JohnTheQuitter

Okay, I'm three days in. I posted before but my phrasing was off and nobody wanted to touch it too much. I understand.

I made it through day two (yesterday) and other than fighting the urge, horrible dreams, and waking up with the chills or short of breath... it wasn't too bad. Took one Xanax a little before bedtime and slept with the pills on the nightstand, but never needed a second.

So, day three today... making it to Friday should be easy... the weekend, on the other hand, will be a challenge and I know it will.

Rimmy

One day at a time...

1963comet

Hello and glad to see you here.

Great job on the days you have so far. For me I had to stay on a positive note. I see you are concerened about the weekend.

Just keep telling yourself "You can do it".

The most important thing I did in the beginnig was to stay away from any one that was drinking. Even with the best intentions it can be hard to turn down a drink when it is in front of you.

Just trying to help.

Anna

Good for you!

So, if you know the weekend is going to be tough, you can plan ahead. I couldn't be around alcohol for quite awhile when I stopped drinking. It was just too hard. Do you have plans for the weekend and someone to call if things get difficult?

tennis71

Congtrats so far!

Anna is right about planning ahead - have you started to make a plan for a successful weekend?

CarolD

Glad you are moving into a healthy sober future.


Keep in focus and keep us updated

barb dwyer

hi JOhn -

just keep moving.

let yourself be sick .. but keep your head HERE.
in the moment.

them's MY two cents.

congratulations!

you never have to do this again.
and you're not alone.

Tazman53

You know one thing that made early sobriety so much easier, especially the weekends was hanging out with a bunch of sober alcoholics!!!!

Sitting at home hiding from the booze and thinking about it all the time did nothing but get me drunk.

JohnTheQuitter

Day four. Two Xanax last night to get through, but I consider that an accomplishment as there were several high-stress situations yesterday in which I probably would have been prone to drink before.

Sleeping better, but I'm getting this fast onset, sinus-type headache quite regularly. My right sinus passage and that region of my head will start KILLING me all of a sudden. My digestive system is in MUCH better shape already. Starting to down tons of water and Iced Tea.

Thanks for the advice regarding the weekend. I'm already hearing whisperings of "what if's" in my head, and that's hard to get past. I have this notion in my head (that I must get past, I know...) that if I slipped this weekend it would be okay since I made it through the week. My internal voice keeps trying to convince me that if I can limit drinking to weekends, that is okay. It's easy to put into perspective right now, but I fear the moment when that switch might "flip" ya' know?

Tazman53

John I had those voices in my head promising me it would be different this time, it would go from "you deserve a 6 pack because you did not drink" to "Hey a 6 pack didn't hurt, I can handle a 12 pack!" Next thing I knew I was right back were I left of at only worse!

That for me was the mental obsession, for me the steps lifted the mental obsession.

Rimmy

I'm not one to talk, but yeah, watch that internal voice. My wife still drinks and has friends come to our house with their bottles of wine... it's knocked me off my sobriety plenty of times by not getting drunk with them, but just having a few. Difference is I drink the next day too.. they wouldn't.

So, hang in there. Avoid if you can the influence, at least for now.

Good luck

GlassPrisoner

At 4 days, getting the mail or walking the dog was a high stress situation !!!

It's going to take a while for your body to heal. Months maybe. My digestive system was good after about 2 weeks (I remember my first, solid poop) Sleep returned to me at about 90 days, along with my appetite. The anxiety continued to nag me until I started working the steps.

JohnTheQuitter

Well, day 5... last night was the same... 2 Xanax. This time I looked ahead to the times in my routine on Thursdays when I would get most stressed and tempted the most... and dropped the Xanax BEFORE the cravings hit. Worked like a charm. The good thing about the Xanax is that I have never taken it in excess, and I know I WILL NOT drink after having taken even just one.

...and what's funny... when I go to take the first one, I can feel the anxiety build and that little voice whispering, "are you sure? If you take that, you won't be able to drink later if you break down..."

Tonight will be most difficult... The thought of "burning one down" as a substitution (which I have not done in quite some time nor do I do regularly) crossed my mind... but I don't know... I'm at odds with substituting one thing for another.

Tazman53

One simply leads back to the other, I know that if I got high off of something that I will instantly start to obsess for what I no longer obsess over. Not to say I may not be able to resist a few times, but who is to say when I will give in? Is it worth the gamble to me? To much to lose for me, I will skip any other mind altering substances unless a doc prescribes them and then only if the doc knows I am an alcoholic.

sugErspun

I have witnessed the 'marijuana maintenance' program take more than one alcoholic out.

Rimmy

I don't think it should be your final goal to find any way to knumb your mind other than alcohol ie:substitutions. Work on not drinking and if you need escape from life stick to movies, books, walks, ice cream sundaes, big league chew, coffee, working out... whatever you enjoy doing.

Emimily

Rimmy, big league chew, hahahaha...