4 ms·

What tools do you, or other HNers for that matter, have to share about breaking alcohol addiction? Especially covering the hard parts: what are the major hurdle

by donw 5y ago

What tools do you, or other HNers for that matter, have to share about breaking alcohol addiction? Especially covering the hard parts: what are the major hurdles to overcome?

Aloha 5y ago
For me, reading the AA Big Book[1] was a powerful start. I actually went to meetings for a while, and while I realized I had the same tendencies as the people there, I mostly had a problem with binge drinking. I created rules around alcohol consumption which I follow with some loose structure that helped a bunch. I found the Personal Stories/Testimonies section to be pretty relevant for me, others may find other things. AA fundamentally is the best tool you can find to get you sober, and keep you sober, but it in some ways IMO, works as an addiction transference program. But if you need to stabilize your life, and find your own path to permanent sobriety, AA is literally the best tool you can find to do it. [1]https://www.aa.org/the-big-book https://www.aa.org/the-big-book
euroclear 5y ago
A different answer from AA, but there are medications such as naltrexone or campral that can help reduce cravings. I personally have not tried it, but some people use a system called The Sinclair Method (TSM) whereby you take naltrexone prior to drinking, and it is supposed to reduce both the enjoyment you get from alcohol as well as your craving for it, so you would end up drinking much less than normal. I know on reddit, r/Alcoholism_Medication/ has a lot of discussion and resources on it.
almost_usual 5y ago
reddit.com/r/dryalcoholics has a decent community
hellbannedguy 5y ago
NikolaeVarius 5y ago
The hardest parts for me at the moment is quitting the habit itself, and after that the physical withdrawal symptoms, which are not fun.
- Aloha 5y ago
  How much do you drink a day, if its not too forward to ask? The answer varies where I might send you to seek help.
  - NikolaeVarius 5y ago
    Enough that im horrified by it
    - almost_usual 5y ago
      http://sipandsuffer.com/ http://sipandsuffer.com/
    - Aloha 5y ago
      Some people are horrified by a six pack a night, sone people are horrified because they keep a bottle in their desk to even things out during the day. Those require different treatment strategies.
suifbwish 5y ago
Make sure you are never hungry and drink lots of water. Stay busy with people doing things you cannot do if you are hungover or intoxicated. Sometimes just having impending responsibility to others can be enough if it’s merely just temptation. Also getting a monthly injection of time released naltrexone can remove the possibility of satisfaction from drinking. Not advice just possible strategies.
mmcloughlin 5y ago
For me, Naltrexone was an incredible help in reducing cravings in the first few months. I came off it after around six months and no longer need it, though I think many people take it for much longer and there's not much downside to doing so. I avoided AA due to the quasi-religious aspect, but Smart Recovery meetings helped me in the initial phase (https://www.smartrecovery.org https://www.smartrecovery.org). I was always concerned about the longer term aspect of replacing alcohol in social settings, and there is still some awkwardness there but non-alcoholic beers have really helped for me. The scene has exploded in recent years and they're really quite good, see Athletic Brewing for some excellent craft non-alcoholic beers (https://athleticbrewing.com https://athleticbrewing.com). In a social setting you could be drinking one and nobody would have to know. I don't hide it but I'm still glad to have something "special" to drink at an occasion. And I drink them alone too: they fill that role of something to drink when I want to relax, and I enjoy that placebo effect.
bluedino 5y ago
I had a kid. So I just quit.
- ozfive 5y ago
  Congratulations! Whatever it takes to get off that wagon! Your child will thank you in old age for being around as a parent and not just dead.
TristanBall 5y ago
It's still a fringe treatment, but Baclofen turned off my alcohol cravings like a light switch. It did nothing for the underlying causes of my wanting to be inebriated of course, but the "I can't think about anything else until I've had a drink" just disappeared.
Alky_throwaway 5y ago
High-functioning alky, here 6-10 9%+ cans of beer in an evening not a problem for me, day after day. On my days off I can start with the cans for breakfast. I 'preload' for social occasions, and time my 'sobriety' to be ok to drive. Breaking the habit? Have the will to stop. That's both hard and easy. But you didn't ask the question because you don't want to carry on so there's a plus. I drink as much regular milk as I can when I feel the urges: this is because whacking down beer after it just feels sloshy in the stomach: not unpleasant, just 'sloshy'. And pointless..it takes too long to get drunk. So, I've pretty much banished the beer of late. To keep away the demons - when I absolutely feel a binge coming on, I keep a mouthful of liquorice 26% alc in my mouth for as long as possible (as well as having had the milk). Happy to say I've not been fucked up for well over two months now, and have done several stretches of 5-8-10 and a 14 days with zero alcohol in the last three months. That's a success, as I've been pretty much drunk for the last 8 years. And, I didn't stop to buy a crate of beer today - there's none in the house, either.
- Aloha 5y ago
  Where does the desire come from?

by donw 5y ago

What tools do you, or other HNers for that matter, have to share about breaking alcohol addiction? Especially covering the hard parts: what are the major hurdles to overcome?

