Alcoholism

[Whitney]

Woke up a bit early but still got 6 hours sleep which is fine. Also no hangover. Weird.

Ya, very strange

Maybe make a note of how nice it is to not have a hangover every morning and stick it on your fridge so you'll see it when thinking of grabbing a drink?

[Renegnicat]

Keep it up, keep it up. You can do it!

[Reginus]

Good luck man. If you can keep the count this week to under 12 for every day, you'll be off to an awesome start

[SSY]

I second the notion of graphing, graphs make everything better.

[AlP]

Thanks everyone =).

[Loffler]

When you feel a hangover, drink some water. A large part of a hangover is dehydration.

In fact, if you remember, drink the water before sleep. That is even more effective.

[Whitney]

Ya, water does help.

Actually, alternating one glass of water for every glass of beer might help with quitting.  It would fill your stomach up so that you physically couldn't have as many beers.  Plus, this will keep your hands busy in case you are are also physically feel weird without something in your hand.

[AlP]

When you feel a hangover, drink some water. A large part of a hangover is dehydration.

In fact, if you remember, drink the water before sleep. That is even more effective.

Ya, water does help.

Actually, alternating one glass of water for every glass of beer might help with quitting.  It would fill your stomach up so that you physically couldn't have as many beers.  Plus, this will keep your hands busy in case you are are also physically feel weird without something in your hand.

Yeah I think the water might help. At least later on when I'm just looking for something to fill in. The hangovers don't bother me so much anymore. They're normal now. It's the feeling I get around 5.30pm when I'd just about kill for a beer that really sucks =).

[AlP]

I drank 6. I figured one more would be okay. I wound up thinking I drank 8 but actually it was 9. I opened 10 and realized I was way over. I just poured 10 down the sink. So its 9 tonight. Good night all.

[karadan]

Well, the first step to recovery is admitting to an addiction. Well done for that Aip. That is a very brave and difficult thing to do.

My apologies, wall of text coming:

My housemate, Ed, is a massive alcoholic. We've tried to help him on a few occasions but he does not want to be helped. He's actually drinking himself to death. I've never seen anything like it. Last night he had an 8-pack of Stella (pint cans) and a bottle of wine. So, that is 8 pints of 5.2% beer and a bottle of 14% wine. It is those kinds of volumes every night, without fail. In the morning he has the shakes real bad. He is 27 but looks like he is in his 40's. He is remarkably candid about it though. He is obviously very depressed. He was once engaged but his fiancé dumped him a few months before the wedding. This seemed to have a cascade effect on his life. He lost his job and his house in London. It was a couple of months after that that he moved into my house. He wasn't as bad then as he is now. It's been a steady progression into alcoholic despair.

It kind of came to a head about 2 months ago when some friends and I had a poker game at my house. Ed joined the game although I had my reservations as he was already rather tanked up. Within an hour he was slurring really badly and had his arrogant hat on. The problem with Ed is this - absolutely lovely guy when sober but an opinionated, arrogant, stubborn dick when drunk. I was very embarrassed. The evening ended with him downing a couple of large mouthfuls of JD and passing out where he sat. When he started to dribble on himself, my mates and I decided to carry him up to his room. Unfortunately he relieved himself during the process. I was not happy at having to mop urine off my kitchen floor and even unhappier that I had his urine on me after having to drag him up two flights of stairs. His room was an eye-opener. The floor was practically knee-deep in empty beer cans.  

[SSY]

One of me friends doing medicine claims that Doctors occasionally go out on the lash, the come home and hook themselves up to IV's of Saline, then wake up with nary a headache the next morning, allegedly due to the combination of water and electrolytes. I could really have done with that in my first year of uni.

Also karadan, that sounds pretty crappy, are you all on the tenancy agreement? If he is on there it will make eviction a lot more difficult. The uncle I referred to above had to be removed from the house by police, I hope you don't end up having to go this root.

[curiosityandthecat]

Hey Al, pouring them down the sink is probably a good idea. You should actually start the night like that: buy a 12 pack, determine how man you're drinking that night (8 or whatever your target number is), pour four down the drain while you're still sober. You hit 8,  you're out. I had a drinking problem, too. What got me to kick it was the simple fact that I would lose my wife if I didn't stop drinking so much. I kept myself busy, got an 8-5 job (it's hard to go to work and sit in front of a computer for 9 hours if you've been up drinking until 3am the night before), started taking classes again. I was just too busy to drink all the time. Now, if I have 4 beers I'm pretty well buzzed. Don't get me wrong; I can still put back a twelve pack if I really put my mind to it. I just don't do it anymore.

Support, Al. That's what you need more than graphs or plans. If we can be that, we will do our best.

[Renegnicat]

I second Curio's advice. I wonder if it's possible to get dopamine pills or something like that? Nah. Probably a bad idea.

[curiosityandthecat]

I second Curio's advice.

Thanks. roflol Can you imagine what they'd go for on the black market?!?  :bananacolor:

[AlP]

Well, the first step to recovery is admitting to an addiction. Well done for that Aip. That is a very brave and difficult thing to do.

Aargh! AA dogma! Nice thought though =).

If your roommate has health insurance, is unfamiliar with critical thinking and is susceptible to believing in higher powers, you could drive him to a hospital with a chemical dependency recovery program and sit with him in reception until he sees a therapist. I've seen that done a lot (spent a lot of time in CDRP waiting rooms). My objection to CDRP isn't that it is ineffective. I object to the dogma and AA religious nonsense. It sounds like he might be better off with it. And he won't know first time round.

They would treat his condition as an emergency. A next day appointment is likely. They might even hospitalize him at that level of drinking. I'm certain they would do blood tests to see if there's liver damage. But don't tell him that =).

Also, he'd see a psychiatrist who could prescribe drugs to protect him (in his case) from withdrawal and also anti-depressants.

Hey Al, pouring them down the sink is probably a good idea. You should actually start the night like that: buy a 12 pack, determine how man you're drinking that night (8 or whatever your target number is), pour four down the drain while you're still sober. You hit 8, you're out. I had a drinking problem, too. What got me to kick it was the simple fact that I would lose my wife if I didn't stop drinking so much. I kept myself busy, got an 8-5 job (it's hard to go to work and sit in front of a computer for 9 hours if you've been up drinking until 3am the night before), started taking classes again. I was just too busy to drink all the time. Now, if I have 4 beers I'm pretty well buzzed. Don't get me wrong; I can still put back a twelve pack if I really put my mind to it. I just don't do it anymore.

You're back! Hey. I live next to a liquor store unfortunately.

Support, Al. That's what you need more than graphs or plans. If we can be that, we will do our best.

I appreciate that. My roommates are awesome too. But it's much easier to honest about drinking with people on the Internet.