does anyone know any other way to stay sober other than AA meetings?

Answer 1

You have to have a really good reason that makes sense to you to stop drinking or drugs.
If you keep that reason with you and close to your attention at all times, you can stay sober.
With me, I used the thought that I do not want to be sick half the time the rest of my life. Whenever I need to, I think of my reason not to again and it works. It is when time passes and you forget why you wanted to stop- is when you start again.
AA just puts you around a bunch of losers and keeps stories and thoughts of drinking at the forefront all the time. I found it much better to be on my own as long as I trust myself to make correct decisions and be honest with myself and it has been 6 months on my own with very little thoughts of it. I am now more disgusted with the thought of having to be around those people in AA than I am worried about my falling off the wagon.
I think AA is for people who normally went to a bar every night after work and are not creative enough to make real life changes.

Answer 2

It sounds like you have identified yourself as having a problem with alcohol and have stopped drinking?

If you are currently drinking and want to stop it is best to go and see a trained alcohol professional. You might need a medical detox which you can either do at home or as an inpatient if there are complications such as fitting or other conditions.

~It can be dangerous just to stop drinking if your body is dependant on alcohol. You could fit.

Have you ever had withdrawal symptoms? If so you could be dependant and need to seek medical advice.

Not eveyone who has a problem with alcohol is dependant but if you cannot predict whether you can stop or what happens when you take the first drink it sounds like you need help with getting and staying sober.

You ask if there are any other ways than AA. In my experinece - both as a recovering addict and healthcare professional I the most effective way of staying sober is through AA. In AA you not only get the support of others who have been there but get to learn a very effective way of managing sobriety. I wonder if you have tried AA? I would suggest you try a few different meetings and give yourself a chance. AA suggests 90 meetings in 90 days to see if it is for you.

You could contact your local community alcohol team or try Alcohol Concern or Alcohol Recovery Project.

All the best for the future

Answer 3

My father was a retired Marine. After thirty years, World War II, Korean War and Vietnam twice, retiring, having a close friend teach him how to drink scotch, and whatever else (dealing with my mother maybe) he became an alcoholic.

I don't know if you will even read this far down, but, let me tell you from personal experience that if you do not attend AA or some kind of support groups you will be on you're own. You will become what they call a "dry drunk".

My father worked in a Young Adult Alcohol/Drug Rehabilitation Unit with Anchor Hospital for about two years. I think that did more for him than any AA meeting could have ever done.

I have to tend to agree with some of the others that some AA Meetings are nothing but a bunch of whiners and losers. They have stopped drinking and chosen a life of whining instead.

When I attended AA meetings in support of my father I stopped going because all the family member meetings were was a time to bash and talk about all the bad stuff that happened because you're loved one was an alcoholic. I was not going to be a part of dwelling in the bad. My point of view was that my father had stopped and I needed to look toward the positive and not keep throwing the bad back in his face.

My father was an alcoholic. He never supported the groups that were out there to help him through the years of non-drinking that he went through. Neither did my mother. I truly believe she never forgave him for it. She always held it over his head even if he never took another drink. The bitterness was there and neither one of them ever learned to release it.

You need someone close to you that has gone through the same thing and been successful with it. Someone that can lead you when you need to be led.

If you have a supportive family and they are open and you can discuss anything without hurt feelings then you have one thing in your advantage. If you don't, don't be ashamed to go out and find the support you need.

Answer 4

An AA meeting is simply a trained support group. Honestly for me, my family and friends that know everything about me and what I can get away with do a better job.
First thing: throw out everything containing alcohol in your house.
Second: For what I call a shock-period of time, don't go out anywhere that you will be tempted to ask for a drink.
Third: Have your friends and family help you through this...
OK, now I am hoping my story helps you change: I had major alcohol problems for a few years.... I got pregnant and didn't drink for a year. The first day that I went out and had a sip of alcohol, I wound up with the hospital with Pancreatitis. I am sick. I can't drink alcohol for the rest of my life. And I've been told that if I have another attack, I have a 45% chance of not making it. Research pancreatitis.
Good Luck. I know it's hard. But I didn't like my actions or who I was in those conditions, and feeling dependent on it. I got a huge wake up call. Praying that you do ok without it.

