Struggling newbie

Hi all. New here.
22 days sober. Not a lot, I know. Today I am struggling and can’t stop picturing drinking a big cold glass of wine. That initial dopamine hit. I feel so sad, so depressed. And I’m worried I won’t make it to a month.
I’m a binge drinker. At least 8 litres of wine a week. 4 nights a week. I suddenly decided to stop, on the 13th December 2020 and made it, miraculously, through Xmas and new year without a drink. But my mental health is struggling and I’m scared.
How do I keep up the motivation?
Does it get easier?

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Yes!! It will! :confetti_ball:
Keep pushing trough!
22 days is great! You have the worst days behind you. It will be better day after day from now on. Remember: if you do this right, you never have to go trough this again!! I found the first 3 months difficult in the way that I had to addept to my new life. So I avoided every alcohol related event in those days. After 3 months I was stronger to handle those.
Today I’m more then 2 years sober. I seldom have cravings. If I have them I try to distract myself. I go for a walk in nature ore listen to a recovery podcast like Recovery Elevator.
I get my motivation by reading here and also by watching my day counter grow. I love to see my numbers go bigger and bigger.
You can do that too! 22 days in your pocket! Let’s do another one!! :facepunch:

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Yes I too was a heavy wine drinker. I read my bio when I felt weak. I read other heart wrenching bios as well. Stay strong and it will be worth it and just like Claudia said, it will get better :hugs: sending you strength :pray:

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22 days is huge. My motivation is that I learned that being hungover I cannot change a tiny bit in my life. Alcohol took most of the space of my mind every single day. And this was exhausting. Whenever a craving hit me or the thought of, wouldn’t a glass of wine help, I become scared of the morning after, the spiraling downwards. I cannot unthink of the consequences of the first drink.

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Does it get easier?

Yes yes it does, I found up to 90 days is hard, and the triggers are hard, your like eff this its off to the races.

What kept me together? Being able to wake up refreshed no hangover no need to reach for a bottle just to be “well enough” to go to work. To function like a human being, life is hard, life while wasted is harder

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Welcome to the forum! Great work getting through Christmas and here’s to many more sober occasions to come :blush:

Check out this thread for lots of useful links and info!

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22 days is awesome! It will definitely get easier.

Hi fellow newbie. You’re amazing. I’m going through it too. Can’t help picturing a glass of wine and I’m only 2 days (but I did a month before with a little break of no binges) then I binged on NY. We can do this ONE day AT A TIME! Xx

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Absolute bull shit! Any Sober day is a lot. Be proud!

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22 days is fabulous and not easy, we know. :slightly_smiling_face: Yes, it does get easier. My motivation has been remembering how unbelievably miserable and suicidal I was. How much I despised myself and my drinking. How much it sucked waking up with regrets and hangovers. What continues to motivate me is the self esteem I have gained in sobriety, that blissful feeling of waking up hangover and regret free and how much better my mental health is.

I hope you will stick around and read lots of threads, hopefully find support and a place to turn when feeling low. The members of this forum can really help lift us up when we feel at our lowest. :slightly_smiling_face:

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