I started out as a binge drinker in College and continued that pattern into my 20's. When I was in my mid 20's, I went back to school for my MBA and started drinking daily to help unwind after nightschool, and "manage" the stress of working and studying. I still binge drank on weekends, and then as Madisgram suggested, the binges started getting closer and closer together until I was binge drinking every night. By the time I first tried to get sober I was drunk 24/7. I've had a rocky few years since trying to get sober in 06 with a lot of relapses. I've hurt myself in blackouts, I've crashed a car while driving drunk, I lost a job due to drinking, I got into financial trouble, and had to declare bankruptcy. I had to give up my apartment and sell a bunch of my stuff.

I'm now sober just under 5 months and am just now starting to feel like my life is maybe turning around. I got accepted into a subsidized sober living residence for women, but the fact remains that I'm 43, living in a room, sharing a building with 29 other women, and living off my retirement savings. I'm going back to school in the fall to retrain, in the hopes that it will let me find a job.

I seriously screwed up my life by drinking. I'm just lucky I didn't kill myself or anyone else. Alcohol is insidious - if you have a problem with drinking it will eventually take everything from you.

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