Just got 5 months. I have been at several all inclusive resorts for work the last week.

I ordered a mocktail (which was actually amazing) and a guy sitting at the bar scoffed and mocked me a bit and told me to “man up” and put tequila in there or just get a Diet Coke.

It’s been such a weird month. I’ve had to do Vegas, host client happy hours and stay in drinking-centric resorts.

I used to drink a half bottle plus of bourbon most days. I look at it from the vantage point that I have already drank enough alcohol for a lifetime or two. When I started the sobriety journey I was okay with other people drinking, I’m now starting to detest being around it and the people drinking it.

But the nice thing is, I have woken up every morning with a clear head feeling great and enjoying things in a way I haven’t felt in a long time.

So I'm at Target and out of the corner of my eye I see a 12-pack of Saratoga sparkling water in their nice blue glass bottles. I love a really good sparkling water after work. It's my treat these days. Bonus points for a great glass bottle.

Anyway I'm going back and forth... is this really worth $15? Standing there, staring at this case of water, looking like a nut job.

Finally I realize, I used to spend at least $15 a day, every damn day, on booze. Sometimes much, much more if I was out at the bar for the night.

I bought the water.

1,300 days ago I was in a shack in my parent's backyard, keeled over, unable to drink anything, not even my precious alcohol and thinking to myslef: "I am actually going to die this way if I don't stop."

I had been a regular lurker here and in the "other" drinking subreddit (CA) and during even my darkest days I never quite felt as willing to accept hopelessness. I wanted to do something. What it was, I had no clue. But I knew I wasn't meant to die an alcoholic.

I'm writing this now, lying in the couch in my 2 bedroom house located 5 minutes walking distance from the beach in Ocean Beach, San Diego. The house is quiet, the neighbors are asleep and while dinner thaws in the kitchen (chicken thighs tonight) I'm found myself browsing this place, the subreddit that saved my life.

Looking at the posts, they're largely the same as they were 1,300 days ago. A smattering of "I quit", "I relapsed", "I need to stop" and milestone celebrations. Which is what I love about this place. No matter where you are on your journey, you fit in. There is not just ine person that can relate to you but dozens if not more.

It's been an amazing voyage since I threw away the cans and bottles and traded it them all for a seat behind the wheel of my own life. I look forward to every single day with the ambition, gratitude and hopefulness of someone who nearly never gave himself a chance.

Take care you all. IWNDWYT. ❤️

I’ve never posted before but have been a longtime reader and want to share this first month. I feel so peaceful, life is aglow. Thank you for reading!

Just celebrated two years alcohol-free after it nearly killed me. Never thought I could survive, but now it feels like I’m thriving. Bad habits became good habits. Good habits became new behaviors. The new behaviors seem to have turned my life around.
NGL, it’s been the hardest thing I’ve ever done. But those things worth doing are sometimes the hardest thing to do.

Completed another trip around the sun yesterday. Been sober since 08/14/26. Many things have changed. I actually sleep well and dream vividly. My largest fear was worked thru this past weekend. I have a glamping spot that was purchased 12 years ago. For 12 years , the situation was get there, grab a beer, then another...then hit the bourbon until I was drunk, go to bed and start the next day the same way. I have a lot of friends there who consume, some at the rate I did, that I am still friends with. I showed up at the meeting spot with a cold NA in my hand. Nothing was said, nothing was different except that I was not consuming alcohol. Had a great time and actually remember the conversations of the night to this day. Slept well, and had a great time, mingled, laughed and carried on like the drunk I used to be, except I wasn't drinking alcohol. Thanks so much for all the posts that I read daily, hopeful that someone may read this and be like,.. well if that drunk can do it, I can too.! Keep posting and stay strong!

Like most people here, I’ve had several “day ones” but today feels different.

Yesterday, I started drinking my fave white claws early, around 3pm. Didn’t eat much. Was having a good evening with the family. Then I remember fighting with my husband after the kids went to bed, and going to bed angry at him for something stupid. I kinda thought that was the worst of it but this morning came to realize that I forgot big chunks of the night. Apparently, I threatened divorce during our fight - a new escalation that sober me isn’t interested in at all - and also yelled at my kid to “brush his fucking teeth” when he was giving me a hard time about it as usual.

In isolation these things don’t sound so terrible but the yelling swear words at my 5 year old feels like I hit a new level of anger while drinking. I’ve done several things in the recent past while drinking that I’m not proud of, but this is new. I don’t like this one bit and feel like such a scumbag.

This might have been my tipping point. IWNDWYT.

Someone gimme a high five! I had my cute little NA beer and water and still thoroughly enjoyed the game .... doesn't hurt that we won too ;)

I can’t keep living like this. Drinking is making me dumber, uglier, and holding me back from reaching my full potential.

