trying again wrote:
Another poster said he quit on December 8th. I quit yesterday.
Anyone else?
I am already starting to feel anxious but I am drinking a lot of tea (different herbal infusions) and at least I don't feel the thirst.
Last time I stopped I saw great results in my running after about 8 days.
That was me.
It was strange, but I had a switch in my brain where I came to the point that I HATED alcohol. I actually journaled how I felt while drinking & timed my buzz. After 4 drinks the actual good buzz only lasted 19 minutes. After that I was still buzzed but a slight headache settled in along with a mixture of nausea and hunger that wasn't pleasant. I journaled how I felt during the good buzz & even that wasn't that great. I wanted more alcohol to take me higher, but more alcohol only made me sicker.
In the past I tried cutting back numerous times with no long term success. I tried cutting out all beer or all liquor to see if that would help, but it didn't. I always tracked the # of drinks on an app, & tried to drink as little as I could, but once I got 1 drink in me it was/is almost impossible for me to stop at 1 or 2. So I knew I had to quit cold turkey.
Nobody knew I had an alcohol problem. My wife thought I had a beer a night. She didn't know I had a large shot of vodka before it, & several drinks of vodka mixed with water after the beer. She thought I was drinking water all night after the beer.
I really do think this is it for me. I think I'm done with alcohol, & hopefully I'm not over confident or delusional right now. Again, it was a switch in my brain & I'm going on an all out war against it (personally). Like running on "pure hate." I have had my moments though that I've craved a drink. We made tacos one night & it was my habit to always have tacos with Pabst. Eating tacos by themselves felt very odd & I craved an ice cold PBR.
The hardest part is how much of a habit in my life I made alcohol. So many things gave me a reason to drink. Practically every night it was a habit to come home from work & grab a shot of vodka followed by beer. I always found an excuse to drink -- My teams playing on TV... It's Friday...It was a bad day at work...it was a boring day at work...it's Sunday night & the work weeks ahead...I'm anxious etc
Adding replacements or more activities has helped a lot. The first week was awful, but I planned daily outings outside of my home after work. Checked out local libraries, went to coffee shops etc. I started exercising more, & do it after work. Drinking coffee has helped a lot. I drink 2 cups each night. Ya, I know coffee is still a drug, but it ain't alcohol. Today I'm going shopping to look at some coffee supplies like a bean grinder & an aeropress to get more involved in the coffee side of things. Putting my alcohol money elsewhere.