Today, once again, Im on day 2. And for the last three months, I haven’t made it past the end of day 3 sober. I don’t want to fail myself again!
Feel free to tell me what day number is always your hardest when you’re trying to start recovery, and how you managed to break the cycle
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Day 3 is crucial - get through 3 and you can get to a week. The first 3 or 4 weekends are tough, but that takes you to the magic 30 days.
Just 3 things to remember:
1 day at a time (1 minute or 1 hour at a time when it’s at it worst).
Keep BUSY - do anything, anything to keep yourself fully occupied.
Most importantly - never have the first drink.
See you at 4 @Linzabeth!
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Have you tried AA meetings? Being around others going through it and promising youre going to be at tomorrow’s meeting might be the difference between getting over the hump or not.
Full disclosure, AA wasnt for me but many many people on here swear by it.
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I had one good experience and one very negative one with AA. Personally I feel like a fraud when I go because I don’t believe in God or a higher power- I’ve tried, I just can’t.
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Yeah its the god stuff that keeps me away too. Have you looked at SMART? As i understand that is less higher power-y.
I felt the same as u … but i can honestly say aa is life saving 4 me… its not all god stuff most of the time u listen to someones story and how they got clean and soba… x
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Another thing that im finding really helpful is a book called Easyway by Alan Carr. It’s not much compared to AA and stuff Im sure but it has really helped me look at my drinking differently.
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You’ll get there. Sometimes AA isn’t enough. My boyfriend tried to ween me off, I found myself sneaking nips and then I was back to handles before I knew it. I finally admitted I needed help if I wanted to live (I have liver cirrhosis) and checked myself into a 7 day detox. I did it mostly because I was physically addicted and needed the supervision of actual professionals but while in there I also learned so much about myself. It was an intimate environment in which was spent sharing stories with others and figuring out who I was. Not as long as rehab and more than AA. Just a thought. Saved my life. Best of luck to you
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I used to rationalize why I didn’t fit at AA, too. But when I wanted to stay sober and I knew I did not know how to do that, I went back to AA with an open mind, determined to try whatever it took to get and keep me sober. And that has worked for a while.
Here’s something that might help - whether you believe in a higher power or not, I believe that you can get and stay sober. Believe that I believe in you, and that is enough. Not merely a start, it’s enough!
Blessings on your house. 
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A lot of this depends on how long you’ve been drinking, how much you drink each day, and what is the longest amount of clean time that you’ve had? This will help you determine if you are having withdrawal symptoms or just urges. If you are a heavy drinker and have been drinking for a long time, your body could be going through withdrawals which can be dangerous. If it is just urges/cravings, you need some coping skills. Either way don’t give up.
I was on the merry go round of drink, feel like crap a couple days, start over. It’s a terrible way to live. Then I cut back to only weekends but it sucks laying in bed half the weekend.
Spend some time whenever you do crave to sit down and be brutally honest as to why. What is so great that you feel deprived. Why is it bad to be deprived of misery. Something is definitely wrong if you keep going back.
Look at yourself. Look at your surroundings. Decide that living is worth it.
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Also I found an atheist agnostic meeting. I still didn’t fit in, everyone else was 20,yrs older and had way worse stories. I come on here to vent and rant and keep myself honest. Spend all day reading and listening to podcasts or audiobooks if you have to. Get over the hump.
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I was deffo how u are cudbt do more than 2 days then i would binge drink this kept happening honestly untill i had enough i cudbt take it anymore x
I completely understand how you feel. I had the same problem until discovered that spirituality isn’t about any kind of religion, it’s about who you are and how you want to live. And a higher power is anything greater than yourself. If you have ever seen the miracle of people coming together during a crisis, and watch one stranger helping another because they are in need, then more join in, then you can understand how my higher power is human kindness. That’s why the therapeutic value of one addict helping another is without parallel. I’ve also found that N.A. isn’t quite as “godly“ as A.A.
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Yeah i found similar. I came out of AA thinkinh that my drinking isnt that bad (it really is) because the people at aa were so much more addicted than me
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Well if they are worse than you and they got sober wouldn’t it then stand to reason that you should have no problem getting sober doing the same thing?
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Oh yeah i agree and realize its illogical but it had a pretty strong effect on me. They were what i thought of as steretypical alcoholics in my head and made my lizard brain think that I’m not like that so i must be fine - despite me knowing rationally that’s nonsense!
Really weird one for me get to the 5 month mark. Everything going well then i think i go into self sabotage and screw it all up. Just back after a 5 day bender. Yes i do go to AA back there right again.
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I always had a few certain days that would mess me up. Day #4. Because I would be recovered from a hangover and be bored and overthinking. Day #25 or so, because everything is going to damn smooth & easy and around day #40 because I felt like I’d been sober long enough and wanted to party. Right now I’m on day #42 and sailing right along on a positive note! It’s finally me coming to AA. Being brave and working this program. It’s not hard to me. It’s saving my life. Literally.
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1st few days are difficult, if your determined thoughts of I think I can do this start to surface around a week, @Charlesfreck is right about weekends, they can definitely be a deal breaker. Have a plan to stay away from triggers. Keep something non-alcoholic either in your hands or nearby. Reading other alcoholics memiors was very helpful in the beginning. Now I visit here many times a day for inspiration. If you want it bad enough its within your grasp. But thats one of the keys, you have to truly want to succeed. Im not an AA person either, it works for many but its just not my thing. Stay strong and focus on your goal from moment to moment. All the best to you.
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