how can I stop drinking alcohol????

Question

I clearly have an alcohol problem....please can any one help...ps I am not in the uk so AA is not an option....

please....serious answers only.....I dont need no bull...

please to all that told me to contact them.....how????....I have tried but get an ooops your e-mail cannot be sent message....thanks for your support....

thanks SteveG....Trish....Angel and Charles.....wish that I could e-mail you all....but dont seem to be able to....thanks for your support and great replies....

Answer 1

You say AA is not an option because you're not in the UK. There are, I think, English-speaking AA groups in many foreign cities, so that may not be so great a problem as you think. But maybe you just think AA isn't right for you, which is fair enough.

Have you discussed this with your doctor? I'd think s/he should be your first port of call, both for advice on your drinking and for some ideas about help controlling/stopping it. There's all manner things you could do, with medical help, including alcohol counselling and (though I'm not sure I'd want to try it) medication that actually makes you feel very ill if you have a drink.

It may well also be that you're drinking because you're worried or upset about something; after my wife died I poured masses of vodka down my throat for a while, which at least got me through something that's pretty hard to bear.

The trouble is, of course, that, apart from the damage you're doing to your body -- my GP told me to stop drinking unless I wanted to join my wife rather sooner than I was expecting (and I did give that option some thought at the time) -- you need more and more to acheive the same results, and you're not really doing anything about what's making you unhappy in the first place. Indeed, you're just adding to your problems in ways I don't need to spell out for you. Your doctor may well be able to give you some anti-depressants or something that will make you feel better in yourself so you don't feel the need to drink so much.

I tried -- successfully -- acupuncture. I don't know how much of it was the acupuncture and how much of it was a combination of spending an hour or so each week talking to my sympathetic acupuncturist and thinking, after a few sessions, 'Hang on, you're paying him good money and even letting him stick all these pins in you, so it's a bit bloody stupid not to put a bit of effort in to stop drinking'. But, one way or the other, after a few weeks I just didn't particularly want to drink any more. It's not a magic cure, but might be worth a try.

I think too, it's important to take things one day at a time. Don't think, 'I'm never going to drink again,' because that's guaranteed to put you off. Try, 'I'm not going to have a drink today' or even 'I'll not have a drink just yet; I'll see how I feel in an hour or so'. Makes it that much more manageable.

And don't, for God's sake, feel too bad if you do fall off the wagon now and again. All it means is that you had a drink or several today. OK, but tomorrow is another day, as Scarlett O'Hara was so fond of remarking. Just because you've not managed it one day doesn't mean you can't manage it the next day.

It's not easy, but you've made a big first step by acknowledging you've got a problem with it. Do, please, seek some medical advice -- no need to take it, after all, but it really would be advisable. And remember, it is so nice to wake up without a hangover! That really is quite an incentive, when you think about it.

Best of luck.

Answer 2

It's a hard thing to do but not impossible. I was a wine drinker so I found it easy to switch to the Martinelli's apple/cranberry cider ( with bubbles of course). I make a point of ordering non-alcholic drinks in a resturant. At a party, I either take my own Martinelli's or I have 7-up with a lime. I agree with the guy who said AA is kind of a cult. I felt the same way. It has good success, but those people really, really cannot function without drinking so they have to go to the meetings to stay sober. I just knew I was drinking too much, so I had to stop. My husband still drinks some beer and we have liquor in the house, just no wine. I may drink again some day, but I ws using it for an excuse, to get away from my problems.
Didn't work. It's only been about 5 months but I'm doing ok. I did do AA for a while, but I didn't fit in. Whatever works for you is the answer tho.

Answer 3

AA is a lot of places besides the UK or USA. So depending on where you are you can look at AA's website and see if there are meetings in your area.
If not, don't fret too much, AA has the highest sucess rates of recovery from Alcoholism - and you can get support other ways if you can't get to a face to face meeting.

First thing is that you've admitted you have a problem. Good for you, as Alcoholism is not a question of will power, it's an illness, and like an illness it needs treatment. And you can't treat yourself by yourself on your own.

Now, you can get sober right now. First thing, don't drink, ONE MINUTE AT A TIME - DON'T DRINK. Chew some gum, eat some chocolate, (sugary things are actually quite good in early sobriety as alcohol metabolises the same way sugar does.) anything like that, just don't take that first drink.

Secondly, you obviously have access to the internet. There are internet meetings and phone meetings available. There are people who are willing to help you in those arena's if you're willing to ask for it.

http://www.alcoholics-anonymous.org/?Media=PlayFlash

Right now, besides not drinking, you can start reading the Big Book of AA - link is just below here:
http://www.aa.org/bigbookonline/en_tableofcnt.cfm

Read the first 164 pages no matter what you do and read them now!

Here is just one website that lists many online aa meetings:
http://www.recovery.org/aa/#onlinemeetings

Bottom line is you can do this. You will need support. You will need the program - and it is available.

I've been sober for almost 18 years. I've seen people who want sobriety get it and I've seen people who 'need' it (but really aren't done yet) not get it! It's up to you.

