does it get easier?
Member
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: ENGLAND
Posts: 557
Hi maya,
I can only speak for myself on this one.Im 49 days sober and once i'd got through the first week of withdrawl,my craving eased.After that drink kept coming into my thoughts almost constantly for probably a fortnight,but then that started to ease.I cant say that I dont think about drinking anymore but I can now controll the " I must have one now " thinking that kept me in a life of turmoil. Or should I say that i've controlled it, Just for today!
chris
I can only speak for myself on this one.Im 49 days sober and once i'd got through the first week of withdrawl,my craving eased.After that drink kept coming into my thoughts almost constantly for probably a fortnight,but then that started to ease.I cant say that I dont think about drinking anymore but I can now controll the " I must have one now " thinking that kept me in a life of turmoil. Or should I say that i've controlled it, Just for today!
chris
Member
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Murrieta, Ca
Posts: 2,683
Hi Maya. It does get better.
I chose AA as a recovery program. After 115 days and working the steps, the obsession to drink has been removed from me.
Now, I have to learn how to live. That's the hard part.
Good Luck and God Bless
I chose AA as a recovery program. After 115 days and working the steps, the obsession to drink has been removed from me.
Now, I have to learn how to live. That's the hard part.
Good Luck and God Bless
Member
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Upper Kolobia
Posts: 153
re: Does It Get Easier?
JMHO, but I believe that depends on you--and your relationship with your Higher Power.
For me, it's definitely been a whole lot easier than say, those first fifteen or sixteen years ;-) . . . Okay, I'm deliberately pricking at your fears--and it's okay to acknowledge them--talking about fears is a recovery tool.
Other recovery tools involve building recovery-based behaviors (Aim to "Act yourself into well-thinking" rather than the other way 'round). Those are a safety net that will serve you down the road (of course it also helps to use other recovery tools, like that hokey little "One Day at a Time" slogan).
And as the Big Book notes, when all else fails, work with another alcoholic. When I was new, I remember a guy with ten years telling me he thought the reason he'd been spared a slip was all the 12-Step work he did in early sobriety. Since I still had fresh memories of a "six or seven year slip," I kind of grabbed hold of that one . . .
And it's a positive thing to avail yourself of aftercare or other outside programs as well (so long as they're not serving spiked refreshments). I got involved in a group early on in my sobriety, and my memory of that one was I didn't do all that much work--I couldn't; the real work came when I got "weller"--but I kept encouraging the others--who were slipping fairly regularly--to attend outside AA meetings. I didn't have transportation, so I shared my ways of getting to meetings . . .
A lot of those guys achieved permanent sobriety down the road . . .
'Nuff
For me, it's definitely been a whole lot easier than say, those first fifteen or sixteen years ;-) . . . Okay, I'm deliberately pricking at your fears--and it's okay to acknowledge them--talking about fears is a recovery tool.
Other recovery tools involve building recovery-based behaviors (Aim to "Act yourself into well-thinking" rather than the other way 'round). Those are a safety net that will serve you down the road (of course it also helps to use other recovery tools, like that hokey little "One Day at a Time" slogan).
And as the Big Book notes, when all else fails, work with another alcoholic. When I was new, I remember a guy with ten years telling me he thought the reason he'd been spared a slip was all the 12-Step work he did in early sobriety. Since I still had fresh memories of a "six or seven year slip," I kind of grabbed hold of that one . . .
And it's a positive thing to avail yourself of aftercare or other outside programs as well (so long as they're not serving spiked refreshments). I got involved in a group early on in my sobriety, and my memory of that one was I didn't do all that much work--I couldn't; the real work came when I got "weller"--but I kept encouraging the others--who were slipping fairly regularly--to attend outside AA meetings. I didn't have transportation, so I shared my ways of getting to meetings . . .
A lot of those guys achieved permanent sobriety down the road . . .
'Nuff
Administrator
Join Date: Aug 2003
Location: Dancing in the Light
Posts: 61,518
Yes, it does get very much easier.
It's overwhelming at first and hard to deal with all the emotions that you've been numbing. But, as time goes by, all of it gets much more comfortable to deal with.
It's overwhelming at first and hard to deal with all the emotions that you've been numbing. But, as time goes by, all of it gets much more comfortable to deal with.
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: london
Posts: 67
my emotions certainly are coming out.. im panicky and keep wanting to cry. i miss my family a lot, the thing is, returning to them is returning to the happy alcohol orientated environment iv grown up in.. iv got under 4 weeks til i go back..
Member
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Murfreesboro, TN
Posts: 595
Originally Posted by maya23 
for those who have given up, does giving up alcohol get easier and you miss it less after days add up to weeks and weeks to months..?
Hey Kiddo,
I've not known one recovering alcoholic that after a period of time continued to be obsessed with the thought of drinking. As the days, weeks, and months go by, I missed it less and less.
It's kind of like moving away from home for the first time. In the beginning you miss those you love, sleeping in your own bed, and the friends you left behind. But as the days go by and you meet new friends and become familiar with your surroundings, you have a tendency to think less and less about not being home and begin to enjoy where you are.
Member
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Santa Monica
Posts: 137
Originally Posted by Golfman
It's kind of like moving away from home for the first time. In the beginning you miss those you love, sleeping in your own bed, and the friends you left behind. But as the days go by and you meet new friends and become familiar with your surroundings, you have a tendency to think less and less about not being home and begin to enjoy where you are.
Member
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: Colorado Springs CO
Posts: 889
For me yes. I used to think of ways to manage it. I'd try anything if it meant I could keep drinking. Now, when I look back at my drinking, I think "what was I thinking all those years?". Once in a while a drink sounds nice, but the thought is always followed with unpleasant memories from the past, usually of the "DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST NIGHT?!?!" variety. THey come with almost no effort at all.
outtahere
Join Date: Nov 2006
Posts: 519
Originally Posted by maya23
my emotions certainly are coming out.. im panicky and keep wanting to cry. i miss my family a lot, the thing is, returning to them is returning to the happy alcohol orientated environment iv grown up in.. iv got under 4 weeks til i go back..
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