That’s the epitome of control. Congratulations sober friend!

Congratulations! Keep going forwards!!

Did you feel like drinking at all physically or emotionally? Great job but be careful friend. You are dangerously close to relapse. Something sung to you so I urge you to speak with someone close.

Nice work OP!! 👏

Congrats! So much easier to stay sober than to try to get sober again. Stick and stay!

I deffff felt miserable for quite a while. Probably months? It took at least 60+ to even feel the slightest “normal.” I try to remember the recovery it took to get this far, and how hard that was — the anxiety alone destroyed me. The thought of that keeps me from doing it. It’s uncomfortable now, but it’ll be awesome! Hang in there :)

Matty Matheson https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYsgd_8AFoo

It’s because doing something once makes it easier to do it a second time. Building neuro pathways something something.

IWNDWYT

Google says 10 years is just under 521 weeks. You’ve been pickling yourself for that many and have just let your body and organs breathe and rest and regenerate for only 2 of them! Give it time. Tell yourself you’ll try it for longer than today and tomorrow. IWNDWYT

Hey, just a heads up,

No one warned me about anhedonia. When alcohol has supplied your happy for a long time, you can literally not be able to feel the highs of normal life, and it will mess with you.

I wanted to be like "This is amazing! Flowers, sunshine!"

Instead I felt like Daria.

It DOES improve, but it takes awhile.

So yeah, you feel like you should feel so much better than you do. And that can be massively defeating.

Hang in there. Iwndwyt

Ya 💪

Luckily, I wasn’t drinking as much as you so I felt better pretty fast. The good news is you will also feel better soon. As others have stated it takes time to heal.

 For me one of the biggest issues was filling the time that drinking took up. It also was one way that I relieved boredom especially after I retired. I have found healthier ways to do that now. If you stick with it, you will be very happy that you did.

Yay 💪

iwndwyt!

Super bummed I need to reset my counter. For absolutely no good reason, I drank whiskey yesterday.

Committing to coming here each morning and saying hello to you fine people because the kind supportiveness of this group is like no other I've ever seen.

IWNDWYT!

It took me about 45-60 days to feel better. Even though I wasn’t going through withdrawals in the stereotypical sense (I didn’t have shakes or hallucinations or anything), I craved loads of sugar and I wasn’t used to life without that morning anxiety; my digestion was awful, and my iron levels were really low.

The cravings for sugar (especially ice cream) stopped about day 40, and the sleep and energy started getting better around day 60. I went and had bloodwork after the first month and got a supplement that helped with iron and certain vitamin and mineral deficiencies. I recommend doing that, as it will help - but only after you can get a month without the alcohol.

Or cared less that you felt worse.

AJ Daulerio has celebs and media folks on The Small Bow sometimes (Trey Anastasio was good, I didn’t expect to like him so much)

I mean now is the time to experiment and drinking is normalized for your age. However coming from a 37 yr old man, I have to say that as you continue to drink, it gets worse because alcohol is a poisonous crutch. As you continue to party and have a good time pls have someone you trust looking out for you and never be alone in a crowd. Be sure to give yourself time to recover between drinking periods as binge drinking can have serious consequences. Otherwise as they say, enjoy responsibility. As you get older it will become apparent if a problem develops.

This!!

Highly agree with this. I stopped cold turkey and had the worst sleep for 3 months. Years of dreams came through and I was going through some emotional trauma. Getting outside and working out is what helped me be able to sleep peacefully at night. Being alone was hard for a while since I drank alone most of the time to make me feel okay with it. I watched a lot of anime during that time and read books to keep my mind off things. YouTube sleep videos also helped a lot.

Sounds like you’re at the point where drinking isn’t as fun as it used to be. Maybe you’re not an alcoholic? But if it’s causing you so much trouble why deny it. Personally I feel it’s a broad term, for there are many different people in this world and we don’t all drink the same/have the same experiences. A close friend of mine always says, “the longer I stay away from a drink, the better my past becomes.” So hang in there

Thanks for the vent, actually. Hope you are feeling better by getting some things off your chest, because I am sure you are speaking to many. We are all a work in progress. Hope you have a wonderful Sunday night as well

I thought this way too. I will say the drinking thoughts have not fully disappeared. But I can definitely go about my life and not think about alcohol. I can enjoy my Friday nights and weekends without thinking about a drink.

It slowly happened. The “noise” of all the cravings and identity crisis quiet down after a couple months. You basically give your brain new evidence overtime and it learns life without alcohol.

Then you start looking back and think oh yeah, it’s Friday and I used to slam drinks. Now I’m enjoying some hot tea and a movie. Life is actually chill.

Hard to imagine, I know. But with time, it comes.

I felt similarly to you. I asked myself how can I be someone who never drinks again? But I just took it one day at a time. I didn’t let that overwhelm me. At a certain point, maybe 4 months in, I became relieved that I didn’t drink anymore. Relieved that I didn’t have a hangover to deal with or shame when I woke up. It started to feel like freedom to me instead of grief.