Just wondering if anybody here ever overcame alcoholism, and how they did it. i could use some good advice right about now, as it is becoming a BIG problem for me.

my little brother got some alcholism problems when he was 21 years old. he got troubles with his liver and this makes him "overcome" alcholism. but i can't say this was really an alcholism problem because he was (and is) someone which don't have alchoolic dependece. i'm not an expert about it but most of all i think that the fact to recognize (and talk about) it it's yet a good start.
good luck kel!

Beer with no alcohol?

Thanks Elleguru. I drink mostly beer and a little vodka. But I know tomorrow I won't be as concerned and I'm stayin busy so maybe nevermind this thread

kel, are you actually physically addicted (ie, horrible withdrawal symptoms if you stop drinking), or is it still only at the psychological stage where you are compelled to drink more than you should? (and if you stop drinking, you're left feeling bored/depressed/whichever it is that you drink for)

If you can stop drinking cold turkey without much physical pain/sickness.. do it before it's too late! .. Lock yourself in a room/house - spend all your money for the week on shit that you cant sell so that you can't buy booze for the week... get yourself entire seasons of tv shows on DVDs, video games, painkillers, loads of music. It's gonna get real boring or depressing (again, depending on the reason you drink), sleep will be hard, you might be a bit sick depending on how far in you are.. but if you can take it for a few days.. DO IT before it gets too late .

if you are deeper in than that, DONT go cold turkey.. you can actually die from alcohol withdrawal if you're addicted enough. If you're really unable to bear with the physical pain of stopping for a few days, then you need to slowly taper down

I don't have experience with alcoholism, but other drugs I do (codeine..mmmm).. and I'm guessing the actual reasons behind addictions etc, are not so different regardless of which drug it is.

If you taper down, do it slowly and methodically - dont taper down too quickly or you will flip and start getting smashed again 'cos uve been good for a few days, or whatever reason your mind thinks up.

If you're having trouble sleeping, EXERCISE heaps during the day.. added benefit of releasing endorphins to make you feel not so shit.

Once you've been completely off for a while - you'll notice the first day where you start to feel better than the last - and feel wonderful..

From this point, I tend to fail within a week or 2..If you're that bad, You need to not let yourself touch even a drop, ever again in your life. no ifs or buts about it.. no 'responsible drinking'.. you're still the same person as last time.

You need to find something else in your life, that satisfies you and goes against getting pissed... I don't know what this might be..

The best I ever did was when I fell in love with a girl.. made it 3 months I think.. the problem was when things fucked up with the girl, first thing I did was get back on it!


But yeah, the key is putting other things into your life.. things that can't also be done while getting drunk!! (which is hard, being a music producer..cos drugs and music.. well..) - and remember.. that waiting around for things to happen is a waste of time.

don´t drink and drive....smoke and fly!

i would recommend learning keyboard or guitar or practicing them

or getting on a bike and disappearing for the day

regret is like negative willpower...know that you dont want drinking and use that feeling and put it into everything you do until its not the hate of drinking but the love for something else

When I quit smoking weed life became super boring for the first six months, and then it evened out. I think addiction/over use of alcohol or whatever has to due with underlying existential, spiritual, and motivational problems. Surround yourself with interesting things, read a lot, ride your bike a lot, start reading up and really engaging the world around you. Stay curious in your mind, and also try to feed your heart and soul - search for truth. Try to find out what's going on, try to honestly find God.

Also, your surroundings have a lot to do with these sorts of things. If you're really sensitive to art and aesthetics, living in a really boring suburb with just strip malls and desolation can subconsciously crush you. Maybe moving somewhere more interesting can help? I know it hard to just up and move, but that helped me out a lot in terms of quality of life. I'm still broke though, but at least I like where I live and am interested in my surroundings, and since I quit smoking I became very involved in spiritual things, going to church a lot and whatnot, making little pilgrimages, etc. Anyways, God bless, best of luck in sorting these things out.

Also if you put limits on how much you drink and stick to it then that might be good. Like, "I'll only drink three pints a day at most, and maybe three shots of vodka. That's it, at most." Don't go over it! If you drink more than something like that, then maybe taper down over time to a set amount, and keep on that. You'll also save a lot of money, or spend the same amount of money only on better beer and liquor, haha. I'm quite fond of homebrewed beer and microbrews, and good bourbon (Bulleit is my favorite at the moment).

