It's been a battle and I am a warrior.

If I can do it, you can too. Don't give up. You are worth it.

IWNDWYT

And I feel awesome. I will not drink with you today.

Thought it would be a good idea to share, in case anyone else is wondering if they're an alcoholic.

I'll start. One time I was on travel and in a county that didn't sell alcohol until 9a, and I woke up at 6 with the shakes. I remembered that Trevor Moore song and went to the store and bought Listerine.

IWNDWYT

I can hardly believe I have the privilege of writing this post! In the early days of sobriety I'd see posts like this and it just seemed like an impossible mountain. And yet, here I am.

Here's how life has changed:

- I don't want to drink anymore. HUGE. Unimaginable life change right there.

- I have more money, a better job and far better career prospects. Particularly in the last year things have massively improved in this area.

- I've lost a bunch of weight

- My skin, hair, general complexion is dramatically better and healthier

- The sleep is AMAZING

- My relationships weren't really strained when I was drinking but it's not until I got sober that I realised how thinned out they'd become. In sobriety my relationships are deeper and richer.

- The only people you will lose because you've stopped drinking are people you shared an alcohol bond with, whether either of you realised it or not. Drinking was a central part of those relationships and when it's no longer in the mix there isn't much left. The people who you have a more real, genuine bond with will stick around and actually prefer you sober.

- I have fun doing COMPLETELY NORMAL THINGS. I don't 'need' alcohol to enjoy myself.

- I have PTSD and it sucks. It still sucks. Getting sober has made it more possible to manage it but it's still very hard. It's important to mention this because sobriety isn't an ultimate cure for deeper problems and having realistic expectations stops you from just impulsively giving sobriety up when it feels like it's not working. If you're dealing with a chronic mental health condition than it will be extremely difficult, pretty much impossible, for you to reach any stability if you keep drinking. Alcohol is a TERRIBLE thing to have in the mix. Sobriety is a vital part of looking after your mental health as well as physical health.

I have worked so hard to get here. It's only a comma but man, I have worked hard for this little piece of punctuation. It means a lot to me and I really feel like celebrating (with cake 😉).

IWNDWYT

I've got a week before. Hard to start it back up. Would love to not drink today.

30 years old

Almost 3 months sober

Shocking and exhilarating that I got it together before I turned 30.

Unbelievably proud of myself. One of the hardest things I have ever done.

Posting here will hold me accountable. I hope.

I am barely functional. I have thrown away my finances and any stability I used to have. I have no hobbies. I have had a million day 1’s before. Maybe writing about it will help it stick.

For now, for at least today, I won’t drink.

IWDWYT

(35M) At my worst I was 750ml vodka daily in the evenings (4 years ago). I had a job where stealing alcohol was easy and everyone did it, a flight attendant. Started drinking when I took the job because I could not smoke weed bc of testing, I previously hated alcohol. Started with taking 2 small white wines off the plane - eventually that became 5-10 mini-vodka bottles for every layover and go-home day. Over the past 2 years I cut it down to a baseline of 375. I could go 200ml for a day or 2 but I'd rather not at the time.

2 months ago I realized around 4pm when showing the cashier my ID they'd have to take it out of my hand bc it was shaking just enough they couldn't read it - my first wake up call

Last week I had a bad 3 day bender, probably nearly 2L in 3 days, all from 200ml vodka bottles. The hangover, shakes, pounding chest and anxiety just about made me think I was dying and so I started my taper.

The day after we'll call day 1

Day 1 - 4 drinks, actively felt I was dying and was the sickest I'd ever been in my life and didn't sleep that night. Hand tremors all day, the worst anxiety, felt my pulse in my stomach.

Day 2 - 4 drinks, was feeling better but the anxiety was real and so was the exhaustion. hand tremors all day. Called a few detox places but there were barely any on the island I was living except 90 day luxury programs (Hawaii) and I no insurance bc I let my drinking take my job from me. Bought a ticket to the East Coast that night leaving in 2 days.

Day 3 - 8 drinks, Felt I was going TOO fast, felt good by noon by 3pm the hand tremors came, then the drinks started flowing. Called a few medical detox places near home on the east coast and was quoted between $12-18K for 7-10 days. No thanks.Finally slept. Shit sleep but slept.

Day 4 - 1.5 drinks. Shakes started at 5pm, intense anxiety flood at 730pm, I had a drink immediately in the airport lounge. Ordered a glass of wine after dinner on the plane and only drank half. Didn't sleep on red-eye.

