Hi all,
I am 18 days sober and I have found myseld being more easily irritable at things that usually wouldnt escalate me as much. I found myself having to take more deep breaths and being more impatient with others. Has anyone else experienced this and will this get better and how long? It sucks!
Ohhhh yes… without my normal numbing coping mechanism, I was definitelyyyyyy more irritable. I had to learn new ways to cope with life. Breathing and meditation really helped me in the beginning and so did practicing the pause before I reacted or responded as often as possible. Later doing the inner work I had avoided helped me a whole lot more.
18 days is pretty great!! Remember to give yourself some grace, this is a huge life change that is in process. 
Yeah it’s actually totally normal. I’ve really yet toeet a person who actually had an easy carefree go at the beginning of sobriety. My anxiety was really high, I hadood swings, would get easily aggravated over the stupidest shit. I wasn’t le that all the time, but I was just constantly back and forth. Not to mention exhausted and somewhat foggy. It started to get a lot better after about the 60 day mark. And then gradually kept getting better. I still havey days but I’m able to process and deal with them
Do what you’re doing, breathe through it, take a walk, workout, nap, whatever. It will get better. Also keep coming here and just venting. Everybody here understands exactly what you’re going through
Thanks so much!
Thank you its great to hear others have gone through the same thing so i dont feel alone!
I was very very irritable when i gave up my doc and i was also depressed.
I started taking adhd medication and now even without it, i think I am much better and i just get angry at reasonable stuff.
I think like a month in that is when i was like ok i can deal with life which makes you less irritable
Thank you!
Great work on your 18 days. It is normal as others have said, and eventually it will get better. How long it takes is different for everyone. Hang in there.
Hello @Charlie6987, this is one of my BIGGEST problems right now. Im a little over 5 years sober and I’m still dealing with this 
. I’ve improved a whole lot though. I went from fist fights to checking myself and letting the world be. I try not to get mad at things i cant control…like traffic…the weather 
…and most of all idiotic people. It takes a lot of practice but it is possible. Wish you the best!
I absolutely can relate. At almost 2 years clean and sober, i can still get irritable and impatience and annoyed with others. Its not nearly as bad tho as being in early recovery. It was much harder in the beginning bcuz i was still learning how to xope worh my emotions. Mow rhat i have tools, its easier to catch myself before it gets too bad 
so yes its completely normal to feel this way. And if u practice the tools that work for u, it does get easier
