Ask HN: How did you stop drinking?

There was a link I found interesting, on student athletes and the '4 day hangover'... https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21255738

Naloxone and naltrexone can be really helpful at reducing the amount of alcohol that you can consume. Naltrexone is FDA-approved for alcohol abuse. My friend's alcohol use was under control for about 2 weeks after her treatment with naloxone. Low dose naltrexone is probably more beneficial than full-dose...

Another friend told me of how, while on naltrexone, she could have a beer, then half of a second beer, but couldn't finish the second beer. She drank to make her emotional problems go away - it was easier to stop the naltrexone than the alcohol.

First thing is you have to really want to quit. If you don't want to do it, it will be a lot harder. Try to really think through the ways your substance use is harming you in the short term or long term, be it physically or mentally or whatever. People get really really strong cigarette cravings when they quit, but if you've started to feel lung pain in your daily life and actively realize the damage you are doing to your body, it's a lot easier to hold off on those cravings.

If your pattern is to go long periods without drinking and then binge a bunch in one weekend, maybe you just need a strategy to get you through the one weekend that you do feel like it. Anything that can delay it- eg say I won't drink until I clean the whole house and go to the gym. and maybe when you do finish cleaning and exercising a few hours later you won't feel like you want it as badly or can say no to your urge.

If going to bars is what tempts you into a drink, and you go to bars more to socialize than anything, try to find some socialization somewhere that people don't drink or where drinking is a detriment, like hiking or sports or Magic the Gathering or what ever floats your boat.

Rather than wallow in self pity, forgive yourself for your mistake and then try again. Don't excuse yourself like well I already had one so I guess I failed... you had one, but one is better than two or ten, so don't give up, start again and keep at it! If you were doing a programming project and your first prototype went a bit poorly you wouldn't give up (hopefully), if you knew you could do it, you'd take what you learned and try again with a new prototype.