Sobriety is a healthy life change with many benefits. Yet, sobriety can bring aches, pain, and other challenges. This thread is a place to share, vent and support each other through What ‘ales’ you.
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I’ll make a start:
While I’m grateful to be feeling much healthier since beginning sobriety, I have been waking each day with a slight headache. Nothing too painful, but noticeable. What experience or advice can anyone offer about this?
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I rarely got headaches while I was drinking, not even during hangovers really, but after quitting I had one every day for a while. I figured it was probably dehydration and my body getting used to not having thinned out blood 24/7. I can’t tell you anything in particular that worked aside from the occasional ibuprofen, which I try not to take, but they did get better with time. I still do get headaches more often than I was used to, even after a year, but now I can usually tell why. For instance, I have one now bc I didn’t eat as much as I should’ve before work this morning after not sleeping well. Still beats a hangover any day 
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The occasional burst of pure sweatiness
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Your experience with headaches, or absence of, while drinking resonates with me. I was often praised for my ability to drink hard then go about my next day without a hangover. Maybe this is all those skipped over headaches coming back to haunt me. I’m well hydrated, drinking over 2 litres of water each day. Not sure what else may be contributing to the headaches. Interesting that you still get them so far into sobriety, but it’s good that you’re more self aware regarding causes. I figure, even if I have a small morning headache for the rest of my life, the benefits far outweigh the costs.
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Oh this one sparks thoughts of random sweats that occur with me too. When do you notice these occurring?
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Randomly throughout the day for the first few weeks and sometimes really bad at night like you just wake up and your in a puddle of it
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Ironically I neither got them from hangovers or after quitting. Guess im lucky
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You must be built different. Night sweats are often accompanied by anxious thoughts for myself. How about yourself?
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Well I was never really a heavy drinker per say so think that might have something to do with it too. Had like 2-4 drinks a day for me most part. Idk i think sometimes but not always. I know withdrawals just in general cause it because its your body’s way of riding toxins
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I have friends who drink 1-2 drinks and wake up hungover. The difference may be in regular drinking building a tolerance. That’s an interesting point about headaches being the body’s way of expelling toxins. what more do you know about that?
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Lol i was talking about sweating. You sweat out the toxins
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Haha! I should’ve made the connection. Have the sweats lessened along your journey?
A little but im still really early on
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I do know it goes away from past experiences though
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An ongoing process that hopefully improves with time. My doc is alcohol, but I did come off ice, meth, amphetamines and weed several years ago. I went cold turkey with no plan, support or a clue about withdrawal. The shaking, shivering, and sweats were a terrible experience. I don’t recommend that approach to anyone. Alcohol has been my mainstay for 30+ years now, looking forward to sweating and headache-ing?! its way out of my life for good.
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Yeah mines Coke but going through that alcohol and delta thc right now. In the past I’ve withdrawn from much worse and had worse withdrawals than at the current. Granted I almost feel like i haven’t completely started the withdrawals because of how long it takes for the shit to clear your sinuses (which i wish it did quicker because i have a pre-employment test Monday). Either way the worst withdrawals were back when i was going to house parties on the weekends and mixing like alcohol, weed, coke, acid/shrooms, and mdma together plus the occasional dmt
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I’ve been a stim addict since i was 5 though
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Oh, don’t get me wrong. I got hangovers. Just not usually accompanied by a headache. The last couple years of my drinking life was a chronic hangover. If I wasn’t drinking, I was hungover until I drank again. I’ve suffered from headaches as far back as 12, and migraines 16 (tho very rarely), so it’s just something that happens to me. Alcohol curbed them for years but that isn’t worth everything else that comes with it. I hope yours clear up with a bit more time 
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That’s a good clarification @Just_Laura. In retrospect, I was probably hungover outside of drinking, despite no headaches as well. The trade off between headaches/migraines and alcohol would be difficult to navigate, kinda like deciding between the lessor of two evils. Thankfully you are now in a space where you can see the benefits of sobriety, are actively pursuing it while supporting people like myself along the way. Thank you!