10 Years of Trying to Quit Drinking: Andy’s Sobriety Story10 Years of Trying to Quit Drinking: Andy’s Sobriety Story
Sober Motivation: Sharing Sobriety Stories
Andy reflects on a decade of failed attempts to quit drinking, secret bottles and family fallout, and shares how joining a sober community helped him reach 18 months alcohol-free. The conversation focuses on quiet consequences, parental regret and the shift from quitting for others to staying sober for himself.
1:05:29•20 Aug 2026
From “Last Hurrah” to 18 Months Sober: Andy’s Long Road to Letting Go of Alcohol
Episode Overview
- Alcohol-related harm doesn’t always look like jail or DUIs; quiet damage to relationships, work and self-respect can be just as serious.
- Trying to engineer a ‘perfect last drunk’ is a trap; that idealised final night never actually arrives.
- Quitting for your partner or kids can start the process, but long-term sobriety needs to become something you’re doing for yourself.
- Community support and regular meetings can turn yet another attempt to get someone “off your back” into lasting change.
- Sobriety can transform how you show up as a parent and partner, shifting from just being physically present to genuinely engaged.
“I haven’t woke up once since I quit drinking wishing I had drank the night before.”
How do people find hope in the darkest times? Andy’s story shows just how long you can sit in that “I’ve got to get my shit together” space before anything really changes. Across nearly a decade, Andy cycled through the same routine: wake up hungover, swear it was the last time, then be back at the liquor store by midweek.
He talks candidly about going from being the fun guy with “the party house” in his twenties to a 40-something still trying to drink like he was 21, often hiding his Captain Morgan and vodka from his wife and kids. For anyone who’s ever thought, “I haven’t hit rock bottom, so maybe it’s not that bad,” this episode hits hard.
Andy never went to jail, never lost his job in some dramatic blaze of glory, yet he describes the quiet damage: strained relationships, stalled career, kids walking on eggshells, and his biggest regret—missing emotional presence with his eldest son.
As he puts it, “I didn’t realize the difference between being somewhere physically and being present until I quit drinking.” Host Brad McLeod guides the chat with a relaxed, matey tempo, making space for honesty and a bit of humour—like Andy admitting he once “blew zeros” on a home breathalyser by secretly sucking in instead of exhaling. Underneath the laughs, there’s real weight: chasing that first-time buzz, waiting for a mythical ‘perfect last drunk’, and realising it never comes.
A big thread is community. Andy joined the Sober Motivation community purely “to get her off my ass” and buy time, fully planning to drink again. Instead, he found people nodding along to his most shame-filled shares, and 18 months later he’s still showing up to meetings almost every day. If you’re stuck in that endless “last hurrah” loop, this story might have you asking: what would change if today wasn’t just another restart?
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