Alcoholism Support Thread - Down the hatch

[uuiu]

I've had a slight pain in my ribs by where my liver sits for 10 or so months, but I've ignored it because I got my liver levels tested right before then, and while yes I have a fatty liver, it wasn't egregious levels just in the fatty liver levels.

After KingCobra's death however, that's a wakeup call for me. He's only a little older than me, I always coped it was impossible for my drinking to kill me because of people like him, Ethan Ralph, the local alcoholic ect. But this upset and shocked me to my core. I've been drinking more and more heavily for a while now, and I need to stop. After drinking today I'm going to try to not drink for as long as I can.

You should find some hobby that you can spend a lot of time and enjoy, should reduce the cravings

 

[Not Xavier Ravenblood]

I feel for you, but given how Cobes died I think you'd be better off pouring out all 6.

I have a handle on my addiction now. I can drink 0.0 beers. I simply never buy alcohol anymore. I can also go to bars as it's popular within my friend group. They keep me accountable although some have tried to make me drink while out and about. I somewhat enjoy being the designated driver and voice of reason. Nobody questions my authority.

 

[Your Girlfriend's Dad]

I have a handle on my addiction now. I can drink 0.0 beers. I simply never buy alcohol anymore. I can also go to bars as it's popular within my friend group. They keep me accountable although some have tried to make me drink while out and about. I somewhat enjoy being the designated driver and voice of reason. Nobody questions my authority.

Well, hey, good for you. I've struggled with my sobriety a lot this year. If you got something that works for you, God Bless.

 

[Not Xavier Ravenblood]

Well, hey, good for you. I've struggled with my sobriety a lot this year. If you got something that works for you, God Bless.

Fun fact, if you're the DD for your friends and they're buying drinks, usually bartenders won't charge you for water/soda and often times they won't charge you for non-alcoholic beers if you order right after your friends.

 

[⋖ cørdion ⋗]

You should find some hobby that you can spend a lot of time and enjoy, should reduce the cravings

Binge drinking and eating is replacing emotions such as thrill and being entertained. I eat a ton of shit when I'm bored at home, whereas I'd rather be outside slaving at something I do not enjoy. It's easy to go "Just dont buy it, bro", but when I'm driving home from an early day off friday, I look forward to an uneventful weekend. It's easier to fill up 16 hours with self-harm than to go "2 hours of street fitter, 90 min cleaning up, 2 hours reading", but in reality that's probably what I should do.

Ironically I've got a video running in the background on "why zoomer kids be depressed and not eat they avocado bread", and a surprising point was them being put into tons of clubs and activities stretching them thin. Clearly there's a balance to be struck between arrangements and free time where interests may bud - lack thereof leading to the idiocy of thinking it's worth getting drunk cause it's "better than doing nothing".

I've managed not to drink the last 3 weekends now and yeah, they've been uneventful and dull, but not like throwing up for half a day is better than that. I need to practice both acceptance of inactivity (I always do productive shit in the end) or being okay just reading a book, relaxing and doing whatever. I should be thankful I don't have much stress in my life rather than introduce it myself by going "I should be doing this and that".

 

[Clem Fandango]

End of week three. It's still pretty tough going. It was beautiful sunshine this weekend and we all went to the beach. The day was crying out for a nice cold beer, just to enhance everything. But instead I had to go through it stone cold sober. It was alright, paddling in the sea with the little one. But man could I have just murdered a beer.

My wife asked me if I "relapsed" when I was away for work. I told her I didn't (truth), but it was like she didn't believe me, and said "Really, it's fine if you want to relapse".

She's pretty cool, but like others have said in this thread, you've got to do it for yourself. So I'm going to stick with it even though she handed me an absolute get out.

I know she's trying to be nice, but in some ways that just makes it even harder.

A lot more weeks to go.

 

[dick brain]

End of week three. It's still pretty tough going. It was beautiful sunshine this weekend and we all went to the beach. The day was crying out for a nice cold beer, just to enhance everything. But instead I had to go through it stone cold sober. It was alright, paddling in the sea with the little one. But man could I have just murdered a beer.

My wife asked me if I "relapsed" when I was away for work. I told her I didn't (truth), but it was like she didn't believe me, and said "Really, it's fine if you want to relapse".

She's pretty cool, but like others have said in this thread, you've got to do it for yourself. So I'm going to stick with it even though she handed me an absolute get out.

I know she's trying to be nice, but in some ways that just makes it even harder.

A lot more weeks to go.

You could probably articulate that this is important to you and you'd like her to support you in it.

 

[Hey Johnny Bravo]

You could probably articulate that this is important to you and you'd like her to support you in it.

