This Sunday will be my five years anniversary of being teetotal.
Yes, I am now going to talk about how interesting and troubled I am, please bear with me.
7th June 2004, the worst hangover of my life. The culmination of years of suicidal thoughts and an attachment to the drink, and there I was down in Glasgow Green, on the verge of jumping in the Clyde. When I realised that I really was minutes away from death, that’s when I realised how much I wanted to live.
I made the decision that I could never have another drink in my life. One drink would lead to another, either that day or a week later, and that would lead to more drinking, which would lead me straight back to being on the verge of topping myself. Only next time I would probably do it.
And that was that, really. Five years “dry”, as they say. Five years, and I’m still not sure if I’m an alcoholic.
I feel pretentious calling myself an alcoholic, because I didn’t tan a bottle of voddy a day or drink in the morning, but I think I was an alcoholic. Alcohol mattered more to me than anything else. I would have traded everything in for the booze. I remember thinking at the time that if I had to make the choice between the booze and everything else – everything else being my relationship, my pals, my job, a roof over my head, everything – I would have chosen the booze. Losing everything would free me to do the one and only thing I wanted to do with my life, and was to be drunk, all the fucking time, guilt free and without consequence.
But does that make me an alcoholic, or does that make me mental?
It doesn’t really matter, probably. The important thing is that giving up was the best thing I’ve ever done. And that I’m not dead.
Think you are an alcoholic Limmy. If thats all you cared about everyday and that’s all you ever wanted to do, then i’d say, aye, you are. Bit like myself, I just cannae get aff the fuckin stuff. Hell mend me. But well done Limmy boy, that takes nuts! Get hunners ae Elderflower pints intae yae on Sunday.
I know a fair few folk who drink too much, prob bordering on alky but they dont want to throw themselves in the clyde.
You sure you wanting to top yourself was all about alcohol?
More to it I say…..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fv81ZDcG1MU&feature=related
Good on yee Brian
“You sure you wanting to top yourself was all about alcohol?”
It wasn’t, that’s what I meant about a culmination of those thoughts and the booze, and whether or not I’m just mental.
topping yourself? what you playin at ya clown?
For yer “five years dry” I’m thankful, because if ye had topped yersel i’d have no blog to make me laugh out loud, aka “lol”, on a daily basis.
A question to you, do you still go out on the lash with yer mates and watch them get wrecked whilst you remain sober (obviously) and still enjoy yersel listening to them talk nonsense?
In no way is that me questioning your choices etc but its just that I’ve done it a few times and its been brain damage, just don’t think I could hack it every single time.
Anyway man, glad ye didny turn those thoughts intae reality.
Glad you never decided to kill yourself. A permanent solution to a temporary problem and all that.
Preservation of human life for the win.
Think I drink too much. Basically drink my wages and if I leave the house, it’s to visit some kind of pub/establishment usually. I’m only 20 but I’m worried as I canny really go out and have a good time without it.
well done limmy for staying off the drink,ive been off it 10 years now best thing ive ever done.
Naw, I don’t go out with mates on the lash, but I’ve been out with folk while they’ve been drunk and it tends to be boring as fuck.
limmy after the story youve heard 5 times,drunk people are pains in the arses
fuck thats insane! glad u didnt kill yourself as well, “WASTE, thats a pure waste”. good on ye
Well done Limmy.
Reminds me of this guy’s story: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bbaRyDLMvA
It gets relevant about 4 minutes in.
Jeezo, get the violins out.
If you feel something has a hold of you, stop doing it. Well done, you
‘gaun, take a drink!
seriously, well done though. I’ve tried before ‘n only lasted a year, the one thing I remember from my dry spell was using the Airplane phrase ‘looks like I picked the wrong year to quit drinking’ a lot!
What makes it even harder to quit is the fact that our entire culture seems to be centered round booze!
wir u strictly a binge drinker? i dont touch the stuff monday to friday but when it gets to the weekend i get blotto, i suppose i do tend to just want it to get to the weekend, mainly so i can get drunk, i do shit half heartedly the closer it gets to the weekend. dunno if that makes me an alchy.
one things for sure, i cant enjoy myself in a social gathering without booze. only 23 though, plenty of time to give it up.
Aye, Jack, I thought that was excellent what he said.
I went on binges, Joey, but I liked just having a few myself on the way back from work or at night or just kicking about.
5 years off it! Amazing! Your will power through those 5 years has to be commended Limmy! Well done that man! I’m only 20 but the thought of ditching the booze ironically makes me want to get wrecked off my tits and forget all about it!
If you were an alki, wouldn’t it have been hell to stop? Or was it actually very dificult to stop and you just didn’t mention it above?
I see there is a new elderflower flavoured cider oot. Get back on the wagon big man. Go on, have drink. One willnae do any damage, JUST ONE.
Definetly more to it than just drink
From what i read from previous posts you used to batter the eckies and take acid.
And didn’t i see you with a glass of wine on one of yer Australia pics?
If you took one sip of drink during the last five years then it aint five years
You can’t escape the fact that the funniest things you did were when you were pissed.
what’s replaced drink for you Limmy, i mean, in terms of a new vice… ? chocolate? XBOX live??
