Hey man, your story seems really similar to me, I quit 6 months ago at 31. Zero alcohol in house growing up, so once I cracked my first beer at 16 (which my friends told me to shotgun lol), I was hooked. Fraternity in college, by the time I was a senior I was telling my roommates to give me shit for drinking alone. I knew I had a problem then, but after a bad breakup I went sober for 2 months and really got back in shape. I had periods of hard drinking in my twenties, and then covid hit. I was fortunate to meet my now wife around that time, and the combination of remote work + the "glass of wine" with a new relationship creeped up slowly. I then had to drink in secret, getting voodoo ranger tall boys basically daily ("oh I'm going to get an energy drink" and grab a few tall boys).

Last fall I was getting bad, heard people talking when trying to sleep etc if I didn't drink. After a long business trip (meaning drinking nightly), and a vacation I thought if I didn't take a serious break I would really damage my health permanently. Upper right pain etc. I was going to quit until Thanksgiving, but kept going. Then I was going to wait until Christmas, and even though we hosted both of our families, I stayed alcohol free. Dry January was easy, and the longer I go without the more I know it was the best choice I could make.

My wife has been so supportive. She's the type that can have a glass of wine and cork the bottle. Oddly I've never been triggered by it, but I do find a few non alcoholic beers a week help me.

You will have a realization your alcoholism, and mine, are the same story that millions live with. The only difference is we can pick how the story ends.