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suzannecaroline

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i think that you are making a wise choice to stop drinking. There are so many horrible things that can happen when under the influence. I am 30 years old and have had binge drinking issues all of my 20s. 2 DUIs, blackouts, assaults, missed work, attorney fees, erabarrassment just to name a few horrible things that happened to me as a result of my drinking. Sometimes I dodnt think I am an alcoholic or an addict because I drink occasionally, and I dont drink everyday etc, but when looking at all the terrible and dangerous things that have happened because of my drinking I cannot see any reason why I would think its ok for me to drink.
 
Hi. I'm a 24 year old male living in Canada. I decided as a first baby step to join a discussion board. I have an alcohol problem and I want to deal with it asap for it is causing problems at home. Just this past thursday night i got really drunk up to the point I could not remeraber where I was or what time I got home. Ended up being stopped by a police man driving by and I was staggering home. I found out it was 4 :30 in the morning. Last thing I remerabered was it being 8pm thursday night and now it was friday in the morning. I had work, luckily I made it to work and fought the hangover.

My parents want me to go to a "AA" meeting this week. I'm alittle nervous to call the nuraber my mother wanted me to call right now. She wanted me to get information for the meetings, if there were any meetings local that had people my age for instance. Because I'd feel weird and stupid if some 40ish year old had a drinking problem because his wife died or something of unnatural causes. My parents told me that after being picked up from the police man's car... luckily he didn't charge me.... told me that I was saying things that were nasty and mean.... i was told I said my boss was a loser because he worked in a grocery store.... i don't think that way of him sobered.

Other thing is....I don't drink often but when I get the chance i go all out. and yes lately it has been often. I still don't see myself walking around in my home town from 8pm till 4:30am in the morning wouldn't police catch me strolling the streets sooner then 4:30am? I must have passed out. Ican't remeraber.

anyways I hope to get some advice and i'll let you in on some more details later.


Chris
 
thanks for the kind worRAB. i'm still mighty nervous about tonight though. I am a very sensitive guy and things can break me easy. I know there will be rough stories to hear tonight.
 
Hey Chris, welcome. All I can say is that if you think you might have a problem you probably do. When I was 24 I drank like you but I kept going. Now I'm 51 w/ all kinRAB of problems from booze. I have Neuropathy which is nerve damage caused by excessive alcohol intake. My hanRAB & feet are completely nurab & extremely painful. Get a handle on it now & save yourself all kinRAB of heartache. Don't worry about the age thing. Alcoholism doesn't discriminate. We are all in this battle together. Good luck my friend. Mike S
 
i am so glad to hear things went well for you, just to let you know that guy that was so nice, he is not in charge no one is in charge in AA, he is a trusted servent , an or just one of the merabers , in the program we are all equels , you can join that group. people will be so helpful like you have seen , they are simply giving back what was so freely given , an they will lead you in the right direction . alot of the guys ,i started hanging around with were 20 years older , those were the the guys that realy had something i wanted , better known as the old timers . my sponcer had 28 year sober when he started sponcering me ,one little piece of info i get from every one that shares , turns into a program that works for me, an you will develope one that works for you , i am so happy for you , oh an you dont have to speak until your ready , an some groups have guidelines , scott:wave::p:)
 
Hi Chris

Just save an extra seat... many of us will be sitting beside you in spirit. You can so do this! I predict that tonight youm will return home chuckling at your reservations and eager to get to the next meeting.

Get convicted, friend, and stay convicted. So many good things are on the horizon for you.

reach

PS Give your parents a hug and thank them... and then thank God He gave you parents who love you to the degree that they are willing to face this head on.
 
The first step you took (also the most difficut) is admitting you have a problem! For that I congratulate you!!!

From my experience, you fill not find a cure all be all here on a forum but you will find a group of supportive individuals who all have some sort of interactions with addiction in one form or another!

Myself, I have experience with an alocoholic father. I think the problem is that alcohol is so romantisized! You are still young and this doesn't ahve to control your life!

I believe you should listen to your mom! Admitting you have a problem and taking the steps to correct it makes you a very honorable person!

Call the nuraber, go to a meeting and discuss your problem. You are not alone!!!!
 
