As of last week, I reached the point of having been sober for 12 months. There are 2 things which prompted and facilitated my ability to sober up, after being an alcoholic for about 18+ years:

1) a close friend died from alcohol poisoning. Most of the people in her family are on the autistic spectrum (asperger), and most of them are alcoholic. Likewise, i'm aspy and alcoholic, and so are many people in my family. For me at least, autism & alcoholism are intimately linked. In fact, i learned later that the common thread for those things is heavy metal toxicity, which can come from all kinds of sources, like cigarettes, vaccines, dental amalgam, food, water, smog, etc.

2)I did a heavy metal detox, which took about 7 months to complete. I wasn't employed, so it was possible to do the detox very quickly and heavily, such that I didn't have to interact with too many people when I was feeling sick. Since i've been so miserable b/c of booze for so long, I didn't mind the risks of detoxing at an accelerated rate. It hurt and it made me feel insane at times, but i don't regret it at all. I wanted that F***ing metal out of me, asap.

So at this point, I'm sane and sober, and have woken up to the realization that most of the people I once considered friends are no longer friends of mine. I was prepared for that outcome through reading about alcoholic recovery. I've noticed that several "friends" actually don't take me seriously, in terms of what I've gone through, in what I feel and what I've concluded about heavy metal toxicity and the various kinds of misery it can inflict on entire families who share the genetic weakness of being susceptible to certain metals. But that's their problem, not mine. I've also had to stand up to aggressive, bullying people who once were able to walk all over me, and I feel very good and empowered b/c of that. I still lack love and happiness, but what I do have is a new kind of confidence in myself that I never had before, which is that now I truly can believe that when applying myself to whatever adversity in life, I will be able to give it my all, my 100%, rather than always having doubts about that after the fact. Also, I'm not as sensitive and over-reactive to obnoxious people who used to take pleasure in provoking me, as they did in the past. All of this new stuff is OK in my book.

And of course, I'm one of those guys who posts my messages on this forum, and not on the AA forum. I would never had found this sobriety, sanity, assertiveness and clarity of thought had I followed the pseudo-religious program of self-prostration and self-humiliation, which is what that cult is all about. Since this is the 21st century, it seems like it's high time to create a new program that can do better than just a 25% success rate. Perhaps my words in this latter paragraph seem bitter, and perhaps they really are bitter, but when looking back at my struggle with alcohol, I remember that all of my AA experiences were detours and distraction. AA isn't for everyone, and for some people like myself, who are not neurologically wired to follow a herd mentality, the pretentiousness of the AA cult does more harm than good.

p.s. Let me add that my journey into sober life didn't require any diet interventions or any glycerol supplementation. If anything, the heavy metal detox seemed to have altered my food preferences, such that my eating habits are healthier than before. Excess sugars appeal to me far less, as do fatty foods and items that contain metal, like seafood and processed cheese, for example.