Day 2. Been drinking the past several weekends for fun. Trying to stay sober and just having a really hard time even thou I know what I need to do. Trigger comes around on Friday or a day off when I can let loose. Cant seem to resist the urge to go out. Gotta find a way.
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You’re not alone! I’m also working towards Day 2. I went on family vacation and drank all weekend; from happy hour Wednesday through Sunday afternoon football. Nothing bad happened but I felt like crap and still do. It’s only a matter of time until I have a bad drinking episode so I need to stop before something bad happens which it always does. I did 2 months sober in the spring and I want to get there again. Weekends are hard for me too.
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Same here! Starting again, day 1 almost complete. I find it easy until the weekend tho, I don’t really have cravings, then the weekend hits and boredom sets in or some sense of entitlement to let loose and it all starts again. I tell myself I’ll just have a couple of glasses of wine which always turns into much more and waking up with the regret, anxiety and huge hangover that ruins my day, stopping me from being a good mum/wife!
I’m trying a different approach this time and I’m gonna attend an AA meeting tomorrow, nothing has worked before so I need to try something different
Good luck!
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I have a bad habit of drinking a few beers at home then going out feeling unstoppable. I pat myself on the back since at least I took a lyft or uber. but at the end of the night end up getting completely wasted. Drank Thursday and Friday night and could feel my heart racing and pain in my stomach. Night sweats and more. I normally come in hung over after a weekend of going overboard but had monday off and didn’t drink much Sunday. Feeling good and focused today at work this morning and feels so good. I dont feel like I’m hiding from my boss or worried someone is gonna ask if I went out last night and got wasted.
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It’s important to recognize if its an urge or cravings.
Urge is a psychological impulse to do something. I think of this as a habit or reward we have trained our mind to expect. How do you address them? How do we train/re-wire our brains? I’ve found developing and practicing a different routine. Normally we let our mind obsess over it until we cave in. This is a time to redirect our minds to a more positive/healthy reward.
Cravings are a physical dependence to a substance. I think of this as a mouth watering desire. I normally quench this desire carbonated water/drinks, coffee, tea or whatever it takes. During early recovery I would eat anything that satisfied the desire. Sometimes this meant an hamburger from my favourite fast food chain 3 times a day! Hehe, I’ve found eating a huge meal to the point of exploding would completely erase any desire to drink. When I did drink it was always on an empty stomach.
Address the urges and cravings appropriately. Get past that initial stumbling block of active addiction, and start a recovery plan.
Explore ways to combat yourself for yourself. Best of luck! You can absolutely do this!
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You guys can not only get sober, but stay sober. One day at a time! Hour by hour if need be. Rather than doing your norm on your day off or weekend, switch it up. Keep yourself busy with healthy activities. If you dont know what you like to do, try something new. It would be a great time to try something youve always wanted to do… There is hope and i believe in you. Try some meetings, not just one meeting but a few. Theres all kinds of different meetings out there. Meetings always bring me back to reality. They help keep me sober! And if you go to a few and decide theyre NJ ot for you, then thats ok. But its worth it to try to stay sober. Do things differently than youve been doing because obviously its not working… You gotta do the things you dont want to do honestly. When i get a craving or the urge, i give it some time until it passes, bc it will pass. Obsession and compulsion we call it. When i obsess, i dont have to act on it (compulsion). I hope this helps. Of you want to talk further, im here. Keep busy, stay strong. And remember, its Just for Today!
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Trust me, people see it on us. We think we’re so smart, that we’re good at hiding it, but non alcoholics can see right through it, especially your boss. My whole office new something was wron and I know it, I moved to anew state and starting a new me for that reason and some others. Good luck. Stop lying to yourself.
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I never before differentiated between an urge or a craving… You learn something new everyday! Thanks you.
Day one is better than one day xx work on your sobriety, be mindful of self deception that alcohol/drugs offers…
Day 2 complete. Focused on work and the gym. Came home and did some chores and made potroast for tomorrow. Trying to spend less and get my finances in order. Just got a townhouse a few months ago and working on repainting as well a huge list of other things i can do. Gym is usually a good outlet but doesn’t replace my urge to socialize and go out and dance and have fun. I feel like I’ve done it before without drinking but its very tough not too.
