What Do You Do to Stop Drinking?

I know I'm an alcoholic, which freaking sucks, because I LOVE alcohol. But the stupid behaviors I engage in and the depression that follows is enough for me to stop.

I'm having trouble. Do any of you have any tips or anything you use to stop? I need to take my mind off of it.

Most folks are advised to start with AA meetings. Attend at least 6 different ones before deciding if they will help you or not. Read some of the AA conference-approved literature. It really helps to get an AA sponsor. There are some medications now that can help with the cravings (eg., acamprosate, naltrexone). There is a form of acupuncture that can also help reduce cravings. It is called Acudetox, which involves use of 5 needles at certain locations in each ear for 30-45 minutes a day for several days. If you smoke, that is a huge trigger for drinking. You'll probably have greater success stopping drinking if you also stop smoking. Good luck.

I tried all sorts of things to control my drinking: exercise, religion, pills, doctors, psychiatrists, psychologists, self-help books. Nothing worked. I went to AA and have not had a drink since. AA also took away all my other problems.

I have more details on my web site. I also have a link to an online meeting.

Good Luck,
Jim S

Support groups like AA do seem to be the most popular alcohol rehab. However, I know that many people (like me) prefer and do find success on their own. Take a look at the free site called Alcohol Addiction X for one approach that you might give a try.

I took a multi-pronged approach when I decided to quit drinking and found that I couldn't do it on my own. I wasn't successful at AA, despite going to lots and lots and lots of different meetings in different locations, trying a couple of sponsors - I felt like a complete failure.

I now believe that each person's path to sobriety is their own; that there is no "only" or "true" way to it.

For me, it was attending a 6-week intensive outpatient programme, which was primarily group therapy. This was focused on 12-step principles. I sought help from my pdoc, who put me on Campral, which took away the physical cravings I would suffer after being sober for 5 days or so. I ended up staying on that medication for a year and a half - a great help for me. I also continued with my individual therapy sessions. Additionally, I found great peer-to-peer support in the group Women For Sobriety.

So, you can see that there are ways to get there - for me, it took a village...

Coming up on my 3 year anniversary soon.

Good luck and you can do it.

CS

amylynnrose wrote:I know I'm an alcoholic, which freaking sucks, because I LOVE alcohol. But the stupid behaviors I engage in and the depression that follows is enough for me to stop.

I'm having trouble. Do any of you have any tips or anything you use to stop? I need to take my mind off of it.

Whether through a doctor or not obtain benzodiazepiens (sp) eg diazepam, for d'ts. Rest up to you.

as for support groups i dislike AA/NA a lot, but the results speak for themselves. Depends whether you rely on others.

Typical $#%^ is right down a list of why to stop, and have someone to talk to if you weaken, do that if your helpless.

The best thing is to stop drinking,But if you start its very hard to stop and usually people who are alcoholic faces troubles.Specially unwanted.
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Chamila
Addiction Recovery Missouri

Yeah, you can leave because this is not such a huge matter but if you have good bill power then you can otherwise not.

You can drink Indian Tea and Indian Green Tea - those are two type of Tea - whenever you feel like drinking again. Simple Indian Tea will help. You can take Green Tea to add some more flavour and taste.