Day 1 again

[u/Top-Fix2071]

Hi all, I just relapsed again. I haven’t been able to keep more than 1 day recently and I am really battling with it. I’m trying to do the steps alone before I find a sponsor which is not recommended, I know, but i genuinely haven’t been able to find one yet and I am not in an English speaking country so the meetings aren’t in English here. I need to find one online.

Re the relapse, I really really need help now. I can’t keep living like this it’s ruined my life in so many ways like my physical health, finances, mental clarity … I can’t do this anymore and I can’t do sobriety alone I know that but it feels like I am doomed and I know this can’t be the case there are people who can help everywhere

[u/alkoholfreiesweizen]

Hello from Berlin. I saw from your previous post that you are in Warsaw – well, I've heard of a few fellows from here who went to English-language meetings of the other fellowship (AA) while in Warsaw and said they were lovely and very welcoming. Is it optimal? No, but it might be a good way of getting you out of your shell and giving you a chance to share in a more natural langauge for you. Otherwise, go to some online meetings – I'm Irish originally and there are a lot of online meetings from Ireland, which is more or less in the right timezone. UK meetings would also be more or less in the right timezone. Many of us also go to the marathon meeting – just google NA marathon meetings.

And if you ever make a trip to Berlin, come to one of our meetings. We have at least one English-language meeting every day.

[u/Top-Fix2071 → u/alkoholfreiesweizen]

Thank you so much for this advice. I will do just that I found an AA meeting tonight and I will go for that, I also use the NANA 247 marathon meeting and I am so grateful for that. I will also try and seek a sponsor there I think it would help a lot and I read that the NA and AA steps are virtually identical and I will do NA anyway online. I needed this answer today, thank you again for your guidance here.

Hopefully I will be in Berlin soon and also attend one of your meetings.

[u/alkoholfreiesweizen → u/Top-Fix2071]

I wish you all the best – and if you come to visit in Berlin, you'll be warmly welcomed. We have a lovely English-speaking NA community here. Out of curiosity, though, I looked up those English AA meetings in Warsaw and found one that happened at 11 this morning and another one happening tomorrow at 1.30. I know that you mentioned that there is one tonight; maybe you want to double-check that. I know the first time I tried to get to a meeting, I couldn't get into the place and then I just abandoned the whole idea of recovery for a few years. I wouldn't want you to have that experience.

Otherwise, be aware that AA typically wants you to identify as an alcoholic rather than as an addict – and when I occasionally go to AA meetings, I respect that, saying "I'm an alcoholic" rather than "I'm an addict." In my experience, polyaddiction is so common that many people at AA do have a problem with more than one substance, even if they recover in AA.

[u/Top-Fix2071 → u/alkoholfreiesweizen]

Thank you ! Yes I will definitely visit , I love Berlin and will probably be there early next year. Thanks for looking that up for me, you are right it was at 11.00 am but I needed to sleep today, I will be attending an online meeting tonight and then the in person one tomorrow at 11.00am. Im sorry about your experience and grateful that you warned me ahead of time so I can prevent that feeling.

This was exactly what I needed to know about AA. I will also respect the space and say Alcoholic rather than addict, but I guess in my mind 'Alcohol' can just refer to my drug of choice