I took 2 mg of Xanax on an empty stomach along with one beer, and then took the rest after eating. It’s been exactly 3 hours, and I don’t feel anything—aside from a very slight numbness, I have no other symptoms. Why do you think that is?

i’m a bit irritated by my situation. i ended up needing to go to detox, and i was given the phenobarbital up until last night, thursday 10/15. it always knocked me out immediately. i was discharged today at around 9am.
i went in on tuesday 10/13, and told my boss i’d be out for the rest of the week. she asked me to let her know what was going on by friday (today 10/16) by noon and that she’d need a doctor’s note. i told her i would, which promptly was yeeted from my mind after starting the phenobarbital.
she gave me until 12:38pm to respond, then said my silence was resignation.

it’s just hard to go from getting discharged from detox, then 4 hours later getting fired over text.
makes me wanna drink.

a side note: i was never drunk on the job. i drank nightly and was sober at work, so that was not an issue for me.

I am asking because I am hoping we can talk each other out of destroying ourselves with more alcohol today.

To make a long story short: after a year of sobriety, I relapsed a week ago. On top of that, I just came home to a flooded basement, and the stress is piling on fast. I recently moved to a new area and haven’t built a support circle or friend group here yet. The urge to drink right now is overwhelming. How do I get through tonight?

As of right now I just sitting here spinning waiting on the plumber to get here.

Not everything needs to be exciting all the time…and I think that’s what gets most alcoholics in trouble.

The need for more!!!

It’s okay to just walk around the house and make something to eat…or read a book…..

…..or run a few miles…or take a shower…..

…..it’s okay to just be calm and happy that you aren’t sitting on some park bench somewhere pouring whiskey and beer down your throat.

It’s okay to just chill and relax for a while. 😎

Ok.. here goes..

I'm Irish... From the age of like 7 I remember my parents drinking to relax and unwind.

My first ever job was in a bar at 16 collecting glasses... But that was long after my first drink.

I openly drank in front of my parents by 17. (The legal age in Ireland is 18)

And as is the Irish way, it was just something I did along with any other event. Wedding? Drink. Birthday? Drink. Barbecue? Drink.

But then it became more.. Watching a movie? Drink. Playing video games? Drink.

Bored? DRINK

Moved to Canada a few years back, where the mentality around alcohol is very different..but that has just kind of caused me to be secretive, rather than stop.

I work from home.

I day drink when I don't have meetings, because it actually makes me more focused (good old ADHD) and then I lie to my partner when she smells it on my breath at the end of the day..

I hide the bottles and the cans because I've told her in the past that I drink too much and want to stop..

By God I've tried to stop...

I've tried to get leaner, lose the body fat, gain muscle.

I know that it's all getting slowed down by my inclinations.

I know it hurts, I know it's poison but I just... Keep going out in the middle of the afternoon and buying it anyway.

Any advice would help. I don't smoke either.

Does anyone experience a really fast heart rate? I’m so desperate to get better. I’m only 24, stay at home mom and I already have insane anxiety, it’s so bad that I had like a full cardiac workup about 3 years ago because it would get so fast during anxiety episodes. I don’t eat, I don’t sleep, I never have any time by myself. I’ve been drinking like 3-5 8% white claws daily for about the past year to try to mask the anxiety, sometimes I only have 2, and sometimes I have 10. Originally, I started drinking because it was the only time I didn’t feel anxious, but I think now it’s just turned into boredom. I’m stuck in the same 4 walls every day and nobody my age understands what it’s like to be a wife and mother. I’m so terrified of withdrawal and never have time to go see a doctor. I did a virtual visit and she said my drinking isn’t consistent enough to have withdrawals, but I dont think she was really hearing me. I wake up, make it until around 2 pm so I can get my oldest from school, and then drink until I go to bed. I’m so tired of it. I dont ever get super messed up until my husband gets home, my number one priority is still making sure my children are safe. But I feel like I’m losing my mind and the alcohol quiets the anxiety and depression so it’s so hard to stop. I feel like a piece of shit and just need to rant.

Edit: I feel like I should mention it didn’t turn into this until we moved in with my in laws. Being a stay at home mom with no friends, it was just me and my in laws all day every day and my husbands mom just took over every responsibility I had. I stopped being able to clean and cook and things like that and that made the depression so bad. We moved out (finally) about 2 months ago and now I’m just depressed and bored all the time and the alcohol takes away the stress. My liver enzymes have been high for about 6 months now, and an ER trip for an ovarian cyst told me I “could have fatty liver” (genuinely what the dr said) I feel that nobody is taking my cry for help seriously and I don’t know what to do. My heart has been racing like it does during panic attacks and I’m scared I’ve damaged it.

Alcohol is like an evil little trick in disguise…leading us to believe it’s harmless and helping us cope with boredom or depression or whatever…..

…..while it’s slowly making us more dependent upon alcohol to fulfill our psychological needs.

Anyone struggling with alcoholism is more than welcome to ask questions or share experiences.

I have years of experience with alcoholism and would love nothing more than to help and support those struggling with themselves…and alcohol. 🥃

I’m a little over six months sober but if anything it’s getting harder, not easier, to not want to drink. The more time that gets between me and the incident that led me to be sober the more I think that maybe I could moderate and keep something like that from happening again. I know it’s not true and that I just need to not drink but I think about wanting to more and more frequently, and have even started having dreams about it.

Is this normal? Is it just the pink cloud stage is over and now is when it becomes real work, or is it unusual to struggle more later than at the beginning?