Answer 5

There are a number of ways. You can contact the Alcohol Abuse line in your area, they will supply you with a number of different methods. You can visit your Doctor, many surgeries now run smaller more private meetings or if you are determined to do it alone there is a tablet that you take that will make you sick if you drink alcohol. The problem being with that is once you are sick you can carry on drinking. Do you have the will power to go it alone? There are counselling sessions at most mental health facilities, finding out and treating the cause of your alcohol abuse. There are rehab centres, which are fine while you are in there but once again do you have the will power once you are alone in the big bad world. Even celebrities who go through rehab find that attending some type of group session, AA or another is needed to keep giving them the support they require. Whichever way is chosen it always comes down to the basic - how badly do you want to stop - you can always find help if you really want it badly enough.

Answer 6

i am a recovering alcoholic the way foreward is to contact your local community alcohol team who will do a assessment and offer u a home detox or rehab. also counselling, the rehab i went to was brill. how the detox works is thy start u off on high dose of Librium and reduce the dose over the week .after 3 days u are allowed to go out and about. and u attend groups it is mixed group my stay in rehab was brill staff wonderful if you need help and are heavy drinker and get the DT you need medical help its dangerous to just stop drinking without medical help home detox is the same as rehab but you stay at home and a nurse comes 3 times a day to supervise. The hardest part is staying off when u complete ur detox.by them u should be having counselling at least once a week. hope this helps

Answer 7

I think more than anything changing your environment would help - you need to completely 100% no question get away from anyone and anything that contributed to you having a drinking problem in the first place. If you have a friend or friends that you use to drink with - don't associate with them. Don't go to places you use to drink - if you drink at home, replace it with a good habit - joing a gym, start walking at a park, volunteer somewhere, etc. Find out what your triggers were/are and try to avoid them and replace them with only good habits. Remember, a bad habit might have started for one reason - but then continued for another. Good luck

Answer 8

Ask your doctor to arrange a visit to a pathology lab/museum where you will be able to compare a healthy liver with one ravaged by cirrhosis. That should do the trick.
In addition - and as so many Answerers have suggested - try your best to keep out of situations where alcohol is available and, if you have not already got a supportive partner/friend, find some one who is willing to support you in your efforts to stay sober. Good luck, anyway.

Answer 9

1. walk into a pub that is a member of PubWatch and ask them to Ban you and add you to the PubWatch list of badguys,
2. Hand over all your credit cards and bank cards to someone who cares about you, Grilfriend, mum dad, brother, sister, and tell them to not let you have them back, if you want to buy something they should accompany you or supervise. (you´ll be surprised at how much money you save doing this) I used to spend far too much on stuff that I really didn´t need to spend it on.
3 take a litle poster of yourself with a capion saying "recovering Alcoholic do not serve me Alcohol" to all the local shops that serve alcohol.
4.find other things to do with your time that are better than getting pissed (ideally things that you can´t do with a belly full of beer or do with a pint in your hand, join a gym and bcome a health freak, buy a bike and go for long rides, take up jogging)
5 record your hours days and weeks of being sober, at the end of each week or day allow your card holders to purchase you a treat equivalent or less than the monetray value of the beer you would have usually downed inthat time period. you´ll be amazed

Answer 10

No alcohol? Seriously you still need bags of willpower even with AA.Avoid social situations where you know you will be tempted this might mean avoiding a circle of friends that you previously drank with but if you are having problems this is the way to go. Good luck.

Antabuse is still available. Makes you feel awful if you drink as well- prescribable. You have to take it for it to work 'tho.(Obviously!!)