See now that your on the wagon do you ever get the inclination to top yourself or has that been supressed now that your judgements a little less cloudy?
I always thought that most people thought about that from time to time and it was just the the majority never go through with it.
And pray tell if you decided not to do it you must have thought there was a purpose to your life so er can you let me know what were meant to be doing here???
Pity the squiggly bridge wisnae about then
Did you quit of of your own accord? Obviously you would have had familial support, but did you go through any of the organisations?
Hopefully not the bible-bashing AA, anyway.
I myself have never had an affinity with drink. I’ve been pished oot my nut and suffered the mammoth hangovers, but I’ve never been pished more than say, 10 times in any one year. I haven’t been even slightly tipsy since New Year, and I don’t have any intention to get more than that in the forseeable future.
I go out with my mates, who drink occasionally, and I agree – it’s boring as fuck.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSm7BcQHWXk
This put a totally different take on my boozing and boozin in general. the whole programme is very interesting if you can find it,
Fair play to you Limmy
five years is a great achievement
Everybody has their dark places. You manned up and did what needed to be done. You are a better and happier person for it and that’s all that really matters.
I’m raising a (metaphorical) glass to you.
Aw well done Limmy! My dad was 6 years off the drink a couple of weeks ago, I’m so proud of him, amazing. But each day at a time eh, addiction’s the most patient of illnesses as they say, if you are even an addict that is. Ahh, good topic for debate: is addiction an illness or a choice? There ye go.
I keep trying to give up the booze cause I just don’t enjoy it, a usually last about 6 months then I’ll have a few then no drink again for another few months, But Glasgow has to be the hardest place in the world to stop drinking, its almost a social stigma not to get pure pished at every opportunity. And drunk people are annoying as fuck when you sober.
I think everyone is an alchoholic of varying degrees. Well done Limmy! I wish I had the willpower. How do you deal with walking past a beer garden in the blazing sunshine with all those ice cold pints of amber nectar sparkling with condensation? I find that torture and cant walk past.
“but did you go through any of the organisations?”
Naw, just my sense of mortality to keep me off it.
“do you ever get the inclination to top yourself”
Now and then, aye, just the odd thought.
“And pray tell if you decided not to do it you must have thought there was a purpose to your life”
No purpose, no. I just didn’t want to leave behind things like seeing ducks in the park.
“what’s replaced drink for you Limmy, i mean, in terms of a new vice… ? chocolate? XBOX live??”
It was chocolate for a good bit, and I like my games, but I’m eating less chocolate and not playing games as much, so I get the urge to drink more.
“You can’t escape the fact that the funniest things you did were when you were pissed.”
The only thing I did when I was pissed was Homo Orgy.
“If you took one sip of drink during the last five years then it aint five years”
Are you simple?
“Or was it actually very dificult to stop and you just didn’t mention it above?”
It was easy. If I drank, I died.
Thanks for the kind words, everybody.
5 years? Fuck sake how long have I been coming on here?
Anyway, well done. It can’t have been easy for you and shows a tremendous strenght of character.
Did you feel better mentally when you came off the drink?
I don’t think ye were an alky. Just that booze didnae agree with ye and got ye down. Too big a come down. But then d’ye still take E? Surely that’s a bigger come down!
I think if you were a true alky you would’ve been pished all the time. Sure, you said you’d exchange it all for booze but you didn’t. A real Alky would’ve. It’s like me saying am a sex addict but no actually getting any.
I don’t have it in me to be an alky. Too much of a lightweight. Getting up in the morning after a piss up and going for a drink. Not a fucking chance!
Seriously Skudder away and take a fuck tae yersel, away and shite away and do anything other than be on here breakin cunts balls you miserable fucking gobshite.
p.s people are “affected” at the shite you write because your a bawbag my man.
“Just that booze didnae agree with ye and got ye down.”
It was more than that.
Look, Vinnie, gonnae just let me call myself a recovering alcoholic? All the greats were alkies.
Well done Limmy.
“Did you feel better mentally when you came off the drink?”
I felt phenomenal. Invincible and reborn and fresh and new and capable of anything.
“and shows a tremendous strenght of character.”
It certainly does. All hail me.
Well done Limmy.
powerful stuff!
its hard to do cos nearly every social occasion in this country seems to involve a bit of drinking.
well in.
I’m pissed, I spelt strength wrong
Well done Limmy , as someone whose been through a similar experience , although at the end of a period off the drink I felt things had changed and I could then have a drink. I can just take it or leave it , when at one time like you , I couldn’t. It’s a tough decision , five years is a long time. So well done. Like you say though it is quite easy when the choice is either live or die. I’m glad you decided to live.
I think people are very quick to put labels on others , like ‘alcoholic’ etc. So i’d say let others worry about what to label you.
It’s the second time I’ve seen the Craig Ferguson clip mentioned , it was very honest.
must be quite liberating seein as from that dark point in yer life, ye turned it around and have worked hard to the success ye have noo.
Do you miss it at all Brian?
I stopped smoking over 10 years ago, the first week was murder, the first month miserable, and the first year I missed the “social” aspect of smoking. Now 10 years down the line, I couldn’t imagine smoking, but every now and then, especially on a warm day, I walk past someone smoking and I really miss it. Do you miss the idea of having a drink at all?
nup….no having it Limmy. I’ll let ye blame it on the ‘demons’ if ye want but that’s as far as I’m willing to go.
