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Other Has anyone stopped drinking? does aa 12 step work?

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hithere

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I have been trying to quit drinking for so long it's embarrassing. I over did it and it was due to some internal crazy crap that got stirred up in my therapy. I was wondering if anyone has had any experience in this area and if there was anything that helped achieve the goal of quitting.
 
I quit drugs and alcohol on my own.
Due to a lot of reasons, I wasn't given any help quitting and I didn't seek AA or NA either, because I thought in comparison my problems weren't as meaningful.

Sometimes I still have a bit (like, 3 sips) of wine - usually white, least alcoholic - socially, but most of my cravings passed.
Rarely I want to get blasted, just doesn't work for me.
I can stay on the social aspect because I don't have access to booze in the house and I'm not that social to begin with. So maybe twice a year.

I think my mood stabilizer helps with the cravings. There are meds specifically for them, but I forget the names.

What I did was lock myself home, lots of will power and SOS benzos for the anxiety.
Became stupidly depressed, like I never was in my life, tolerated suicidal ideation on a minute by minute basis.
One thing that really helped (disregard if not appropriate) was apologizing and making amends with those that suffered from my lack of control when I was high or blastered. Made me feel more in control and like I was doing something meaningful with sobriety. But then again, I did A LOT of stupid stuff.

I had to cut off relationships with the drug and booze buddies. No regrets there.

The first time I went out after being 7 months clean, I slipped and drank but hated it. So I started over.

It's not a perfect journey, lots of obstacles.
Help like AA is good, helps keep us accountable and not feeling so lonely.
I later had a T that specializes in addiction and we treated my psychological dependency. Hardest stuff to treat.
Eventually I understood it was all due to trauma and found myself a proper trauma therapist.
Not with mishaps along the way.

Hope this helps.
Good luck.
 
I had been a member of AA for a long time. But I started to withdraw from the program when I actually needed it the most. My relationship was getting more unmanageable and I reverted back to my old ways and started drinking again. I decided to check into a rehab program and will restart my AA meetings when I am discharged. I've already started back on the steps, hopefully deal with the new resentments that have developed.
 
I had been a member of AA for a long time. But I started to withdraw from the program when I actually nee...
Thank you for the response. I've kind of noticed that "relationship issues" kind of have a correlation with how much I drink.!
 
I did both AA and SMART Recovery to arrest alcohol abuse. SMART is therapeutic based secular. I...
thank you so much. Is this a free, organic group like 12 steps? Or, is this done through a clinic? I think I want to look into the SMART Recovery--for some reason I don't trust AA --
 
I second Smart. I did 12 steps for many things but I think one can replace dependence on alcohol for dependence on a program. Healing the underlying issues was a must for me. Wishing you well on this very personal issue.
 
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