Aloha 5y ago

For me, reading the AA Big Book[1] was a powerful start. I actually went to meetings for a while, and while I realized I had the same tendencies as the people there, I mostly had a problem with binge drinking. I created rules around alcohol consumption which I follow with some loose structure that helped a bunch. I found the Personal Stories/Testimonies section to be pretty relevant for me, others may find other things. AA fundamentally is the best tool you can find to get you sober, and keep you sober, but it in some ways IMO, works as an addiction transference program. But if you need to stabilize your life, and find your own path to permanent sobriety, AA is literally the best tool you can find to do it. [1]https://www.aa.org/the-big-book https://www.aa.org/the-big-book

euroclear 5y ago

A different answer from AA, but there are medications such as naltrexone or campral that can help reduce cravings. I personally have not tried it, but some people use a system called The Sinclair Method (TSM) whereby you take naltrexone prior to drinking, and it is supposed to reduce both the enjoyment you get from alcohol as well as your craving for it, so you would end up drinking much less than normal. I know on reddit, r/Alcoholism_Medication/ has a lot of discussion and resources on it.

almost_usual 5y ago

reddit.com/r/dryalcoholics has a decent community

hellbannedguy 5y ago

NikolaeVarius 5y ago

The hardest parts for me at the moment is quitting the habit itself, and after that the physical withdrawal symptoms, which are not fun.

Aloha 5y ago
How much do you drink a day, if its not too forward to ask? The answer varies where I might send you to seek help.
- NikolaeVarius 5y ago
  Enough that im horrified by it
  - almost_usual 5y ago
    http://sipandsuffer.com/ http://sipandsuffer.com/
  - Aloha 5y ago
    Some people are horrified by a six pack a night, sone people are horrified because they keep a bottle in their desk to even things out during the day. Those require different treatment strategies.

suifbwish 5y ago

Make sure you are never hungry and drink lots of water. Stay busy with people doing things you cannot do if you are hungover or intoxicated. Sometimes just having impending responsibility to others can be enough if it’s merely just temptation. Also getting a monthly injection of time released naltrexone can remove the possibility of satisfaction from drinking. Not advice just possible strategies.

mmcloughlin 5y ago

For me, Naltrexone was an incredible help in reducing cravings in the first few months. I came off it after around six months and no longer need it, though I think many people take it for much longer and there's not much downside to doing so. I avoided AA due to the quasi-religious aspect, but Smart Recovery meetings helped me in the initial phase (https://www.smartrecovery.org https://www.smartrecovery.org). I was always concerned about the longer term aspect of replacing alcohol in social settings, and there is still some awkwardness there but non-alcoholic beers have really helped for me. The scene has exploded in recent years and they're really quite good, see Athletic Brewing for some excellent craft non-alcoholic beers (https://athleticbrewing.com https://athleticbrewing.com). In a social setting you could be drinking one and nobody would have to know. I don't hide it but I'm still glad to have something "special" to drink at an occasion. And I drink them alone too: they fill that role of something to drink when I want to relax, and I enjoy that placebo effect.

bluedino 5y ago

I had a kid. So I just quit.

ozfive 5y ago
Congratulations! Whatever it takes to get off that wagon! Your child will thank you in old age for being around as a parent and not just dead.

TristanBall 5y ago

It's still a fringe treatment, but Baclofen turned off my alcohol cravings like a light switch. It did nothing for the underlying causes of my wanting to be inebriated of course, but the "I can't think about anything else until I've had a drink" just disappeared.

Alky_throwaway 5y ago

High-functioning alky, here 6-10 9%+ cans of beer in an evening not a problem for me, day after day. On my days off I can start with the cans for breakfast. I 'preload' for social occasions, and time my 'sobriety' to be ok to drive. Breaking the habit? Have the will to stop. That's both hard and easy. But you didn't ask the question because you don't want to carry on so there's a plus. I drink as much regular milk as I can when I feel the urges: this is because whacking down beer after it just feels sloshy in the stomach: not unpleasant, just 'sloshy'. And pointless..it takes too long to get drunk. So, I've pretty much banished the beer of late. To keep away the demons - when I absolutely feel a binge coming on, I keep a mouthful of liquorice 26% alc in my mouth for as long as possible (as well as having had the milk). Happy to say I've not been fucked up for well over two months now, and have done several stretches of 5-8-10 and a 14 days with zero alcohol in the last three months. That's a success, as I've been pretty much drunk for the last 8 years. And, I didn't stop to buy a crate of beer today - there's none in the house, either.

Aloha 5y ago
Where does the desire come from?