Ah Limmy, shut up will yer.. it was self inflicted, stop showing such self pity.
Really good on you Limmy – to think you could have missed out on all this! The world should have a Limmy.
I only wish that my Mum had the same sense you did. She DID top herself when i was 11, so its going on 20 years ago now. She had a whole heap of issues that i won’t go into here, but i wanted to let you know i had an idea of what you were going through at the time, and its not pleasant for you or the people who know you.
I’m glad you’re still around and i’m glad you saw sense, and well done for keeping off it.
x
I reached a similar point myself about 2 years ago. I had always been the one in our gang that could ‘take a drink’ and my ability to hoover up alcohol was legendary. Trouble is, one day you discover that instead of being a daft lassie out with her pals, who are all also as pished as you, you’re a nearly-40-year-old mother of 2 and no-one else is anywhere nearly as drunk as you are (and instead of laughing along with you, they’re looking at you with pity)
I realised I had a problem when I started being secretive about when and how much I drank. I used to keep a bottle of vodka in the freezer and have a sneaky wee slug from time to time (frozen vodka is superb) and could suck down a whole bottle of wine between 4.00pm and 6.00pm. I loved a Friday and Saturday night because I could make a pretence of cooking an elaborate dinner which entailed an early start in the kitchen – all the sooner for me to get battered into the wine and vodka.Nights out were great cos then I could drink as much as I wanted and totally openly – but gradually I become the one that always got utterly monged and ended up flashing my knickers and vomiting out the taxi window.I had a couple of blackouts towards the end and they were scary things. I still can’t remember some of the things I did or places I went to. It’s a miracle I was never raped or murdered.
My last hangover was utterly miserable. I spent the day throwing up every 20 minutes and my kids were totally bemused that I would get myself into such a state. I remember a moment of complete clarity when I could see myself through their eyes, sweaty and pale with broken blood vessels round my eyes from retching so hard. From that point on I vowed to stay sober.
This sounds wank but I think it’s really good that you’re so frank about your drinking because there is such a culture of bingeing in this country, especially among young folk. For someone like yourself to be able to say ‘look, I don’t drink but I can still be cool and funny and creative and have an enjoyable life without getting muntered’ is quite revolutionary.
I sound like a total prick but you probably get what I’m trying to say.
Well done anyway. It’s not easy being tee-total, folk look at you as if you’re an alien when you say you don’t drink and it must be worse to be young and male and live in the West of Scotland.
Away and treat yourself to a wee pint of elderflower cordial to celebrate.
(p.s. if you’re mental then so am I)
“I felt phenomenal. Invincible and reborn and fresh and new and capable of anything.”
You should sell that quote to Irn Bru. Limmy in an advert, takin a down out a can of the Bru, turning to the camera and quoting it. Phenomenal awright!
Good for you!!! I’m 27 and nowadays would rather go out and have a sociable few than drinking loads and being sick down some piss soaked alleyway!!! And you don’t waste most of a Sunday lying in bed
There’s def more to life then going out and getting mortalled all the time…Scotland is a beautiful country with lots to see and plenty to do so I’ll be sampling more of it in the near future
you sure it wasnt just the eccies?
ah’ve see u you wrecked out yer skull many a time matey
I always have the notion to give up but never the willpower to stay off it for any length of time. I gave up for a month recently( February cause it was the shortest) and thought that I was brilliant. The only problem was that I drank almost every night in March undoing all the effort I had made. Well done to you. I totally admire you for that.
I was nearly greetin’ reading this. Hopefully without sounding patronising Limmy, well done for having the guts to post this. You get a lot of stick from your readers sometimes, so I think it’s amazing that you’ve shared this with everyone. That must have taken so much courage. I’ll toast a wee non-alcoholic drink to you on Sunday.
I’ve got lots of experience in witnessing addictions, and it basically comes down to this : if your drinking is impacting on your life in a negative way, you’re an alcoholic. You don’t need to have the physical withdrawals and be pished from morning until night to be classed as an alcoholic, as a lot of people assume. It’s all about your thought processes, the consequences of your drinking, and your reasons for drinking in the first place.
Some people don’t like the word ‘alcoholic’ because it conjures up images of self righteous AA members wringing their hands and baring their soul to anyone who’ll listen. ‘Drink problem’ is another way of saying exactly the same thing (but may be that person’s way of minimalising their drinking because they’re in denial about it).
And if anyone tries to argue against me on this, you’re wrong, and clearly an alcoholic in denial.
Congratulations mate.
Well done Limmy
limmy well done mate,but has there ever been a point when you thought”fuck it i need a drink if you have had a bad day at work etc etc ”
anyway well done mate,a guy fae glesga aff the drink now thats RARE
there’s not a dry eye left in the house …
has anyone done the ‘drink canada dry’ joke yet? no? ok, i read the poster and did just that …
I’d love to do the same, just waiting for a wee bit of will power to do it.. Did you not have a beer when you were in Oz though? I could swear you put up a picture of you having a pint? Am I wrong?
This is one big wind-up and everyone has swallowed it. You’re good at making things up, Limmy. It has started an interesting conversation nonetheless.
