Anyone here /functioningalcholic/?

Anyone here /functioningalcholic/?

I swear, I got a good career, lift every other day, have decent intermediate numbers... but I drink every night. I don't know how to fix it.
>inb4 stop drinking

I kid you not, I walk into the gas station, totally sober, know I am going to buy alcholol even though I KNOW I shouldn't and it's bad for me... but I do it anyways and kill a whole 10 beers or whatever I buy. Help lads. Should I go to AA? I know it is killing my gains, I know it is killing my mental health, I know it is actually killing me inside... but fuck.

Anyways, I am close to a 405 squat if that means anything.

Try and taper off drinking by replacing it with other less harmful things like marijuana every once and awhile. You don't need AA man, just don't stick to one thing, especially excessive drinking or your tolerance is gonna get higher and higher and withdrawal will damage your body more if you don't try to start tapering off of it.

Can't smoke weed. I work for the government unfortunately. It's funny because they almost actively endorse drinking, even serve it to you at work. But, God forbid, a guy smoke some grass. Fucking crooks.

I've been trying to taper off with Nyquil. Just trying to knock myself out before I feel the urge to drink. I don't know if that is better or worse... but it didn't work tonight. Thanks for the reply, mate. Here is some insta thot for you.

I hear you, a lot of my friends work government jobs too and are in same position. Pic of girl is much appreciated, it's the thot that counts. Best of luck brother.

lmao, just drink water dude XD

how do you even get enough sleep or feel decent at work? i used to kill a sixer a day and thought that was bad. now i just drink on weekends but i'm actually going to quit for a while because i've been getting depressed lately. alcohol is literally retarded, but i still love it.

>10 beers
Dont you feel like shit in the morning? The thought of drinking again makes me gag the next day.

I know you said not to just tell you to stop, but just stop. I drank a liter of vodka every night, and a handle on Saturday nights then day drank all day Sunday on my one day off. I quit cold turkey for about 3 and a half months and it was enough that now I can drink at my buddies every other Saturday for game night.

I was drinking every night, from a beer to 4 or 5 mixed drinks. A few weeks ago when I started working out again, I just said, "that's enough for now". When I did buy more beer about a month ago, I had 3 in one night; I felt like complete dogshit the next day. Last night, I had like half a shot of Bourbon. I LOVE Bourbon, but I felt like I really shouldn't have had it.

So I'm teetotaling right now, at least for another month or two, to see how I feel. I do love a good beer or Old Fashioned, so I'll never give up alcohol, but I've got other things to focus on right now.

Just remember that "functioning alcholic" is merely a transitional phase. You can keep it up well into your 30's but you will be a wreck pretty much over night. Just look at the people around you. If you live in a bigger city you can see this "I used to be someone, now I'm just a shadow of my former self" type alcoholics all the time.

I feel you. I wouldn't say I'm on as regular level as drinking daily, but its still depressing.
I do sports, home workouts, eat healthy, but every now and then I go full on sleep deprivation drink all night mode. I drink moderately (2-3 drinks) every weekend, but once a month or so I'll just grab a 4-pack (or more) and go to town and stay up until 5am or not sleep at all.
I end up rationing my "drinking calories" in that I'll drink more beer but I won't eat a thing the entire time, just so I can feel a bit better about doing it.
The worst part is that I drink cheap beer like a fucking retard because that gives me the most controlled drunk and gets me the right level of energetic/buzzed without getting wasted. I like wine but it makes me sleepy, and I haven't quite brought myself to doing mixed vodka because I feel like I'll actually become a proper alcoholic if I turn to spirits, and its not as satisfying without the carbonated filling feeling.
I feel like I'm on the edge. It's not something that has affected my life negatively but its still something I am ashamed about, and I don't know what to do about that. Stopping isn't really that hard for me and I've done it often enough for months on end, but I still really enjoy getting drunk and shitposting or playing games alone.
Funny enough in social situations I keep it together pretty well. (until I go home and pick up an extra couple of drinks to get me proper drunk when I get to be alone)

A shit ton of coffee and energy shots throughout the day or sometimes sleep in my car

Yeah, I feel like absolute shit right now.

Damn son, I don't want that to be me... I really think I should seek help. I'll definitely try cold turkey, or maybe only social drinking. But everyone around me drinks which doesn't help at all...

>I end up rationing my "drinking calories" in that I'll drink more beer but I won't eat a thing the entire time, just so I can feel a bit better about doing it.
I know this feel. It's retarded logic, but we do it anyways. And yeah, I enjoy getting drunk and shitposting too but, if you're on the edge, it only gets worse user. Especially if you had to go through a breakup or something. I was killing bottles of gin in a single night waking up from blackouts when that happened.

Anyways, lads. Off to work I go. A fresh shower and shave in the morning along with a pressed shirt makes people none the wiser.

