I've had many difficulties with it over the past 25 years but have finally settled into a place where I can enjoy it and not get out of control.
I can see how easy it is for that to happen and have certainly been there. I am quite certain I have taken years off of my life due to the
habit and if I am being honest I am sure my heavier drinking was self medicating to get through depression and a bad relationship. It
permeated to my family and drove a big wedge between me and my parents and even my brother. I never felt like I had completely
repaired that relationship with my brother but it was underway when he died last year. I am thankful that with help from my current
wife I was able to become close with my parents again, especially my father who is struggling with poor health now. I certainly can
understand how difficult it is for some to quit and have tried myself many times to no avail. Having 3 or 4 at a sitting is plenty and if I
keep it at that level it is manageable for me. I've lost many friends over the years because of it and that is a hard thing to have to accept
but in the end the people that stick with you are your real friends anyway. Certainly wish anyone that is struggling or trying to limit the
drinking best of luck with it.

_________________
Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

I don't drink during the week but then Fri sat Sunday daytimr I get shitty

_________________
the world will always the world. your entire existence is defined by your response.

There is a point where I would be having fun and would know that I should stop. I would tell myself that I was just going to have 1 more and who knows how many I would have after then. I never have had a hangover in my life and I have a cast iron stomach. I imagine that made me feel invincible and contributed to the partying and impulsive stupidity.

_________________
Be well

GO BEARS!!!

That's every Goo Goo Dolls song, it's just a matter of how much I like each one anyway.

_________________

Yeah.. When I was a beer drinker (and when I drink beer now) I had a simple rule. If I drank one, two or three I could pace myself easily and walk away no problem. Number 4 risked me having number 5 and number 5 meant I wouldn’t stop until I ran out (This was summer vacation with brother in law’s who I swear are all professional drinkers). I’ve learned to not let them get me drinks, not keep up, and alternate water or pop with alcohol in that situation. I’m a member of the iron stomach club as well, have thrown up once since I turned 14.

Mixed drinks are trickier or even straight hard liquor. Unless you measure it yourself with a jigger or shot glass, it’s not exactly an exact science on the pour and the intoxicated bar tender often pours heavy. I don’t drink for days or weeks at a time. If it’s hard for me to do that, I extend the time period I’m dry.

I quit nearly a quarter of a century ago because I thought I'd be less psycho. I guess it helped a little, but I certainly don't miss making a jackass out of myself, especially because I was starting to seriously get into that hard stuff. That stuff ages you.

Tolstoy? Garcia Marquez?

_________________
I don't remember half the time if I'm hiding or I'm lost

I'm so glad drinking never stuck with me. I binge drank as much as any other person when it came to going out, but I was never a person to have a drink just for the sake of having one. Only ever drank to party and get drunk. Once that part of my life ended pretty much never drank again. Nowadays I might go 6 months without having a beer and overall I probably consume less than 3 beers per year.

Weed is so much better for you or at least, far less debilitating

_________________

What do you mean by "died from alcoholism"? Cirrhosis? Alcohol poisoning? Or can you literally die from it?

_________________

I believe it was officially liver failure.

_________________
You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

Know a guy who got a transplant in mid to late 40’s MANY years ago. But he drank vodka and soda, rocks, no fruit like it was water.

I find the strength to drink alcohol through the power given to me by my lord and savior Jesus Christ.

_________________
You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

WWJD? Have a drink and pontificate. Sort of like PittMike.

_________________
Reality is your friend, not your enemy. -- Seacrest

I'm still trying to strike the right balance of getting a buzz without getting a hangover. I do know that if I have four or more, I'm getting a hangover no matter the rate at which I drink them or what I drink them with. I've also discovered that if I drink two at a very fast pace, the flame gets lit, and it can be difficult to stop. In those situations I just tell myself that I'm taking a break for an hour. Once I take that break, I almost never want to start again.

I quit almost 2 years ago. It got to the point where I was drinking a fifth of bourbon every day and starting to have health problems. I tried several times to quit and would flush my booze down the toilet, staying sober only a matter of weeks before backsliding.

One night an old friend and I were boozing at his place, and the next morning I woke up on his couch hung over as fuck. I checked my phone and saw that Chris Cornell had died. This made me feel much worse. A few minutes later I heard a crash from my friend's bedroom so went in to check, only to find him writhing around on the floor, mumbling incoherently. I looked over and saw that his bed was soaked with sweat. Knowing that he's a diabetic, I immediately suspected that it was hypoglycemia, so I found some candy and started feeding it to him. Eventually he came around, and I went out on his balcony for a breather.

Lo and behold it was a beautiful day. Sunny, with a warm breeze that rustled the leaves of every tree. A sharp contrast to the dreary interior of the apartment and its specter of death. Just then, it struck me: I was glad to be alive. I couldn't remember the last time that I felt that way. This epiphany gave me a sense of control over my situation. For the longest time I saw drinking as an inevitability, but it dawned on me that it’s actually a choice. I chose to live.

After that, the struggle was over. There was one instance several months later where I overcame a strong urge to drink, but since then the urge been conspicuously absent. Further, I have no problem being around liquor. Most of my friends still drink and, yes, it sucks to be the sober guy at the party, but the absence of alcohol has allowed me to work thru the causes of my addiction. Ultimately, this has given me room to welcome better things into my life.

_________________
"Now comes good sailing. Moose. Indian."

If cocaine was legal it would be my alternative to whiskey.

Fuck that pot shit. I have seen too many friends become degenerate stoners. Plus it smells like shit.

_________________

Degenerate behavior is far more likely with booze and coke, then weed. Maybe your friends are just assholes?

Not booze + coke. Just coke .


In terms of my friends no they are good people. Just hitting a bong once an hour and watching TV. It's just a sedantary drug and anyone who claims it isn't habit forming is full of shit.

_________________

You think you know a lot more than you actually do. You're probably in your mid to late 20s, right? You'll grow out of a lot of that.

Anyway, whatever method of getting fucked up works for ya.

CAN'T STOP! WON'T STOP!

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

I am pious.

_________________
Elections have consequences.

I am pious.

_________________
Elections have consequences.

Yeah, I guess it can kill in many ways. Guy I knew from High School had a severe drinking problem that he hid from everyone. He got drunk one night, fell, and hit his head on the toilet and bled out. Wasn't until after getting inside and finding all the empty bottles of vodka that they realized the extent of his problem.

_________________

You were all a lot more fun when you were drinking.

_________________
O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

like artie lange.

Wow, that is great that you quit and no longer see drinking as inevitable. Very well-described.

Being the sober guy does suck sometimes--I can believe how our voices go to shit when we are drunk--but I bet you look and feel a thousand times better.

I enjoyed reading some of the positive stories in this thread.

Look at this thread. America is a net positive.

_________________
Why are only 14 percent of black CPS 11th-graders proficient in English?

Quiet Drinking
Quilt Drinking
Quite Drinking

_________________