We may be anonymous strangers on the internet, but we have one thing in common. We may be a world apart, but we’re here together!
Welcome to the 24 hour pledge! I’m pledging myself to not drinking today, and invite you to do the same.
Maybe you’re new to c/stopdrinking and have a hard time deciding what to do next. Maybe you’re like me and feel you need a daily commitment or maybe you’ve been sober for a long time and want to inspire others.
It doesn’t matter if you’re still hung over from a three day bender or been sober for years, if you just woke up or have already completed a sober day. For the next 24 hours, let’s not drink alcohol!
I’ve been there. You’re in good company mate. Just stick with it. If things don’t get better, see a doc if you can and they have stuff to help you get some rest and deal with any withdrawal symptoms. It gets better, I will not drink with you today
Thanks. Sadly enough, I’m also about 13 years into recovery from opioid/Suboxone addiction. So I don’t do the sleeping pills and all that. Just trading addictions won’t do it for me. I suppose that’s how I ended up drinking myself to sleep for the past few years to begin with… I’m determined, not really having such a bad day at work, to be honest. It’s tough, but it’s good to know there are others that are staying strong with me. To be entirely honest, yesterday was the first day that I realized I really was a fuckin alcoholic… I quit a few days ago, in shame for something I did in a full-on blackout drunk and it really emotionally scarred the person that loves me the most in this world. I truly didn’t expect to have any symptoms; I’m just a “get smashed and pass out after work drinker. Not an alcoholic.” She told me she was afraid I’d be fucking up to just drop it cold turkey, because of the withdrawals… Of course, I didn’t think I’d have any… My woman was right, though. I was dead assed wrong. Thought I’d just went too far while I had too much shit on my mind, and The Boys In The Basement had too much time on their hands and too much shit to chew on… It’s been pretty much solid, every night drinking whiskey until I crash out for a couple years, now. I just didn’t realize how close to the edge I was, and had already gone over in reality. Thanks for the kind thoughts, though. Really means a damn lot to me. And I’m not drinking this day.
I don’t know how to DM on lemmy/the app I use, so I won’t go into much detail but let’s just say I relate so much to what you just said. I’m still finding and scrubbing dried beer off the walls from a blackout sometime last year. I also have said and done some things while drunk that really hurt my wife and I’m not sure I will ever forgive myself for, despite her saying she has. I also just want to say too, the whole “alcohol reveals who you truly are” saying is complete bullshit. The whole point of alcohol is that it turns off your higher functioning, non-reptilian brain. That part of your brain is quite literally “who you are”. Not sure if that means or matters much, but that helped me move forward and not get too caught up on some dumb shit I did or said. You got this man, message me if you ever need to talk or just want to vent
Man, I have no clue how to DM on this thing either… But, I really hate to hear that there’s anyone else on this rock in the same boat I’m in. Though, I know there’s tons of us. Shittiest part?: ain’t the first time I’ve fucked up in this exact same goddamn way. You’re really right about alcohol bringing out the “Real You” that you’re hiding on all your sober days and nights. It just isn’t true at all. It amplifies your fears and suspicions, and brings that shit to the front of your mind where you too easily accept that crazy shit as the truth… Even though as soon as you sober up, wake up, and she’s literally walked the fuck away in the cold and the rain, and she’s not laying there beside you, she ain’t in the shitter, she ain’t on the couch… And you call and when she answers you give that pleading question: “Where the fuck are you? What the fuck happened?” Because you literally can’t answer those questions yourself… Because you were too fucking drunk to form fucking memories, but still tried to settle some bullshit that only exists in your fucking head to begin with. And wouldn’t take the truth for an answer… Well, hopefully she’s been there, fucking understands what happened… Anything else and you’re probably fucked… Man, I was lucky… She truly understands. Will not put up with that shit on the regular… Will not listen to those same excuses again. The problem she had and is recovering from herself is a different problem, but similar to mine and yours. I thought she fucking slipped, in the back of mind… The more I drank the more forward The Boys In The Basement marched with that doubt they’d been chewing on all damn day… And the more that doubt turned into truth, or accusation, anyways… Guess I thought it Was truth, but I was fucking wrong… You probably get the fucking jist. And here’s an angelic stroke of reason from her: she told me that I should trust her, but if I really couldn’t: then to just go grab a fucking drug test and keep it on hand… So that if I really got that worked up and worried then just whip it out and see the truth with my own eyes… It was such a simple and reasonable answer to that question that grew into anger and mistrust, lead her to walk away from that drunk, unreasonable piece of shit that I become on some dark days… Fuck, she was literally fully serious. And we’re close enough that I could sit right there and watch the pee hit the cup, if ya know what I mean… No doubter… But, that fucking way-too-far drunk me would’ve never listened to reason, son of a whore never does. But that true care she showed me, thoughtful reason and understanding really got me, man. I owe her something for that. There’s only one goddamn way I can ever guarantee that doesn’t happen again (not that I gave her that guarantee, I’d be a fucking liar to say that it’s not a possibility) is to lay that fucking shitty bottle the fuck down. So I fucking quit five days ago. And I ain’t drinking a fuckin drop today. I hope all settles in your life… Really didn’t mean for this to be an outpour, but it’s the first time I’ve expressed it. Feels better to write it the fuck down and make it real in the world. Stay tough, man.
Sounds like you’ve got a great partner. Fight like hell and do whatever it takes to keep her. And I feel you when it comes to writing it down and making it real. I’m not the type to write things down but I’m journaling now a bit here and there about my struggles with alcohol and life in general and it has helped. It’ll get easier, but some days it’ll be harder. keep at it. I’ll see you tomorrow.
Thanks, man. Day 6 up and at it. Finally slept some. Not peaceful by any means, but I did sleep a few hours off and on. I’m feeling like that’s the hardest part, so far. It slowly grinds me down. But, I’m not drinking shit today. And hopefully that strength carries into tonight. Thanks for being around, man. Yesterday was a fuckin tough one. We’ll hang in there.