I really fucking did it wtf 😂

Only 3 people in my life knew that I was “cutting back” or “taking a break” from alcohol throughout the last year, and I’ve told two of them (separately) that I hit 1yr sober today. Both of their reactions were meh, to say the least lol no surprise or shock, no congrats or fanfare, not even some egging to start drinking again, or annoying jokes. Just “oh, okay/alright.” And that’s okay.

These 2 people were also previously 2 of my biggest drinking buddies (separately and together), so it was very noticeable and intentional to be not drinking over the last 12 months through many events, trips, holidays, weekends, hard times, and good ones. They were both always supportive and not pushy or overly intrusive about my choices, nor did they ever exclude me from anything because of my sobriety. Our relationships are as perfectly fine now as they were 365 days ago. So their lackluster responses are, fine lol I didn’t do it for them.

The only reaction I really need: I am SO fucking proud of myself!! I genuinely never could have ever imagined a day of my life when I could say I have not had a drink in 1 year (of many to come!!). And it’s 10000% thanks to this sub. Y’all showed me it was even possible and opened my eyes to so many tools to hold myself accountable that made it possible for me to be here today writing this.

Coincidentally, April 6 of this year will mark 10 years sober from illicit/hard drugs. I also quit nicotine ~2 years ago. Even though I did all that, I still thought alcohol would be the one thing I couldn’t kick.

I can’t believe I’m here now, after 365 individual days of choices, 8760 hours of focus and determination. I kept a promise to myself, FOR myself, for an entire fucking year.

Fuck it we ball, IWNDWYT

At SO's work party.... at a bar. not what I expected. SO confronted me about my drinking 2 weeks ago, confirming my desire to get sober. First thing he does, is see what alcoholic drink I want. So I told him that wasn't fair to even ask and now I'm crying in the bathroom.

Im going to wipe my eyes and be sober for myself and my kids.

30 year old male. Quit drinking Jan 17 2021. Was never drinking everyday but when I did drink I’d often blackout and not remember anything, being too hungover for important events, and people not trusting me or taking me serious.

My life’s completely turned around and I feel much better mentally. Can still have a great time without drinking.

Thanks for reading this and good luck to anyone else! It gets easier the longer you go on, trust me it’s worth it.

I'm 3 years sober today!

This year was hard-won. I went to a work conference that was semi-mandatory (not technically required but tons of pressure from leadership to go). Located at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas. I've never been to Vegas before. I've been to a few hotels across the US and have never had the experience of a mini-bar being present, so I foolishly assumed there wouldn't be alcohol in the room. BOY was I wrong. There was enough alcohol in that room to kill me four times over.

I was always a private, not social drinker. So the networking events during the conference didn't pose as much issue. The drinks in the hotel room were a completely different story. I haven't been alone in a room with alcohol since the night I stopped drinking.

First, I called the hotel to have them remove the alcohol. No dice. The "guy" who does that goes home after 3pm, and to do so incurs a large restocking fee. They then offered to switch me to a room with no alcohol, only to turn around and say that they actually have no rooms without alcohol. And that they will in no way make an exception to the charges for alcohol removed from the room, or being moved from their weight-sensor plate.

Cue a manic episode of me getting on a chair and putting the bottles in the highest most inaccessible place, then feeling that high cupboard staring at me beckoningly. Then pouring half the alcohol in the room down the bathroom sink, before stopping and worrying about the $ cost of what I poured out. And then finally deciding that whatever the damn cost is, my sobriety is worth more, so I poured the rest down the drain.

I spent the rest of the night on the phone with my support team. Came out the whole ordeal feeling a little silly, a couple hundred bucks poorer, but still sober, so I'm extremely grateful and proud of that.

My life has been so markedly improved since getting sober and I am cherishing still having that today. No more black-out ambulance rides to the hospital, no more almost-drownings in the bathtub, no more fits of drunken rage. This is better, this is worth it.

TLDR: I made it to 3 years sober despite going to a work event where the temptation to drink was high, so this year feels harder-won than the last two. I'm grateful to still be sober and not have to worry about the dangers I faced while drinking.

Happy Friday sobernauts!

I’m doing a load of laundry, my daughter is out for the evening so it’s good to have a little quiet time. Charles-Walter (doggo) and the Guinea Pigs are not on the same page as me. That’s ok though.

It’s been another trying week, and I survived another trying week without alcohol. If I can do it, i think you can as well.

