Experimenting with alcohol

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-28-2005
Experimenting with alcohol
29
Tue, 05-09-2006 - 9:42pm

First, I want to say the CL's and the old time poster's here are awesome and well appreciated.

 

Amy

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iVillage Member
Registered: 06-30-2002
Tue, 05-09-2006 - 11:59pm

Thank you Amy for the heads up on this.


 


"OMG, I got engaged, the world will never be the same!...."


&nbs

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-01-2006
Wed, 05-10-2006 - 7:27am

It comes down to the fact that some can and some can't moderate. No method is better than the other. Do whatever works for you. We are all adults and if someone's post about moderation causes someone else to try it, well, that's their choice. It might be a bad one or good one.

Be responsible and make the right choice for you.

Lucky

Avatar for carol777
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-25-2003
Wed, 05-10-2006 - 7:50am

Please look at my post FACTS

If you want the healing of your
mind and body and spirit

the utter joy of recovery...God

Abstinence and AA gave ne my miracle.

Thanks for letting me share my blessings.

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-28-2005
Wed, 05-10-2006 - 8:12am
Thank you for sharing your experience.
 

Amy

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-28-2005
Wed, 05-10-2006 - 8:21am

Thanks for sharing these ===>

 

Amy

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-07-2003
Wed, 05-10-2006 - 7:44pm

Hi Amy, I could feel the emotions within the lines of your post. I, too, believe that it is impossible for a "real" alcoholic to moderate. One a cucumber turns into a pickle, there is no going back! It is that way for alcoholics. Sadly, I have seen so many loved ones that have decided that they can safely drink. One of them was an alcohol counselor that helped save my life during my first year of sobriety. He took care of so many people that he didn't take time to take care of his own sobriety. The stinkin' thinkin' took over and he picked up that first drink. Within 9 months he had been in and out of hospitals. He ended his life alone in a motel room, with a shotgun. He gave me a gift though - the gift of resolve, and a comment he made to me once: "You're a lot like me, Leslie." I loved him and believe my Higher Power put him in my life when I needed his help. I am like him - I am an alcoholic. But I don't have to make the same choice to try drinking again.

Moderating is an emotionally charged topic for me, too. I try to stay out of those discussions to protect my sanity and my sobriety. I can't afford to think that I can pick up a drink. I have a happy, serene, and sober life today. I have a family that I love and who loves me. I have a career that I am passionate about and wonderful friends. The bills are paid (mostly on time!) and I live in a lovely home. How wonderful life can be!!

Thanks for sharing. As they say in AA meetings, when you come here, "take what you need and leave the rest!"
God bless,
Leslie

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-28-2005
Wed, 05-10-2006 - 8:39pm

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Wonderful metaphor


>>As they say in AA meetings, when you come here, "take what you need and leave the rest!"<<


I love this statement. I've never been to an AA meeting, but know the time and place.

 

Amy

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-03-2004
Sun, 05-14-2006 - 7:59am
OMG! Thank you so much for bringing this up! It is SO important! Way to go gal amy, way to go!




palmtrees and breezes


~Jolene~


"Community Leader


for Alcohol Problems Board"



Tuesday night chat at 8pm est


"You never know what we might talk about..."



iVillage Member
Registered: 03-03-2004
Sun, 05-14-2006 - 8:14am
Hey Lucky and all. I am NOT going to get into an argument about this subject, but it needs to be said. IT IS NOT A CHOICE to be an alcoholic or not. It is a choice to when you have had enough. Admitting you have a problem is the first step. Don't kid yourself those of you that think moderating will help you.




palmtrees and breezes


~Jolene~


"Community Leader


for Alcohol Problems Board"



Tuesday night chat at 8pm est


"You never know what we might talk about..."



iVillage Member
Registered: 04-01-2006
Sun, 05-14-2006 - 11:31am

Jolene, I have been helped by moderating to the point where I don't even feel that I have a problem with alcohol any longer. If I have to count my drinks for the rest of my life, I will. My problems with alcohol were overindulgence which lead to sleep and digestive problems. Those lead to heightened anxiety which lead to my need to quiet the anxiety with alcohol. And since I overindulged, my tolerence went way up and it took more alcohol to settle me down which, in turn, lead to the sleep and digestive problems....... So simply cutting down helped. A lot. Enough so that I now feel healthy and in control of my drinking.

If you have been told that moderating is foolish then you have been told wrong. If you have decided that moderating isn't for you, then you have made the right decision.

Jolene, adults can make decisions regarding their alcohol problems and moderating CAN be a good decision. I don't know why there is such a resistance on this board. I would think that adding another weapon against alcoholism would be welcomed. I know a lot have you have seen folks try to moderate and fail. I have seen many folks try to abstain, and fail (even AA'ers know that the method's success rate is only 5%). I can give you stories that would cover pages and pages. But thier unsuccessful attempts at abstaining never made me think that abstaining was foolish. Why do folks who fail at moderation make you all feel that moderation is foolish?

Please keep in mind, as you have so often informed us, alcohol affects everyone differently. And since everyone is different, alcohol treatments can be different. There will be failures and triumphs with any method. Pick the one that appeals to you and if it works, great! If it doesn't, find something else. It's not that complicated.

Although this board has been helpful in some ways, it mostly has been a frustration for me. I am saddened by the narrow mindedness of most of the posters. The reason you don't hear about moderation successes is because we can't reason with you. We can't come here and talk about how well we are doing without being dismissed as denying a greater problem and fooling ourselves. I am sure this is how it is IRL, too.

And before you submit this post as inappropriate, please think about what I am saying. If it makes you mad, I'm sorry. If it makes you drink, you need a different plan, as your's isn't working.

Lucky

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