How long did it take

How long did it take y’all to feel normal again and happy again after your last drink?

Honestly? About 9 months but I was also dealing with anxiety, depression and being run down after drinking and not taking care of myself. 9ver 2 years sober now and feel fantastic, but it has taken a lot of hard work.

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I dont know, i have never been normal :grin:…roughly around month 10 things began to daily feel better. There were a lot of great days before that, but that is roughly when the were being strung together on a consistent basis.

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How long is a piece of string!!!
The question you need to be asking is how do I get to feel normal and happy again?

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It’s varies. The first few months are the hardest but as you begin to rebuild your life and fine your purpose it becomes a faint memory. For me, I would say I think less about drinking than I did a few weeks ago and I personally can go out to dinner with people who are drinking now, but it is not easy. I just remind myself eventually I will have to be part of society and the unfortunate fact is is that alcohol is socially acceptable and is everywhere-it’s unavoidable so the harder skin you get the easier it will be

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I’ll never be normal.

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3 to 4 months with therapy and meds. That is really stable. I started feeling better overall after about a week or two, but not 100% compared to now.

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As MeCarrieB stated above, it was also around 9 months for me as well. Look into PAWS, it definitely does exist. But everyone is different.

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Around 9 months for me and I started feeling less anxious and more just going with the flow.

For me it was about 4 months. But honestly at 10 I feel even better!

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For me, to took me maybe 6 weeks to get over withdrawals, which was the driving force behind the physical ickiness I felt. After that, it was a mental struggle. That lasted maybe 6 months or more. When I say struggle, I’m not talking sitting there, sweating, teeth clenched trying not to drink, just more of the constant thinking of NOT drinking. That has slowly gone away and is hardly a thought anymore.

I think that the more things you experience sober, the less anxious you feel. So, by that logic, it would be at least a year.

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I’ve quit before and been miserable.

Quit 7 days ago and I’ve felt great this time.

Its different everytime. A lot more goes into happiness than not drinking. You need to decide what a happy and content you should be doing.

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I’m only going on day 4 and it hasn’t been easy but not as hard as I thought. My worry was exactly this question though. Every time I’d say I’m going to get sober I’d automatically be afraid of how long it would take to be over the cravings. I went to AA a few times and heard people say it took them 15 years and they STILL crave. That scared me… Alot. I didn’t want to go 15 years feeling like hell every day. I’m happy to see that most responses are saying between 9-10 months. That I can handle :slight_smile:

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After a week I felt physically better because I had beat my body up. At 90 days I stopped thinking about suicide all day everyday. I still have my bad moments but it’s nothing in comparison. My life completely fell apart so there is a lot to feel badly about but I reckon when things start getting put together again I’ll feel better.

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It’s always a struggle, but the withdrawls and cravings pass with time.
You just just need to work 1 day at a time. Try to focus on today and not months from now. It’s easy to cave in. The real progress comes day to day

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:muscle::muscle::+1::facepunch::+1:

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For me that took 4 months or so. But it’s different for everyone. For now almost 9 months sober and feeling stronger day by day still. But “normal” I will never be and hé: what’s normal? :rofl:
I will be a addict forever, but I hope a dry and happy one!!

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I think when people say they have cravings years after they got clean it’s a completely different type of craving. At least it is for me. Now my cravings are more like putting laundry in the wash. Do I want to do laundry? Not really. Do I want clean clothes? Well, yeah. It takes 3 minutes to put the laundry in, 3 minutes to put it in the dryer, and like 5 minutes to fold it.

They become an annoyance, not the life consuming thing that they are in early sobriety. For me, this change happened over the first 8 or 9 months. I still get cravings, yes, but they are as easy to swat away as anything else.

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A few days, its because I instantly replace the bad habits with healthy productive ones. Yes of course I can choose to eat sweets and just watch tv when with drawing, but exercise,Healthy food, meditation and other healthy habits do not just make withdrawal easier but instantly create a better life

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Not everyone in AA works a solid program.
That said… AA has saved my life. Stick with the winners.
At 10 months I feel better than I have felt ever.
Started to get easier around 7 months… But I started working with my sponsor at about 10 days sober.

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