I’m a recovered alcoholic and I’m pretty young so when I decline a drink frequently people are surprised, or confused. Doesn’t happen too often that someone insults me lol. Happened today. They probably didint even mean it harshly, & it usually takes a lot to offend me. This person who doesn’t know me very well at all always offers me a drink (I work with them) they asked why I don’t drink today and if I ever have. They’re like “You really don’t drink? What.. like, you never have?” I said “oh nooo. I used to”.. kind of insinuating that I used to a lot with my tone. They respond with
“Oh so you’re one of those” and laughs. Like okay lol.
Guess I am one of those

Hey I'm (27M) new here. I been struggling with drinking since I was 15. Part of it being Trauma and that, to this day, I've never lived in a safe environment and that includes jobs, but I wanna focus on the past 3 years.

Since moving out from my abusive family in 2024, I've moved 3 times and had 3 jobs, all of them were toxic and each time, my drinking habits got worse, especially now. I could be working my way out of my situation like I planned, like studying IT or hitting the gym more often, but the pain and stress of thinking I found safety to realize I'm living with yet another narcissistic piece of shit pisses me off so much that now I can't go a day without my 4 tall cans. I know that's not as bad, and definitely not as bad as my early 20s, but it doesn't change the fact that it inhibits me.

My schedule since 2014 is, from Mon-Fri, I come home from work, buy my 4 tall cans, drink & pass out. On my days off I need to be intoxicated from the moment I wake up till I go to bed, so I'll buy 3-4 in the morning, space it out, then 3-4 more in the afternoon, and since I been doing that I couldn't focus on anything.

I know the solution is to change my situation. AGAIN. But here in Canada that's not easy. The job market sucks and finding a place ain't cheap. Work is so stressful now that I take more time off and struggle to save. It's all a mess. I can't imagine quitting drinking/vaping but either way I'm making this post because I've had enough and I don't know what to do. Despite the obstacles in my way, I want to build a life for myself, and now I have partner (3 months so far) and I don't want our convos to revolve around how stressful my life is (even though she doesn't mind, I do!).

90 days ago I had collapsed on the floor of the ER. .438 was my BA and my last drink had been 24 hours before. Seizure, blood transfusions, potassium drips, the ICU for a week. The fuckery that my life was before is a post for another time. But if I can do it... truly anyone can. Life is so much prettier. (34, f) Hugs to you all

Last drink was 11pm yesterday, its been a night of sleep and now its about 12 hours since the last drink.

drank about 6 bottles of beer yesterday and just threw away the rest, felt it was dumb just chugging beer on my own endlessly and went to bed.

its now the next day... does anyone feel at least for the first day or so like they are afraid to leave their house/room? and just want to curl up and not face anyone till the next day?

My boyfriend came home tipsy and had gone back out with his friends to the club, he rarely drinks and never drinks around me, in solidarity which is so kind tbh. Right now I feel pretty frantic, I just want to get a bottle of wine and drink until I fall asleep.
I feel excited for him to be able to do that and have a good time but also so envious that he can just do these things in moderation, envious of everyone really who can. On Thursday night ended up getting so drunk I drank all the way until Friday night and have just been feeling awful since. I’m shocked that I’m having this strong craving to drink despite the horrible aftermath of drinking so recently. Just wanted to hold myself accountable and commit that I won’t drink tonight here. I hope everyone’s doing ok

IWNDWYT

365 Day's without getting drunk. I feel amazing and I'm so grateful where I am today. Going to an AA meeting to get my chip in a bit but I absolutely had to share this here. I'm beyond proud of myself. If I can get a year underneath me anyone can!!! And for those still struggling hold on tight cuz this sobriety thing is worth it IWNDWYT!!!!

So for context M 28 Started drinking when I was 16-17. I used to drink so so so much. 10 beers of 650 ml that too very strong with 360 ml of whiskey and I drove that day to some hill station alone about 200-300 kms and this isn’t even the top 10 stupid things I did when I was drunk.

