I am an alcoholic

[sams dad]

Good Luck OTLW

 

[Set of Tracksuits]

All the very best of luck OTLW, just remember that there are always people on hand to help and support you through this.

 

[SK1NT]

GOOD LUCK MATEY! dont worry bout the AA meeting tonight, they are all in the same boat! You've done the hardest part by admitting that you have a problem.

 

[Brovion]

Brovian may remember this, but many many years ago when we were at Boundstone, we would have the odd residential weekend at Lodge Hill.

One such weekend was addressed by a blind person and an old guy who was an alcoholic. I remember he wore a trilby with fish flies hooked in it. He said he wore it cos he was a keen fisherman, but also to remind himself he was hooked!

I also remember he said his problem began by the habit of having a few whiskies each night he got in from work, until the few whiskies became a ritual, then a habit and then an addiction.

Think that is how is also was for me.

I do remember those weekends. Was that also the time when we had the gay bloke come and talk to us about what it was like to be openly gay? (This was in 1973/4 so not as common as it is now). The tabloids got hold of it and the following week they were full of stories about how the disgusting 'trendy lefty' teachers at a Sussex comprehensive had exposed the children in their care to 'perversion and vile corruption'.

Anyway joking aside you know you've done the right thing, including admitting it on the bear-pit of NSC. People who you don't know may be able to help you. I'll be praying for you anyway, all the best for tonight.

 

[On the Left Wing]

I've wondered at what stage it becomes alcoholism. Is it when you have to have a drink or two everyday? I know plenty of people who do that, me included.

Is it when, as OTLW says you have been drinking for years and can get through 3 to 4 bottles of wine as well as spirits and get night sweats?

I know a 20 year old who can go days without drink but the moment he has one he has to keep drinking until he falls asleep or passes out. Is he an alcoholic or just a binge drinker?

Is it when you can't keep within the limits that the medical bodies suggest as guides?

It's a tough one and I don't think you have to be a George Best to be an alcoholic, I reckon there are plenty of alcoholics who would be shocked to be called that.

Good Luck OTLW

I don't know the answer to that.

I would love to be able to have a few drinks with mates or over dinner, go to bed and wake up with a simple hangover.

I think my analysis is that I then have to do the same the next night, and the next and the next.

I have driven home from work night and after night saying to myself "I'll not have a drink tonight". On the really successful nights I could last untl 7pm!

I haven't smoked for 17 years and never been a Class A drug user, but imagine that all addictions are the same. It was only when Tan told me I drank too much and realised how my health was deteriorating that I took notice.

Last night was the worst yet as I had palpatations by 9pm and felt almost fearful and restless. But Mrs OTLW made me a cup of tea!

 

[Ted]

If as you state this isn't a wind up OTLW, good luck to you fella. It takes some bollocks to acknowledge that you have such a huge problem, and I'm full of admiration for you in facing up to it. Chronic history of alcoholism in my family and have seen it systematically destroy peoples lives and families, indeed its' killed off numerous uncles, aunts and cousins of mine. Still shudder at the memories of being dragged from pub to pub as a child in Ireland and watching my elder relatives getting off their chops, hence I won't take my own son into pubs. There have been times, mostly in the last year, when I've nearly crossed the line between enjoying a good few pints and having a significant drink problem, and am still fighting that war now. Good luck mate, your family are behind you, thats' the most important thing at this stage.

Up The Albion

 

[On the Left Wing]

As someone with first-hand experience of alcoholism and what it can do to people I would like to wish you the very, VERY best of luck with your quest to beat it.

The road ahead will not be an easy one, but if YOU really want to get over it then you will. Because that's the thing, only you are able to stop yourself. It's no good trying to do something because other people are telling you to.

Sincere best wishes.

Safeway ... I know you get some flak on here, but I really have grown to like you. Think you are great guy. Thanks!

And thanks to everyone else!!!

 

[Uncle Spielberg]

Its easy to fall into the trap of , its been a hell of a day at work, where's the whisky bottle ?. It becomes a problem when its, I am down I'll have a drink, I feel great I'll have a drink, I'm bored stiff I'll have a drink.

Its easy to slip down that slope. I personally cannot face any alcohol the next day if I drink too much the night before and have 3 alcohol free days a week.

 

[On the Left Wing]

Its easy to fall into the trap of , its been a hell of a day at work, where's the whisky bottle ?. It becomes a problem when its, I am down I'll have a drink, I feel great I'll have a drink, I'm bored stiff I'll have a drink.

Its easy to slip down that slope. I personally cannot face any alcohol the next day if I drink too much the night before and have 3 alcohol free days a week.

I think the first part of what you wrote is spot on. Something happens and I need a drink. Nothing happens, but I still need a drink.