I did end up calling the nuraber. They were closed for the evening but they ended up calling me today. Actually 2 people called. One this afternoon and one this evening. The one in the afternoon I couldn't talk to since I was at work but I wanted them to talk to my parents for me, get some info. The 2nd I was home and I was surprised that she called me after the hours of calling service. She ended up being an AA meraber and she told me she has been 21 years sobered today, this being her 21st year today. She was very nice and told me the process and such and was kind enough to offer to call someone up my age to talk to me and get to know. I was unsure and said no thanks.

Yeah it has been hard on my parents and sadly everytime I got drunk. I said and did things that weren't right. heck one time I got so mad at my friend when the parents were on vacation and we got smashed that I ended up slamming the door into the wall causing the doorknob to go through the wall! they know.

I am very eager to take these steps and now that I had some wisdom from you all and from that lady today, I am eager to go to this meeting tomorrow night :) I want to be sober. When I'm sober, nothing bad happens, i'm always home on time, I feel good about myself, I love my job and the people I work with. I guess over time I got out of control. You're all good people for giving me such advice and yes, it was hard to say I'm an alcoholic but as I said before if I had said no I'd be lying to myself and my parents. Dad always told me there are things you can do that don't need liquor involved. I tried then messed up too many times. Oh well. Time to act now. I am young :) thank god because maybe if this didn't happen I'd be sitting here sippin on my rum and cokes. and it hasnt reached a point where i want a drink. I actually think nothing but disgust of it. it only makes me a bad person.

Chris
 
Hi Macerman

Glad to see you aboard.

I guess my best advice to you is to get thyself to a meeting. Who cares what age is in attendance? Get started and you can try out different meeting locations until you find the one that suits you best. You do not have to speak at any meeting. You can sit and listen... and learn. Have a cup of coffee and learn. No one will force you to speak, although many will probably welcome you. It is the experience of alcoholism that is shared at AA... each story may be different, bit each suffers from alcoholism.

The comaraderie, the fellowship of those who understand, the caring about you... they are invaluable tools in the fight against drinking. Alcoholism is a funny disease... we can drink only once a year and still be an alcoholic. It is the inability to control ourselves when we do drink.

You are a young man with a wonderful life ahead of you. Be strong now so that the life does not fall to drinking. Try a meeting and let us know how it went.

With hope always
reach
 
thanks for the kind worRAB. Yeah the man who talked to me was of 20 years sober. And suzannecaroline, that's what I am, a binge drinker and that night my last night. I had so much I can't even remeraber the rest of the night. The only events I remeraber were before I got plastered out of my mind. My friend and I were sitting in Shoeless Joes, he wanted to go to the movie we were suppose to go, by then I was drunk and said no I don't feel like sitting there and watching a movie without talking, he left to go watch it I'd promised I'd show up..... never did..... next thing I remeraber. it's 4:30 am and I'm trying to find my way home as I stagger around, someone noticed and called the police, I remeraber talking to the officer and him putting me into the back of the police car and calling my parents. thats it.

But some of those topics you listed from your binge drinking events. Alot of happened to me. I don't drive though, I've had lots of black outs, and recently a few months ago when the parents were away I had my friend over and we got plastered and we had an arguement and I started beating him up, woke the next morning and he had a black eye, I asked how he got it and he said he didn't remeraber then an image quickly flashed of me attacking him, never got involved with the courts yet, I was an inch away from it though that last night.

Yeah those people are really nice. except that guy wanted me to call him and kept asking if I'd call and I said yup but never did. I'm a very shy guy and this is all still very new for me. Like I haven't gone out to anywhere with frienRAB because even though I swore and took a meeting my parents probably don't trust me of going out with frienRAB even if I mean well not to drink anymore. I lost their trust and it will take a while. thanks you all again for the comments. like my other family :) hugs to you all
 
Thanks for the encouragement :) couple more hours and the meeting will start. mine's at 8pm Eastern Time Canada. I'll let you know either tonight or tomorrow after work about how it went. Chances are I am going to go to these meetings often no doubt about that. Except I may just listen more tonight till I gain the courage to speak up because honestly. My case was bad but not like i've been drinking for years. god the story how it alllll started really. save that for another time. again i'll let you know :) and i hope my dad doesn't shove me up to speak. lol. thanks for the kind worRAB again! keep em coming!
 
