Hi, new here and 7 days sober
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Thread Starter
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: England, UK
Posts: 36
Hi, new here and 7 days sober
Hi all
I've been lurking these forums for the last couple of months, the months leading up to my decision to stop drinking.. I've known i've been an alcoholic for a long time (i've done two detoxes previously but both times always thought it was possible to safely return to drinking,,, big mistake).. I stumbled across this forum and saw the book "Under the Influence" mentioned several times so ordered a copy, and wow what an eye opener!! Truly opened my eyes to the severity of my problem and the fact I needed to do something about it..
I visited my GP (as I had done twice before) and requested help, unfortunately it took roughly 5 weeks before they referred me to the local community alcohol team.. But luckily this time I was put on a proper home detox programme.. (The last two times I was just handed a bottle of 100 Librium capsules and told to get on with it), this time I was visited by a nurse twice a day for the week and handed my meds for the day accordingly..
What can I say, what a week!! I never in my wildest dreams thought I could manage a week without alcohol after drinking about 10-20 cans of beer every day for around 4 years!!... I'm 24 years old so i'm very glad I've got on the wagon before things get worse.. I've recently been attending AA meetings this last week and every single member said they wished they hadn't wasted all those years before they were awoken to AA..
In terms of cravings etc, I've not been bad,, after reading Under the influence and knowing that i simply cannot drink again, mentally i think ive just told myself whats the point in even beating myself up about alcohol, it's just not an option... I've continued going to my local pub (which some people have expressed is a bad idea in the early days) but have managed to just enjoy lemonade with ice and still have the same banter and laughs with all my old drinking buddies,, each and every one of them support my decision fully and have been quite supportive (i thought they would all take the **** out of my to be honest),, but each and every one of them is at some stage of alchoholism even if they don't really know it yet,, i'm not one to preach (yet anyways) so i'll let them get on with their own problem drinking for the meantime..
The only downer i've had on my sober week was attempting to go out on the town like I used to, going to "party pubs" etc.. oh my days, what a dreadful night Friday was, I don't know if it was because I was looking through sober eyes or the town was especially more rowdy, but there were people fighting in the street,, people just smashing pint glasses off the fall,, people falling over tables and generally just being extremely leary... I thought I would be able to handle a night out sober but I felt vulnerable and completely ungrounded,... I spent the best part of the night twiddling my 24 hour sobriety coin through my fingers, hoping to project myself somewhere else, or to tap into some sort of higher power etc that would stop me from just picking up a pint and downing it as fast as I could.. but I resisted and eventually just decided to call it a night and bugger off home..
Anyways,, sorry for the rant.. Just wanted to introduce myself on here and to finally get involved in this community aswell as my local AA groups..
Thanking you all for your support in advance
..adam
I've been lurking these forums for the last couple of months, the months leading up to my decision to stop drinking.. I've known i've been an alcoholic for a long time (i've done two detoxes previously but both times always thought it was possible to safely return to drinking,,, big mistake).. I stumbled across this forum and saw the book "Under the Influence" mentioned several times so ordered a copy, and wow what an eye opener!! Truly opened my eyes to the severity of my problem and the fact I needed to do something about it..
I visited my GP (as I had done twice before) and requested help, unfortunately it took roughly 5 weeks before they referred me to the local community alcohol team.. But luckily this time I was put on a proper home detox programme.. (The last two times I was just handed a bottle of 100 Librium capsules and told to get on with it), this time I was visited by a nurse twice a day for the week and handed my meds for the day accordingly..
What can I say, what a week!! I never in my wildest dreams thought I could manage a week without alcohol after drinking about 10-20 cans of beer every day for around 4 years!!... I'm 24 years old so i'm very glad I've got on the wagon before things get worse.. I've recently been attending AA meetings this last week and every single member said they wished they hadn't wasted all those years before they were awoken to AA..
In terms of cravings etc, I've not been bad,, after reading Under the influence and knowing that i simply cannot drink again, mentally i think ive just told myself whats the point in even beating myself up about alcohol, it's just not an option... I've continued going to my local pub (which some people have expressed is a bad idea in the early days) but have managed to just enjoy lemonade with ice and still have the same banter and laughs with all my old drinking buddies,, each and every one of them support my decision fully and have been quite supportive (i thought they would all take the **** out of my to be honest),, but each and every one of them is at some stage of alchoholism even if they don't really know it yet,, i'm not one to preach (yet anyways) so i'll let them get on with their own problem drinking for the meantime..
