dawnrunner

I will just chime in with a word about eating habits.

Many of us developed poor eating habits when drinking. Either eating nothing, eating garbage, or 'saving my calories for booze' type of thing.

Food is life, and we need to really restart a good eating program in order to feel our best. I went through an excellent OP treatment for 6 weeks and not one word was said about nutrition. And during our snack breaks, the folks went outside for a cigarette and maybe some fried pork rinds or such. I believe a lot of us were starving for real nutrition.

When you are conscious about eating well, getting high quality protein, vegetables, fruit, water, calcium, and good carbs, you will feel more energized and you will recover faster, sleep better, and be more happy.

Nothing has made such a difference to me as really eating decent food. Please try it if you are feeling awful in recovery. I could almost promise you! that it will help a lot.

Muunray

It's been a little over a year since I drank. I still am improving. After almost 30 years of drinking, mostly heavily, I remind myself to be patient and be amazed and thankful at how resilient the body can be. (And mind, of course.)

Post37DayXfer

Coming on 6 days now and by drinking water (lots of it) vegetables, vitimans and exercise im noticing the shakes are subsiding (thank god) and the anxiety is starting to go away. Everyone is different but a few days ago I thought these symptoms were never going to go away. Hang in there.

gaffo

Lots and lots of water. I do an "Emergen C" or similar vitamin powder once a day to force me to drink more water if nothing else. With my "Java Junkie" coffee habit I have to be careful not to get dehydrated. I also like flavored club soda, it satisfies my beer-in-the-hand cravings and doesn't have a bunch of useless calories. And I totally agree with Dawnrunner about eating well. The eating habits we can get into while drinking are appalling. For a lot of us, there is good food around, we just ignore it when we're drinking. I'm lucky to have a family, which has forced me to put good food on the table (now I even eat it), if you are single it's harder to eat properly whether you're drunk or not. Walking is good for the body and mind of a recovering alcoholic...

robbieg

Hey all, Just an update and for those who recently started with sobriety I'm now 4 months sober and lost about 40 lbs. I just started excersising and my back isn't cracking eveytime I do a push up lol. My face lost it's dark circles, I drink high PH water all day long along with fruit juices and take tons of liver aid, alpha lipoic, omega 3s, selenium and multies and I eat mostly vegies and fruits. It's slow going but now it's time to quit smoking. I tried playing basketball with some people at the park and nearly died from catching my breath.

Seriously, get sober and quit anyone who's planning it. Use a medication if you need to it's so worth it. I actually look like I'm back to age 33. Going in for my labs and I'm going to request an ultra sound. I have wierd veins that come and go in my abdomin but I don't think they are varicies. I at least hope not.

Good luck everyone and keep on keeping on!

THEOjibway

as everyone says. everyone is different. I drank for 7 years on and off and heavily. I was very lucky I hadn't killed myself from drinking too much because I am a diabetic and drinking in excess isn't a good idea. For me recovery physically took me about half a month. I was drained physically and mentally and only was working 1 day a week and I didn't do much except watch tv and play video games because my feet were killing me. They always cramped on me after heavy drinking and I was in so much pain my first day recovering that I could barely walk. It was so bad and I beat myself down so hard I didn't really sleep for 3 days and when my parents came to my place without my knowledge my eyes were shot red from exhaustion and I hadn't showered that they thought I was drunk! I wasn't drunk though but to no surprise did they assume that because I kept promising that I would sober up and then turn around to drink again and again. So although we may not have an exact answer to your question maybe talking to your family doctor may give you a professionals advice on when you will start feeling normal again, you just need to look into yourself and think how you want to quit drinking and remember how you feel after drinking. I remind myself everyday and every night on why I can't drink again. The physical pain it causes me is something I don't want anymore. When I wake up refreshed and not hungover it's the best thing ever. Been doing this for 5 months now and coming up onto my 6th month this thursday. Good luck my friend your in the right place!

TheRandomPotato

Im 33 years old drinked heavy my whole 20´s away. Had my first drunk experience when i was 14. I live in Finland and drinking here is part of the culture so every 4th person is more or less an alcoholic. It started with the usual 12-pack then over time it became the usual 20-pack. I was sober for 3 months then i had a relapse with 40 beers and whiskey bottle. So i started from day 1 again. My withdrawal started 1½ week after i quit when the body started fireing up back again, everything was intensified a 100 times. I landed in the hospital with an intensive panic attack. Took me 2 days to recover from it. I have learned though that cutting back on smoking as well as caffinated bewarages help ease the withdrawal, water and good food also helps. I talked to a person that was a drinker for 20 years, and he said that sometimes even after 10 years sober he could get the shakes. Not often though. But a healthy lifestyle is what does the trick. But it is different from person to person. It could take just a few weeks and you will feel better or it could take years.

Froglet

I apologize for bumping this up, but this came through as a search here and on google.

