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I am just needing a little advice. I have decided to quit drinking starting today. I typically drink between 2-4 glasses of wine per evening. Do you think I will experience any sort of withdrawal? I crave wine very badly starting at about 5pm, so I know that is going to be very hard, but I will just fill the time with healthy things. I'm just tired of being dependent on something and feeling like crud in the mornings. Any insight?
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Avatar universal
I doubt you will get any kind of withdrawal that you would notice. Possibly constipation, maybe minor sleep problems. I don't blame you for wanting to rid yourself of being dependent on a substance. I hated to be a slave to alcohol also.

A little bit about me and how I stopped. I'm a recovering alcoholic. 4pm to me was "miller time" and I didn't let anything or anyone get in the way of that. Sometimes I would start early. I knew I needed to stop, but i couldn't. I tried, and I just was miserable. I think i went 2 days without drinking once and hated every moment of it. I couldn't even cut down. With me, one leads to many. So I had to stop completely. I use the fellowship of AA to keep me sober. They give me accountability. I meet with other alcoholics, we stay sober together and are accountable to one another. AA helped me to get working on myself, finding the underlying reasons why I drank like I did. It helped me to clean up the wreckage of my past, and I really enjoy helping others. I don't even miss drinking. That's how I stopped.

For you to stop 2-4 glasses of wine, not too bad I don't think. You might try finding a hobby, doing things with friends, exercising when your cocktail hour(s) used to be. Basic things to keep you busy and fill that void, if you find you actually have a void. If you miss it terribly - well, then you have to look at yourself in a different light. Maybe go to counseling? Follow their directions?

My mom, my mother in law, 2 sister in laws, all had a problem and stopped without going to AA. But if you ever find yourself at a fork in the road and one road goes deeper and deeper into drinking just know that we're always there for you. We have an unwritten rule in AA: If someone wants to drink, that's their business, if they want to stop, then it becomes our business.

I wish you the best! -Robert
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1475202 tn?1536270977
Hi Kje,

I see it has been a while so I wonder how things are going for you?

Randy
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Avatar universal
Thank you for the replies. Last night was actually a breeze; really hoping it stays that way. Thank you for sharing your stories and encouragment.
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Avatar universal
Congrats on the decision to quit.

Sometimes that habit of having a drink at a certian time of day causes the cravings to be really intense, Just knowing that and planning in advance to do something else is enough to ease the craving enough so they are managable.
So filling your time with healthy things sounds like a good idea to me.

I doubt that the withdrawl symptoms will be to bad physically, it will most likely be the mental that is the tough one.
If you are committed to quitting, you will do fine. Stay here  and talk to folks if those cravings get bad. You can do this. I wish you well!
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144586 tn?1284666164
Yeah. You feel crummy. The craving gets very bad. But you can do it.
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