PaulL

Hi folks,
I've been lurking and reading here and there the last few weeks, but haven't joined any conversations.

Yes, I'm at that notorious 6 week point, marked by flat emotions, moodiness or more accurately sullenness, and generally not great company to be around! (P.A.W.S. is right on!)

Of course this puts a strain on the marriage as you'd expect. AND in times past, it's at this point that I say "heck with it" and start drinking again, to get the cheer back.

But since I am still 100% resolved to give up alcohol for good, there is really no temptation to drink. I don't dwell on it, or even think about it.

For the withdrawn mood, I am trying St John's Wort (over the counter herbal supplement for "mood enhancement"). I've had some positive results from this in the past when taken for a week or two. Any longer, the effect seems to be less evident.

Haha... I've also discovered GREEN TEA. I know....what a wuss!...what a granola! ;-) But actually, a cup of Chamomile before bed is nice and relaxing! And helps sleep much better than that last shot (or two) of Canadian Velvet!

Thanks for letting me share.

CarolD

Glad to see you agan....
Well done on your progress Paul!

WantToNeedTo

Load up on Vitamin B. Take a B-complex and get started on Sublingual B-12. My mother has told me for years to try this for energy and mood and depression. She even told me(without her knowing I drank too much) "they use this for recovering alcoholics and to reduce withdrawals during detox too". Anyways, I tried it, and sure enough you can tell a huge difference. I have even read numerous times that vitamin defficiancies are a big reason alcoholics go back to the bottle after being sober.

Tazman53

Our diets do impact our sobriety in both posotive and negative ways, there are a lot of things we can do to enhance our health which enhances our sobriety.

splendra

((((Paul)))))

You sound so good. Something that helped me so much when working on staying clean was to stay away from sugar and also artificial sweeteners. It is really hard to stay away from sugar if I am eating mostly prepackaged foods. If I cook foods myself I need to pay attention to the labels and if sugar, high fructose corn syrup, or artificial sweeteners ect... is among the first 5 ingredients I can be pretty sure I can be pretty sure it has too much for my alcoholic system to manage without getting cravings to drink. I had my blood sugar tested and adjusted my diet. Once I adjusted I very quickly got better.

I did not even eat fruits for over a year. I ate foods that require more chewing. Whole grains and raw vegetables will supply the body with the necessary sugars in order to feed the hormonal or endocrine system so that it can balance the brain. IN my humble opinion the main reason people relapse is because this issue is not throughly and properly addressed. I think anyone in recovery ought to have completely removed from their diet anything that that is sweet including tomatoes,soda,peppers, sweet tea, honey, fruit, and SUGAR or any of it's derivatives. I think it would literally revolutionize recovery and make it so much easier for all concerned. But it is just my opinion...

PaulL

Thanks for the feedback about nutrition. Yes, it took about 2 weeks to get over the intense sugar cravings that replaced the alcohol. Now things seem "normal"

I agree though (Taz), as the saying goes, "we are what we eat". "Wantto.." I've tried the big doses of Vitamin B before and found that they energize me TOO much and make sleep more difficult. So now I just stick with multivitamins and healthy amounts of fruits & vegies.

Splendra, thanks for your feedback. Years ago my wife & I switched from sugar to "Splenda" (without the r) ;-) in our coffee. I don't know if I can give that up completely. Nor can I give up having just ONE of her homemade chocolate chip cookies after dinner;-)
Moderation!!!