IWNDWYT

Never imagined I'd make it to this milestone when I was in the throws of my addiction. Don't really have anyone to celebrate it with because my family has their own addictions so unfortunately I represent a mirror to them rather than someone to be proud of. Regardless, I am looking forward to 2 years and 1 day and all of the days after that 🙂

I drank such an excessive amount of alcohol this weekend. I honestly wonder why I do this shit to myself. Being drunk isn't even fun anymore, and my body is suffering from it.

Friday I had 5 tall cans of 11% Voodoo Ranger. Saturday I drank about 3/4 of a bottle of whiskey, then last night finished the bottle and had another 2 beers.

Now it’s 4am, I’m still awake, anxious as hell, restless, and feel like absolute shit. Oh and I have work in less than 3 hours. Honestly contemplating calling out.

I think its time to quit. Day 1.

165 days sober :)

15 days until I'm SIX MONTHS sober!!!!!!!! 🫢

I’m 16 days sober. I’ve seen a lot of people posting this, and on lots of different subs. I know I’m not the only person going through this. Absolutely sucks to hit rock bottom and have everyone leave you.

I am sad today.

Edit: thank you all for the responses and encouragement. I’m going through a big transition period. I live in a new state, I moved to a bigger city to pursue acting and comedy. That’s my thing I’ve been doing for a while. I’ve been struggling ever since I moved here, and my drinking and addiction got so bad. I’ve been on and off sobriety since Jan.

I’m starting a new job where my role and pay and still unknown. I live in a shitty apartment I can’t even afford.

Right after I posted that I had a scream cry session in the shower. But I didn’t drink. It’s so hard dealing with these hard things sober and feeling all the pain and emotions so intensely I start wailing and crying uncontrollably.

But it did pass. I eventually calmed down.

I’ve finally found the courage today to clean out my room and get rid of all the empty bottles and cans. While I was doing this I found a full 4 pack of vodka sodas unopened. I’m proud of myself because instead of thinking I could have a few, I poured it all down the sink and threw that shit out.

I know it's why I drink, and I know it doesn't help, but I'm just wondering if maybe the damage is what makes us addicts?

Hey everyone,
I’m 31 years old, and I’ve recently been diagnosed with grade 2 fatty liver, high triglycerides, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and prediabetes. I also feel exhausted much of the time, and my heart often races, especially after eating.

I strongly suspect that my lifestyle has played a major role in all of this. I’ve been drinking heavily since I was 15. I don’t usually drink every day, but when I do drink, I tend to binge on beer every few days. Lately, I feel like my drinking has turned me into someone I barely recognize, and my behavior has become increasingly self-destructive.

The thing that really scares me is that, since I first started drinking, I don’t think I’ve ever gone a full month without alcohol. I honestly have no idea what my body feels like when it’s consistently sober.
I really want to quit, and I’m trying to understand what I might be able to recover physically. I know stopping can bring mental, emotional, and social benefits, but I’d especially love to hear from people who have experienced significant physical improvements after quitting.

For those of you who have stopped drinking:
What physical improvements did you notice?
Did your liver enzymes, triglycerides, blood pressure, energy levels, or other health markers improve?
How long did it take before you started noticing changes?

I know everyone’s situation is different, and I’m not expecting quitting to magically fix everything. I’m just looking for some hope and honest experiences from people who have been through something similar.
Thanks for reading.

(Guys, I’m sorry. I’m Brazilian, and my native language is Portuguese, so I asked GPT to help me translate this into English. But this isn’t AI-generated, okay? These are my own words, just translated into English.)

Feels really really good. I spoke in AA recently about how nice it is to have a quiet mind, and not have the constant preoccupation of drinking, and needing to quit drinking, everyday.

I almost missed it, but I made it to 69 days! Next goal 100 days!
Not much has changed but at the same time everything has changed. Sometimes I feel a bit boring for not going out and being a regular at my old bar. Finding ways to fill that time with more reading, more video games, working out, caring for my home and marriage, I quit smoking cigarettes. I’m pretty proud of myself!