I suggest this as well, but not everyone gets it. They think "oh, you can learn how to drink like a normal person" when some people can't.

 

[Your Girlfriend's Dad]

I suggest this as well, but not everyone gets it. They think "oh, you can learn how to drink like a normal person" when some people can't.

I get this one all the time. My closest friends always say "Just have a few!"

Shucks, I didn't think of that! Listen, it's all or nothing for me. Nothing is better for everyone, me most of all.

 

[dick brain]

I get this one all the time. My closest friends always say "Just have a few!"

Shucks, I didn't think of that! Listen, it's all or nothing for me. Nothing is better for everyone, me most of all.

In my meeting we've coined an addage that any advice that begins with "why don't you just" is not valid advice.

 

[neger psykolog]

I am pretty MATI at the moment and unable to relax. Feels like I've hit a dead end with several things and I can't access help because the doctors are literally retarded and for some other reasons to do with geography. The only way forward is going to be to accept a total loss on several things in life and totally rebuild from the ground up and have much lower expectations and reaching the phase where I'm starting to feel like I'm too old for this shit and I'm a bit exhausted from trying at this point.

I don't really feel like drinking so much as wish I were drunk and could at least go fuck around and do something else with my time. The only real reason I don't want to drink is the inevitable hangover

To make matters worse I've stopped taking an interest in basically anything. Which is depression talking but I can't access help for it. I don't know how to restart myself at this point and find something in the world that's interesting anymore.

 

[Jerk Sausage]

I told her I didn't (truth), but it was like she didn't believe me

Brother that might last a long time. My lady still doesn't trust, nearly 2 years since the last lie.

 

[Clem Fandango]

I get this one all the time. My closest friends always say "Just have a few!"

Shucks, I didn't think of that! Listen, it's all or nothing for me. Nothing is better for everyone, me most of all.

This week she got a bottle of white wine when we were out shopping, and in the evening she would have one glass before bed. The bottle lasted all week. The concept is just completely alien to me.
How do normal people do this?

 

[Hey Johnny Bravo]

How do normal people do this?

I have no fucking clue. I used to buy cheap (but very tasty) Portuguese white wine and drink an entire bottle in one sitting like it was a nip or something.

 

[neger psykolog]

This week she got a bottle of white wine when we were out shopping, and in the evening she would have one glass before bed. The bottle lasted all week. The concept is just completely alien to me.
How do normal people do this?

I have no fucking clue. I used to buy cheap (but very tasty) Portuguese white wine and drink an entire bottle in one sitting like it was a nip or something.

Wine is quite strong depending on what you compare it with but the biggest thing I noticed with other people compared to myself is that I would down like 2-3 drinks in the time that they would have a single drink.
That's either compulsive drinking (which I have with non alcoholic drinks also) or it's drinking to savour/enjoy vs drinking to get drunk.

 

[Hey Johnny Bravo]

I drank to get drunk and then chase that warm, fuzzy feeling. A bottle of regular strength wine is equivalent to about 5 beers and that's what it took for me to feel anything at all.

 

[dick brain]

The only way forward is going to be to accept a total loss on several things in life and totally rebuild from the ground up and have much lower expectations and reaching the phase where I'm starting to feel like I'm too old for this shit and I'm a bit exhausted from trying at this point.

You pretty much just described the last 2-3 years of my life. It's not that bad. If nothing else it feels good to not be holding onto something that isn't working; and to know empirically that something doesn't work for you instead of wondering and second-guessing.

That which does not make a man worse also does not make his life worse.

 

[Your Girlfriend's Dad]

A bottle of wine wouldn't even get me sloppy, but I'd never just get the one bottle because I'd be miserable when I ran out.

 

[UnregisteredHypercam2]

A bottle of wine wouldn't even get me sloppy, but I'd never just get the one bottle because I'd be miserable when I ran out.

When I was deep in it, that's something I always hated; the dread of not having enough. Watching the water level get closer and closer to the bottom, calculating how much I was going to drink tonight to decide if I could drive to the liquor store before I got completely shitfaced, anxiety rising as I realized I won't have enough, toying with the idea of driving this drunk to just go get more and possibly killing myself or someone else. It makes me kind of sick to think about now.

End of week three. It's still pretty tough going. It was beautiful sunshine this weekend and we all went to the beach. The day was crying out for a nice cold beer, just to enhance everything. But instead I had to go through it stone cold sober. It was alright, paddling in the sea with the little one. But man could I have just murdered a beer.

My wife asked me if I "relapsed" when I was away for work. I told her I didn't (truth), but it was like she didn't believe me, and said "Really, it's fine if you want to relapse".