Stuart, that was just a joke, I put a few pictures up of me pretending to drink this and that.
I’ve been a fan of you since I first saw Requiem a little over 2 years ago. Following your blog has been a fucking joy to say the least.
It takes someone of formidable strength of mind to do what you’ve done. So kudos Limmy.
xxx
Fantastic, Limmy. I seriously wish I had your self-control. Any tips?
why do people say that lightweights who can’t take it anymore have ‘courage’
I can list a million things more courageous than talking yerself out of taking the cowards way out and top yerself.
YNWA Limmy Boy..
You’ll never wine again.
Good man Limmy,
Well done Limmy. I hope you’re proud of yourself. Seriously no cheesiness intended.
Thanks everybody.
I’m 15 minutes dry, feeling good so far.
Limmy, stop dingying the accusations/questions about the eckies, we all want to know if you’re getting swedgered oot yer dial man.
Well done Colimbo that’s pretty amazing, you should be proud of yerself
awright limmy first time poster but long time lurker i am going to give up the drink i think cause every time i do i go overboard like last week i started out in the pub having a few a then went on to pawn my chain which i have never done i ended up pure mwi and talking to all sorts of people in the street i even went into a bowling place and got a half pint and then bollted without paying which is pure shocking and a ive got flashes of talking to people about my area i cany remember what i was talking about to them i also ended up in some randoms hoose i woke up the next day feeling shit and paranoid it felt like it was just a dream but. the thing is a only get a booze every once or twice a month i just dont think its for me i just dont know when to stop when i start its not good going out the house no knowing if youve made new enemys or new friends lol and you feel edgy for days
Well done mate, if you know how to live without drink who needs it! I don’t drink and I don’t regret it one bit! I have better nights out than my mates do cause I don’t drink
also thought i would add the thing with me is if i just would stop at four pints cause at that point i am buzzing i fell so good and chatty n stuff i am chatty normaly but lol its just at that point i fell good and i am like yes a couple more and thats when it goes downhill i am sure you know what i am talking about limmy
aye rub it in Lynn!
Some folk cannae handle their drink.
“Ah almost killed maself, waaaaahhhhhh”
ffs
well done mate…. tea’s pish but eh
Ah Limms, c’mon x don’t publish ur innermost shit on here? (no disrespect 2 other people’s comments/views, as obviously folk care enuf 2 put their comments 2u on ere) but I don’t think ur an alcoholic babe, I think ur a hedonistic person and bit of a “fuck it” attitude cos of the hand that life has played you, trust me, I have experienced similar, and had that whole episode of havin fun 4 the moment and fuck the consequences, but ur worth so much more than that, u need to find ur own truth babe, thats all I can say, thats how its been 4me x can’t say I don’t like a good glug of lambrini on a fri night, but at least I no I get a bit toasty cos its a wkend realease and fun but not necessity? Luv ya, not tellin ya wot’s right 4ya, just sharin my own experience andhope it hits a resonance 4 ya x talkin of resonance, am feelin the need 4my rabbit at full throttle, so fuck ur angst, I’m away
x
I remember this post from last year! And possibly even the year before that. That’s it, time to renounce an addiction of my own. Away to delete this from my RSS feed.
Oh aye, hope you get the show…
x Red x – “Ah lost 3 years a ma life tae Lambrini.”
Well done Blimmy! Now lets celebrate with a big bottle of bubb……… oh… maybe not.
I’ve got a lot of respect for you already Limmy, but I respect the fact that not only have you given up alcohol for a better state of mind but that you can still go to the pub with people getting drunk all around you and not touch a drop. You’ve also achieved so much in the last five years. So kudos to you big yin.
On a lighter note, I’d hate to have had an argument on here with you on the booze. Your already a cutting cunt at the best of times! I can’t or won’t imagine how dark you would have really got in the old days.
Keep fresh, stay clean, be happy.
Oh, and x Red x, this is Limmy’s blog. He can print what he fucking wants. If he wants to be funny, greeting faced, bitchy or reflective, that’s his choice.
You playing the festival again this year Limmy?
Well Limmy it has certainly given me something to think abou.
I’m starting to think there must be a reason why I agree with so much that has been said. Instead of being the young guy with a lot ahead of him, it seems that when I have a drink, I’m the bumbling idiot who never quite delivers in anything I do and always misses out on the great things in life.
I drink to the point that my body can’t handle it anymore and I sit alone drowning in my self pity and blaming everyone else but me.
Glad you didn’t kill yourself big man, you didn’t just save your life, I think you might have just saved another.
Thanks
Rab are you a counselor
Thanks again, everybody.
stuart
“You playing the festival again this year Limmy?”
Naw, I gave up stand-up.
Philip
“Do you miss it at all Brian?”
Aye, sometimes I could really do with a drink, either a wee one on a sunny day or a wild ride into oblivion.
craig,
“Rab are you a counselor”
Aye, a life coach. I’m into competitive living. (Maria Bamford joke.)
If it was St Andrew’s suspension bridge that you were going to jump off (the wee blue one that takes you over to the Gorabls), do you realise that you were just about to cash in yer chips in the shadow of a distillery?