I came clean to my doctor today about how much I drink, like painfully honest, and I feel very hopeful that some medication might finally help my alcoholism. I am 33 and was sober for 6 years in my 20's and four years ago I thought I could experiment with alcohol. Before I knew it I was back to half to full bottle of vodka with beer chasers every night. I went to the dentist two days ago to get a cleaning for the first time in years and when they took my blood pressure it was 180/109. Then they took it again 177/125. I was very anxious from being hungover and at the dentist which I hate so they couldn't do the cleaning for a bleed risk. I realized I was in serious health risk and called my doctor who saw me yesterday. After checking my blood work I was prescribed naltrexone and gabapentin. After taking them last night I drank 3 beers and felt no reason to drink anymore because it just wasn't making me feel how it normally does. That was my first day without vodka in over a year. I am very hopefull that I can make a positive change in my life and I just wanted to share this with people who understand and ask for support on the journey. Thank you for any encouragement, I can use all the help I can get.

As the title says, I am 2 weeks sober and headed to the doctor Monday morning. I haven’t been sober for 2 weeks in probably 10 years. I just turned 30 a few weeks ago, my birthday was actually my last bender. I was never a daily drinker. Just absolutely hammered beer and wine Thursday-Sunday every single weekend since I was a freshman in college roughly 11 years ago. I pick up 2 cases of beer and a bottle of wine every Thursday on the way home from work. All I have left by Monday morning was normally a handful of beers.

My girlfriend encouraged me to get checked out. So I scheduled an appointment with a PCP. I have some symptoms. Blood pressure is about 135/100. I feel like I can get that under control by just dropping weight. I’ve gotten a beer belly these days. Packed on about 40 pounds in these last 7-8 years. However I am scared for my liver and kidneys are cooked. I’ve had a burning sensation under my right rib cage that comes and goes for the past few years. I just worry about my kidneys because I have some foamy urine. I feel like I’m going to get really bad news. Please pray for us.

I’m writing this drunk but I know I have a drinking problem I don’t know how bad it is but I can go through a big 1.75L bottle of vodka in 4 days I’ve been drinking like this for 2 months and I know I’m a piece of shit and feel so much better when I am drunk I wish I wasn’t like this I get withdrawals the day after binging and I just don’t know what to do I am 21 male and am suicidal already I don’t know I feel like it helps me enjoy my life when I usually don’t but it’s causing problems w my sleep and job and everything

ive drank 6 days in a row and i dont know if it will stop even today

im so tired

Hey everyone. I’m a 23 year old male. For the last two months, I’ve been having a drink everyday. Usually 5-8 7%ers. Sometimes more, sometimes less. Today I’ve finally made the decision to quit drinking everyday as I don’t want to live like this anymore. I want to go back to being a social drinker. The only downside is I’m worried about alcohol withdrawal effects.

I’m not sure what to expect. I’ve heard seizures can happen and I’m a little worried about that. I’m almost at hour 24 since my last drink and wanted some reassurance or experiences in this field.

My brother is 16, not even close to the legal drinking age here in the Philippines. Drinking is a big part of the culture here, almost all events and celebrations has people drinking alcohol. So he probably learned how to drink at from relatives and neighbors. My mom thought letting him drink at events from time to time was better than letting him sneakily drink without her supervision. Even I started to taste/drink alcohol at young age but I never really liked it.

For years now, he's become addicted to drinking. He would sneak out almost every night just to drink with friends, even climbing the roof just to sneak out. The worst part is that he drives his motorcycle even if he is drunk. I don't know how he hasn't killed himself from what he is doing. We've tried everything to make him quit, from him moving schools to try and get him away from his also alcoholic friends to letting him move in with relatives in the country side to have him avoid drinking with others. I really don't know what else we can do to help him, we've tried to talk to him about it but he is always in denial. Even if he is blackout drunk he'll still deny drinking. My family has just given up on him, no matter what we do and say he still does what he wants. My mom is just happy that I didn't turn out the same as my brother, even though we're twins we're somehow so different from each other.

Went to ER by accident with a bac of .34.5 and got myself into detox for about 3 days but they wouldnt send me home on librium because it seemed too likely id start drinking again i guess. I got myself an appt for substance abuse counseling but im afraid ill just blow it all over like i do with everything else.
Mental and physical withdrawals are killing me.
Ive been trying to taper off, but i still cant help myself, i have to drink a pint of vodka in one sitting.
Id just like a little motivation or at least some good stories about recovery to give me a little push… im so ashamed of myself

I’m 28 years old and a little over five years sober. Lately I’ve been having regrets about my sobriety, thinking things like “my alcoholism wasn’t really that bad compared to others” and questioning whether I was actually an alcoholic who needed to get sober. Part of me feels like I overreacted in cutting it out of my like completely, and feels like I could safely introduce it again. I really feel like it was an overreaction. Does anyone else ever feel this way?

The last half of the day at work I fantasized about just drinking. I got the butterflies and everything. It’s the happiest I’ve been in a while. I just moved to Austin and I’m living at a sober living here. I’ve been here for about a month. It took everything for me to even talk about this. It took everything for me to get on the bus after work and come directly to bed. I keep having dreams about doing drugs and drinking. And I’m in this big city it’s so hard. I’m not going to drink tonight but idk about tomorrow. I’ll be homeless if I relapse. But the self destructive side of me is just overwhelming. I don’t care. I just wanna get a motel room, get blitzed, and kill myself. That’s all I want to do. It’s a miracle I didn’t relapse tonight. I got a sponsor for the first time. Working on the 2nd step. He’s out of town though and I’ve never had a sponsor. I hate bothering people about my problems. I don’t believe in God but I’m praying to the universe….please help me.