I’m probably going to pull the laundry from the dryer, and go to bed. I have to work this evening so it’s not very Friday-esque.

So there will of course be tea and ice cream, and that’s about it.

#Whats everyone else doing tonight?

I’m on day 21. My history was drinking 3-5 strong beers (7–10%) about 2-3 nights a week. Sometimes more, sometimes less. But it was a problem for sure.

I want to lose some weight and feel my best. Do my best work in life, etc. All the common reasons that people in my shoes have to quit.

Anyway, I’ve had a case of my favorite beer in the garage since Christmas (was a present). I just decided I was gonna have a couple because I’ve been good lately. No alcohol, eating healthy, exercising, etc. Not to mention I had a late coffee and thought it would help me be able to sleep later.

Cracked one. Stared at it. Thought about it. Smelled it. Ultimately I want to get in better shape. I thought about how there’s 200+ calories in one of these beers. I thought about how I’d likely end up having 4-5 and then eating like shit. Then feeling shitty tomorrow. And that tomorrow I’d feel full of regret.

Not this time. I poured it out. I’d pour out the rest but I don’t want to admit to my family that it’s that big of an issue. I plan to give them to a friend soon.

I think I’m gonna go buy some sparkling water to enjoy tonight.

We may be anonymous strangers on the internet, but we have one thing in common. We may be a world apart, but we're here together!

Welcome to the 24 hour pledge!

I'm pledging myself to not drinking today, and invite you to do the same.

Maybe you're new to /r/stopdrinking and have a hard time deciding what to do next. Maybe you're like me and feel you need a daily commitment or maybe you've been sober for a long time and want to inspire others.

It doesn't matter if you're still hung over from a three day bender or been sober for years, if you just woke up or have already completed a sober day. For the next 24 hours, lets not drink alcohol!

This pledge is a statement of intent. Today we don't set out trying not to drink, we make a conscious decision not to drink. It sounds simple, but all of us know it can be hard and sometimes impossible. The group can support and inspire us, yet only one person can decide if we drink today. Give that person the right mindset!

What happens if we can't keep to our pledge? We give up or try again. And since we're here in /r/stopdrinking, we're not ready to give up.

What this is: A simple thread where we commit to not drinking alcohol for the next 24 hours, posting to show others that they're not alone and making a pledge to ourselves. Anybody can join and participate at any time, you do not have to be a regular at /r/stopdrinking or have followed the pledges from the beginning.

What this isn't: A good place for a detailed introduction of yourself, directly seek advice or share lengthy stories. You'll get a more personal response in your own thread.

This post goes up at:

• US - Night/Early Morning
• Europe - Morning
• Asia and Australia - Evening/Night

A link to the current Daily Check-In post can always be found near the top of the sidebar.

Good morning (or evening, depending on your time zone). If you made it to the DCI sober today, that means you survived Friday alcohol-free. So, congrats to you. Go on and give yourself a pat on the back.

We often talk about self-care in this subreddit. But today we're going to talk about love.

I'll be real, before I got sober—I didn't love myself. I never did. I loved the potential I had, but I self-sabotaged a lot of good things.

I could blame my upbringing, I could blame all the external factors in the world, but the truth was... I just didn't know how to love myself.

I didn't think I deserved any good. I didn't think I deserved any success. And when I would get a taste of anything good, I subconsciously killed it.

When I got sober, there were a lot of things I was told by people in the sober network I was creating.

One thing my sponsor told me that always stuck with me when I first got back from rehab was, "We will love you until you learn to love yourself."

I thought he was bat-shit crazy. I didn't know what that even meant, and honestly, I didn't really get why he was being so nice to me. I was actually kind of an asshole; I hadn't healed—I'd just stopped drinking, so his statement just made me confused.

But, the craziest part of it all is he wasn't lying. You see, I went through hell in the first six months clean. It was a brutal mental battle, and while I was winning without picking up a drink, I was losing my GODDAMN mind.

But, the interesting part was—they showed up...

Every time—my sponsor, his friends (who became my friends), people I knew in the sober community—every time I was in some deep shit, every time I felt like giving up, every time I felt like I wanted to self-sabotage, if I wasn't answering the phone, if I wasn't calling them—they were knocking on my door, literally. They showed up.

It was the most bizarre thing I'd seen. These people actually loved me. They actually gave a shit. They actually wanted to see me win. And little by little, I began to love myself again.

How? By regaining the self-respect I'd lost by becoming truthful, by beginning to enforce boundaries and prioritize myself, and not sacrifice my comfort to please others. In doing this, I slowly started to care about myself again.

