Hey, guys. I appreciate your thanks. I love belonging to this group and I have the luxury of time to respond in great detail because I have no job, no kids, and no significant other. It might sound depressing, but I feel incredibly lucky to have this brief opportunity to get past the hard part and start living a normal life. I've been drinking for so long that I don't even know what that would feel like. Talking to you guys is a big help...you inspire me and make me feel less isolated.
Audioaddict, rockstonic, fifth, AncientMariner (very cool names). Welcome!
thisibelieve. Glad you're back. What tripped you up on the weekend?
deanyya. Here's an article that might help to explain why you feel down.
Withdrawal | DOPAMINE DIALOGUE
I've also had my moments over the past two weeks (whee - two weeks now). Ha ha - I just came up with a really funny way to explain this. Your brain has no brain of its own. It regulates things automatically, and if there are too many 'happy chemicals' being introduced from an outside source, your brain ramps down the production. Your brain does not have a little brain to tell it: "Hey. D has stopped drinking. She's going to need more happy chemicals." No, it just keeps waiting for you to come up with the goods because that's what it's used to. In time, it will 'notice', but that takes time. In other words...this is completely normal.
ANewDayNYC. Excellent suggestion re: walking. I did make it to 30 days once upon a time, and daily walking was absolutely essential.
Luper. I've been isolating too, but I'm ready to come out of hiding now. More about that at the end of the post.
nmd. My birthday is coming up soon, too. I know that a friend wants to take me for dinner, but I really don't want to go. Too much of a trigger. What I'd really like to do is go kayaking, but I'm not sure he'd be into it. Anyway...could you plan a low key sort of trip somewhere instead of a big party?
Findingtheway. Three weeks - nice. BTW, your avatar is awesome.
safeandsound. I am also enjoying brushing and flossing! Seriously, waking up with tuna stuck in your teeth is not cool. Good for you for going to counseling...I also need to go. I'm reluctant though - I have done things while drinking that I will never tell anybody about. Never. However, there are issues that I'm going to have to talk about eventually. Frankly, I'm still afraid to do it. It takes courage to do these things, so you can be proud of being brave enough to take that step.
Neverthought.
Originally Posted by
Neverthought 
My wife, an English teacher now, was thoroughly
amazed that I knew this poem when we first met (probably because I was a stoner). Then I told her I only knew it because Iron Maiden made a song (a favorite) from it....wah, wahh, wahhh....
Ha ha ha - that's awesome.
So...this is weird, but I haven't had any trouble with the dreaded AV since day 2. That is, until yesterday. I walked past a pub that has a patio and umbrellas, and WHAM. I really wanted to go there. I thought...oh damn. I stood there and realized that I just want the patio, the umbrella, and a sense of relaxation. I realized that someday I'll be able to have that without drinking. I moved on. Besides, the last time I was there I sat drinking alone in the corner like a creep, spent way too much money, and felt the need to tell the waitress about how they could improve their system. Ha ha ha - I'm actually laughing at this. I've never even been a waitress. What was I thinking?
I did get an email back from my friend. She's totally cool and she understands the situation completely. She was an addict and completely ruined her life in her early 20s. She's way past that now, but she hasn't forgotten what it was like. She encouraged me to stick with it and pointed out all of the things she likes about me...it felt pretty amazing. We're getting together soon. Thanks for inspiring me to do that, Alynn. It was hard to do, but pulling myself out of isolation has to happen. I just want to have a life.
Stay strong, everyone.