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So socialize! Have a painting party to get your place done! Have a few people over and feed them pot roast. Talk to people at the gym. No need to go this completely alone.
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Hoping this is my last time as well. And judging by how long it takes each time to recover from a binge and the degree of sickness, if I’m not careful this just could be my last time. I’ve been in and out of AA for years and if you stick around long enough you hear some things that make sense. Like “Never Quit Quitting”. And “If you do what you’ve always done you’ll get what you always got”. Day 5 and just starting to feel human again.
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Day 3. Listening to Tony Robbins this morning and been doing it off and on and feel this may be the key I need to implement everyday for a month or two to change my emotions. I feel inadequate and worried and nervous that im not getting enough done. Hopefully with this morning ritual I change my emotions and start to live more from a place of love, passion, joy, and gratitude. That’s how I feel when I drink its easy for me to see the people around me as my brothers and sisters and to stop worrying so much and just be. If I could only foster those emotions everyday and change my mindset and thought patterns to overcome negativity I think that would help alot and be a huge factor in helping me quit. Gonna focus on progressing and moving forward everyday and changing my body and thoughts to be more positive. The potroast is done and was quite delicious this morning.
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I’d like to share that although it may work for some, I’ve lived in ten different states, all to “start over”. But a geographic change did little, because I took all my character defects (selfishness, self-centeredness, dishonesty, false pride, etc.) with me. They stalk me to this very day. Until I can free myself from them I could move to Timbuktu and wind up as sick as ever. It’s a disease that doesn’t care where I live or work. It’ll find me and move right in. Hope that doesn’t come off as preaching. I always try to use “I” rather the “you” for that reason.
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Do you truly want to quit though? You stated in the beginning that you know what you need to do, but that’s very different from what one wants to do. I have found that when you want to do something you are most likely going to find a way to do it. I needed to quit for years, but it wasn’t until I actually wanted to quit that I decided to make it happen. Yesterday marked my 80th day since giving up booze. Have I thought about drinking since then? Absolutely, especially within the first 3 weeks. Have I truly wanted to drink though? No. That part of me is done. I keep a fifth if moonshine in my cupboard as a reminder that when it comes down to it, it’s simply a choice. And from here on out it will always be NO. I found a lot of inspiration and motivation after listening to Allen Carr’s Easy Way To Control Alcohol, you may find it helpful as well. Best of luck, keep grinding.
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Thanks…
I’m not you, I’m me, right? I’m carrying out my plan and that’s just how it’s going to be. I already drank in my new state. I meant it feels good to escape a state I basically grew up as an idiot young kid in where I went though all my experiences with my disease, I’m an adult now, hence, I’m over “fucking around”.
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I started off last year going strong and made it 110 days and then kinda just fell back into old habits. I wasn’t going crazy every night but lately the past few weekends ive been taking it too far. I thought I could control myself. I always saw it as holding me back from achieving all the things I really want to and that has become the case again. Ideally I would prefer to be happy and live a full fun life without it.
Day 6 and coming out of the fog. My past has seen stints of 3 and then 7 yrs sober. I don’t discount that sober time, or any sober time for that matter just because I’ve gone back out there.Those were times I was alive and well and achieving things. When I’m drinking time stops. So now the clock is ticking again for me. Even if it’s painfully slow it’s a welcome change. I’ve heard in said in the “rooms” that as alcoholics we can do anything anyone else does, we just can’t drink. So today I’m choosing, hour by hour, minute by minute not to drink while doing those “things” everyone else does. Will I drink tomorrow? I don’t know, ask me tomorrow. All I have right now is today.
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Day four. So today is my birthday and I got asked this morning if I was going to go out drinking of course I said no not this time I went to Starbucks got a free coffee for my birthday and Firehouse for free sub. Monk I feel like time slows down more for me when I’m not drinking but at the same time I’m more productive definitely accomplishing a lot more I just feel like I’m missing out on all the fun
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Obviously how time passes in and out of sobriety is subjective for each of us. “Getting stuff done” is a phenomenon I’ve seen many times and experience myself. It’s quite common, akin to nesting. It usually signals the beginning of the “pink cloud” phase. I need to be cautious during this period because I can wind up justifying a “reward” for everything I’ve accomplished. When it comes to fun? Lord knows I’ve drank all the fun out of drinking.
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