Have you, or anyone you know, had big problems with drink or drugs stayed clean and sober...

Question

...without ever, or only attending a few, AA/NA meetings? And been clean/sober for many years?

Thanks.

Answer 1

I know one friend who has been clean but had to go through rehab/halfway house for a long time, a year or more before the drug left his brain and he started rebuilding his life. I have been clean 2 months off heroin. The only thing that worked for me was moving to a place where there was none, plain and simple. It has worked but I still want drugs and alcohol. I am an addict and the desease is very hard to cure. I have other issues such as PTSD that I try to deal with but it makes the drugs come back. Being clean is tough work, when your used to ridding the rollercoaster and your back on the ground life isn't to peachy. Actually it sucks. I don't miss the drug as much as I miss the lifestyle of being an underground bad boy that did somthing nobody knew.

Answer 2

Yes - I was drug addict for 8 years !! I spent a fortune on Cocaine, it ruined my life and my families life. But wih the right support anyone can kick it. I have been clean for 4 years now, i had previously been into rehabs all over the country - non worked, thats because i was at a stage where i did not want them to work. I would stay clean for a month at the most - and go and use.

It was only when i got to rock bottom, and i mean rock bottom. I did not have a friend,non of my family wanted me around because i had said that many times "this is it, i will say clean this time" I had many last chances !! I ended up being really ill, i was taking tablets to fetch me down, my head and body didn't know if i was up/down/coming/going.

I ended up in hospital - my liver was packing in !! i was 26 years old, at first even though the doctors said " you will die - if you carry on doing what your doing" it didn't deture me, when i saw how heart broken my family was, and sat and thought about my life - something hit me, i got clean and stayed clean, I am now married and run my own business. When i did kick it, i didn't have any medication - help - rehab. I knew i could do it without this help, because i wanted to. I was ready. No one can kick the booze or drugs until they are ready, and they can not do it for family - yes they love their family, but the cravings take over.

One thing what needs to take place when someone does kick their addiction, the shouldn't be made to feel guilty, they will already feel guilty - this will push them back to it. Best thing is to have a chat clear the air - daw a line through it and move on. I have known people take their own lifes through guilt - not being able to handle their emotions. I am so glad i have had a loving and supportive family. I know i will never go back down that road !!

Answer 3

I know people with Alcohol problems. Unfortunately, the alcohol always call them back.

Answer 4

I should bookmark this page. I hope I don't go to h**l.

Answer 5

I've not had a drink for eight years, no AA meetings. I tried a couple, it wasn't for me.  

Answer 6

I attended AA 5 or 6 times for a few months over almost 2 decades without success. Back in the early 80s, I needed to be detoxed, I was drinking more than two quarts of hard liquor every day. My skin and eyes were yellow. Once there, they convinced me I'd never stay sober without AA. I'd go for awhile, get suicidal around 6 months and go back to drinking.

It wasn't until I quit trying to fit into a group that wasn't right for me that I was able to stop. Seven years ago last week. I co-own the yahoo group "without_aa":

http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/wit...

There isn't some group that gets you sober, you get yourself sober (and most people credit wherever they were when the got or stayed that way). There aren't a bunch of rules, steps that one MUST do in order to stay sober, all you have to do is not drink. All that other nonsense is busy work to distract you in early sobriety.

My busy work was that I got online (looking for some group that had all the answers) and got involved in several of the anti-AA Yahoo groups and volunteer work.  

Answer 7

My fiancee was an alcoholic and a drug addict all by the age of 21. The doctors said he had done equivalent to 20 years of drinking in the space of 3 years. Just when I met him, he started a detox thing as advised by his doctor and went to counselling for a couple of months. He found the counselling didn't really help at that point in time. So he succeeded based on the support of his parents and friends. He is now 24 and doesn't feel the need to drink anymore, even though he will only have one or two for celebrations. He has never touched drugs again.

Answer 8

no not ever!!!!!!

Answer 9

Yes. I have a very good friend who used to be a heroine addict, and he has been clean for over 20 years. In fact, he had tried just about every drug known to mankind, but I think heroine was the only one he was actually addicted to.

In any case, he said that he had to leave the area and get away from all his friends (who were also on drugs), and by doing that, he found it much easier to quit. By the time I met him, he had been off heroine for a year or more, and I know for sure that he hasn't touched it since, so it is possible to get off drugs without going to AA/NA etc..

That said, I don't imagine every single person can do it on their own, and if you feel that you need support, it would be a good idea to go to some of their meetings. There is no shame in getting help and support.

Good luck, and hope everything goes well for you.

Answer 10

oh yes i know two such guys, closely and personally

and now they are the most sober men