I guess I wanted to bump this up and share my 2 cents.

While I was on my habitual drinking habit, I have had blood tests as well. My live function was fine during that time, but obviously it didn't mean I was 'okay'. Now that I'm sober, I was also curious if there were any guidance with this.

Soberween

Watnow78? Are you giving instructions on how to drink alcoholically more efficiently? If so, I think you are on the wrong website. We are all trying to abstain from alcohol on this site.

Nevertheless

The best way to find out how long it takes to recover,is to stop drinking NOW.
For me,the first 3 months were really rough. I think I had aches in my legs all the way up to 6 months. Mood swings up to a year or so. But I drank 30+ years,so I knew things wouldn't change overnight.
Fred

Robert4321

Day 6 1hour 30 minutes

Focus/concentration - when it has to be done , better - but self motivating still v poor
Stomach -acid reflux gone, pain gone,
Poo - back to normal no more natural disasters
Head - headach gone , sinus still tight
Energy physical - way down compared to DAL ( during alcoholic life)
Sleep - hard to get off , but much better quality once i do
Sex - normal arousal patterns backish...less unusual thoughts or desire to look a porn
Others - more aware of other people - felt empathy towards someone or first time in years
Legs - pain gone
Back - pain back
Weight - same ( but oddly feel thinner and got compliment for same think puffy face going down)
Skin - smoother younger fresher
Anxiety - lesser
Left eye - twitching!
Suicide thoughts - lessening - nearly cried - again firs time in ...forever

Copacetic

I feel physically better within 24 hours (never experienced withdrawal effects), but after being recently diagnosed with a host of medical issues that are all related to alcohol, I know I can't rely solely on how I feel.

Thanks for all the comments, and thanks for bumping this thread.

rdytoquit

I have been drink maybe 12 or 13 years. However, in the past 3 years (give or take a few months) I have probably downed around 12-18 beers daily. (laid off, not working) (Mich Ultra) it was easy to put them down, like water... I quit last Sunday with the help of my doctor and Valium to take the edge of. I literally have not had many side effects. The first day has the hardest for me and it has increasingly gotten better.

I do have a LOT more energy.But my caffeine intake has also gone up drastically.

I actually had a annual physical a few months ago and I was checking out my ALT and AST levels (which have to do with liver health) Amazingly they were good. I don't know how! Due to that, I think I may have had an easier time than some with the withdrawal.

I also have been scared to exercise, due to my blood pressure and heart rate was up. That has already gotten better. I will check it (after a bit -- too much caffeine) If it looks good I may start that C25K (couch to 25K thing) if you've ever heard of it. Exercise will help, but I have just been taking it easy due to blood pressure/pulse. Soon, I will probably be hopping over to the health and fitness forum.

Do you happen to know what your general health was before? Any copies of a physical, etc?

Anyway, as previous posters have mentioned, it has a lot to do with how healthy you are. Your age, length of time, and amount of consumption.

Day 8 here and feeling greater than I have for years. Keep it up. The rewards are priceless!

-RDY

rdytoquit

Oh, one other things I have noticed. I smoke and coughed a LOT. I am still smoking (that's next to quit) but oddly, I have stopped coughing like I was just from stopping the booze.

stairs

I stopped coughing too! It was weird. Like the cough was actually from all the beer.

rdytoquit

Wow, nice to see someone else noticed. I thought it was really weird. Booze causing bad coughing can't be good!

Just one other thing to add to the LONG list why we need to quit!

-RDY

mrfurley

I've been sober almost 2 months. I felt not too bad for the first few weeks, but now I'm experiencing headaches. I try to eat healthy when i can, but I'm craving sweets.

My sleeping is okay - I try to get to bed by 10pm.

A few weeks ago I broke out in a rash on my arms, chest and legs. I have a Doctor's appt. to check this out. Anybody else experience this - does it have to do with not drinking?

robbieg

Well so much for my perfect 6 months...Got a lucky 7 though. Didn't die. Drank about all the beer I could down due to some bad luck...Got to stop thnking negitive. Now I'm back to some b vitamins, Liver X w/NAC and Wheat grass. Fish oil and blood pressure tea. I know, over board but wholy cow my low back hurts...Bad thing about booze is it messes with the spleen and red blood cells. Screws up the kidneys which is scaring me more than my liver but that hurts too.

Yep, I'm doing a coffee enema to increase the size of my portal vein and deliver all these good things to my liver to heal. Sorry gang. Don't give up on me!

CarolD

robbieg...

Good to know you are quickly getting back on track.
Please do consult with your doctor before taking any drastic
measures to improve your health.

Welcome back

Change4good

I believe I might be lucky, in that physical and mental health turns around quickly (end of first week.)

That said, I am extra careful to nourish my body and head with wholesome food and lots of good thoughts. Oh, and enough water to drown a horse.

This helps so much.