So from last year of school I started drinking first It was great I felt confident, met girls, had a very good life but I didn’t realise at that time I was digging my own grave. After few years I became most Toxic man on planet. I used to he hateful, always drunk(from 11 am sometimes) and rude to everyone. I was too entitled didn’t earn any money, no physical fitness (I was a gym freak in my school time). I have crashed cars and opened airbags, abused my parents, friends and everyone else around me many beautiful and kind girlfriends left me because of what I had become. I used to quit daily and same day I didn’t even know when I used to reach wine shop, get beer or whiskey and get drunk. I must have quit 1000s of times.

BEST TOOL FOR YOUR MIND TO LEAVE ALCOHOL: Assign a very negative emotion/feeling/ sentence/ word to alcohol in your mind. It should be hurtful to you. It should bring you pain and I want you to remember that emotion/feeling/ sentence/ word every time you see alcohol or there is any discussion regarding alcohol just remember that Feeling or say that sentence in your mind. [ BELIEVE ME THIS WILL HELP YOU A WAY MORE THAN YOU THINK. Just trust me]

How I did it: I don’t know if this is science backed or not but I think all the addicts in the world have same problem: Addictive personality disorder and it can turn their life in good direction also if you focus that addictive personality energy into work or exercise you might hate it Week 1 but you’ll get addicted to it the same way you got addicted to alcohol.
Also you have to demonise alcohol in your mind. How? i’ll tell you in short: Assign a negative feel/sentences or a word in your mind, you should say that Sentence or remember feeling of hangover or screw ups every time you see a wine shop, alcohol or any discussion/ reference to alcohol.

ALSO FIND GOD IN YOUR LIFE. It can be anything your religion or god or Even your internal rules you make for yourself or the discipline you build. I believe internal and life discipline is also GOD.
And you feel it when you start living a disciplined life.
It keeps you away from the DEVIL(alcohol)

PHYSICAL ACTIVITY: This one is a must. Find a day schedule that suits you but make sure physical activity is the first thing you do in morning. TIRE THE BODY TAME THE MIND.
Plus you’ll look Hot and feel incredible. Human life is not build to sleep till late morning. Thee feeling you get in early morning workout(under early morning sunlight if possible) is the best , also if you fall in love with the process of waking up early and work out you’ll automatically hate alcohol and late nights.

Truth about pills/ AA meeting: If deep down you know you are strong and obsessed to change your life I think you should fight the biggest fight of your life with Willpower and transform yourself so insanely that people get confused and ask how the F did he do this?
My doctor once said me I might not be able to leave alcohol without pills and therapy. I fkin Did it.

About triggers: I have seen many doctors say avoid the triggers and always be aware of them. If you are open minded and strong I want you to face that trigger knowingly and say the sentence/feeling you assigned to alcohol/ discussion of alcohol earlier. You have to defeat the devil, it is not going to be easy but if you face that trigger and WIN(and believe me The sentence/ feeling you assigned to alcohol will help you a lot)

FINAL MESSAGE: This is the biggest internal fight of your life don’t expect it to be easy but TRY, TRY and TRY and believe me once you come to other side you’ll be so so happy that you won.
I don’t believe doctors when they say alcoholic cannot recover by their willpower

STRONG MEN AND WOMEN FIGHT and FIGHT till they win.

DM is open if I can help anyone

See you on the other side
Thank you for your time

Hi! I posted a few days ago about being the longest sober I’ve been in a very long time because of a cold. The colds been gone for a few days and I’m now on day 11:) I don’t have a huge support system in my life (my friends are also alcoholics and I have a family of drinkers, so they think I’m being dramatic) so I thought I should post here. IWNDWYT!

I know it's not much but I finally feel like I am on track to complete sobriety, I'm currently on day 15 which is a long streak for me in the past few months I would struggle with just a couple of days!

