26 days sober today

Hello this is my first time posting. I’ve had this app for about two years. My longest time being sober is 30 days. I have fallen many times… I was in a very bad car accident the paramedics told me how lucky I am to be alive. I have been doing great not drinking. But being 26 days sober today coming up on thirty days I’m getting nervous I’m just going to fall again like always do… any advice to get out of my own head and keep going strong.?

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Congratulations to those 26 days! Great job! I’m personally in day 28, so almost the same. I had some dodgy thoughts as well, but I try to focus on what has kept me doing this so far, and continue my journey. When cravings hit, I try to focus on something else (cook something, wash the dishes, listen to my favourite music, color mandalas), in order to keep my mind busy. Usually it passes within 10-15 minutes. Stay strong! :muscle:t2:

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What works for me is playing the tape all the way through and reminding myself it’s not going to end well. Picking up that first drink is going to lead me back to the life of hell.

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From your original post to start this thread it sounds to me like you have reached or come close to 30 days multiple times.

I definitely want you to know the benefits I saw at 30 days are small compared to the benefits I was able to see at 90 days and beyond. Also at over 3 years sober I still see improvements.

Being successful at staying sober for me was not just about stopping drinking. It just gave me an opportunity to see the problems in my life more clearly and develop coping skills
to fix them. 12 step groups, books about addiction, and this app are great resources to help guide us towards developing our coping skills quickly.

Early in sobriety I tried to identify situations that maybe me more vunerable to drinking. I quickly noticed that social settings that werent familiar to me and things I was doing for the first time since becoming sober were what made me most vulnerable.

So when I have situations like that I try to have a plan of what I am going to drink when I am there. Also I come up with an exit strategy ahead of time in case I dont feel steong enough to stay.

Milestones are always tough. You want to celebrate but early in recovery your so used to rewarding yourself with alcohol. Try to remember that sobriety is a journey with no finish line, and no day more important then another.

Just try to stay present each day and enjoy the good days and fight like hell when cravings come. For myself the good days have become way more frequent. The bad days less frequent and also less intense on how much I have to fight.

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For me the key word was distraction and stick to my plan! Distraction to overrule that addiction voice in my head saying I can have just one because I deserve it.
So I walked a lot in nature, listened to sober podcast like Recovery elevator, read recovery books like This naked mind from Annie Grace, bingewatched Netflix, etc.

Stick to my plan…what plan?
I made myself a sober plan. A plan with some structure for myself with things to do ore not do.
For example, one of them was strip my house from all the alcohol and empty bottles so they couldn’t tempt me.
Another one?
Fill my fridge with healthy foods and drinks
Avoid every alcohol related event for the next 3 months (pub, restaurant, drinking friends, festival, etc)
When cravings occur: walk, talk, ask for help in real person or on this app. Etc.

This things has helped me to stay sober for almost 3 years now. You can do that too.
Congratulations with your 26 days! :tada: Almost 1 month in your pocket!!
Well done! :facepunch:

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Maybe try a meeting might help wish you well

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Welcome to the forum! Here’s some more info that might be helpful to you, along with the wonderful responses you’ve had already :blush:

It is really common to get a bit wobbly around milestones. Remember it is just another day, keep doing one day at a time.

For me, really holding on to the bad stuff about drinking, the things I did and how it made me feel, has been so helpful. If you find yourself thinking about a drink, play the tape to the end… What really happens? For me it was usually some combination of blackouts, saying and doing things I regret, overspending, anxiety, shame, etc.

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