CrustyMarine

Hey all, new to site. Stopped drinking (was a pretty good binger since my teens) and smoking cold turkey about a month and a half ago in an effort to get healthy again. Started running again. Feeling good physically....

Mentally...I am in a constant state of simmering rage, and I don't know why. The smallest thing will set me off in a full blown rage. I have been avoiding friends and family while this has been going on. I am beginning to think I was using alcohol as a mood regulator all those years...

Anyways, just wondering if anyone else experienced something similar after quitting drinking and did it go away?

Thanks for listening.

Pelican

Welcome to SR Marine!

Congratulations on your sobriety!

I sending you a link from one of our sticky posts at the top of this forum. The link contains excerpts from the book "Under the Influence". Part of what you are experiencing (rage) may be withdrawal symptoms from alcohol. Your body became chemically addicted to alcohol. The irritablility may be from hypoglycemia which is also common in early sobriety. Here's the link:
http://www.soberrecovery.com/forums/...influence.html

Your Doctor will be able to confirm hypoglycemia.

CarolD

Here is another link for you to check out with your doctor

Post Acute Withdrawl - Relapse Prevention Specialists - TLC The Living Center

Good to know you are heading into a healthy future
Welcome to our SR Alcoholism Forum

caleb76

Could be withdrawal, it could be something else. Talking to your doctor is always a good idea when you quit drinking.

I used alcohol for many years. Now when I look back at drinking I can see things that commonly triggered me to drink. Stress and anxiety are two of the major triggers that led me to the liquor store.

I have been taking 10 milligrams of fluoxetine for the last six months and I don't experience those triggers near as often.

The fluoxetine helps reduce stess and helps improve my overall outlook on life! I am not saying that I am sober because of the medication but I certainly think it has helped me a lot in handling life better.

There are many roads to sobriety but I think alcoholism should be fought on many fronts. For example, getting off of alcohol is the initial step. Once this has occurred you may want to talk to a psychiatrist, or maybe just an MD for starters, to see if there are any conditions you may have that would make your sobriety harder to maintain. These conditions may include depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, etc. Once you are off of alcohol then it is good to get into a support group. Many support groups exist. I prefer AA but that is me. I think you are more likely to have long term sobriety if you use a support group.

Everybody finds sobriety differently, what I described is similar to the solution I have stumbled upon.

Congrats on your 1.5 months! Your mood may stabilize if you don't go to the doctor. Then again you may be extremely glad about the help you receive if you do use medical science.

Thanks for posting. Your story helped me not drink anything today!

coffeenut

Congrats on your sober time....and welcome to SR!

When I was in early sobriety....I thought I was fine....a couple of months later my husband informed me I was not the easiest thing to live with.... . Oh, well..it was worth it!

CrustyMarine

Thanks for the information guys. Definitely provides some insight.

CAPTAINZING2000

I stopped smoking going on two months. I was real edgy for a while. This is my second attempt with the no smoking since, I've been sober. I'd stopped for several years after I got sober.

Damn, price of smoking and drinking would leave a person homeless anymore!

Wolfchild