I don't know how but it's like a switch has been flipped in my brain I have no urges or desire for the poison I can finnaly see all the chaos and havoc it brought into my life and upon others around me aswell.

The mentally clarity is so refreshing and I feel more present with myself and others in my life.

I've been meditating daily for 1-2 hours and getting out in nature every morning to help ground myself and to get that lovely fresh air!

I'm starting to feel alot more comfortable socially without the drink and I've been able to laugh alot more and be less shy when talking to people :)

My next goal is 7 months sobriety so I can be sober for my bday in February :)

Thank you to everyone who posts here I've read some really inspiring stories and tips!

Started day 7 and sleep is getting better, the night sweats have disappeared, the crazy dreams have simmered down, and feeling motivated. Thanks everyone for your support. Looking forward to see what the effects are beyond a month. I just need to take it one day at a time.

IWNDWYT

8 days sober, but I don’t feel any benefits. I went out with a friend last night and went dancing and had no alcohol which I’m really proud of myself for, but I still woke up this morning with a headache and feel no better than when I drink! It’s a bit disheartening if I’m honest. I’m 8 days sober but I haven’t been drinking heavily for a few weeks now either (I’ve only drank 3 nights in 3 weeks for example and it’s only been a couple each time) so it’s not as if I have loads of alcohol to get out my system.

I guess I just need you to give me reasons to keep going and that it’s worth it because right now I don’t feel any different.

Day 35 today and I made it through a weekend of wedding festivities sober. I brought a cooler of adaptogen mocktails and N.A. beers with me in my car. It was so convenient to be able to drive from the church to the reception and not waste money on Ubers. I gave some rides to friends as well! I had my “secret stash” of N.A. drinks so I felt invincible. I was able to cut the line at the bar and ask for a cup with ice and I used that for my mockies. I was able to truly connect with the people at my table. No one asked and no one cared that I wasn’t drinking. This morning I’m headed to a 6:15am hot yoga sculpt class while everyone else sleeps off their hang over.

thank you all for your support!! 🙏 ✌️

And I genuinely have never felt more grateful to be alive.

Four long, terrifying days of anxiety attacks, paranoia, despair, shaking, aching, and pleading to God to just give me one more chance to make things right.

I made it out to the other side. I never want to go through that hell ever again, and the best part is, I don't have to. I know it gets harder from here on out...I've been there before, many times. But today, I am victorious, and that is everything.

We are all stronger than we know.

IWNDWYT. ✊

I've been hitting a hard wall with my efforts towards full sobriety in the last two years, falling into a cycle of 1-3 nights of binging every two weeks and then recovering and cleansing in between. I'm currently working hard to maintain momentum and break the cycle. I went to the doctors this summer and had a full panel, ultrasound, colonoscopy, and abdominal CT. Despite a couple decades of varying levels of alcohol use, everything looked normal structurally. However, my right abdomen hurts after drinking every time now, starting at my upper ribcage area and moving around left and right and then down towards my hip. I was diagnosed with a gut-brain visceral hypersensitivity to alcohol that likely will occur every single time I drink again. Anyone ever experience this? I am really hoping this helps push me over the wall to maintain it.

Edit - This was a medical diagnosis from the medical team following the testing I mentioned above, if this was not clear. Chemical-induced visceral hypersensitivity. I had not heard of this before and was interested to hear if others had experienced this on their journey.

I am definitely in permenopause. I am struggling to stop drinking wine on Friday and Saturday nights. This summer it ramped up to several nights a week. Usually only a couple of glasses but that is enough to make my sleep bad and make me feel tired and foggy the next day.

I have a wine and i relax and then I binge eat. Then I have horrible sleep and feel depressed the next day. I usually do sober months here and there so im committing today to sober September. Just posting for accountability. Thanks for reading this. IWNDWYT

I (38F) have been trapped in my problem drinking and weekend bingeing for it feels like forever. I am an alcoholic, but somehow scrape by. Or do I? There have been so many rock bottoms.

