Hello all NEW

Hey all Im new to this site, but not new to (uuuugh i hate to say it) alcohol....addiction....

Im 20 years old and have been partyin since Im 15... Didnt start as a problem, wasnt much in a problem in high school but ever since I graduted from high school its gotten out of control. I drink daily... at least 6...more like 12 on the weekends, Ive gained 40lbs and I am just going down a terrible path. I dont want to be this way, but for the past 2 years its been this way and its next to impossible to just STOP.

On Jan 15th, I left my house, drunk, and drove my truck into a tree.. I got 156 staples/stitches in my head.. I basically scalped myself from ear to ear. Pretty nasty.. Im REALLY luckey... You think that would make me clean up my life??? Nahhh... Only worked for like 2 weeks...

I want to change, my boyfriend threatens to move out and leave me.. my friends nag me... my parents try but in my eyes they are just hypocrytes...

I feel like change for me... the only sure way to change is to quit all together... but I am not READY for all that yet.. Im only 20.. I got lotsa time to have fun yet... Does anyone have any ideas??? Any suggestions that would help me slow down??? Do I need to quit or is there hope that I can be a normal social drinker???

Thanks...

Hey, libbylou02! Maybe you can try writing all the reasons you have to stop drinking in a jurnal or on a paper that you can look at from time to time each day. You are also welcome to talk about it here.

libbylou02 wrote:Im only 20.. I got lotsa time to have fun yet...

One of the down sides of alcohol addiction is that it robs you of your creativity, and makes you think drinking is the only way, or the primary way, to have fun. Most sober people will tell you that they have MORE fun sober than they did while they were drinking, in part because they no longer have the ongoing wrestling match with themselves about trying to control how much/how often they drink.

Maybe you should be thinking of some amazing activity to celebrate your 21st birthday--like climbing a mountain, or white water rafting, or writing a song. The kind of thing you'll enjoy telling your grandkids about someday.

I am a person who stopped drinking when still young, and I have had many more fun things happen in my life since I stopped drinking. I gained over 100 pounds with my drinking. I was a well-conditioned college wrestler, then booze turned me into the fattest guy I ever knew. When you are around 300 pounds many options for having fun do not exist. Since getting sober and losing the weight, I've ran marathons, earned a black belt, and even walked all the way across the Grand Canyon. I have hundreds of close friends. I'm proud of my life and I laugh a lot.

When I went to AA as a young person, I believed that all my fun times were over, but the best was yet to come, and the best is still yet to come.

Good Luck,
Jim S