The only downer i've had on my sober week was attempting to go out on the town like I used to, going to "party pubs" etc.. oh my days, what a dreadful night Friday was, I don't know if it was because I was looking through sober eyes or the town was especially more rowdy, but there were people fighting in the street,, people just smashing pint glasses off the fall,, people falling over tables and generally just being extremely leary... I thought I would be able to handle a night out sober but I felt vulnerable and completely ungrounded,... I spent the best part of the night twiddling my 24 hour sobriety coin through my fingers, hoping to project myself somewhere else, or to tap into some sort of higher power etc that would stop me from just picking up a pint and downing it as fast as I could.. but I resisted and eventually just decided to call it a night and bugger off home..
Anyways,, sorry for the rant.. Just wanted to introduce myself on here and to finally get involved in this community aswell as my local AA groups..
Thanking you all for your support in advance
..adam
Member
Join Date: May 2011
Posts: 46
I've noticed drunk people feel very dangerous to be around when you are sober. Drunk people are usually loud with foul breath, rude, belligerent, violent, ready to fight at the drop of hat, easy to p*ss off and have no sense of personal space. Now you know why women who causally drink at bars at clubs most of the time reject your advances when you are drunk. Alcohol drowns out our ability to truly be aware of potentially harmful situations. So when you went out on the town to the drinking district on Friday, you were witnessing normal widespread drunken behavior. When we are drunk, ourselves, we do not realize the danger we put ourselves in by driving drunk, hanging around friends, acquaintances and strangers with bad drunken behavior etc. This is why alcohol is so dangerous. I don't like be around drunk people while sober because they are unpredictable and likely to do something stupid they may not even remember later. Being sober makes us realize how dangerous alcohol is as a substance. I, too, have only been sober over a week and I already realize that my old friends are unpleasant to be around because they are always drunk.
SR Fan
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: Mississippi
Posts: 7,910
Welcome hirsty!
Glad you decided to come over to the posting side and congratulations on a week sober! I was amazed, too, at how different things looked the first time I was around a bunch of people who were drinking. It wasn't as extreme as you described, just some friends who were starting to get tipsy, but was still quite strange watching the conversation and the behavior go downhill.
To think I spent good money to get stupid, wow!........
Good to have you with us!
Glad you decided to come over to the posting side and congratulations on a week sober! I was amazed, too, at how different things looked the first time I was around a bunch of people who were drinking. It wasn't as extreme as you described, just some friends who were starting to get tipsy, but was still quite strange watching the conversation and the behavior go downhill.
To think I spent good money to get stupid, wow!........
Good to have you with us!
Member
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Atlanta
Posts: 31,179
Welcome to SR (((Adam))) and way to go on 7 days!! You are quite right in those of us who are older (MUCH older) in that I wish I had gotten my addiction under control when I was younger.
Though my DOC was crack, I really don't like being around what I call "the drunk and disorderly", though I'm sure I was like that more than a few times, when I was younger
SR has been a huge part of my recovery, and I'm glad you're here!
Hugs and prayers,
Amy
Though my DOC was crack, I really don't like being around what I call "the drunk and disorderly", though I'm sure I was like that more than a few times, when I was younger
SR has been a huge part of my recovery, and I'm glad you're here!
Hugs and prayers,
Amy
Member
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Maryland
Posts: 259
Well done on the 7 days and welcome.
The hanging out thing takes a while to get used to that is for sure. At first it was absolute torture to hang out in bars, clubs or house parties the time seems to go so slow, the feeling that everybody is looking at you and paying attention to the fact that you are not drinking. The truth is they do not even care 15 min. after you tell them they are to absorbed in their own drinking. For me it got easier with time, about two months, you will come to realize that you are not an outcast because you are not drinking conversely you actually have the upper hand in these situations because of your clarity and ability to recall the topic of conversations. One key for me is knowing when to leave and it saves me, as a poster mentioned above there is not many redeeming qualities that drunk people have, so I try to leave right while the party is still in the upswing rather than the downward spiral. This is what has worked for me, it might not for you..
Anyway best of luck and look forward to hearing about your progress,
The hanging out thing takes a while to get used to that is for sure. At first it was absolute torture to hang out in bars, clubs or house parties the time seems to go so slow, the feeling that everybody is looking at you and paying attention to the fact that you are not drinking. The truth is they do not even care 15 min. after you tell them they are to absorbed in their own drinking. For me it got easier with time, about two months, you will come to realize that you are not an outcast because you are not drinking conversely you actually have the upper hand in these situations because of your clarity and ability to recall the topic of conversations. One key for me is knowing when to leave and it saves me, as a poster mentioned above there is not many redeeming qualities that drunk people have, so I try to leave right while the party is still in the upswing rather than the downward spiral. This is what has worked for me, it might not for you..
Anyway best of luck and look forward to hearing about your progress,
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