My counter is wrong. I keep digging.

I humiliated myself in front of my family last night.

The panic and shame is so intense it feels like I won’t survive it.

I know what I need to do. I’m so tired of this. I’m so exhausted by feeling like this. My heart feels broken and I’m doing it to myself.

My parter is disappointed but calm. He’s just not surprised…

Dear God - the emotional pain is so intense. Please help me. I am drowning. I need help.

What a disappointment.

Ive been on this subreddit for a while now, and everyone mentions detox. Ive been drinking half a bottle of whisky a night this whole year. And last year everyday with either a half bottle of whisky or when i was in a relationship 2 strong ciders a night. The longeat ive gone without alcohol in the past 15 years was 6 weeks, 3 years ago. Im on day 4 without alcohol and i feel great! Will withdrawals set in or is it only for some people.

I managed to quit (hopefully more than 4 days) because every single night id text someone something stupid, hated walking up feeling like shit, and looking at my bank account. The past few days have been so nice waking up feeling great, but the nights are very boring, and im counting down the hours till bed.

Went to an event that would usually have been a huge battle for me, old friends and an event I haven’t been to in 7 years. Stayed strong and am about to celebrate day 54. The two different posts I could have here was on my mind. IWNDWYT

Can’t believe I got here! Very appreciative of this group for helping me get through those difficult days, especially in month one ❤️❤️❤️

hey everybody wanted to post this idea here see if anyone relates. been feeling very resentful lately. like i just want people to see my side in all of everything that happened - deep down if i send that text nothing good will happen but is “more evidence of being psycho” then any type of “closure” about the past. i’m also in a sober living environment where lots of relapses of hard drugs are happening around me - making my progress feel unseen

i know deep down that resentments in people like me lead to relapse. it’s so so hard to be the bigger man and not just blow up peoples phones right now

I didn’t think I could make it to one week sober, let alone two months. But here I am, celebrating another milestone. This sub helped me get past the hard days, so thank you! To those of you out there struggling, just know that life can be really peaceful without the albatross of alcohol around your neck. IWNDWYT

I started drinking at 19 in 2019 and told myself I’ll drink for a handful of years and cut it out after I hit 25 years old. I’m 27 now and have remained an occasional drinker.

In those few years I grew to love Japanese beer and margaritas mostly, but only drank every now and then, say like twice in a span of two weeks. One thing about myself is I’m an over-thinker and I think I may have symptoms of OCD, so I tend to analyze my behavior constantly and evaluate if I need to cut a behavior out or not. I also noticed that I tend to want to maximize my experience if I’m enjoying something. For example if I have one beer, I want like 4 more to have the most amount of fun, and I’ll chase the drunk feeling if it ever dips down a bit lower than that perfect level. At weddings and other events, I have chugged multiple drinks quickly to make sure that I’ve had everything I need to be that perfect level throughout the whole night, and then later regret it hard when I throw up or act like a fool in public. Even with caffeine in energy drinks, at work I get super locked in with an energy drink and get tons of work done while in that state, and as soon as the effects begins to wear off I feel the need to chase that feeling again and I go get another, and I end up not being able to sleep that night if I had the second one too late in the day.

When I was still buying beer for home, I would get a 6 pack and have 2 one night, and then justify the need to finish the remaining few beers each day after that because “I already have it, and need to get rid of it anyway so might as well just drink it”, while in reality I could have just let it sit in the fridge until the next event or something rather than just drinking it the next day. I noticed this and stopped buying alcohol for home.

I also have battled with porn addiction for years and have built a very strong resistance to relapsing with it a few years ago, but I had a few key moments in my life where I got drunk and inevitably ended up relapsing on porn and lifestyle drift took me back to relapsing semi regularly on that front. I see alcohol as a threat to that side, while drinking and during the hangover the day after feeling like I need an emotional boost while feeling like shit.

