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Anyone take SHRM? How many hours did you study?
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Rising Star
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Please help me reach 20 likes to bowl a fish.
Anyone from Sacramento area/ Cali
Good luck to anyone waiting on LBS today!
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Bowl Leader
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Acceptance is the answer.
Bowl Leader
Pause. Breathe. Proceed.
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I decided to try sober vs nightly drinking to unwind.
I don’t attend meetings. I don’t white knuckle or avoid those who drink. I just don’t drink daily any more. I did a dry January to start. I had a terrible headache for about 10 days.
I can take it or leave it. Mostly I leave it. I might have a drink on occasion. The less I drink, the less I want to. I feel sharper, better physically and more in control of my emotional life without alcohol.
I discovered I did have adverse effects that I just never noticed. Or glossed over. Physically I was bloated. Mentally I was irritable & impatient. My sleep hygiene was terrible. Tbh it still isn’t great but the alcohol didn’t help that.
That said I don’t want to diminish the fact that others have more serious struggles. I applaud all who are doing the hard work. It’s worth it to me although you will experience a change to your ecosystem. Buckle up for that. When you shift behavior, you’ll see others adjust to the change. Some will leave you and you will leave others. It’s ok. Probably needed doing.
Good luck!🍀
Rising Star
You used the term "addicted" to describe this behavior and described a feeling of shame over discussing this with anyone. Addiction describes a compulsion, a feeling that we are powerless over a substance(s) that we have come to rely on in our lives. I started drinking at age 13. I didn't walk into the rooms of AA until I was 55. I had done talk therapy off and on starting in 2000, but all of that time, I was what I would describe as a high functioning alcoholic. I'm not saying you need to go to AA, nor am I labelling what you describe. But I am using my personal example to share that understanding the health consequences may not be enough. I didn't need to just stop drinking - I need to understand the reasons why I drank. Where the compulsion and need to have a substance in my life had become such a necessary crutch. And in order to do so, I needed to be in a setting with others so I could openly discuss it free of shame, judgement, stigma. So my main point here is to find an outlet to understand that side of the equation, in addition to more medical aspects such as blood work. Good luck to you.
I’d like to add here that I learned to drink for practically every occasion from family. My first sip of beer came from my Dad and I promise I was nowhere near the legal age. I drank from the age of maybe 15 very regularly. Only during COVID did I start to see how much of my life was entwined with alcohol,
Celebration - pop a cork.
Sad - have a cocktail
Nervous about an event - shot of courage
Angry - soothe it with a glass of wine
Lonely - binge TV & a cocktail
Stressed - wine!
You get the picture. No event was alcohol free.
The greatest freedom I’ve experienced in life is the ability to fully express & explore my entire range of feelings without being muted by alcohol. I’m not a young thing. This journey has been decades in the making. And I’m so glad I did.
Find your why. Often it’s not outside of you. Not your job or your kids or your spouse. It’s something inside. ❤️
Unless you can force yourself to stop and stay with it, you'll need to talk to someone, attend meetings, or get help one way or another. That's not to say you are weak or anything negative, addictions can be the hardest things to overcome. You may not feel it right now, but it is affecting your body in one way or another. Your liver, kidneys, stomach, blood pressure, heart, are all affected by drinking everything you mentioned. If you do decide to stop one or all of them, start with one first. I certainly wouldn't try to kick them all at once, your body will revolt and you'll feel absolutely miserable. Remember, you're not weak, you're not a failure, you're human and we all have things we need to work on. Good luck.
Keep it up, until you don’t want to do law. Also, get your yearly bloodwork and renal function panels.
At a point you will stop, at both: law and such.
Honestly as someone said before. Talk to your doctor. Get those blood panels. When you realize what it’s doing to your body it’s a wake up call. I used the sunnyside app for cutting back (might have to pay) but it helped me cut back until I went to a outpatient program through my doctors. I can send you some youtubes if you want too to learn more.
Bowl Leader
Have you looked into therapy? Sometimes we get stuck in this hamster wheel of life and it takes an impartial third party to sort of “give us permission” to take positive action. It also helps get a better “outside in” view of what’s going on in our lives.
Alcohol can become a bad habit. And it’s also a coping mechanism for tons of people. Addiction is a whole other animal though, which can be brought about by the former two.
For me, I’ve learned I need a healthy substitute whenever I take away any of my vices. I’m an alcoholic, so my substitute for alcohol is AA, but for the non-alcoholic, see if you can find a motivator that’ll let you taper off the “daily 5 drinks” while still allowing you to feel content and not adding to the struggle.
Pro
Most, if not all, real alcoholics wouldn't have gotten sober any sooner than they did, even if they were granted a look into their own future. We simply enjoy drinking THAT much.
This may mot be you though, maybe you're going through a tough patch, and counseling will help you get and stay on track.
That having been said, it wouldn't hurt for you to go to a couple open meetings of Alcoholics Anonymous and see if anything said resonates. Alcoholism isn't contagious, nor is anyone going to try and convince you of anything, we show up to tell our own stories, not to write yours.
You'll hopefully find it to be a welcoming place that you can come back to if those consequences ever start piling up, or if you begin to feel trapped and powerless to stop.
I agree with everyone above. The best thing that I ever did for myself and what helped me the most was finding a therapist and having her hold me accountable every single week.