Good luck man. It's not easy being this way, we know it's shit and stupid but it still happens. I hope you find your way out of it.

I used to drink a lot every day. Whole bottle of rum, or two bottles of wine, that kind of thing.

At some point I started counting calories in my food and it opened my eyes to how many calories I was drinking. Don’t really know what happened, but one day I just quit drinking. This is maybe a year ago now. I can’t say quitting made me feel any worse or any better mentally, but physically it’s certainly helped.

Why do you drink?

I can't believe nobody has posted this yet, but OP you really need to find out why you feel the need to drink so much. All addicts are trying to medicate something, to fill some kind of hole. You know this or you wouldn't have posted how objectively "good" your life is otherwise.

Perhaps you should consider what others value means shit to you and you should find out what you're missing before you medicate yourself into such a downward spiral you'll die before finding out.

Just quit cold turkey and confront yourself like a man. Find out why you feel this way and fix it. Nothing and nobody else will save you.

Good luck.

I'm not OP but this is sort of a complicated issue. I'm 29 now and I am well aware of what my issues are. I've had years of trial and error, going on meds and going off them, blaming shit on my past and upbringing etc. then stepping up and moving past the worst of it and taking responsibility for myself. The borderline drinking is a remnant of coping mechanisms I can't recreate the same way as it was in the past, despite trying the "healthy" alternatives. Its still not nearly as bad or as self destructive as it used to be, but of course its not ideal.
It's not entirely accurate to assume that some of those struggling with addiction aren't self aware or able to see they are filling some hole. Telling us we're missing something comes across as condescending and causes us to end up becoming defensive. Obviously that isn't the case for everyone, but its hardly uncommon even on a historical level.
Thanks for the sentiment anyway tho, I wasn't trying to shit on your post or anything.

>the thot that counts

OP, I was in the same situation. Only thing I did was decide that enough was enough and sought guidance. AA's Big Book was what I needed to quit. Buy it and read it, there is no better investment. I've never worked the steps or been to a meeting but the Book is worthwhile. Sober 1.2 years now and, while I miss drinking, I don't miss at all the feeling that I've lost control of my life.

Fucking alcoholics..
If there was ever a group that Hitler should have targeted.

You all fucking disgust me. Each and every single one of you.
"I know it's bad, but I'm a functioning alcoholic"
You say that shit like you're not as bad as the rest, but it simply means you hit the genetic lottery with a body that can handle it a bit better. It's stands no testament to your mental fortitude other wise you would have kicked the habit already.
You come to us and preach like it's an issue and a disease because you KNOW you shouldn't drink and you tell yourself JUST HOW BAD IT IS as you walk down to the gas station knowing full fucking well today is the last day of being the pathetic loser you are, for tomorrow, you'll do it again and then you're even worse. You're the next level down on your endless journey to the depths of whatever hellish pit you call your fucking waste of a life.

Sharpen the fuck up kid. You ever tried just giving up?
Yeah I'm sure it's hard, I can't tell from experience because I have a tiny shred of this thing called self control and I rarely drink, but I've quit cigarettes, coffee, porn, weed and a lot of toxic relationships in my life and I used the same 1 step process for each one.
It goes something like this.

"Hmm, that's really not too good for X, Y, and Z. I better stop"
And every now and then when the temptation gets really bad, I use another one step program that goes like this.
"It would be nice as fuck to do XYZ again, but would it be nicer than never going back? Hmm probably not"

And that's fucking it. You cry like it's so hard and it's such a Challenge to give up. You're right, it's probably gonna suck dick, and considering you're a piece of shit that became an alcoholic in the first place, I'd say you haven't achieved much so it very well may be the hardest thing you've ever done. But stiff shit, so is dying a slow horrible death, but you're having a fucking good crack at that.

Nobody claimed it was easy, friend. A Vietnam vet perfectly knows why he drinks but needs to deal with it all the same. Count yourself fortunate you at least know your problem though, or think you do, because OP clearly doesn't. I don't mean to be misunderstood twice, so don't take this the wrong way, but the fact you felt the need to interpret my post the way you did indicated you still have struggles ahead. As do we all, I suppose.

Best of luck to you too.

While you're functional now, daily drinking can lead to a very serious B1(thiamine) deficiency that can result in peripheral neuropathy and brain damage. I would strongly suggest that you take a hefty dose of thiamine HCL and magnesium citrate together each morning.

AA isn't for everybody, but what from what I've seen they try to be as accommodating as possible. You should at the very least go to a few meetings and see if there might be something there for you.

Let me continue with some paths you can go down and likely outcomes to follow.

1) you taper off. You slow your drinks down, go from 10 down to 7 down to 4 etc to the end. Considering you haven't done this already I'd say you just pop yourself because it's easier than any other suggestion I have for you.