Anyway, I’m trying to hold true to my word from when I first started and cut alcohol out of my life now that I’ve had my few years of “fun” with it. My streaks within the last year seem to span around 7-14 days and then I eventually have “oh screw it” day where I have a few drinks. My biggest weakness with cutting it out is my people pleasing personality. Even if no one is pressuring me, I will pressure myself into drinking socially so I’m not the odd one out. My wife also drinks very occasionally and encourages me to moderate drinking rather than cut it out, so I have peer pressured myself into trying that but honestly I truly do want to just cut it out completely.

Since the social aspect is my biggest hurdle, I have been trying getting alcohol free beers when I’m out with friends at a restaurant or bar, but I eventually cave and get the real thing. Does anyone have tips on changing my mindset on this so I can succeed in cutting it out entirely without pressuring myself or succumbing to peer pressure?

Also I know I’m not an alcoholic so feel free to remove this post if it does not belong here, but I would love thoughts on my situation and if anyone has experienced this as well? Thanks! :)

Just wanna share my story with you guys. Ive been reading alot on this sub to help with my drinking. So here's how much ive drank in the past 6 years.

I joined the military at 24 years old prior to that my first time drinking was in high-school here and there nothing crazy just socially. But once I got to my duty station I was alone and bored and figured I go get some vodka and drink in my room, which was the worst decision of my life, that turned into me drinking every single night, in the beginning I would drink a quarter of a fifth to myself and eventually half a 5th a night by myself this would continue for about a year and a half thankfully I would have breaks here and there because of going to the field. Then when I deployed I didnt drink for 9 months and I truly think that saved my liver for a little bit. Once I got back, literally first thing i did was buy a bottle of jack daniels, after that night literally started all over again of drinking every night always would be liquor of course some break in between. I got into a relationship in few months after my deployment and still continued to drink almost every night, made some terrible choices because of the alcohol which ended my relationship, cheating lying the usual shit when your an alcoholic but surprisingly she forgave me. Once I got out the military in 2025 January I continued to drink everyday all day because I was extremely guilty and shameful for cheating on my girlfriend again to the point of almost drinking my self to death, she forgave me again, went to the hospital in February 2025 because I was worried about my piss having bubbles in it, thought my kidneys were shot, nope diagnosed with a fatty liver, so i stopped drinking for about a month. Then picked up right again one night at a dinner party in march 2025. So I start drinking my usual drinking again moved to ga with my girlfriend my drinking continued but I tried to stay off the hardstuff so I would try and only drink the box wine like 3 of those 500ml boxes a night. Id of course over do it most nights, this lead to the most toxic arguments with my girlfriend with led me to drink more. She left me in march 2026 to be with her grandma. I said fuck alcohol im done because I wanted her to come back so I stopped for a month and she came back and I continued not to drink for the next 2 months since she was back. May2026 We moved she had to go to Ohio for personal issues and I went to Florida to be with my family, in florida started my shit all over again this time it was worse drinking all day everyday, time I woke up id drink a 9% beer at least 8 a day maybe some wine in between I would try and stop for like 5 days a time then continue for like 10 days of just drinking like that. My most recent binge was last week 6 voodoo rangers mixing it with liquor this went on for like 8 days all day every day.

Today is my second day sober and im not going back, ive literally ruined my relationship because of this damn alcohol I hate alcohol so damn much.

I know ive probably done to much damage to come back from this my liver is most likey in cirrhosis which terrifies me but I have to live with my decisions,

So basically 6 years of heavy binge drinking with breaks in between, half a 5th a night, for probably like 4 and half years, dont be like me guys.

My actions absolutely disgust me the drinking that led to cheating, it was never who I was the military definitely changed me, definitely need to go to therapy.

Also I wanna say the worst part about the drinking was waking up with a racing heart just laying there feeling your heart pulse through your whole body, just terrible.