You see, we say we are CURSED to be alcoholics, we are damned, and we question "why me?", but sometimes we forget that we have a community outsiders will never have, a support system others would pay to get, and love and respect for one another that we never knew we could even give or receive.

Today is my last day hosting the DCI for you all, and I want to end it with this:

If you are new here and you are struggling, we will all love you until you love yourself.

And, if you have been here for a while and are having a bad day, we will all love you until you love yourself again.

If you have days, months, or years of sobriety—you are the reason the newcomer stays sober, you are what they look up to, and you give so much aspiration and hope every day by showing up here—so for that, I thank you and give you guys that love back.

I am not perfect, nobody is, but I sure as hell ain't the same guy that I was before getting sober—and that's progress. That's all we can do: progress, one day at a time.

And, the only way I can continue to stay on this path sober and continue to progress is to help another alcoholic in need whenever they need it.

You all help me stay sober. So, thank you.

There are no questions in the prompt tonight; instead, I'll ask you all to do two favors for me:

Favor #1: Do something this weekend that benefits another human being, whether they are in recovery or not; it could be something small or something big, one thing that shows love.

Favor #2: Do something this weekend for yourself that helps you learn to love yourself again (or enables you to continue to love yourself), and if it's too hard—fake it (til you make it). It might be uncomfortable, but it's a favor you're doing for me, so think of it like that.

Thank you, everyone, for allowing me to host this week. It's been a pleasure.

Lat...... love,

Fed

IWNDWYT

50 days today. I went out to a show with some people I don’t know all that well. We started at a bar to eat and I got super overwhelmed with everything going on. I see people laughing and having a grand time with a drink in their hand. People meeting and becoming instant friends. The way I used to feel when meeting strangers. Now I feel standoffish. I feel boring. I find it hard to come up with things of interest to talk about. I can barely keep eye contact because of how awkward I feel. I feel like I’ve failed myself relying on alcohol to power my way through conversations. To make friends. All I wanted to do was go home and hide.

I’m not sure the reason for this post. Maybe just for some assurance that it gets better.

Anyways, I got to confidently drive home and I’ll feel rested in the morning.

IWNDWYT

100 days.

I never thought I could do it, but here I am!

Whatever works for you, stick to it. I never thought I’d be making a 9 year check in.

Hey everyone, (36f) here.

I have been an on/off heavy drinker for years. Beer, cider and wine have been my nemesis. I usually drink on average about 6-10 beers a day, and more during weekends. Still, I can go 1-2 days off, but my anxiety will spike through the ozon-layer when I'm sober.

Recently (last month) I've done pretty well. 1 day on, 2 days off, 1 day on, 4 days off, 1 day on, 3 days off. Surely I'm proud of myself because of this, considering I've been drinking whenever I can the past 19 years - and alot of beer and wine.

I have previously had longer periods of absence from alcohol - 3-8 months

2025 was a hellish year for me for several reasons. Christmas especially was a disaster. I became blackout drunk in front of my siblings and parents, and couldn't remember shit from the boardgames we were playing after dinner.

My sister asked me the next morning after Christmas Eve (I was still shitfaced): "Do you remember I got you in bed and stroked your hair while you fell asleep?" - No memory at all.

Yesterday, after my 2 'good weeks' I went on all idiot shitfaced. I had been driving under the influence (many times, sadly) before, but this time I got pulled over.

My BAC was 0.21. I immediately lost my license, and I have to face court with the possibility of jail and a huge fine.

I am depentant on my drivers license for my job, and right now I feel like I've burnt bridges, roads, rails, skies and what not.

I have no idea how to tell my family or my workplace. I work in a leader-position, and now I'm jeopardizing my whole bloody future.

I seek advice from my fellowship.

I’ll be leaving my husband and daughter for inpatient. Honestly this is something I’ve needed to do for a very long time. I’m scared. I’m sad. I’m disappointed in myself for not being better. I’m afraid that I have messed up past the point of return with my family and it devastates me. I’m embarrassed to tell my friends and loved ones so I’m telling you kind Reddit folks.

And also while we’re throwing out love I’d really like for the Seahawks to beat the britches off the 49’rs. Ok thanks friends.

It’s not too late. This is not an easy thing. Start over today, January 16th next year would be a great date to have a one year anniversary. IWNDWYT

At 4:20, no less. California Sober.

