As long as I can remember my normal routine has been to get absolutely slaughtered from Friday - Sunday (in total about 9 or 10 bottles of wine) and then suffer from sweats, shakes, vomiting and, at times, even mild hallucinations during Sunday night/all day Monday at work - and every time I swore to myself that this is absolutely ridiculous and that I won’t let that happen again, ever!
Well, those promises to myself usually last until Wednesday, when that stupidly addicted voice in my head keeps whispering ‘oh well, it’s mid-week, you’ve been really, really busy, AND you’ve been good for the last two days so you deserve a treat’ - total self-inflicted, narcissistic mind-f*ck, but it works every time!
Until now!
I have stopped drinking Sunday about mid-morning and downloaded this app. I initially felt a bit crap during the afternoon/night but was all good on Monday ready for work, have not touched a drop since and feel absolutely fabulously pleased with myself :sunglasses 
however, all day long I was dreading that dreaded mid-week voice piping up in my head again, only it didn’t! My next ‘milestone’ will be Friday, and then Saturday, and then Sunday, but I can do it 
and most importantly, I feel that I can do it, and that’s a great feeling! And, if I ever feel a bit weakened in my resolve or tempted I just come onto this place and read all your advise and good wishes, this is such a lovely, friendly community and, most important of all, everyone here is in the same boat - some of us are right at the start, others are way ahead but we all have been/are going through the same. Thanks xx
Crazy, isn’t it? ‘Rewarding ourselves’ by totally f’n ourselves up! If you went to Starbucks and they had a new coffee, costing EVEN MORE than the usual, and they guaranteed it’d have you shouting, upsetting family and friends, falling over, blacking out, drooling, waking up in strange places, being arrested, AND poisoning yourself!
Yeah…
Luckily, as you point out, we’ve all had enough, we’re all in the same boat and we’ve all found this app.
You’ll smash this weekend, Monday next!
Well done you @CloudyCloud you’ve really got a grip on this!
That mid-week voice you’re getting - I had that some voice on Monday (as it was a payday), it wasn’t fun. I fought my way through it…correction..I sulked my way through it. But my god, I am so glad I did! Tuesday turned into the most energetic, productive day I’ve had in months!
So my message to you Don’t do it to yourself!! 
@Charlesfreck You are so right! - ‘We have been so good, let’s reward ourselves with a nice big dose of physical and mental torture’…it’s insane.
Happy sober day guys 
@CloudyCloud im in the same place as you! Stopped sunday and downloaded this app. I work monday thru Friday and im about ready for my mid week treat. I even thought to myself “ive been doing so well not drinking, i deserve a drink” this is my first time exploring the chat on this app so i look forward to talking with all of you!
I used to get completely hammered once or twice mid week with most of a bottle of scotch. I would be stumbling into work and the hangover would set in after lunch leaving me drained. It is so much easier to get through a day and coordinate with people without that feeling. Now i get rewarded with a full night of deep sleep.
@CloudyCloud well done for making the first steps!! Take each day at a time. Keep busy. You will start to make the most of your days not feeling hungover and everyday will be amazing and you will appreciate everything you have to look forward to!!
Alcohol is so so bad for us. I can’t risk having one drink so it’s never for me and that is not scary anymore it’s such a relief!!
@BrookeBomb92 you will find heaps of support and advice on here if ever you feel low just message we are here to listen n help if we can!!
Sending everyone happy sober thoughts!!!
The irony of it, wanting to treat yourself to a drink (and, let’s face it, it never is just one drink, or just one bottle) because we were so well behaved and did not drink…shows how f***ed up and mashed up our brains have become from pickling them with that poison all this time
Well done you got this, xxx
For some odd reason, I used to drink the most on Thursday evenings. I don’t know why. It was like weekends were just for fun but Thursday was the day I drank to relieve myself from the work week stresses. Does that make sense? I mean, of course it doesn’t make sense…I shouldn’t have been drinking like that…but I mean my logic as for why Thursday was work relief but Friday was for fun???
So glad I’m not doing that anymore.
Day 4 and I had a slight wobble earlier on. My husband, who is spending the winter in Spain, did send me a video of the weather outside (dreadful!) and whilst panning around the villa a glass of white wine (my poison) came into shot 
for a second I was really, really tempted to go and buy a bottle for after work, but thankfully that thought was only fleeting and sanity resumed 
oh, and another first for me in a long, long time - noticed that I was about to run out of mineral water, so got changed out of my comfy clothes back into normal ones and drove to the shop, sober as a judge and way after I had come home from work 
usually I made sure that I would make all my purchases on my way home from work and open the first wine bottle virtually the moment I entered the house, small baby steps but I feel really good about that have a great sober evening all xx
I wrote a blog a while ago where I talk about the ‘addict’s brain’. You can read it here if you’re interested:
https://sobertrend.com/blogs/life-in-recovery/the-addicts-brain-winning-arguments-against-yourself
Thanks Robin, great article and so true
Thank you so much Robin!!
Thank you @Robin
So true. That describes me. Physically I had no withdrawal. But mentally, that’s where the tough struggle is. Thank you for sharing.
Very well said @Robin, I’m going to bookmark this one. Our brain knows exactly what to say to us because it’s our brain, so true!
Keep resisting those urges @CloudyCloud! Great job getting through the hard part of the week for you. Stay strong, it will only get easier.
Day 5 and I am feeling really proud right now, it’s Friday night and I am NOT drinking, well I am, but it’s mineral water with peach squash spoke to a friend earlier on, and she’s got the box of wine on the go, like I used to the moment I came home on a Friday after work, and I actually felt a bit smug lol also, and this might sound really weird 
but I am dying to get stopped and breathalysed by the police, just because I can and don’t have to worry anymore about maybe still being over the limit the next morning! Also, last night was my first night of proper sleep, without waking up for a drink because my mouth is as dry as sawdust, or because I need a top-up, or I’ve got the sweats, nope, nothing, just a wonderful sleep all the way through until the alarm woke me, fabulous I am really loving this sober way of living, makes me realise how much time I have flittered away lying on the sofa absolutely pissed, sleeping it off and then waking up feeling total shite because I had the mother of all hangovers. Have a wonderful sober weekend people xx