And if you had jumped there your bloated and lifeless cadaver would have ended up with the Buckfast bottles and empty cris packets in that wee barrier thing that goes across across the river at the Nautical College.
That’s no way for a comedy legend to be checking out… or even that wee mad ‘gis yer jaikit’ guy aff the internet.
Fair play tae you Limmy, I would probably be better aff the drink but will most probably never chuck it. I’ve just come home from a sociable drink at my pal’s hoose, 11 in the morning and I am still half schmeekit. Couple of hours kip on the couch, a shite then a sherman and I’ll be back in the chair again for my pal’s stag do then De La Soul tonight.
I believe some wind-assistance will be required.
Tell yae somethin, am no touchin it again, am fuckin dyin! naw ave no got a hangover, ave actually got cancer,
…naw, its just a hangover, a mighy fuckin hangover, spose that disnae excuse insensitive “jokes”
need an askit!
That’s me thirty years of not being addicted to anything. No drugs, no crime, no excessive drinking. I’ve managed thirty years without being a drain on society. It’s just dawned on me. Well done me! Well done everyone who manages not to be weak enough to let chemicals make their life choices for them. Good on ya guys! I feel fucking great! Yes! Get on with it.
Aw the best to you Limmy.
Well done limmy. Just as well you have the smack to fill the gap left by booze in your life.
You chase that dragon.
well done that man.
I tried to do a dry week and failed miserabley.
I’ll try again but no this week cos Ive got plans this week
and next week.
Dammit! Its too hard.
I’m 36, my drinking is reasonable now, but last weekend i visited an old friend and returned to old ways- big time.
We quickly finished a 15-pack and a bottle of wine at his countryside house, then walked to his local pub a mile away, mainly because his wife didn’t want us around. We drank another bottle of wine on the way, then had a nice pint at the pub.
Shortly, I got up and left. I had entered the blackout zone. Although his house was on the same road as the pub, I got lost. I was walking in the countryside for many miles and did not return until dawn. During this time, I had very little mental function. I picked up numerous scratches, including a livid one on my chest which must have come from a barbed-wire fence. I remember trying to sleep in a forest. Not much fun- too cold, and twigs and branches do not compete with a duvet.
When I realised where I was, I started back to his house. I had lost my glasses and there was a terrible smell about me, but I felt happy that the sun was rising and I was grateful for the company represented by the baa-ing of the local sheep.
Back at the house I let myself in and had quite a nice sleep in the spare room. However, when i got up I realised something bad had happened. My shorts&pants were full of faeces. Either I had fallen into a cowpat during my adventure, or at some point I had shat myself. I cling tenuously to the first possibility.
In despair, I told my friends what had happened. Luckily they are the types to find this funny, and they provided me with the means to clean up.
right cultured bunch in here eh
“I believe some wind-assistance will be required.”
Hahahaha.
Congratulations Limmy. I remember going to your site for the first time and you writing that you were 1 year off the drink and since then you’ve done a lot of good stuff, so it’s certainly working for you.
I’ve been off it myself for a good bit of time for much the same reasons as you, and I have to say that John’s posts above really brought back some (bad) memories for me – and that idea of ‘if I could just stop at x amount of drinks everything would be ok – I had that thought for years, but most of the time I couldn’t and things just went tits up again. I definitely think of myself as a recovering alcoholic (and I did go to AA and most of the people there aren’t religious and I never got religious and it was the best thing I did to be honest), and I think you definitely qualify for that too, if you want to call yourself that. I think with the bevvy, if somebody thinks they’ve got a problem, they usually have, and they’re better off without it – people without problems with it don’t usually think about it too much, especially when it comes to the guilt, shame, etc type of thoughts.
Anyway, keep it up my man – you’ve done a lot of positive stuff in the last five years and I’m sure there’s a lot more to come.
Ma mouths as dry as a rag heeds sandle!
“I’m 36, my drinking is reasonable now, but last weekend i visited an old friend and returned to old ways- big time.”
Fuckin quality, pal. Yae probably did shite yerself though….
Here limmy, was a dreamin or did a see an advert for your show advertised on the telly? (think a might have been dreamin though?)
Well done Limmy, I’m glad your not dead either.
Sycophant (n)
A base parasite; a mean or servile flatterer; especially, a flatterer of princes and great men.
Thanks everybody. Well worth giving up the booze just to read all the nice things. I hope it leads to some of you alkies giving up as well.
“Sycophant”
Nice one.
Well done anaw, JB!
Jamesy Boy
“Glad you didn’t kill yourself big man, you didn’t just save your life, I think you might have just saved another”
Are things really that bad?
Good work Limmy. I have a problem with drink too and, like you, am unsure whether I would class myself as an alcoholic as I’m not the sterotypical Rab C type. However, I know I have a problem and finally got my arse in gear to do something about it. I’m going to a really good group, bit like alcoholics anonymous but without the 12 steps stuff. I’ve not stopped completely and am still thinking that if i can just stick to a certain amount then I can control it, I’m more than likely lying to myself but the thought of giving it up completely is not something I’m ready to contemplate yet. So, well done you for having the strenght to do it and for sharing your success with us, makes me feel good to know there are people out there who can do it.
here we go then, seconds out round two!