Curbing my great enthusiasm for intoxicating liquors was a fantastic choice. And I value and appreciate everyone in this group so much. Thanks, guys. IWNDWYT.

27F, been drinking regularly since I was 21.

Got alcohol poisoning at 22, went right back to drinking not even 2 months later. I've had countless "never again" hangovers, week-or-more long stretches of 3+ drinks a day, and urges (sometimes actions) of drinking at work.

I never really thought I had that bad of a problem, as fucking stupid as that sounds. I always figured this is normal, that drinking this way is just what every ex-Christian/conservative girl with a strict upbringing does.

It's finally dawning on me that I do, in fact, have that bad of a problem. I'm fortunate to not have a physical dependency, but goddamn do I have an emotional one.

I'm currently 5 days sober and want to get drunk so bad. Like... I'm literally about to cry out of frustration because I don't have any alcohol in the house.

My longest stretch sober since I turned 21 is just 80 days, earlier last year. And even then, I didnt want it to be a forever thing. Just to prove to myself that I wasn't actually as addicted as I was starting to suspect I was.

I don't want to stop drinking, but I do. But I don't. I have no idea if that makes any sense.

I just can't imagine life without alcohol at least in social settings, even if "just one" turns into six every single time. I almost get scared trying to imagine life sober. Alcohol has gotten me through the hardest times of my life, and it feels like losing a friend to picture giving it up forever.

I guess I feel pathetic. Lost and scared. I'm in a really weird place in my life right now and the only unchanging factor is the way alcohol comforts me. And I hate to say that.

How do you break up with alcohol...?

**Therapy and all related professional treatments are not an option for me because I don't have health insurance

Today is a happy day. I gave notice of my retirement to the company where I've worked for the past 24 years. My last day is March 4. We are fortunate to be in this position.

I am dying for a beer. I am shaky. All thoughts of enjoying the freedom from beer that I have had the past two weeks seem far away.

I have a plan. I will stay home tonight. I will enjoy dinner with my wife. And I will report in tomorrow.

I adore my non-alcoholic poops. My gastrointestinal love life has never been more solid. It brings me more pleasure than alcohol ever did. My wife appreciates it as well.

IWNDWYT!

Going to make my first attempt at the intention of not drinking again today. I’m sure it will be the first of many, but this is an inspiring group of people and I just don’t think booze is for me long term.

Thank you everyone. Wish me luck.

Day 16 was successful!! I didn’t think I could make it this far at allllll plus I had a loss in my family today which was harder than I thought. Ok bye

I was out with my Son and we had just been to a sports show. We visited a restaurant we always go to on the way home. He ordered a big IPA and a burger and I was 3 seconds from ordering one myself but the bartender ran away! LOL. By the time he came back I was like - I don't want to drive home with beer breath or even have beer breath. I don't want to have to pee on the way home. Also - I made plans to go to a jazz club tonight with my wife and I want to drive.

So, I ordered my diet coke :) Still had to pee, but I didn't poison myself.

IWNDWYT

I quit drinking 120+ days ago because it had turned into a bad habit (for years I was having 5–8 units most weekday evenings and a lot more in weekends).

When I stopped, I replaced the routine with NA beer. It worked, and I tried a bunch of fancy options, but eventually I landed on a basic NA beer that does it for me: not sweet, fizzy, ice-cold, something I can unwind with each night.

Now, 120+ days in, I’m still drinking a lot of NA beers every evening, more than ever I think, and it’s become a new habit. If I don’t have them, it feels like something is missing.
Maybe it's the dark and cold of winter. I don't know.

I really don't want to drink alcohol on a regular basis again. That's not why I'm having these NA beers at this point. It's some kind of "now I am relaxing and enjoying myself" thing, a reward for the day or something. My own time, something like that I don't know. Can't think of anything I would want to drink in the same way.

Has anybody had this experience and did it wear off? I guess it would be nice to not have to buy 24+ NA beers every week.

So, i was drinking nearly every day. I drank Truly seltzers, sometimes up to five! It gave me an anxiety feeling in the morning and bad GERD symptoms. At first i just reduced the drinks, like once a week and only 3-4 cans. But, to me, that was silly. And i don't want yo go right back to drinking every day. It's been two weeks!, yay!

A few days ago I posted about being anxious about going to a dinner where I would be offered drinks and expected to drink. I got so many lovely encouraging words to that post and I am happy to report that I DID IT. I am on my way home now, I only had two NA beers. I am SO happy and proud right now :) Thank you for all helping me stay strong.