoke' all the time, etc), it sort of makes people closet drunks instead of functional drinkers. Though I don't know much about this topic. 
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With how much you are drinking now is a good time to try and quit. For the last couple of years I was drinking more than twice that. I always had two handles and a box of wine on hand and I replaced the handles at least once a week. It got so bad that I was starting to shop at different stores for appearance purposes. Ever try to buy 4 handles at once at a grocery store to save 15%? People will say something. Even drinking that much I didn't suffer from hangovers though. It wasn't until I took a break from drinking and then went back to it that I started to feel hung over every morning. This compounded my problem because the best way to get over a hangover is to start drinking again. Next thing I knew I was day drinking on the weekend. I don't remember much of 2016.
Some things that helped me cut way back: Stop buying two handles at a time. (gin and bourbon) Stop buying handles. Stop buying two bottles at a time. (gin and bourbon) No more than 1 bottle a week. Stop cheating on the above by buying a bottle and a case of beer or wine. Stick to beer or wine since they are harder for me to self destruct on. Wait a couple of hours after getting home from work before having that first drink. Start taking time off in steps. Sober weekdays. 1 week. 2 weeks. etc. Find something to do with free time. The day is a lot longer if I don't spend half of it drinking and idle hands will soon be filled with a drink. Boozing had me neglecting a lot of stuff so I had plenty to do. There are still days where I sit there and think "Now what? Maybe I should go buy some bourbon." I set other goals and worked hard on accomplishing them. Like most boozers I put on body fat that needed to come off which is a good one to focus on since they require the same discipline. Don't let slip ups become excuses for going back to drinking full time. Dust off the self loathing and start over. Recognize mistakes and work toward correcting them. Look for something to buy with all of the money saved by not drinking as a reward when reaching a significant goal. Some of that might not help as you aren't drinking as much as I was and probably not as out of control but you get the general idea. Just keep making progress toward regaining control. Eventually little steps add up. Take all advise with a grain of salt including everything that I said that helped me. Different people need different approaches. Don't believe all of the crap that non-addicts will throw at you about needing help, needing AA, having to hit rock bottom, or "you have to stay sober for the rest of your life because you are an alcoholic." People watch too much TV and are more than willing to speak out of their ass. There have already been a bunch of those responses here. You have to find something that works for you. There is no magic fix. To me, AA is a joke. The overwhelming majority of people that start AA do not get sober. It isn't the fix that people think it is. Yeah, the program works if you work it. For some people. It flat out isn't for most people though. If my only option was to sit around listening to a bunch of drunks and people that have been sober for years telling me how bad booze is and that I need to surrender to a higher power I'd probably kill myself. That isn't an exaggeration either. It would either drive me to drink or to commit suicide and since the whole point is to not drink I think it would kill me. If I need help from someone I am going to see a psychiatrist. It might not suck for you though so try it if you think it will help you. The one thing I can say for certain is that you have to want to change a lot more than you want to drink and the only one that can make that change happen is you. You don't seem to want to change though. Your wife has her concerns but you don't seem to have many of your own. But you are also speaking out of both sides of your mouth on it like you know you have a problem but say you don't. You should sit down and have a long conversation with her about it. Maybe she will change your mind. If you do decide to change be prepared for a rush of feelings. One of the things heavy boozing does it shut down your emotional responses. All of that rushes back when you get sober. Someone else mentioned supplementing with 5-HTP. That might be a good idea because starting to feel again after so long can be depressing. You will likely see some shit about yourself that you don't like and a boost of serotonin might help to feel better. Or at least help you get through it without resorting to drinking again. It isn't something I considered for that reason but I did start taking it in an effort to help me sleep. Sleeping without booze is extremely hard. Right now I am in the middle of #SoberOctoBert (#BertIsFat btw). I had already cut way back and was on a break of at least 2 weeks prior to the start of the month and thought it would be fun to join in. When the month is over I am debating on enjoying a nice bottle of Bookers or extending my sobriety until the end of the year. 90 days is supposed to be long enough of a change to break any habit. I should be well over 100 at that point plus more days not drinking than drinking going back for a few more months. Right now I am at the point where I can control whether or not I buy and drink alcohol easily enough which is a great place to be again. However, the couple of experiments I have done of buying alcohol and seeing if I could have it in the house without over indulging have not gone well. I am hoping to change that so I can get back to being able to drink responsibly. If not I might have to give it up for good which would suck. Not just because I love beer and bourbon but also because I would hate to admit defeat and give up control permanently. For me, that would be a future relapse just waiting to happen and who knows how bad it might be or if I will be strong enough to overcome it again. Better for me to fix the whole problem now. |