The program of AA consists of meetings (very supportive!), sponsorship (someone who has been sober a little while and can take you through the 12 steps), the 12 steps (the 'program core' .. guidlines for cleaning up our lives, getting connected to ourselves again after all the wreckage we've caused, altering our perceptions and getting right with the world so to speak), Literature like the big book (get one asap!).

Stopping drinking is the FIRST part.. after that you get 'sober'... that takes longer than just not drinking.

Feel free to email me privately for more info if you like or just to talk.
Take care and keep it simple for yourself. Don't drink today. Find AA support somewhere - reach out to others that have the same illness and are treating it!

Good luck to you!
Trish

Answer 4

You have a lot of people on the internet supporting you and this is so important! Please go to an AA meeting on the internet or in your area as people who have the same disease( and believe me it is a disease) are the best ones to help you as they've walked the walk and talked the talk! My husband joined AA at the age of 53 and what a difference it made in all our lives. It's not easy but believe me it's worth it and AA members are like a huge family all over the world - reaching out to hold you up when needed and to just listen to you when you're going thru a rough spot. There is nothing better than an AA hug. My husband died of cancer the year after joining AA and my family thanks God for giving us that one year and most of all for giving my husband that year of sobriety. The support he received fromm AA was phenominal and I for one will spread their message for the rest of my life. My mother was also an alcoholic but didn't receive help and died of her disease. My son is an alcoholic but has been clean now for almost 20 years and he too can't say enough about AA and how it saved his life.
AA is all over the world but if you can't find meetings where you live then please attend meetings on the internet.
Know that I am thinking of you and wish you all the best.
God bless you,
June

Answer 5

first you must be honest with yourself and accept the fact that alcohol has become more of an enemy than friend.

then take action- know your enemy! Research and seek the truth. Don't listen to people who claim to have THE ANSWER!

There is no "one size fits all" solution.

there is no outside force that can keep you from drinking, it has to come from within. It takes work, commitment, persistence.

Its uncomfortable, and probably the hardest thing you will ever do. But anything worthwhile isn't easy, and quitting any addiction is a worthwhile thing.

Seek support from trusted friends, family. Beware strangers who are too quick to try and know your innermost secrets. AA is filled with predators, egotistical "sponsors" who power trip on newbies.


here is a cool description of addiction, in a unique way:

http://www.orange-papers.org/orange-addmonst.html

but find your own path.

p.s. I read an earlier answer that claimed AA has the highest success rate- this is an example of the propaganda that is carelessly repeated by ignorants. AA has a less than 5% success rate, higher suicide rates and who wants to join a cult where you are never cured, you must keep coming back, etc...

A Harvard medical school study found 80% of people who quit and stay quit do so on their own.

http://www.orange-papers.org/orange-effectiveness.html#Harvard_Mental



Don't listen to the propaganda and lies spewed forth from fanatical cult members.

http://www.orange-papers.org/orange-aalies.html

Answer 6

This is the worst habit in our modern society If it was invented today, it would be banned. I didn't have a drink problem - I was drinking alcoholically for years and after hitting rock bottom , now can't drink at all or I would for sure plunge in to a binge . Get help - simple as that I hated AA. I had to admit to myself that I could not drink at all, and oh boy did I miss it - the social side of it that is not the spewing up in the morning and all the horror of being dependent, craving drink in the morning etc.

Answer 7

Go to AA.. it works and there are meetings in English almost everywhere. Visit the website that one of the other respondents posted. Ignore the idiots on here who are saying just stop and talking about willpower, it has nothing to do with that, you may be suffering from a progressive, potentially fatal illness called alcoholism. Good luck

AA is not a cult as someone has just written, it admits anybody of any belief OR non-belief. The ONLY requirement for membership is a desire to stop drinking... (you don't even need to stop you just have to want to). The experience of most AA's I've ever met is that they find a source of strength, freedom and happiness they never even suspected existed.... SOME of them believe it is God given. AA has nothing to do with religion.

Answer 8

AA is an option! There are so many options out there on this very resource! Just look up AA meetings on line, etc. Having a great support group helps a lot! But HATS OFF TO YOU, admission is the FIRST step and you re on the right track to a better life!! Also quiting is easy, staying away is the hard part. Good Luck to you!

Answer 9

There is AA in the UK, but really they are just a iffy cult, so avoid. There's no easy way. Cutting down tends not to work as when you have a drink your will power not to have more slips.

The only sure way to stop is just to stop. And if you feel you really must have a drink try going for a fast walk to take your mind off it. Don't get bored, keep your mind busy.

Answer 10

The problem you have is called lack of will power. I have been alcohol free for 26 yrs. I did not go to AA nor did I use any medication. I just quit. You do not need alcohol so why do you drink it. It is easier to quit drinking alcohol than to lose weight. Just try to stop eating once see how long you survive. Just quit that is all you need to do. It is all choice, no matter how long you have been drinking it is still a choice. Good luck.