My story... reposted from another forum with modifications. After cutting down over the course of five years, I quit drinking. That was over a year ago.

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I started drinking heavily in 1998, and ended up day-drinking by 2000. I had yellowing of the eyes, and would eat only sporadically. At this point, I wasn't drinking to get drunk... I needed a drink just to feel normal. My memory of this time is understandably foggy, so I can't say for sure how long this lasted. I lost my job, my apartment, and all of my friends. I gradually cut back, and maintained a "controlled consumption" until 2006. This consisted of five shots on Fri night, five shots on Sat night, and nothing through the week. I thought I had it under control.

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In 2006, everything went off the rails again. I would drink most of a quart of rum on Fri evening, and the remainder on Sat evening. Sometimes I would even start a second quart on Saturday. I told myself it was okay, since I wasn't drinking through the week. I would wake up drunk on Mon morning and go to work. This feeling of drunkenness would persist until Thursday. I don't know if I was actually drunk, or just felt this way. This went on for about a year... again, the timeline is foggy.

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I would start to feel normal again on Friday morning, excited that I could drink again. On one such Friday, I was on my way home after work and needed a bottle. As I approached the store, I started to shake uncontrollably. My eyes rolled back in my head, my tongue started flitting in and out of my mouth, and I started shaking violently. To this day, I don't know how I managed to avoid falling over. The whole thing lasted less than a minute, and I ran from the scene in shame.

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On my way home, I stopped at another store and picked up a bottle of rum. It tasted terrible... somehow metallic. My supper had the same vile metallic taste. From what I've read, this may have been a "partial seizure" - Of course, it didn't stop me, but I did cut back again. I worked my way back down to ten shots per weekend, and stayed at that level from 2008 to 2017 or so.

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Between 2017 and 2022, I cut back gradually. On May 06, 2022 I quit for good, and don't miss it. It's like I woke up from a twenty-year nightmare. Now, just the smell of the stuff nauseates me. I am hesitant to mention any of this to my doctor, for fear of being labeled. I don't want my past to colour every interaction I have with the health-care system. I have regular blood-work every two years, and the doctor has never mentioned anything, so I may be concerned over nothing.

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Just to be 100% clear, I am not looking for medical-advice in this thread. This is just my story with this dangerously-addictive drug.