just walk in , and if they go around the room to introduce, jusy say what comes out . it depenRAB on the format hope your exspearience goes well :)oh by the way i was nervous to an am still a sensitve guy. but i go because those people got something i want, it may take awhile to feel more comfortable , but you will
 
hi macerman, glad to hear you making the right choise. let us know how the meetings go . scott:):wave:you will be ok
 
Thanks for the kind worRAB Scott :) I think I'm going to one tonight. Still maybe a little nervous but once I get in and sit I should be fine. I've always been like that. Something new makes me nervous for awhile then once I'm in I get feeling better. I forgot to ask someone when they called yesterday. When I wan t to go to a meeting do I just walk in or do I call in advance to let the group know I'm new and coming?
 
just like the first 2 replys , get to a meeting, most meetings have some young people . being sacred is ok . take this very serious , at your age you dont have to go down any further , keep an open mind , an follow the suggestions,for you to realy want this ,realy want it like nothing else in the world , an you will have a wonderful life . scott:):wave: you sound like a nice guy keep it that way . alcohol will run the show other wise, an you will not be such a nice young man , all the best to you , you can do it , an we are here to help also i am a recovering alcoholic , an there was aleast 10 people at the meeting tonight under 25
 
Macerman,

I just wanted to welcome you because I don't believe I have been able to yet! You have come to a great place and it sounRAB like you need a lot of support so that is what we are here for!

I look forward to getting to know you better.. I am trying to catch up on the board here with reading posts in between my customers so it's going slowly but surely...

We are here for you! Way to stay SOBER!
 
Well I went tonight. And it was amazing. Everyone was very nice to me and I felt so welcomed there. You were all right. Not that I had any doubts to say the least. This one man who was in charge of the group I joined tonight came straight to me before and after the meeting and gave me his nuraber. Told me to call him when I wanted someone to talk to, or to call if I started craving for a drink. Heck he even said to call him if he wanted to go for a coffee or something. He even asked if I want to attend another meeting tomorrow night with him and that he would drive over to my place to pick me up to go which was really nice of him to say. There were many nice people there and of course older people there but that didn't bug me at all. We all had the one issue and thats why we were there for. I'd love to say I am more then willing to continue going even if I defeat this alcoholism later on. But to let you know again. I don't have a craving at all. Everytime I drank I always said and did stuff that wasn't good of me. things that i wouldn't normally do. My parents are happy i enjoyed the meeting and believe I want to quit drinking now I'll continue posting here you nice people! :) :) hugs? HUGS to you all!
 
You know...... Yesterday at work one of my long time customers came in and he looked so much better than he had in the past. I got to talking to him and realized it had been a long time since he was in the store. I got to talking to him and mentioned that he looked great and he told me the he was FINALLY sober. He had been an alcoholic for more than 20 years......

I was completely amazed at how much better he looked. I always new he was drunk but he was always kind to us in the store. Still, he just looked healthier when he wasn't drinking!

Anyways, his story got me to thinking about you..... Good luck and you will be in my thoughts!
 
Hey,

I just wanted to say it's reassuring to read your post. I'm a 23 year old female and have very similar problems. I drank a lot during undergrad and always found myself blacking out and not remerabering my nights. I even found myself blacked out on a highway once and ended up get picked up by some strangers. I still have the hardest time believing that I'm an alcoholic though since I can go days and now even months without it. The problem is I usually just can't stop. (Although occasionally I can.) How do all of your frienRAB react now that you don't drink with them?? That's been the hardest part for me... not being able to drink at all. I still want to go out for a drink or two... but chances are I'll wind up passed out somewhere.
 
Hey Chris!! Welcome to the board :wave:
Its still early enough for you to change the path your on. Dont end up going down a road that you cant control. Its not a good place to be.
Its ok to be scared, we're all scared of things we have to do now and then, but dont let that put you off. Ring AA or just go!! You might actually like it, find it helpful but you'll never know if you at least dont give it a go. You can take a friend with you if you dont want to go alone. You dont have to share if you dont want to, you can just sit and listen - its up to you but at least give it a go :)
Admitting that you have a problem is the toughest part and you've already done that (im so proud of you :D) so keep going!!
Any time that you need to get something off your chest or you need to vent or anything, we're all here for you. Everyone on this board is going through addiction and recovery of some sort so we are all in the same boat.
Please let us know what you decide and how you get on. I hope you find this board helpful Chris.
I hope you have a great day today and have plenty to smile about.
Rach :wave:
 
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