PureJakeyBastart your an annoying cunt
Well done Limmy,I am 4yrs off the drink in July.
I had to fuck off from Scotland before I could stop,the temptation back home was to much.
If you are not sure if you are an alky or not, take the test:
http://www.aa-uk.org.uk/publications/areyou.htm
out a curiosity, in your jacqueline mccafferty sketch did you have to fill up the can you were drinking with something else?
“PureJakeyBastart your an annoying cunt”
Ok, why? What’s more annoying, is that YOU come on here to say fuck all else, bar, to tell me that? What you meant to say was, “You’re an annoying cunt.” Learn some grammar, you fucking idiot. Now, get yourself tae fuck! Cheers.
Jeeezus, I got a score of 23 to that (well I think I did, cos am actually a bit too hungover to count up properly). Hmmmm, think I need to do some serious talking to myself! Q9. Have you or someone else been injured as a result of your drinking, is the biggest issue for me recently, I seem to wake up with bruises on me and I dont remember how I got them. The worst one was my ear, I think I literally bounced off the walls one night and I woke up in the morning with a cauliflower ear, it was black and blue and about twice the thickness that it should be, and I still dont really remember what happened. Not a good look for a 34 year old young lady. Although I would use the term lady loosely!
well done Limmy. You’ve done well and you will continue to do well. I don’t drink although I was never really one to overdo it or get smashed out my face. I stopped altogether last year when I went to a friends house and absent mindely (while talking and laughing) had 3 massive glasses of wine. I was fine until I needed the loo, then I spent the whole night in there spewing into her sink while sitting with my pants roon my ankles. she had to carry me into bed which i was then sick into. the most embarrassed ive ever been in my life. av no seen her since. devestated. no touched a drink since.
hope everyone can drink a bit less, ye don’t need it. it kills your braincells.
I’ve drank a lot in the past, but at 34 have calmed it down a bit now. I can’t be doing with feeling mentally and physically like a bag of poison. When i say calmed down i mean no more benders.
Well done Limmy for stopping something that was harming you. More so for stopping drinking in glesga, or scotland, cos lets face it, its a national problem. As others have said – you’re some kind of weirdo of you dont drink here – its almost compulsory in certain situations.
I find i’m smoking a lot of weed though, which i’m not sure might be as bad. Now I feel a bit cloudy, but not fucking awful half the time.
Brian – Massive hats off to you! Recognition of a destructive force and having the power (and will) to banish it from your life is a very difficult thing to do! My brother-in-law is an alcoholic (like yourself he didn’t drink every day but when he did it was for days/weeks at a time) and is completely teetotal now.
Keep strong dude.
Billy, that sounds incredibly like me these days.
I was quite smug in the knowledge that I had calmed down with my mad drinking benders and genuinely enjoying a “sociable” drink (ie not being absolutely fucking hammered by the time I leave the pub and/or being the last guy standing at the party still drinking when everycunt else has left/fell asleep/gave up/went to work/got married and had kids), but when I think about how much hash I smoke these days compared to the amount of alcohol I used to consume…let’s just say I don’t feel as smug in that knowledge.
This…..is……the…….best……..blog…….post……….ever!!!!!
I am not alone. Suicide, injuries, money. Fucked up. But yet exceedingly funny.
I haven’t had a drink in 7 months due to being up the duff but I don’t miss it at all and might just cut it out permanently. I realised I don’t feel any different on nights out. I still act like a fanny when I’m sober so I might as well just not bother getting pished and having a hangover to deal with the next day.
It takes a lot for someone to admit they have a weakness and can’t do something that just about everyone does due to it being actively encouraged in our society.
Anyway, happy sober anniversary Limmy!
The worst thing about drinking is the dreads. The day after a session and you have that horrible feeling in your stomach that you have done something you shouldn’t, it lasts about 2 days, horrible feeling.
I’m aff the gargle since aboot 5 this mornin’ and i’ve got tae say, it diznae feel good. serious dose of the screamin’ ab dabs.
hair of the dog here we come!
fuck sake. What is it wi cunts on this Blog. You post a message about not drinking and now every cunt is coming out and saying they’re all on the verge of being an alky. Am I the only cunt here who still goes out, gets pished, gets hungover and doesny see a problem with it?
It’s all went very american.
‘grats man, that’s a solid effort.
Fuck sake yersell, Vinnie.
Vinnie, if its ok for you then fair enough, but there probably are a lot of people in scotland on the jakey verge. Sociable drinking to me is like a sociable pitbull. Clap the cunt all you want but one day its gonny eat your wean.
That last sentence will stick out in 3D to those who have a pressure on today.
Brian
good on you.
I gave up drinking 18 years ago. The best gift I ever gave myself.
Sonia. Weakness? Weakness my arse. It’s a massive strength to give up consuming a poisonous substance. Not a weakness.
Jim
what last sentence? Mine or yours? I don’t get it.
Soon everyone will be coming out with ‘I also had hard time with drugs in the past but now I’m clean’ when all the done was take a couple of eccies at T in the Park.
Vinnie, when you’re ready to talk, we’re here for you…
http://alcoholism.about.com/cs/info2/a/aa050797.htm
I reckon we’re all so obsessed with drinking here that it is difficult for people to tell exactly what an alcoholic is. Count how many times it gets mentioned amongst your pals and family this week – you’ll see how much the West of Scotland depends on it.
