Quitting drinking

As someone who has been sober for over 23 years after being a drunk for at least half that long, I like checking in on this thread from time to time. A few pages back I saw something that really made me think. It went something like "No one quits after a long drinking career and thinks, 'Man, those last few years were really the best part of drinking' It's the opposite"

I dabbled with quitting for at least 5 years, knowing I would have to do it someday, but just not ready for it to be today. I didn't have the perspective to realize that I was paying more and more and getting less and less from each month of delaying the breakup. If you're there, maybe try looking at it that way. Looking back now, I wish I had.

has anyone tried naltrexone?

I posted last week to say that I'd finally had too much of the roller-coaster and walked into an AA meeting. Well tomorrow will be my 9th meeting, 9th day sober. Not sure entirely what I make of AA, but the people are decent and genuine, and just going to the meetings makes skipping the drink a lot easier so far. I'm getting in a 7 mile run before the 7:00am meeting, so I walk in feeling pretty good, if a bit sweaty. I told myself I would commit to 30 meetings/30 days, and then see how I feel. Now I'm thinking 90 days might be a more fair trial. I feel very confident and good about not drinking, but I've had that feeling before and still fallen apart. Listening to all the people in there talk about how much better their lives are now is very encouraging. I HATE the notion that I need to submit to this admittedly a bit cult-like scheme, but if it will work for me it would be worth it. We will see... It's an odd bunch of people, but pretty uniformly decent (or at the very least well meaning) as far as I can tell so far.

131. Love the positivity. Well done Old and Slow.

Keep going. The goal is to learn Truth, Humility, and Equanimity. Do not fear whatever is past. It's a new day and you deserve to stop destroying yourself.

112 days.

Great stuff Rooting for you. The Olympics was a great distraction and motivation too. 133 today, 19 weeks.

Never been an alcoholic, but decided to stop and looked better within three weeks. Will probably make a new rule that I never drink outside of special events or occasions. No more just casual drinking for no real reason.

I don’t know if people realize how much damage it can do, especially if youre the type to drink a ton at once or multiple times a week. Even if you’re not an alcoholic and can stop whenever.

I second the poster who suggested This Naked Mind. I’m in the process of doing the 30 day alcohol experiment that goes with it and it’s been unbelievable. As someone who has tried to use willpower alone hundreds of times and failed, this seems to really be clicking.

134.

135. Decent tempo run today. Still bit bored but routine has helped.

136.

11 days since then. It took forever to recover.

137.

F*cking poison that crap. I quit cold turkey late in 2005, and developed/shook a candy habit in the years that followed.

Weed now so I can sleep. I realized that was the primary reason I drank so much, only that was making it worse. Living closely related to a lot of old drunks shows me every day I'm right and they're not. There are no old alcoholics.

You do you.

17 weeks.

Nice! Day 15 sober for me, 14 days running, 125 miles. Heading out for my morning run in a few minutes. Then I go sit through an AA meeting next to the park where I run. Some meetings can be interesting, they certainly do no harm. I meet a lot of people whose lives have been changed by sobriety.

Fantastic Rooting for you!! Well done. Hope you're feeling good and running well. Day 138.