Sober02232011

Hi everyone,

I am new to these forums, and I am new to sobriety as of 2/23/2011. I'd like to share some of my withdrawal symptoms, and see if anybody has some insight to whether or not they're normal.

Firstly - my habits. I was an evening drinker. I usually started around 5:00pm, until I fell asleep around midnight. My featured poison was red wine and sometimes a martini. I would easily drink a bottle of wine within an hour, and would for the last few months, I progressed to two bottles of wine per night. During the last few weeks, I would find myself finishing the two bottles, then just having "a little bit more" out of the sangria bottle since it wasn't so strong.

I am in my 30's and I quit cold turkey because I didn't want to look back ten years from now and realize that I wasted my opportunity to have a rewarding life.

I also gave up tobacco products about five days ago, and switched to e-cigarettes to ease the transition to a smoke & nicotine free life.

My symptoms -

First couple days, I had a weird appetite, and a little bit of anxiety. I remedied this with herbal teas and wheat thins.

Since the first day, I haven't so much suffered insomnia, however, instead of going to bed at midnight - I have been up until 4am every morning since my first day of sobriety. This is becoming a chore! Last night I was able to fall asleep around 2am - which was rather comforting.

Additionally, the two alarming symptoms are:

1 - severely diminished libido
2 - clay colored stools (everything was normal while drinking)

Does anybody have any insight about these? It was my understanding that these two items are often experienced by people who drink, not by people who sober up. I'm making the assumption that my body is pushing out toxins and has to balance out before things return to normal.

I appreciate any help that anybody has to offer. I don't have health insurance (another reason why I quit), so I can not afford to have bloodwork drawn for peace of mind.

Thank you all very much! I'll be active on the boards as a way to pass time, and I hope that everyone is making a smooth successful transition to their new lives!

Regards