Am i an alcoholic??

[IrishSaint]

Hello. Well, for the past 4 years ive been drinking alcohol, for the first few years when i was still underage i would drink maybe once a week or two or 3 times a month. and then that slowly became every weekend. at first i would only drink like maybe 8 or 9 beers and be drunk. but as time went on i wasnt happy until i had consumed 10+ beers in a night. the past year or so since turning 21 ive been drinking quite a bit more. roughly 2 or 3 times a week. beer liquor wine you name it ive drank it. the past few months my anxiety problems have been getting worse, and so i try to fix that by drinking more. i sometimes drink 4 times a week now. when i drink i feel on top of the world, no more anxiety, my self esteem suddenly sky rockets and everything seems perfect. but the next morning my hangover says otherwise. my anxiety comes back ten-fold and the only thought im my mind is im never going to drink again. then later on in the day when my hangovers starting to wear off i say to myself well im going to go at least a few days without drinking. and then by the next morning im say well i guess i can drink tonight then. i have 2 alcoholic uncles and my family is worrying that i am following down the wrong path. i dont know if i am chemically addicted to it or not, but i know that when i actually AM drinking my anxiety temporarily stops. im sorry for rarabling but i find myself slowly drifting farther and farther away from reality these days and i dont know if alcohol has anything to do with it. so basically my question is, Am i an alcoholic?? when i dont drink for a few days i get horribly grumpy and my hanRAB shake alittle bit. and lately ive been getting headaches and my body feels weak and run down. is this all related??? what should i do?

 

[AnnD]

Yes ...is the answer to your question. There are many things you can do if you are ready. There are 2 and 4 week inpatient treatment programs if you have insurance or just start attending free AA meetings in your town...the times are generally listed in your local paper or online. You might also go to a doctor to be sure you are healthy to go through withdrawals and see if he might put you on the medicine that makes you vomit if you drink alcohol it is called Antabuse. But If you do nothing else... Read the book; My Name is Bill and you might also rent the movie ...My Name Is Bill W. (1989) (TV). James WooRAB had the staring roll it is very good and you might see yourself. The anxiety and the shakes are all part of withdrawals along with vomiting and feeling like you have the worst flu ever. Not many can do this all on their own...if you have someone that will stay with you and help you through the withdrawals that would be good. If you have a job it will not be easy ...you might need some time off to go through withdrawals for about a week or so. You are so young and I hope you decide to do this or at least keep trying to get clean and sober. My brother in law was an alcoholic by the time he was twenty and now he is in his late 50's and has cancer through out his body nothing will help him so he has weeks to live and he never quite drinking or smoking. My brother also a young alcoholic died at young age with lung cancer. Well the list goes on and on and I sure hope you have the strength to stop and never drink again. If you also smoke just give up one addiction at a time. I wish you all the luck in the world. Like I said if you do nothing else please read and/or watch the DVD My Name is Bill W. (Bill Wilson the founder of AA)

 

[ReD4Life]

It does sound like you have a problem. I, too found I had a problem (I couldn't go without drinking every day for 2 years...hard liquor). I used it for the same reasons you did...to self-medicate. But, I frequently thought of the three grandparents of mine that died due to alcohol abuse. Paternal grandmother, dead of liver disease at 44, paternal grandfather, dead at 69 from something alcohol related (I never knew what because my father had cut off contact with him due to the abuse he suffered at the man's hanRAB as a child), maternal grandfather, dead at 59 from the alcohol and cigarettes he was addicted to (had a stroke and heart attack). My only living grandparent only has the occasional glass of red wine, and she is alive and well at 92. I was worried enough to go to an AA meeting. It was there that I got the bejesus scared out of me by all the people who'd ruined there lives. I was determined to salvage mine before I got to the point many of those people did. I never attended another AA meeting, but I put down the alcohol for good that night. I've not drank in a year and a half, and I can't believe I ever once felt the way I did about alcohol (like I had to have it every day). I'm so happy to be free of those chains.
Good luck to you. You might try an AA meeting as was suggested by AnnD and listen to what others have to say. There would be no harm in going.

 

[Ihatecats]

i've been told many time by doctors and counslers that the first time i took my first drink of alcohol i was an alcohlic. and i always tought they were crazy! but come to find out they know more than i did. so i know i'm a alcoholic . but i've been sober for 3 mos. and feel great cause i used to be on 250 m.g of antibuse. witch kept me from drinking and that was a good thing cause now i don't even think about drinking anymore!!! i know what it has done to me . almost lost family and girlfriend over it !!!! you just have to slow down and think is it really WORTH LOOSING FAMILY AND GIRLFRIEND!!! and good friend that don't use? no so use your good sence to think !! not the bad side that always says sure go ahead and see how many you loose!!! that not the way to think. that alway gets you into trouble. your thinking is what got you here in the first place.thats what the doctors told me !! so please to all my peers please take it one day at a time!!!!:wave: