foghead

today i reached my 30 days sober challenge. I feel great inside both my body and mind. Feel like my life has changed in such a short space of time. The strange thing is , i have found it very easy. Once i got passed my two day hangover i never looked back. It makes me think that maybe im not an alcoholic but im also worried about having another drink incase i get back into a rut again. Maybe i just needed to break out of the habit of binge drinking for days and changing the way i drink and the places i drink in. IM not sure what to do but for now im just going to carry on and take one day at a time, if i do start drinking again it will only be on special occasions like birthday parties and weddings and diffently not home alone in my bedroom. That thought alone depresses me so much, maybe i have leaarnt my lesson.

CarolD

Glad you are feeling better and you reached your goal.


Here are your first shares with us....

http://www.soberrecovery.com/forums/...5496-help.html

perhaps they will help you decide to remain sober.

Dee74

I figure - why go back?
Seeing the damage alcohol has done to your life so far, why even have it in your life, foghead?

D

Suzie12

Hi Foghead, many grtz on your 30 days.

I reached 3 years completely sober and like you found it extremely easy to give up, I never thought about drinking during that time, had no withdrawals or drink cravings.....then I made A BIG MISTAKE, I found myself in a different situation and thought hey now I think i can handle the odd drink, NO NO NO I went straight back into the whole pattern of heavy evening drinking, hangovers, embarrassing myself and those around me, put on nearly 20llbs in weight. It took me another 2.5 years of binge drinking to even get the mindset to stop again. I am now just over 2 weeks sober again and this time around am finding it extremely difficult to kick it, depressed and a little unhappy, and kicking myself over and over for having started again.

Most of us who have a problem with drink can never ever go back to what is considered normal social drinking.

Hope my experience is of some use to you.

foghead

thanks for your comments and you have a point...maybe its the brain trying to trick me into drinking again. im starting muay thai tonight so that should give me a good reason to stay off the drink. Its a focus just like drinking was my focus. i can usually only focus on one thing at a time so if im focusing on muay thai then i dont see the point of drinking. suzie 12 you have touched me and i hope you can get yourself straight.

Suzie12

Thanks Foghead, I am having a damn good try

DayTrader

Cool deal fog. By the time I realized my drinking was a problem I never EVER made it a week on my own. Never once. Congratulations!!

Jabbadabutt

My guess is that if you thought for a time you were an alcoholic, then you still are and always will be one. Many of us fell into that trap of downplaying the severity of our situations to allow ourselves to 'try it out' again, only to fall into the same trap we found before. In my opinion, the term alcoholic is a generic term that can be used along with problem drinker, etc. Sure there is the physical dependece aspect of alcohol which plays a part in the definition, but in my mind if you have have negative effects from alcohol and you find yourself seeking help in trying to stop, you can never go back to that place you came from.

I am struggling with the idea of thinking I can have a drink on 'special occasions' or social situations -- but I know that the right thing to do is to not have any and not start that ball rolling......cause several times in the past it just slowly escalated to the point of bad behavior once again. I'm not saying that some people can never have a drink again, just sayng that most of the people that seek help are better off not 'trying' to drink normally again.

artsoul

Just wanted to give you a round of applause for your 30 days!

EmptySoul

I have started examining my own behavior in these terms. I have difficulty with moderation in many aspects of life including food, alcohol, exercise, etc. I'm exploring the idea that much of this boils down to dopamine dysregulation in my brain. I am currently on SSRI antidepressant due to generalized anxiety and some depression, but I think there is a dopamine issue as well. For now, I'm focusing on just not taking that first drink or donut. Trying to find some middle ground on the exercise issue is more tricky; I'm an all or nothing kind of person.

rws177

Awesome on starting Muay Thai tonight!! I train jiujitsu but we have MT at our school as well. You most defianlty cannont drink and still keep up with that hobbie. I read over your first post and would agree that it best to continue life sober...

LexieCat

Congrats on the 30 days!

I can't tell you how many people (yours truly included) have thought that because going a month without booze wasn't so hard, it was nothing more than a "bad habit".

I went 30 days years ago, and for the following four and a half years never put together more than 10 consecutive sober days after that. And it kept getting worse.

I experimented plenty--I am thoroughly convinced I can't drink like a normal non-alcoholic.