A life of addiction

I’m on the verge of 29, I’m single, live with my mum and I’m unhappy in life.
My life to date has been one of constant addiction. It all started as a child when I discovered video games I would play for hours upon hours. Then as I grew older and entered my teenage years many more addictions were developed including alcohol, marijuana, cigarettes and once I turned 18 gambling.
Marijuana didn’t last very long as it messed with my head quite a bit so I gave it up and have never returned to using it regularly.
I have used other illicit drugs but they have only ever been occasional uses.
I got lucky and won $5000 on the greyhounds and that in turn saw a dramatic increase in my gambling. I eventually went to counselling for my gambling which didn’t really help instead I increased my alcohol consumption to compensate for the lack of gambling.
I have since been to counselling for alcohol because of certain events that happened while intoxicated. I took the option of wanting to moderate my drinking cause the fear of abstaining and never drinking again was a frightening thought. Since trying to moderate my drinking with no success I realise that sobriety is the only option for me. The problem is I am likely to increase my gambling to compensate for the alcohol void.
What do I do next?

[worried878]

Addicts have sumpin in their blood/brain others do not have...what u describe is not as unusual as u may feel it is
Sex, alcohol, gambling, shopping,smoking,drug addictions are all real..and we opften practice more than one in a lifetime if we r addiction prone

I have smoked,,quit ten yrs ago and only smoked for 7 yrs...2 packs a day when i quit,,started back up a yr ago//3 mths of it right back up to 2 packs a day tho in a week//I quit!  I now do my electric cig

I also binged on alcohol a yr ago//obviously an event occrred a yr ago!  LOL  a stressful event causing my ugly addictive p[ersonality to come out.  I was afraid of drugs..but alcohol can be more dangerous

I also had an almost gambling problem 10 yrs ago but I am so frugal i got tired of freaking when i lost//gambling can be a true thrill..and a huge let down...football was my weakness

Thing is...I may screw up again..i sure hope not..but I have my weapons now and it wont last long cos I know how recognize weak times//stressful times//and I know how to stop my addiction from taking me over//But I am still and addict//and this i know//i think just knowing this helps alot
.  Aftercare taught me how to deal with this lifelong chain that can drag me down if i am not cautious, Life also helped cos when u have lived it u know it doesnt get better by using or practicing an addiction..it only gets worse

it is like one day it just knocked me in the head like a baseball bat!  Laura,,,u r stupid if u keep doing this! LOL  U R not having any fun anymore and I weighed out the pros and cons//the choice was evident//continue on a path to nowhere or quit  I learned alot here..the health pages r full of info

And never feel alone//cos u r not

[coalson_aj]

Hey sorry to hear of you recent misfortunes but you are 100% correct you have to stop all together you are an addict and will always be an addict and need to come to terms with that trust me if you can get a grip on things and refrain from any and all use of alchol and or gambling it could be an ok thing you may even be able to help others. I had a pill addiction went through 2 failed marriages, lost my house my car and everything else including my dignity and self respect but when I decide to get clean I really stayed with it and I am now back in college and will soon graduate with a degree in biology and psychology and I will be able to help others who are or have suffered subtances abuse problems. Just decide what is more important to you a future or your addiction I wont tell you only you can decide once you do the rest is just hard work and real effort to succed. Good Luck if you need to chat hit me back.

[JeeshJeans]

Thanks guys for the quick replys and support. I think the hardest part of giving up the addiction is finding something healthy to do in place of it. I'm from Australia and there is a pretty big drinking culture. Majority of my social life if not 100% revolves around drinking. I catch up with mates of a friday/saturday night and we have a drink which is fine if it's controlled but as I mentioned earlier moderation doesn't work for me. If I have a drink that's it i'm drunk in a few hours and things usually end up in tears. Just to awake in the morning with a severe hangover and feelings of guilt and remorse.

[gnarly_1]

HI.....I have been an addict all my life...started with weed went to weed and booze then on to a bunch of chemicals got really strung out on LSD back to weed and alcohol then found God quite everything for around 5 yrs and slipped a disk in my back witch lead me to the pils
10 more yrs on the pills back to the booze and weed then methadone its been a viscous circle most of my life...today I got 5 yr 5 mo clean from alcohol weed and everything else recreational ....I use A/A and N/A to get clean off that....im just 2 weeks shy of a yr clean
off the pills and methadone I see a substance abuse conslor for that...I have learned threw life there is 2 ways of doing something you can learn from the school of hard knocks or you can follow somebody's path that has already got what you want....you need to emerge yourself in some form of aftercare and stick with it addiction is a desiese it is treatable with aftercare and you can live a clean and sober lifestyle if you choose to .....your going to have to do what I did and change your playground ...no more bars and pubs...for me its pool halls and dami t I love to shoot pool but its to big a trigger for me
I know this sound extream and at first it will seam like your loosing all your freinds but your real freinds will stick by you...you got to want it bad and you got to want off the mery go round if you do this is a very treatable illness if not it will lead to institutions jails or death ....not much of a choice I wish you all the best...stick around the forum you will learn a lot here good luck and God bless......Gnarly      

[iknow2]

I am presently struggling with binge drinking accompanied by crack cocaine. I manage to keep my job and somehow my looks as well however I personally have noticed both of these things slipping slowly but surely. I do it when I am home alone and almost always wake up the next day (thank God) promising myself I won't do it again. It is clear that I need to seek counciling.I am living a double life and my kids have no clue of what I am doing. My Mom suspects at times because of her keen intuition and my association with certain individuals that she knows are junkies. I'm constantly thinking of using or trying to cover up my bad hang overs..any suggestions or feedback?

[JeeshJeans]

I lost my license for 18 months for a drink driving offence. I got arrested for being drunk in a public place. I have been in fights and injured myself multiple times in drunk accidents. I tripped over and broke my thumb one night and on another occassion ripped four of my fingernails off playing with a supermarket trolley. The most likely next event would be jail which would be the end of me.