She's pretty cool, but like others have said in this thread, you've got to do it for yourself. So I'm going to stick with it even though she handed me an absolute get out.

I know she's trying to be nice, but in some ways that just makes it even harder.

A lot more weeks to go.

Awesome job on three weeks, great work and I hope you feel pride in yourself. The "enhancement" part was always what kept me coming back. Like "Sure, this activity is fun, but a few drinks would make it way more fun!" And that was true until I realized I could barely remember what "fun" happened the next day. Its rough at the start, but those solid memories start to hold more and more value than the singular fun moments (or at least thats my experience).

 

[エボラちゃん]

In light of Cobes' passing, I feel compelled to share my experience here with my fellow farmers. It's going to be long and will contain TMI.

Spoiler: Mein Kampf

I used to be an alcoholic binge drinker for around 10 years. It will be 1 year in November since I completely quit.
I'm confident that I will not relapse, as I feel no cravings. I feel a bit of nostalgia under specific circumstances where I tell myself:
"Man I'd be having more fun with a complementary glass." That's about all.

So what happened to make me quit?
Three factors and one trigger:

1: Physical/Mental health:
This was the main drive.
I was under a light SSRI treatment for a few years, but I read documentation about its liver toxicity when paired with alcohol abuse. I got an hepatic ultrasound that showed I had a fatty liver and one or two fibrosis spots. Being overweight and sedentary naturally led to a faster health deterioration, I was aware of this and so I grew concerned with the bad blood test results. The professional health workers didn't show concern, probably because they're used to seeing worse blood work, regardless, I wasn't happy with myself.

Mentally, alcohol wasn't really a crutch that some people use when suffering from depression/social anxiety/work related stress. For me it was more of an entertainment booster, I had big binges over the span of 1-3 days where I'd play games (and have a blast lol); then I'd crash and drink sparsely until the next weekly binge.

2: Money:
I don't roll on money and I wasn't happy with the alcohol expenses, I used to be a smoker (I quit in 2020 with vape assistance, 0 nicotine by 2022, as of 2025 I'm no longer vaping) so I understood that these expenses were eating at my monthly budget, and could be used for less harmful hobbies.

3: Family:
Since I was binge drinking, it was easier to conceal the fact that I was a raging alcoholic. I had some relatives that were suspicious and expressed some concerns. I don't necessarily have great relations in my family circle but I acknowledged those signals as an indication that alcohol was indirectly affecting my family relations in a negative way.

The trigger:
GOUT!

What is gout:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gout

What happened:
After spending last summer drinking like a rage pig, winter came. The drop in temperature caused the concentrated uric acid in my big toe joint to crystalize and trigger a massive gout attack that lasted for 2 weeks. The pain was incredible, I had cold sweats at night and just so you know I had gallstones before and this is not even close to a full blown gout attack. This miserable situation forced me to reflect on my situation. I had quit smoking a few years ago, I was going to quit drinking for good.

Of course, going cold turkey wasn't going to be a good idea.
I was already in the process of improving my drinking since I was worried about my bad blood work and liver status. I had removed hard liquors, replaced it with wines, then beers. (They are notorious for triggering gout attacks due to alcohol + high purine levels, it was the reason that led me to get such a massive gout attack because I only drank this that summer.)
My body pretty much forced me to stop beer. I also had to drastically cut on sugary drinks, because yes, they also are a big gout trigger. I was determined to avoid gout attacks as much as possible so I gradually adopted a new life style to help lower blood uric acid levels. I used to do a lot of sport so having this background helped me get back on a good diet and implement a weekly workout schedule.


Today and final statement:
Blood work is looking a lot better, no more hyperglycemia, uric acid is going down, liver looks better (lower ferritin levels) but will need a few more controls. Weight is going down at a steady rate, I don't like weighing myself (it can be tricky to evaluate progress when losing fat and gaining muscle mass), I just focus on my health routine and appreciate the positive results following medical appointments.

Everyone lives alcoholism differently, everyone endures different struggles through life. Just don't give up on yourself, if you think IT'S OVER, I'm here to tell you IT'S NOT OVER UNTIL YOU ARE COLD LIKE KINGCOBRAJFS. Don't be stubborn like him, the first step to recovery is to admit you have a problem. Don't be afraid to speak about it with health professionals. They will not give you a miracle cure, but they offer the support needed to start recovering. Don't feel ashamed of yourself, if you think group therapy can help you, reach out to your local AA group. I feel sorry for Cobes but I'm also grateful that he lived to show others what happens when you just abandon yourself to the mind numbing comfort of booze.