Well 4 months and 3 days sober… is there ever a time we can drink again?
That's a question I think on from time to time. I think many folks will say that for some of us, alcohol will only lead to death, prison, or an assylum. I personally don't know if I think I'm in that category, or of it truly is a physiological change that happens to some, but I do know that I like life a lot better sober than hungover or drunk.
Thanks
It’s a tough call for sure, I think in this society that revels in alcohol they sure as heck make it tough😕
Welp, simple answer for me is nope. I use I end up in horrible places. Just hope those who think they can use and end up doing so don’t end up the same. It’s just a matter of learning to live life differently. Can you have just one of anything? If you can’t then odds are, you’ll end up in a life tormented. I’m digging the sober life again. Always the best times in the past were when not using. Ergo, more best times to come.
To be honest, i never had a problem with drinking. I always had a problem with opiates. I was sober for 4 years, plugged in at church, doing CrossFit and had everything I lost back in my life. Decided to have a shot at my bachelor party. Nothing crazy happened but it opened the door again and showed me how good the relief felt. Within a month I was OD'd on heroine. I would not advise it. Just my experience and similar stories from others I've met on this journey. The real mission is learning to deal with life without needing something to comfort or give us relief. Why do you feel you would ever need to drink again? Yah you may have 1 out of 1,000 chances, which it's more like 1 out of 1 chance you fall into it deep again...but why take that chance that it may be that 1 time? Life is so much better knowing I don't have to worry about if I can use or drink again because I know I can't and when you know you can't, you don't worry about it any more lol. I don't need that stuff because all it does is bring destruction. Even people I know that don't have a problem wonder why they feel the need to drink. And worry that one day it may catch up with them. Why have that cloud looming over your head?! Just free yourself by surrendering to the fact that we can't use or drink again. The reason we use is because we haven't developed the maturity and character to face life on life's terms. We were meant to learn valuable lessons from adversity in our lives but instead we run and hide and grow weaker. And once we developed a pattern it's so hard to break it. I can, you can, we all can break it. It's hard, it hurts and it's a lot of work but so worth it!
Well, at a meeting in the hospital the chairman said “We can drink when we no longer need to.” I thought that was SO helpful!
No, everything I've learned and heard is no. At first thought I'd stop drinking and later could resume drinking like a "normal person". That'll never happen to me and once I surrendered to that knowledge and thinking it's made this sober journey much easier
Yes but not safely.
Well said dan!
That’s 100% a question that comes up in my mind I have bipolar 1 disorder and I am prescribed medications and it is interesting to think about alcohol like 2 beers at night twice a week for
Relaxation being prescribed as an anti anxiety or whatever but would that change the chemistry of your brain and ruin all your stability? I guess the safe bet is to just remain sober and it doesn’t hurt to wonder, & who knows 
Something unique happens to the brain with real addiction. Pathways are created. Even when they lie dormant for years that first drink or other addiction will fire along the old tried-and-true pathways from so long ago. You don’t gradually build back up to addiction- you pickup almost exactly where you left off. It goes quickly, especially with alcohol, bc the inhibition is down. Your mild buzz will tell you it’s safe to have another, and another. Then the weekend comes and it’s time for another. Then a bluddy Mary at brunch. Then happy hour on Tuesday. Then you’re drunk for another year straight and you are gonna be back here telling newcomers to avoid relapse by avoiding that first drink. My two cents…
That's a question only you can answer for yourself. Think about why you've put it down for 4 months. How bad were you. I know for myself & the things I've done I can never drink again.
Drew, I am relating. Yes.
I have lived what you describe(d).
Barb. From past experiences…in each scenario, the consequences became worse and worse with each relapse.
I am convinced that if I pick up again, I will most likely die.
Neural pathways are for real, y’all. Don’t mess with those f-ers …
Yes, anytime.
As a sober member of AA I have a choice today. I choose not to drink. I have come to understand that as an alcoholic I have a physical allergy coupled with a mental obsession. When I put alcohol in my body I need more and more. Then misery follows close after. I quit for 15 years, then thought if I could quit that long I’d probably be fine. Wrong, within weeks I was back to blackout drinking.
Grateful to be sober today.
I go with a Mocktail.
Bipolar2 and currently bargaining with myself “fully sober, or two days a week?” - drinking is one of the worst things that folks with bipolar can do according to my therapist cause it just feeds the up and down feelings and emotions. We both already know the answer, don’t we?
No! Please don’t do it.
I have to remember I can drink whenever I choose to. For me I wake every day and start with my routine I learned in aa ….. ask God to remove the bondage of self so they went to His will.
If I drink something happens to me…. Things that are not good/ healthy for me as well as other around.
So I choose to not drink.
I don’t drink. There is never a reason for me to drink
I don’t drink over any and all conditions
Nobody can make me drink.
If I drink it’s always up to me to make that decision
I choose not drink.
Do you go to any aa meeting
For me I find them to be very helpful because of all the support that is available to me