2) quit cold turkey and go through a good 3 weeks of hell, 5 weeks of rough times and 4 weeks of proud struggle and come out the best you've ever been, and earn some respect on your way.

3) don't change, and get worse. Watch your "functionality" slowly slip away. Your liver function will slowly fall apart, your ability to digest your food as well as you used to will fail slowly, your gains will diminish and you'll do some dumb shit like blame it on being stressed from your job or some gay shit. Then you'll add a few more drinks to the routine because fuck it what else are you gonna do as a full time degenerate. Then you speed up the cycle. You fall over a few times and crack your head. This can lead to bleeding of the brain sometimes up to a few years later if the knock is bad enough. If you're fortunate to avoid that you'll constantly be living at about 70% functionality, just like a fat person, but you're not fucked from excess weight, you're fucked from your body not having the ability to even exist like it used to, because it's too busy working round the clock to just keep your shit together from the excess alcohol it has to process, and the lack of sleep that it's completely given up on trying to achieve due to your now years of taking too much caffeine/energy shots.
After another 10 years your stomachs fucked. Livers fucked. Kidneys are shot. Medication won't work as well. Hearts fucked from the Caffeine. Mental games fucked from the lack of sleep. Physical state is torn apart from your soon to be poor nutrition habits and constant fatigue from no sleep. Skins gonna go a shade of yellow from jaundice and your eyes will be a little blood shot.

My alcoholic dad died at 40. Poisoned his liver. Ruined his marriage way before that and lost everything including the kids. I don't know how you can kerb your addiction (I personally hate drink for the taste more than anything) but I hope you can sort it out.

You'll be walking around like a Kermit the frog looking mother fucker.

And that's about it.
I guess 4) go to AA or something but fuck I don't know how good that is.

Now that I've had my rant all I can say is your brains obviously got serious links between alcohol and a release of something good in your system, or it's got very well formed triggers such as when X happens, I have a drink and that's routine and it makes me feel this way and that's it so do it because I like it.
Then after a while it's set in stone.
Read pic related on forming decent routines and kicking old ones.
It was posted recently so you may have seen it, but for god sake fucking read it and pay attention.

Of all the things you could get addicted to, alcohol is fucking shit man anyone who's addicted to that shit just needs to be removed from society. It's a fucking disgrace.

T - son of alcoholics, neighbour to 3 separate alcoholics, previous room mate to an alcoholic, and a chap who's lost a best mate to alcohol.

Good luck cunt. For once I almost hope you don't make it.

You've obviously never had to deal with alcoholic parents or family members. Your worst case scenario might be applicable to the types drinking a bottle of moonshine a day but I come from a family where even my alcoholic grandparents lived until 80-ish while smoking and drinking, and my parents and their siblings somehow still managing to live without any health issues despite their obvious alcohol abuse. It's fucking insane, I'm pretty sure they'll be alive at least past 70, 10 years past national life expectancy.

My dad was set to retire back in 2012 but only just gave up work three months ago because all his money went to hospital fees trying to keep mum alive after her body fucking gave up on her. Her liver was on 4% function and it's even a miracle she's not dead yet, but she had a brain bleed like I mentioned in likely outcomes, from falling down the stairs on a routinely Saturday night, and now she's just a vegetable. But you're right what would I know. I just haven't had an actual conversation with her for the last 5 years.

As long as you drink water and eat something before passing out you'll be in a lot better shape

That's rough user, I'm sorry to hear it. I posted my reply before I read your last post where you said you actually had experience. Truth is, it works differently for different people and there are way more factors aside from just drinking that affect these sorts of things.
From my side, I don't know how you feel, but I do know how it feels to write off your parents as dead while they are still alive and well, because your concern for their drinking makes you keep your expectations low.
Personally I've tapered off a great deal and I'm working on keeping it low all the time. But I can't pretend that alcohol hasn't had some beneficial effects for me before, or won't in future. I like to enjoy myself, by that I mean have a glass of wine with a good meal, or a cocktail on the beach or whatever. I'm not going to demonize the whole thing just because of my own experiences. Alcohol is one of the oldest drugs known to mankind for a reason, so likewise I'm not going to try bring down others for drinking. At the end of the day the only person who has a say in the matter is themselves, and going off on a rant won't change it and might even make it worse.

QUIT PROGRESSIVELY

Eh thats normal bruv.

>You say that shit like you're not as bad as the rest, but it simply means you hit the genetic lottery with a body that can handle it a bit better. It's stands no testament to your mental fortitude other wise you would have kicked the habit already.

you, mean, like someone who can do this?
>1) you taper off. You slow your drinks down, go from 10 down to 7 down to 4 etc to the end. Considering you haven't done this already I'd say you just pop yourself because it's easier than any other suggestion I have for you.

One man's easy is another man's hard. Shit is subjective, especially with addictions.