I love fine wine and used to be very selective about what I drank. But in recent years I have drunk whatever was around: rum (used to hate the stuff) sherry, alcopops ... whatever. And in recent years I have also become secretive about what I drank - sneaking a couple of extra whiskies while Mrs OTLW was upstairs. Even my son getting done for drink driving back in February didn't wake me up enough to come clean!

 

[caz99]

Thanks ....

Odd how we create our own web in our lives where everything becomes intertwined.

I think I initially started drinking chronically (though must admit have always druk too much since the age of 17!) when Tanya’s mum ceased all contact with me in 1990.

The irony is that Tan and I found each other exactly a year ago. Personally it has been a triumphant year, but I have also coped with the ups in the same way I coped with the downs … by immersing myself in alcohol. And it was Tan who was the first to say to me “You don’t half drink a lot!”

my dads drinking started the same way. he started when my mum left.

i am sure you will kick it, it takes a lot of courage to write what you have written today and admit you have a problem. tonight will help you massively.

although i don't know you and many other people on this board it sounds like the nsc community is behind you

 

[Uncle Spielberg]

Tony Adams hit the nail on the head when he said " I got sick and tired of feeling sick and tired ".

Good luck mate.

 

[alan partridge]

That was a bit of a surprise opening this thread.

Good luck to you OTLW, have a lot of respect for you mate.

 

[On the Left Wing]

I do remember those weekends. Was that also the time when we had the gay bloke come and talk to us about what it was like to be openly gay? (This was in 1973/4 so not as common as it is now). The tabloids got hold of it and the following week they were full of stories about how the disgusting 'trendy lefty' teachers at a Sussex comprehensive had exposed the children in their care to 'perversion and vile corruption'.

Anyway joking aside you know you've done the right thing, including admitting it on the bear-pit of NSC. People who you don't know may be able to help you. I'll be praying for you anyway, all the best for tonight.

Yeah!
We had the gay guy, the blind woman who loved cricket, the alcy. And they fed us on boiled rice to remind us that is what half the world survives on!
I have said a few prayers myself. The night before I came clean with Mrs OTLW I thought it would be my last night alive. But I believe God (or some greater power for the atheists among us!) gave me the strength to start again. I can't mess up now!

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

Very best of luck OTLW. One day at a time aye?

 

[Dick Knights Mumm]

Blimey. Gwylan admits to never having seen the Simpsons, and now this.

Good luck. I know a couple who are splitting up over his drinking. He has a drink problem, but can't admit it, and is losing his family. Your wife must be quite a woman. And we know your mother is. So you will have support.

 

[On the Left Wing]

Blimey. Gwylan admits to never having seen the Simpsons, and now this.

Good luck. I know a couple who are splitting up over his drinking. He has a drink problem, but can't admit it, and is losing his family. Your wife must be quite a woman. And we know your mother is. So you will have support.

My mum is getting more and more interesting as she gets older. My dad has always had a drink problem, but in recent years my mum hides all the drink and rations him to two glasses a day! He is now 75 and with failing health she sometimes relents. His twin brother Geoff killed himself on drink in 1978 - choked on his own vomit! Should have been a warning there I think!
At least mum is keeping out of trouble with the law!

 

[Man of Harveys]

Apparently Keith Chegwin used to bury his scotch bottles in the ground underneath hedgerows near his house, because he had them in the house, he'd drink them straight away. But then he'd go stumbling around the hedged in the middle of the night, dig the bottles up, drink them dry and fall sleep there for the rest of the night. Imagine coming across him...

This was all after he'd got finally weaned himself out of the habit of getting off his tits on...Nightnurse.

Now THAT'S a drink problem! Someone is always worse off than you.

 

[Dick Knights Mumm]

You can always rely on your Mum.

With that history, there must be something in the blood.

 

[On the Left Wing]

Apparently Keith Chegwin used to bury his scotch bottles in the ground underneath hedgerows near his house, because he had them in the house, he'd drink them straight away. But then he'd go stumbling around the hedged in the middle of the night, dig the bottles up, drink them dry and fall sleep there for the rest of the night. Imagine coming across him...

This was all after he'd got finally weaned himself out of the habit of getting off his tits on...Nightnurse.

Now THAT'S a drink problem! Someone is always worse off than you.

Unfortunately there are few hedgerows round here!
And no sign of Cheggers either!

 

[chip]

My sister died last christmas aged 45. She had been (amongst other things) an alcoholic since she was 17. Her flat was covered in blood after her liver collapsed and for years she had a different personality. It is not an easy road to recovery and there are many hurdles and false turns along the way - but many people do come through.

Good luck to you, in being honest with yourself and other people you have started your journey. I really wish you well...