If you took your story and planted it somewhere like France or Italy they’d soon tell you what you are Brian. A daft amount of people here are alcoholics and don’t really give it a second thought! I’ve been thinking a lot about boozing habits recently and I’ve came to the conclusion it sucks the life out of all my favourite people. I’d probably include myself in that.
Drinking = an awright laugh for a wee period in your life the way we do it, however its shite in the long run.
What the fuck did vinnie say wrong?
The vast majority of people reading this post would agree with him but the vast majority don’t give that much a fuck to post a comment.
All these cunts saying that they might give up drink now.
End of the day Limmy said it was his fucked up mind culminating with the drink
If you haven’t got a fucked up suicidal mind like Limmy’s then keep drinking folks
Keep drinking skudder,maybe ye will dae us all a favour and get chirrosis of the liver,Ya smug prick.
Unbelievable how defensive some folk get when the subject of alcoholism is raised.
Tiffany was spot on when she said that you don’t need to be pishing yourself and blacking out all day to be an alcoholic. ANYONE that finds that thinking about when they’re going to be able to have a drink occupies a lot of their time probably has a an unhealthy attitude to drinking. If alcohol becomes the first resort whenever life gets tough then that also can signify a problem.
I scored a 15 on the alcoholism test and I NEVER drank in the morning or if I was going to be driving or went to work with a drink in me or shit myself or ended up in hospital through drink. But I found I was relying more and more on the oblivion that getting wasted gives you and I was getting really secretive about how much I was drinking because I knew it was excessive.
I never judge anyone else’s drinking now and would never suggest to anyone that I thought they had a problem, not my business. I think the drinkers should just carry on if that’s what they want and leave the non-drinkers to go their own way.
Well done your 5 year effort, are you going to celebrate with a wee bottle the night?
I drink aw the time, and also know that I really shouldn’t, but when it gets anywhere near the weekend, like a Tuesday night, the temptation beats me. Best I have done recently is Monday to Friday (for three weeks).
I would say though that the drugs are far more depressing than drink, so much so that you don’t want to face anyone when your sober etc, I chucked them years ago and can honestly say I feel much better for that.
Good luck tae ye.
Think there’s a great deal of melodrama here. You aren’t an alchy cos you were sick one time when you were fucked out your box/the next day.
It’s also worth noting that most people in AA or any kind of alcoholic for that matter is a chain smoker/caffeine addict/drug user of some description.
Everyone needs a vice or a crutch.
Cheers to that Skudder
PmackC
“Well done your 5 year effort, are you going to celebrate with a wee bottle the night?”
Aye, a wee bottle of Faustino V.
I know it’s a massive strength, Anonyjim. That was the ‘it takes a lot’ bit.
You pished or whit?
Sonia, I can’t work out how he misunderstood you, your post is perfectly clear.
Good stuff Limmy. Keep the faith (in yourself!)
Good on you.
If you wurnae, here ah suppose ah would bore my girlfriend by talkin about some other funny cunt on the internet but ah’m glad it’s you. Thanks fur the laffs.
ps
and the cake tips that Cranberries does a luvely gingerbread and a good cup of Earl Grey lukewarm.
I think Anonyjim fell off one of the Steps – I hope his massive strength in the face of the demon drink isn’t starting to desert him. Pride comes before a fall big man (and maybe completely getting the wrong end of the stick when someone makes a comment on a sore point does too).
He did get a bit Jacqueline McCafferty, didn’t he?
Well done, Limmy. Without the drink you are obviously a happier person. And now that you have Lynn you have someone to live for. How do you think she feels knowing that you still occasionally think about killing yourself, never mind your family and fans! I’m glad you didn’t do it, because you are a genius, and a good person. Knowing about your experience lets everyone see the real Limmy, who isn’t always happy happy happy laid back yeaaaaaah. Don’t drink, don’t spoil your life, live it and try your best. Only strong people can do what you did. Not like Arnold strong, mentally strong. Can we do a caption competition or something, it would be fun, and I know you don’t like people saying you should do this, do that, blah blaaaaah, just a bit of fun but, for everyone. Please! And well done again, we all love you.
When I tell Lynn that I feel like my life with her isn’t worth living, she takes it on the chin, she’s a good sport. Hahahahahaha.
I didn’t read the whole thing cause I am about to dae stuff, I will read it later, but, well done man and to have that level of personal self control and self awareness I believe does not make you mental, it just means you are better than other cunts, the masses etc. Also I think that folk who get into dark moods etc are usually better and more intelligent than other folk, More AWARE etc. Been there myself, but just not with the booze.
Well done Limmy!
Thanks.
nice one man
Well done Limmy, ma auld fella wis a pish heid and eh made oor lives a misery when eh’d been bevvyin. Takes a big man tae knock it oan the heid and stop fuckin things up for everycunt around ye.
Anybody fancy a pint?
JB: “I think Anonyjim fell off one of the Steps – I hope his massive strength in the face of the demon drink isn’t starting to desert him. Pride comes before a fall big man (and maybe completely getting the wrong end of the stick when someone makes a comment on a sore point does too).”