Damn, thank you guys for the great advice! I think I'll stop vodka altogether and stick with a few beers a night in moderation. Drinking from noon on to late is kind of pointless. The problem is, I try to jumpstart a buzz early in the day by taking a few shots of vodka, and then I try to keep it going (to no avail) for the rest of the day downing beers. I don't really get drunk that way but I get all the negative effects I should probably get a different job for a while, one where I have to work at night on weeknights. instead of only a day or two out of the week for a 14-18 hour shift. I used to take a three-hour walk every morning, which was very therapeutic. And I forgot how fun it is to ride a bike(will need to get one of those). I definitely don't work as much on music as I used to because I feel like shit every morning. when I first got into making beats I hadn't even had my first beer yet, and I was having the time of my life. I think I'll try and save up to take a uhaul out to indiana for a year or so, set up the studio somewhere that has trees and seasons, and about a trillion less people. Then find a weed hookup and work on beats all the time like i used to.

Yo man... there have been a lot of good suggestions in this thread, and it sounds like (from your last post^) you got a pretty good idea for a plan of action.

I gotta add my 2 cents cause I just found some time to peep what was goin on over here and saw your thread, which hits really close to home. My bro is currently battling a substance addiction, and it has been my number one priority to do everything I can to help him since we had our little family intervention a couple weeks ago. First thing is recognizing the problem and deciding to take action... and that means either checking into a program (in-patient or IOP = intensive out-patient)... or if your insurance won't cover such treatments, look up when your local AA meetings are held and go to em... I'd say at least one a day. If this sounds out of the question, or like an over-the-top approach, then you either aren't addicted or you're in denial (and by no means do I intent that to be an offensive statement... sorry, cause I know it sounds kindof harsh). In a program with other addicts, and someone with medical qualifications to advise and administer help on such matters, you will receive a world of help and gain perspective on how deep this shit gets from other people going through the same problems/struggle. Another hugely important step towards getting better is taking total responsibility for your condition... which means coming clean to family and loved ones. Being accountable to yourself is huge, and being completely honest to the people closest to you is the most direct way to take control of what's going on. That way your mind isn't able to play tricks on you and convince you that "you have things under control... a little drink is OK".

Again man... just my 2 cents... but as I said, I've experienced the topic of battling addiction on a whole new level recently, and feel good about sharing this stuff with you and anyone else interested in reading. Best of luck with it homie... take shit one day at a time and you can accomplish anything.

yo man im a hardcore alchaholic, I pretty much hate it, but i still drink for some reason. I think the best way to quit is just fuck some shit up really bad and wake up and be like oh shit im a retard. then say the classic " i will never drink again "

i still drink but im an idiot and i know i shouldnt., even worse i get drunk and go skateboard, cant be good for the liver.

Dont mean to scare you or anything but I saw someone have an alcholic seizure the other day, whilst taking my dog for a walk, that shits no joke...


hope you get it under controll

i dry heaved for an hour yesterday in the most pain ever and my stomach acid formed a dragon shape in the toilet water . that is enough for me not to drink today .

@cartesia i love that you recommended painkillers to come off alcohol hahaha priceless.

@kel you could drink zima that shit barely counts.

For starters, very few painkillers are actually addictive or have potential for abuse.

Paracetamol (Think its called APAP in america) for example.. no abuse potential.. Incredibly useful for withdrawal symptoms such as feverish temperatures, neck pain, headache.

Ibuprofen again - not so much for fever, but antiinflammatory is great for sore joints/muscles, and when you're suffering badly from withdrawals this can mean the difference between rolling around in your bed in agony and getting some sleep!

Secondly,
If we look at the painkillers that can be abused, there really should not be an issue.. its not painkillers he's addicted to, its alcohol.. and if you're really addicted and you dont have something to curb the pain of withdrawal, you're just gonna get straight back on the piss to ease it.

Once people get hooked on something, they rarely switch to something else - it just doesnt feel 'right' compared to their original addiction, never as good. Taking something for a few days isn't going to cause any addiction anyway..

*I'm talking here about dealing with withdrawal symptoms of serious addiction, not just being like "OK well i will just go take painkillers instead of drink cos im bored"*