I have no hangover witch is great!! BUT i have started to get those thoughts again (like the last couple of times that i tried quit drinking) “Maybe It wasn’t that bad?”, “Maybe I don’t have a problem”, I had so much fun".
I know that these thoughts will disappear (probably after i workout later today) but I also know that they will come back later on. Im just annoyed that my brain works this way. Im sure a lot of you have faced the same problem sometime in your recovery?? How do you guys deal with this? what works for you??
I know for a fact if I start drinking again I WILL be hungover again at some point and most likely won’t feel that great the next morning regardless of how little or how much I drink the night before. I never want to purposefully incapacitate myself again. Remind yourself of all the negatives of drinking, remind yourself of all the positives of sobriety.
This too shall pass, go with the flow, don’t let it drown you. Congrats on 49 days, 50! tomorrow
It will pass Im just annoyed with my brain and that it works this way. I guess its the brain being all angry at me for breaking my habits. It probably wants me back to the old rutines.
Can definitely relate, man. My brain constantly has that exact conversation with itself. So so many people on here talk about the ‘play the tape to the end’ strategy and it definitely works for me. I know where it goes if I let myself drink again - and it won’t be pretty, no matter how hard I try to convince myself otherwise. Stay strong!
That’s what I did in the first couple of months for sure, played the night out, really thought about where that first drink would take me. Definitely a great tool to suggest Tom.
It’s definitely not just your brain! And, really, when you think about it, it’s pretty understandable that this happens to us.
I don’t know how long you’d been drinking for, but I drank excessively for 15 years. It takes time to undo that.
I don’t know where you live but here in the UK alcohol is everywhere, or at least it feels like it. Advertising is pretty prolific and I had built a network of people where drinking was the focus of socialising. It’s easy to feel like you’re missing out.
I used alcohol as a response to situations that made me feel happy/sad/stressed etc. Learning new and healthy responses will take time.
Also alcohol is an addictive substance and alcohol dependence is a struggle. Give yourself a break! Keep taking it one day at a time and those days will keep adding up
Honestly it didn’t work,my combat tactic… But that’s why I started going to AA and I am sober for a week now , I think , but I do think only bout today and getting to the meeting after work sooo …
These are great posts and esspecialy what @siand said, It will take time , if I have been sculpting for 16 years I would be a master sculptor, and like 16 years of d&d will take time…
Yeah, had a constant battle in the early days. Everything I did I learnt off the good people on here. Just stay positive, tell the voice to f off and play the tape through to it’s inevitable ending.
Yes, I know this voice in my head too well. And sadly it will never 100% dissapear. And that’s good. This will remember me again and again how sick I was.
Everytime I hear this voice I remember the hangovers, the vomiting, the bloated face, the bruises, the time I wasted, the blackouts…shall I go on?
One day, when this voice pops up in your mind, you’ll automatically think about the negative aspects alcohol had on you. Practise it everytime. Wish you well
I hate that fucking voice. Mine always tells me how cool a nice glass of red wine or whiskey would be. She’s really good at romanticizing the booze. I couldn’t watch Mad Men anymore because it just made me want to drink. They’re so cool hanging out in the office drinking scotch. Ugh. But it’s NOT cool to pass out on your couch slurring your words and then stumbling upstairs to bed at 8:30 because you’re hammered. It’s not cool to take a shot in the morning to kickstart your day.
Those voices are nothing but the Devil!!! Don’t listen.
I made a huge step forward when I started to think of addiction as slavery, and my DOC (alcohol) as guilded shackles and chains: shining on the outside. Cold, hard, and oh so heavy, on the inside.
I think of sobriety as freedom. How light my limbs feel without those chains. Gone is the pain and misery. I am at liberty to move when I want, as far as I want, no longer focused on that which once bound me, held me down, held me back.
This helped me to think in these terms. On the rare occasion that “maybe just one” pops into my mind, I see the glass or bottle or mug transform into chains. I see the true form of alcohol.
I am free. 419 days since I threw off those chains. Why would I ever put them on again?
I joined this forum in June, following my last slip. One thing that someone reminded me of when I made my initial post was that this is a PROGRESSIVE disease.
My last hangover was worse than any one previous. It also took me much longer (7+ days) to get back to feeling normal. I was really “in the shit” for those 7 days. I was flat, irritable, empty, volatile. I honestly felt I was going crazy and was going to be stuck like that.
I came out of it eventually, but this experience keeps me from testing the waters again. I have NO interest in seeing how awful the aftermath could be next time, if there were a “next time”. Spoiler alert, there won’t be.
When I get those types of feelings I come on to this forum and read posts. Everyone here helps me stay sober.
Reading posts of people on Day 1 reminds me of how far I have come. Sometimes I see posts of people with more sobertime than me who relapse. This reminds me to stay humble an vigilant about not drinking.
Also all of what @Yoda-Stevie said. My mindset about alcohol is different than any other time I quit drinking . I dont associate drinking with anything positive.
Yes!! It’s so easy to forget what we were feeling. That is why I wrote a letter to myself describing the feelings so if that wine witch starts talking to me again I can remind myself why she needs to shut the heck up!!
I do not ever want to feel like that again…physically or emotionally. I certainly don’t want to see how much worse it gets.
Ever watch a professional fight? Fighter takes a big shot that rocks them. Maybe they get ktfo, or maybe they get wobbled a bit, but they aren’t the same after the shot, as they were before.
Ever watch a fighter who has been knocked out a few times? Each takes a little bit of “something” away, and it’s tough coming back from a big KO.
I think hard relapses are like this. Each one takes a little bit of “something” and each successive KO is harder to come back from.
Recently my wife told me how happy she is that I’m sober. She asked if I ever think about drinking again. This is what I told her:
Honestly I do, but not in that “I wish I could” sort of way. No. I think about it this way: I know I have another drunk left in me. I’m just not 100% sure that I have another recovery fight left in me, and I just don’t want to take the chance of not being able to get up from the knockdown, so I refuse to even get in the ring to try. I am a retired drinker.
Im just annoyed with my brain and that it works this way. I guess its the brain being all angry at me for breaking my habits. It probably wants me back to the old rutines.