Let me clarify:
It is a massive strength to know when to stop doing something that is damaging you. Not a weakness. Clear enough?
Proud. Of course I am. I have achieved something significant. As you should be of your achievement that you described above.
Pride comes before a fall? Falling off “Steps?” What “Step” did I fall off then JB? You wouldn’t be a cult member would you now JB? Not one of these people who are spreading rumours that you can’t make it on your own? You can’t do it without surrendering to your higher power etc etc etc? You can’t be an opinionated person any more because that’ll make you go back on the drink JB?
Are you JB?
Anyway, well done again Limmy. Be proud of your achievement. You’re allowed to fall too if you like, by the way
Sonia – why didn’t I notice that the first time: AnonyJim = Jacqueline McCafferty. Dillion.
I stopped for 8 years just to prove I could, then a mate told us that giving up cold turkey like I did is classic alcoholic behaviour. There’s no way I was gonnae be labelled like that, so I got off the wagon again on Hogmanay 2005. Fuck, did my head hurt the next day! Still – I have three or four booze free days a week, so I guess i’m no a pisshead. One thing I did notice whilst I was off it, was how bad regular drinkers smell – the stench of booze just leaks out their pores – an it’s boggin!
Fuck sake, I didn’t realize that’s why you’d given up the booze. I’ve pretty much stopped reading your blog since following you on twitter.
I’ve always thought you had an addictive personality, which I know isn’t based on much facts as I don’t actually know you as such but having been following you in one form or another for about 7 years (website, podcast, blog, twitter) or maybe I’ve just got the ‘gift’ like Lorraine?
Anyway fair play tae ye getting clean (or is that just a junkie term?) and sharing with the ‘group’, no doubt a cathartic experience?
Thanks folks.
Craig
Monday 8 June 2009 at 9:16 pm (Edit)
“Anyway fair play tae ye getting clean (or is that just a junkie term?) and sharing with the ‘group’, no doubt a cathartic experience?”
Aye, it’s good to talk about it, but there are some arseholes on here who have a problem with that.
Haven’t been on here in a while as I don’t have the internet in my new flat yet but congratulations, that’s amazing. And yeah, it’s good to talk about it. It’s not as if you’re banging on about it or whatever, you should be proud and maybe someone who’s going through the same sort of thing will read it and feel a bit better.
Well done indeed x
Nice one Limondo, keep up all the good work.
Thanks!
Good on you Limmy. Made me think a bit reading that.
Anyway, keep up the good work. That screamer sounded like me waking up hungover in a chubby’s bed one sunday morning.
Hi Limmy,
Glad you could give up.
I remember an old post of yours when you went to a ‘party’ and some guy you thought was wanting to stab you, and the following day after you had been drinking with your brother you woke up in the cubicle of a pub. Haven’t we all.
I gave up for about 4 years. I had been doing well until my brother came back from Iraq, Afgahanistan and Sierra Leon and stayed with me. He was drunk all the time and then one day I thought F#$k it and bought the old demon vodka.
Now I’ve calmed down down to white wine as red gives a killer hangover. But I’ll try to quit again.
FFT
Take care
LP
http://www.limmy.com/videos/eckied/
Admit it Limmy, the “Da” was actual footage of you at yer lowest ebb before ye gave up the disco biscuits and booze.
i only feel like toppin maself when am hungover, but i cant quit the binging. Im too boring a person to entertain maself sober all the time, and i love being pished! Just cannae stop having more til im a pure nick, and the next day, my god! Im only 25 and the hangovers r meant to get worse as u get older? I think I’ll have to go down ur route at some point mate. Right now i’ll just try and ignore it, and the cycle of booze will continue.
By the way its not that i want to kill myself cos the hangover’s that bad in a sickness way, but my fucked-up head makes my problems seems much worse and the good things seem very pointless, and suicide seems the right way forward at that time. The misery comes and goes tho, if ur lifes that good and the society u see around u is so amazing that u never have thoughts of wanting to die then good on ya.
As if anyone reads this or gies a fuck in any case!
the point is well done limmy, youre doubtless achieving much more sober than u wouldve done on the boozingday-hungoverday-numbday merry-go-round most of us are on if we get two or three days off from the tedium of our work.
I gie a fuck Crowsus mate,I used to bevvy everynight but I managed to stop for the last 4yrs.My hangovers where terrible really heavy guilt trips.
Life gets more interesting when you give the drink up especially if you have been kicking the arse out of it.You should give it a go for a wee while.
Anyway mate take care just thought I’d let you know people do read yer comments.
Take a drink, fuck sake.
Limmy, I don’t know ye, Never heard of ye before tonight – but good on ye for sharin that. Hang on in there mate. If you ever feel like toppin yersel again – just talk to somebody – anybody. You’re worth it.
Bingabinga, its well late to reply (sorry limmy) but ta. Well in tae u as well.
Its no easy not to booze when its the main social tool we have. No-one wants to be a handbrake!
Had more shite to talk but lets leave it, this isnae AA
no fuckin Green Flag either for that matter
Don’t worry about the term, just value the feeling. good blog, and intro page made me laugh. stay well. cheers.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fv81ZDcG1MU&...
Good on yee Brian