Question for those in recovery for alcoholism.

[RiffRandell]

Did you quit drinking on your own or enter a treatment facility?

[Mikimouse]

1. Quit 'cold turkey', went into DTs about ten days later...

ended up in the coronary care unit of a local hospital and from there, spent 30 days in a rehab hospital. By the time I got to rehab., I had been dry for about 3 weeks. They taught me how to get sober though.

[SarahB]

2. Go to treatment.

Sobriety is a lifelong process and you need ongoing maintenance (not to mention the medical necessity of safely withdrawing). A dry drunk is often harder to live with than one who is actively drinking, so it's better to get the tools to learn to face the pain that initially caused the drinking.

[Mikimouse]

3. And...

Keep coming back!

[SarahB]

9. Yep.

Ex-wife of a functional, maintenance-level addict here (after relapsing with nearly a decade of sobriety). He needed just a little bit of something all the time just to avoid his feelings. Because he was successful in his career, he though it was ok and I should be ok with it and I was a "controlling bitch" because I wasn't. It's not what I signed on for though.

[JimmyJazz]

4. Hi CrabbyPatty. You might want to ask your question here, too.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

If you are referring to yourself, please know that you are not alone

[jmowreader]

5. Do you want to end up like Bush?

Remember, Dubya was too much of a man to seek help from people who know how to get him to stop drinking. So he turned his life over to Jayzus (who returned it to Wal-Mart because the last thing he needs is a dysfunctional drunkard) and didn't do anything else.

[wildeyed]

6. I went to AA

but never entered a treatment facility. Been sober 14 years.

But as another poster pointed out, withdrawal can be very dangerous so it is good to be medically supervised.

[amazona]

7. yes, please do consider withdrawal under supervision

My friend also had seizures when withdrawing from alcohol, fortunately, he was in a rehab and they got him through it safely.

[Mizmoon]

8. got sick and tired of being sick and tired

and I stopped on my own. It has been nearly 6 years and I never, ever miss it. Didn't bother with AA either. I needed to not think or talk about drinking at all.

Some unsolicited advice: face the fact that your drinking buddies were not real friends and that they can no longer be a part of your life. I stayed home every night and watched TV for the first year. It was worth it.

[Tallison]

10. Do you consider yourself...

...an alcoholic, albeit recovering?

[Mizmoon]

13. I think of myself as a recovered alcoholic

I feel like alcohol is no longer an issue of any kind. I never touch it. Ever. It will destroy me. Just as I will never intentionally drink dioxin, I will never intentionally drink alcohol. Issue closed.

I know that's not what AA says. All I can tell you is that this thinking has worked for me.

[Tallison]

11. Maintainance drinkers have a higher chance of experiencing serious

withdraw symptoms than binge-type alcoholics, although bottom line is an alcoholic's an alcoholic's an alcoholic and is going to have to adopt serious attitude and routine changing strategies to achieve ultimate abstinence. Best of luck. There's no comparison between the "now" versus "back then."

[Tallison]

12. Sorry! Double Post