whiskeyman

Have been drinking for three years pretty heavy but am raising my bottom after helping a friend go thru the worst rock bottom ever.

i am on day 10 and am starting to feel good.
been attending AA, loving it, so supportive,
finally got a sponsor, have a psychotherapist and an addiction counsellor all working with me.

had a full medical and dr said liver is good, (i said he must have the wrong blood) but he said i probably had good genes.

the vanity thing i despise is my very red puffy face.

will it go away. at least it isnt ht to the touch anymore but am worried i have done damage to blood cells or something.

as well, does anyone have an opinion on naltrexone for cravings

ItWillBeWorthIt

Congratulations on 10 days, that is a great accomplishment. That is great news about your liver, I, too, was very fortunate that my liver and my other blood work came back fine. I would never what to risk my health again.

As for the red puffy face. Mine was like this and it did go back to "normal", but I would suggest you drink A LOT of water. When we drink, especially heavily we dehydrate our body so badly. As I get more into my recovery, over months now, I notice that my skin looks better and better each day.
Not to mention how great my body feels, I am SO full of energy.

Stick to your recovery and work it each and everyday. Don't get complacent. Recovery takes time and work, but it is SO worth it. Stick around SR, read and post -- it does work.

Good luck... I am wish you the very best.

CarolD

Welcome back...

No I did not use a drug for cravings.
I did take positive actions instead.

In early sobriety ....
I timed my cravings...they lasted 5-7 minutes
not too long to be uncomfortable IMO

I atended AA daily before work and on weekends.
I wanted to learn how to live sober. without drugs.

I walked...drank cold water...brushed my teeth ..danced
around the room..used Lifesavers...ate ... took showers
distraction short term distractions.....

Rather quickly they lessened in both frequency and intensity.

With my doctors ok..I was also following an eating plan for
hypoglycemia + the supplements I found in the book
"Under The Influence" by Milam & Ketcham.
In retrospect...that helped immensley to get me back in
both mental and physical balance.

By the end of 2 months of AA recovery...all cravings were
gone and have never returned.

Yes...you too can win over alcohol...

ZZworldontheweb

I'm on Naltrexone, and I won't say it does anything one way or the other for cravings, but knowing I'm on it creates a mental barrier to picking up because I know I can't get high. It's pretty inexpensive too, about $1.50 per day. Way less than alcohol!

MrDavid

Sounds...like a plan.

whiskeyman

so , funny, its the long weekend and i drove by the liquor store looking at the long lineup to get in the parking lot thinking i am not going there this time.
feeling good, finally, and ready for the journey

Bikeguy

I had puffy eyes all the time during my drinking days and continued problems with my contacts. After about 20 days off off booze my eyes went back to normal and no issues with my contacts, drink lots of h20 it should help flush the toxins out and hopefully bring down some swelling.

NYCDoglvr

Wow, this is HUGE!!! You're an inspiration to so many of us. What will get you through this rocky period is continuing to be willing to do whatever it takes to stay sober. Your sponsor will be an enormous help.

Congratulations!

secondchance11

Whiskeyman, it will go away. I'm going through the exact same thing, it's day 12 for me. The first week my face was so swollen and hot people thought I was having severe allergies, (actually at first I thought it was allerigies too). My face was never swollen when I was drinking, unlike many drinkers. It's been going down the last two days. Today's my best day yet, although I'm still a little puffy around the eyes. Sleeping on my back seemed to help too(opposed to my side)
I've been drinking water nonstop, (because water retention is a big sign of dehydration) though it didn't look like it helped at first. I think I'm retaining water in other places now, though. My knees and ankles are all swollen today.
Don't give up!
Maybe it's the whiskey god taking his revenge (or at least that was my DoC)

Fandy

since you went to your doctor, I'm assuming he checked your BP and you don't have hypertension(HTN).??? my face was very moon-like and swollen too....along with my lower abdomen.

you need lots of fluids, and a good multi-vitamin, B-complex wouldn't hurt. as for flushing your system and losing the bloat, it will just take time, certain types of vegetables help you to lose water retention....(asparagus, cucumbers), and try to stick to a low sodium, unprocessed natural type of foods (avoid cold-cuts, salami, ham,canned soups, they have a lot of extra sodium).

take a picture of yourself weekly, you will see more improvement that way. congrats on a good start!!! keep us up to date.