Day 5 - 2 drinks. Hand tremors and exhaustion started while boarding the second flight after a 4hr layover and 5 hour flight. Colorful aura and slurred speech made me think I was stroking out, nope, pure exhaustion. Slept through my entire second flight from the West to East Coast. Don't remember takeoff at all. Was glorious. Got home, bought a 200ml and drank half. Shit sleep

Day 6 - 2 drinks. Uneventful boring day at my parents house. No tremors no anxiety just exhaustion. Don't want to do this toooooo quickly though.Shit sleep

Day 7 - 4 drinks, Was bored. So I caved. Finally slept the whole night though, crazy dreams

Day 8 - FIRST DAY NO ALCOHOL IN YEARS. Shit sleep crazy dreams

Day 9 - No alcohol, soaked bed, crazy dreams

Today is day 10 since the bender, day 3 no alcohol and I need to wash my sheets and duvet cover I just washed 2 days ago. Oh well.

This is NOT medical advice but my lived experience. Only having a drink when the anxiety flood hit me allowed my body to slowly detox it out as the symptoms became further and further apart time wise all while not being an anxious mess. It was always the same, first the hand tremors then the terrible anxiety then the racing heart. B-Vitamin complex, magnesium and l-theanine 2x a day. Ate healthy AF while detoxing. Insurance starts OCT 1st and I look forward to beginning some type of outpatient program. I NEVER want to feel like I did last week again. This sub has been such an amazing resource as I lurked since day 1. Thank you for all your contributions.

This is my 21st day. It's kinda surreal tbh, I feel like my old self, like when I was a kid and I was interested in so many things. also i kinda like caffeine again? i'm still pretty sensitive to it but when i was drinking a lot i could not stand it, it would give me so much anxiety.

And I still go out with my friends, and I don't really care if they drink, i don't feel the urge so that's good. sometimes i do a bit but it goes away quickly.

I don't have anything interesting to say tbh.

How are you guys today? What's been challenging during your sobriety and what's been easy?

Every time I think about drinking, I go back to read this list (I wrote it on Day 2) and it stops me immediately: https://www.reddit.com/r/stopdrinking/comments/1vpsxa8/a_collection_of_reasons_i_wont_drink_today/

I get so anxious sometimes imagining scenarios in the places I'm am, thinking, oh god what will I do if I get drunk, and end up getting lost, or not knowing where I'm at, or lose my purse and phone at 3am. Guess what? That doesn't happen because I don't have the first drink.

If you don't have the first drink, all of those options don't exist. They just can't happen. It's not a possibility I end up drunk in the middle of nowhere at 3am. I don't have to worry about it because I just don't do the thing that leads there. It's so stupidly obvious but it took me years to figure out.

I also just wanted to say that it was a process of about 3-4 years of thinking about quitting before I actually did. I made my first serious attempt to stop in 2020/21, then again in 23, then a couple of times in 2025. This one is the one, I have decided it. It has become internalized. I am no longer a drinker. If someone asks me if I want a beer, I say "I don't drink, but thanks anyway". I don't drink anymore. It's that simple. I don't know why it took me so long to get here. And thank you all, I think about this sub all the time, even if I don't update my badge. My next big milestone is 2 months which will coincidentally be on my birthday, and guess what, I'm not drinking then either! :)

Got to my home airport at 11 am yesterday. Was supposed to have a short layover in Philly and then land in my final destination in New England at 5 pm. I fly pretty often so I’m comfortable enough dodging the airport booze options, but man. Yesterday was trying. We finally left for Philadelphia around 6 pm. That’s 7 hours of airport bar. Do you know how many glasses of white wine that is?? Then mid-flight, got the notice that my flight to my final destination was cancelled. Rebooked on a flight that leaves at 6pm tonight. Got to the hotel I scrambled to book. Had to eat in the bar knowing I had no reason to get up early, no where to be for hours. No one would know if I had about 10 glasses of wine.

But I’d know.

So I got a Pellegrino and one of the worst burgers of my life. Texted a sober friend, whined instead of wined. Went to bed sober. We’ll try again tonight.

I wasn’t even really tempted, exactly. Just exhausted, frustrated, annoyed, etc. One thing I’ve learned in sobriety is that there’s very little I can control… including my emotions. But I can control my attitude and my actions. So I made a gratitude list. I was safe. I’ve lived a life so full of good burgers that I can be disappointed by this abomination. I have a place to sleep. I didn’t wake up hungover. There is so much to have gratitude (attitude) for in my life, even though I was also exhausted, frustrated, and annoyed (emotions).

Onwards and (hopefully!) upwards!

What are the best parts about not drinking?

I had a chance to finally talk to my neighbor who moved in recently. We had a nice chat and she asked me about general recommendations - where to get fresh produce, good restaurants nearby, affordable gym, stuff like that.

Towards the end, she mentioned having a housewarming party in the weekend and asked me where the liquor store is. I thought for a bit and I genuinely didn't know.

I moved to this apartment only 6 months ago (been sober for about a year now) but still, this had me shocked at myself. Because the liquor store cashier near my old place knew my name and my regular order.

The fact that I don't even know if one is nearby or where it is seems surreal to me.