That user is obviously hurting based on his posts. It's a pretty normal reaction when having to deal with real consequences of hardcore alcoholism.

Chances are some of our posts from this thread are being read by a lurker from /r9k/ thinking we're all casuals. It IS all subjective, but it's really important to want to improve as well.

Not sure this is helpful and I know the OP already left the thread, but I felt similar to the OP and was pleasantly surprised how easy it was to stop drinking.
All it really took was me starting a cut. The first day I was writing everything I ate down and counting macros as best I could and of course alcohol wasn't going to be on the menu. I went the rest of the week without drinking no real problem although I did crave it slightly a few times. I had a few drinks on Sunday but nothing overboard and now I'm going strong week 2. I think the fact that I'm really conscious of what I'm eating right now and changing eating habits explains why starting in on the brewskis around 6pm isn't happening anymore

>10 beers a nigh
>thinking this is a lot
It only goes downhill m8

How long have you managed this routine? Be honest, its not always easy to completely cut in long term. We're all trying to do the same thing, but instead of food we take the brewskis sometimes. Thats the problem.

Weed won't work. All I was like op once.
All weed did was make it really fun to get drunk then be stoned at the same time.
And if someone tells you weed isn't addictive, they're lying. I quit everything over a year ago. I still have the urge to get stoned every day.

.... "and then everybody clapped"

I know you said not to suggest "just stop" but that's honestly how it was for me.

I would kill half a bottle of gin plus a six pack of 16 oz cans every night. I tried replacing booze with weed. It didn't work. Trust me it doesn't, and I know for a fact I'm not the only one who it hasn't worked for.
I honestly just quit one day. I went to sleep without drinking, and the feeling of a good sober night's sleep felt so amazingly refreshing. It's been almost two years and I still wake up noticing the difference between drunk sleep and sober sleep.

Go to AA, it will be the best decision you will ever make

My father was a "functioning" alcoholic

>No one suspected alcoholism, except maybe my mother
>drank a bottle of vodka every night, no one knew for years
>Shit slowly started to fall apart
>Eventually my mom left him (this was sudden to me and my siblings)
>He almost died within days after that
>Got actual treatment (Minnesota model and AA)
>Got sober
>Back together with my mom
>Told us how he was constantly unhappy and angry at life
>Sober for 7 years now

I have literally never seen him happier. Our family communicates, he's happy, his business is doing great and he's in the best shape of his life at 46.

One thing you learn with actual treatment for alcoholism is that you have to go cold turkey and you can NEVER do it alone.

If you truly want to stop and never drink again, go to AA. You will absolutely feel better.

I don't feel like going into great detail regarding the need for treatment like AA or the Minnesota model. If you truly want to change this is the way to do it. Look into it.

I have the same problem with drinking black coffee every time I walk past the McDonalds going to school. It was way worse two years ago when I would hang out there for hours getting endless soda refills, but its still a problem

Dude how. No offense but how did your mother not notice he was drinking himself to death and not done anything about it? As a spouse you gotta at least be able to help somehow with that shit, make him see a therapist or something.

>McDonalds
>Black Coffee
>Problem

This whole thing is a long story with a lot of variables and I may have been unclear.

Basically my mom always knew he had a problem with alcohol, he just managed to hide the severity of it. Later on they told me how my mom had wanted and actively tried to get my dad to stop drinking for years, but it never escalated before the time he almost died.

The thing a lot of veteran functioning alcoholics do is, they keep it together until it all falls apart at once. Then get this intense desire to "escape". That basically manifests itself in them moving to another city, quitting their job, leaving their families, etc. They tell themselves everyone else is to blame and this way they can get better.

In reality this "escape" almost always leads to them drinking themselves to death. My father was lying in a hotel bed covered in blood when we found him just a week after my mom left him. He didn't even realize he was covered in blood.

Mom took him to a Minnesota style treatment center that day.

It's complicated stuff

Honestly, I think you should do whatever it takes. If it takes going to AA, then it's worth it. You have reached the point when you are drinking every night despite knowing knowing that you shouldn't. I reached that point in January. I was able to just stop. After a few days, it was pretty easy. I took a look at the costs vs benefits of drinking and I saw that the benefits paled in comparison to the cost (physically, mentally, and financially).

I'm sorry that this isn't very helpful, but I'm not a motivational speaker, I'm just a guy who's been in a similar situation. It's not worth it to allow yourself to keep falling down the alcoholic's spiral. You can do it!

I think drinking heavily over 2 years has lowered my IQ a bit.

Fellow government paper pusher here. Which agency do you work for that openly supports and gives out alcohol? Start looking for a new job stat.

Go to AA and prepare to never drink anything again. Alcohol will kill you if you keep consumimg shit at your current rate sooner than you think. Smoke weed or something, everything if better than alcohol.

Mj is illegal you need friends to buy it and where smoke without paranoid bout the smell