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alright... work is done and i am home for the day.... lets see what happens... And i am thinking about taking the advice of slowly tapering off. Maybe a beer and a glass of wine for tonight? If you do not think you are physically dependent, and you want to confirm it, have zero for a little while. Just make sure you have alcohol readily available. If you need to taper off due to physical dependency, you will find that out later tonight or usually (not always, can be longer, not all human brains are the same) within 12-24 hours of your last drink. If you experience sweating, hands shaking, vomiting, high blood pressure, racing pulse etc you will have two choices. Try to taper or go see a doc. YOU MUST DO ONE OF THOSE TWO THINGS. If those things happen you need to either consume alcohol fairly quickly or go in right away. Do not wait any longer to do one of those two things, if you do, very bad things can begin to happen pretty fucking quick, the next symptom is seizures around the 48 hour mark and it gets worse from there. Really bad things, possible psychosis and/or death in the later days of withdrawal. While not statistically common, can occur. If you experience them and you choose to not go see a doc you must try to taper, DO NOT just quit cold turkey if you experience withdrawal symptoms and are not going to see a doctor pretty quickly. Alcohol withdrawal unlike withdrawal from most other drugs can result in death. When it does, it is usually due to cardiac arrest. Keep an eye on your blood pressure, see here: http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/Conditions/HighBloodPressure/KnowYourNumbers/Understanding-Blood-Pressure-Readings_UCM_301764_Article.jsp If you do not experience any of those things the news is very good, you very likely have no physical dependency, it's just a mental challenge in that case. If you don't want to try to figure any of that out and just want to taper anyway just in case, go for it, no real foul as long as you are able to successfully reduce your intake over time. If you are dependent and you are going to try to taper, do it SLOWLY over time. *I am not a doctor and this is not medical advice. |
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I used to drink pretty heavy. It just becomes the norm after a wile. Around 2012 was probably the heaviest and it was 9-10 beers. Went through a vodka phase too. It just got to be too much, so I backed off to 6 for a wile then 4, then 2. I quit for a couple months then started having 2 a day. Been doing that for a year. Do it about 5 days a week. I like beer and hated the ideal of not being able to have it so I reeled it in. Not sure if that’s an advised option, but it is an option, a scheduled reduction.
One thing, it is incredible how we get used to feeling like shit in the mornings. That in itself is enough. |
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alright... work is done and i am home for the day.... lets see what happens... And i am thinking about taking the advice of slowly tapering off. Maybe a beer and a glass of wine for tonight? You wouldn't want to have a seizure, or worse. A buddy of mine, who drank as much if not more than you, tried to go cold turkey one day. 36 hours into it he had a very violent seizure and ended up in the hospital for a week to detox. |
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Caved to one small glass of wine. Now in bed twittling my thumbs  Quoted:
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@plasteredtex How goes the night? |
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Managed the weekend dry, but have been having horrible migraines along with night sweats and bad dreams  Take some NyQuil if you need to-- the cough kind without acetaminophen. Your liver doesn't need the extra damage from acetaminophen. Good job, man. Stay strong. |
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Managed the weekend dry, but have been having horrible migraines along with night sweats and bad dreams You may want to think about tapering down instead of cold turkey. Over the next few weeks, you'll be on an involuntary emotional roller coaster as feelings come back, which you'll need to re-learn coping mechanisms for. Once you are past that point and out of danger, just eat right and live healthy, and avoid alcohol. Doesn't mean you can never drink again, but only you can decide how much, and I wouldn't suggest more than once a month, and not much at a time. Until you are at that point and out of danger, you may need a shot or two before bedtime to sleep 'normal' (drunk sleep isn't good sleep, but having dreams is a good sign). Do not make a drink, use a measured shot glass and do not enjoy them, just get it over with. That's why you need to make the doc appointment now, since it can take a week or two to get in. We all need help, he may suggest AA, take that under advisement, though if you have a relationship with your doctor of any sort, he'll list vitamins and other things that will ease the transition, so long as you will not drink with them. You don't want any SSRIs, that will really make you an emotional time bomb. Usually a small amount of benzodiazepenes is used, which means in place of the tapering off. --ETA: Headaches and cramps can also be caused by dehydration or lack of electrolytes, eat a teaspoon of kosher or sea salt with 16 oz of water before bedtime as well. |
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I wasn’t going to drink tonight but the wife just turned on dancing with the stars....so now I’m in the garage looking at ARF drinking
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