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Drinking has begun to lead to blackouts

Hi, I've been drinking for about 16 years.  Over that time plenty of bad and stupid things have happened to me when drunk.  I've woken up in jail twice, but released the next day.  In the past, drinking to blackout has only happened occasionally.  However, now it's becoming more frequent.  I keep losing things and I know one of these days I'm not going to get away with it.  I'm not always a nice drunk either, getting belligerent and saying horrible things to people.  I've only ever once been violent whilst drunk.

I know that I have a problem and that I am a problem drinker, but I just don't know how I could give up alcohol completely.  Abstinence is promoted by the AA but given their failure rate I don't know if this would work for me.  I've been looking at HAMS as well and this appears to be a better solution.  

It's got to the stage now where I'm often afraid to drink as I don't know what will happen or where I'll wake up.  Other times I can happily sit down and have a beer or two and not feel like I want anymore.  This is the annoying thing.  At times I'm in control and don't lose it, other times I drink to get drunk and past a certain point I just won't stop.

Any advice or help would be greatly appreciated.  I really want alcohol to stop wrecking my life and I'm sick of the paranoia of what I might have done the night before.
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Avatar universal
COMMUNITY LEADER
googled the HAM.....its a harm reduction model.....very good model!pls keep us posted!
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Avatar universal
COMMUNITY LEADER
Its not that AA fails ppl....they are not ready to commit to COMPLETE abstinence from alcohol!it sure worked for me going on 29 years ago........i was damn sick and tired and being sick and tired!if HAM is like SMART or RR...go for it!ANY support group that is geared@ total sobriety is a good thing.......take what u can use and leave the rest....and compare urself to others in the rooms....not out of it!
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3060903 tn?1398565123
Hi foolish drunk, I'm an alcoholic that has been clean and sober for 13 years. Once you start to black out your alcoholism has progressed to a point that you will never be able to drink again without the possibility of blacking out. It is a progression that happens to all alcoholics, given enough time. And you have given 16 years to alcohol. It's not going to be easy to quit, but quit is what you should do. Believe me when I say, there will come a time down the road, that if you quit, you won't miss it a bit. You will look back on it and wonder why you didn't quit sooner. 16 years of damage to your liver is enough. Many here on Medhelp are suffering from cirrhosis of the liver. You should have a complete physical and find out if you've damaged your liver. You just need to have what they call a "fibroscan" and ultrasound to see if you have scarred your liver. Scarring of the liver is called fibrosis. The next step is Stage 4, Cirrhosis of the liver. Not only should you quit drinking, but you should try to help your liver to detoxify through diet, nutrition and exercise.

By the time I was done with drinking i had 4 impaired charges. Nothing good can come from drinking after your body and your mind tells you to stop. Stopping drinking cold turkey can be dangerous, in itself and you can have seizures that can kill you.  Please talk to your doctor about checking your liver and ask for advice as to how you quit safely.

I went to rehab, (and found i had liver disease - ugh!!). I learned why I drank, i went to meetings, had one on one therapy, great food, good company, one year aftercare meetings at the rehab. etc.

You can also go to a Rehab therapist for help, if you are working and can't get the time off. Meetings are important when you start out, (AA). Sponsors are important.

You've got a problem that is not going to get away. Please get yourself some help. Don't destroy your relationships, career, because you're determined to want to be able to have two beers. It's just not worth it, and highly unlikely at this point.

Take good care, there's so much support here on Medhelp. We help each other out here all the time quitting drinking and/or drugging. There is a process, please care enough about yourself to get involved.

You're in my thoughts and prayers. Liz
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