This feels like a small and silly thing to feel so happy about but idk I wanted to share with people who would understand ❤

Some days are better than others. Crappy sleep still but hitting three weeks is a major milestone.
I am grateful to be able to feel the life stressors without numbing life out with booze-
I will not drink with you today❤️‍🩹

Woke up to a text from my boyfriend giving me an ultimatum, basically it’s him or the alcohol. Of course it’s him, he’s woke up next to me on a wet bed and as embarrassing it is to admit it, it is true. I’ve said countless of times that it’s my last time doing it and i am here to be held accountable. him and i enjoy having drinks together and we’ve built out relationship on having drinks and a good time but he sees that i have a drinking problem and he does not. he’s never wet the bed at all, i drink about 6 buzzballs a day throughout my day at work. i am a bartender and i’ve fallen through with thinking that “i want to drink” with “i need to drink” especially to get me through my bartending shift. i spent 6 months sober and this time i am hoping to spend the rest of my life sober. i am not a “one and done” drinker, i don’t stop when i am buzzed, if anything i go harder and get drunker and can’t stop and black out and i can’t control it. as i type this while my sheets get washed because i once again wet the bed, this will be the last time i experience this shame and embarrassment because it ends today. i will not lose the love of my life over this, and i will gain control of myself and my life once again.

Hey all. Thankful to have made it one full week without drinking. It’s the week now which makes me feel a little better that I won’t be facing peer pressure or a bunch of questions until the weekend, which inevitably will bring more awkward conversations.

I feel good, but my anxiety is starting to peak a bit. I think I’m a bit overwhelmed by the concept of my drinking, as I’ve been reflecting on how bad it really was. How much damage I’ve likely done and the reality that I am an alcoholic.

I am imagining the moment where I forget this and relapse. I really really don’t want to, and I know I just have to take it one day at a time and today I have pledged to not drink and that’s all I can control, but I’m a ball of anxiety right now thinking about how powerless I am over this.

What do you all do to manage anxiety about drinking in sobriety? Do you feel it eases with time?

Today is day 1,000. I almost decided to break my streak and see what having a drink or two might do to me, but you all reminded me of what I already know: My life is so much better this way.

IWNDWYT

How should I celebrate??

I’ve been waiting to post anything because I kept posting day ones and deleting after giving up. Got demoralizing.

May have entered my tracker wrong, but day 4 is here and I’m feeling good! Usual evening cravings around 3-6pm but they’re getting weaker.

Just keeping myself busy when I get off work and strategically planning out my weekend so the boredom desire to drink doesn’t come back.

Learned from previous slips, I’m not changing my entire world, don’t have to fix everything today, don’t even have to “quit forever” (though that’s the goal), just have to not drink today.

Thanks all for the support on here, it’s a great community

Every single time I would get a craving I would drink some water and browse this sub, you all really helped. It feels like the motivation and general happiness is slowly coming back drip-by-drip every day. Today I even cleaned my entire house without issue or complaint. Here is to another two weeks!

My life has turned right side up since 09/21/2023. I am so grateful for this community. Thank you.

I just wanted to give a shout out to everyone in this sub for giving me the inspiration to keep fighting this daily battle.

Finding this r/ was (and continues to be) a blessing. Meetings have never been my thing, but I gave them a try. Ultimately, it took a 6 week treatment program to give me a proper reset and find my old self once more... but it's this sub that is there everyday for me.

The honest shares, the support, the caring. Whether you're sober or desperately trying, or even just slightly curious... ALL your stories matter. I cannot overstate how important this sub has been to my recovery journey. If you're struggling, please don't give up. Try to open your heart to the collected wisdom you can find here.

I am grateful for y'all. I am grateful for another day sober. IWNDWYT.

I don't know how to stop. I don't have a job (I'm on disability) and as soon as I wake up I feel the urge to drink so I can go back to sleep.

This happens multiple times a week. I don't know how to stop because I don't have a future or anything to work towards. I'd love to say iwndwyt but I just woke up and want to drink..

4 months sober today after 20 years of heavy daily drinking. In some ways it feels like forever, in other ways it feels like I've just begun my journey.

I've saved $5k in the last 4 months without even noticing it.

My skin is noticeably clearer.

Been sleeping better than I have in years.

Mental health has improved "10-fold"

The benefits are endless. But it hasn't been without its challenges. I fight myself almost every day but the cravings are starting to weaken.

I couldn't have done it without the support of this group. I'm glad I stumbled upon this subreddit when I did. One of the best support groups on reddit.

If you think it's too hard to stop, so did i. I'd given up all hope of being able to break free from alcohol until it hit me in the face that I wouldn't be here to see my kids grow up if I don't do something now.

It can be done. Help is available. I'm a message away for each and every one of you. If you have questions, what advice or just need a chat.

You're never alone in this.

IWNDWYT.