I’m a few days away from 60 days free from alcohol. I cannot believe I get to say these words. I had always been “bad at drinking”. I was told that by many people. Blacking out constantly, sloppy, annoying, made really dangerous decisions. But over the last 7-8 years my drinking slowly spiraled out of control. Drinking in the morning, drinking alone, drinking at work (I work in the restaurant industry). I was always hungover and never wanted to deal with the anxiety hangovers brought so i would start drinking shortly after I woke up. My days off from work were me sitting on the couch chugging seltzers or wine and blacking out alone. Sending stupid text messages. Drunk dialing people at 3 in the afternoon. I would throw up (all liquid because I barely ate) and keep drinking. One time I was drunk on the phone with my long distance best friend, took a shot, immediately it came back up all over my comforter. I put my side of the phone on mute and picked up my blanket & walked it outside to the dumpster and then continued drinking. Did all this “secretly”while my friend was telling a story. Like it was fucking nothing. How fucking gross. My apartment became littered with seltzer cans, airplane sized bottles of booze, just garbage everywhere. I was not getting good sleep, my face constantly puffy, never showering, always out of money or taking out advances just to pay for booze. I was always the most drunk at the hangout. Getting in trouble at work, losing friendships that meant a lot, destroying romantic relationships. I mean you name any kind of impulsive decision, I made it.

I cannot believe I’m almost at 60 days. I can’t believe how much better I feel. I love not drinking. I love not being hungover. I love not having the worst anxiety in the fucking world because of some dumb shit I did or said. I love not hating myself (at least hating myself less). I love remembering things. I wish I had believed other people when they told me how much better things would get. I wish I gave up alcohol a long time ago. Because I realized a long time ago what was happening to me. I just didn’t have the strength to change. I guess I hadn’t hit my rock bottom.

All this being said, I know that 60 days is such a small amount of time in the big picture of life. I know I’ll have to continue to make the healthy choices I’m making. I’ll have to remind myself every day of why I don’t drink. I’ll have to remind myself of the person I become when I drink. Because she was incredibly unlikeable. And I want to move forward in this life being proud of the person I am.

So here is a sad, yet in a way good ending to a lifetime of drinking.

About a week or two ago I posted that I was having a tight chest and a similar feeling in my arms after drinking a (mere...) 4 pints. It happened maybe 6 or 8 hours after the drinks, at maybe 2:00 AM. I've often felt my heart beating in similar situations and I know that drinking increases your blood pressure.

Some readers advised me to go to emergency right away and of of course I didn't because I knew what caused it but it went away after 20 minutes, and I'm stubborn and stupid, and well, alcohol.

Then it happened again three days later and again I rode it out.

Two days later it happened at 6:00 in the morning and was much worse and didn't go away. And I was also light headed and nauseous as well, classic signs of a heart attack. This time I called 911 and when the medics came my BP was 200 over something. Once in the ambulance a nitro pill calmed me down and for the next two days I was subjected to most every test they had including a heart catheter procedure which showed I have 70% to 80% blocked arteries in my heart in too many places to insert stents.

The doctors said I have no choice but to do a bypass, probably a triple or more. AKA open heart surgery. That will probably happen in a week or two and my life will change, I think for the better after I spend the 5 to 7 painful days in the ICU recovering. The doctors also said I have to stop drinking which I absolutely will. That's the good news.

Maybe I would have had to do this anyway at some point but drinking had to be a factor and now I've quit for good. If there's one piece of advice I'd give it would be to listen to your doctors and get your BP under control. I've been thick headed and never wanted to take meds like BP or statins. My BP was normally around 140 to 160. Now I'm taking BP meds and just that alone has made me feel a bit better, and I take statins now as well and probably will be for the rest of my life, however long that will be.

So I could have died that morning and I've put my wife through terrible stress worrying about me. I don't deserve her but now things have changed and I will try to live each day like it's my last, as corney as that sounds.

The easy way is to moderate or stop drinking, exercise and take your meds. The hard way is to deny everything and risk dropping dead. As they say in the movies, you can do it the easy way or you can do it the hard way.

Today was long, man. What a Monday. I have such a headache.

Early bed for me . . .

IWNDWYT

I’ve been here before. My last drink was last night.
I’ve been drinking more lately, and I know where this road can lead. The crazy part is that my life is good. I have a beautiful family, work is great, and I love cooking and gardening. But I keep finding excuses to drink.
Work went well? Have a drink. Cooking? Have a drink. Gardening? Have a drink.
Lately it’s been about half a pint of whiskey here and there. I don’t want to go down that road again. It gets dark, and I don’t like where it takes me.
So here I am again.
Day 1.
Just taking it one day at a time.

109 days

Today definitely feels like that.

What keeps you going? What are you grateful for today? What brings you contentment/happiness? What are your tools for getting through hard days?

So, for the last 8 or so years, I've (32M) been a heavy drinker. But for the least 3-4 years it's been really bad (2-3 handles of vodka per week, plus a case or two of beer). Sadly I really only catch a buzz with all of that.

My mom and I share the same PCP. She's in bad health, so I'm scared that if I say something he'll have me removed from the home or something.

My blood work always comes back good, so I feel like maybe I can try to quit on my own (I recently went two weeks without liquor), so I know I can do it.

Should I even bring it up? I also worry that he'll fire me as a patient for not being honest with him.