I picked a hell of a week to quit...
 

Both boys were sick this week with high fevers during late night, which meant extra fussy, moodiness and very little sleep for my wife and I all week. Also had to take 2 days off to stay home with them, my wife took 2 (and we're both very busy at work). OK, it was manageable but I normally would have relaxed with a few drinks for a couple of those nights while making dinner or something. Friday came, boys are better but it's grill night and I grilled 2 nice steaks outside. Really missed the grill-time beer. Had coffee and seltzer instead.

Saturday - day 7 - involves big event and mixed feelings
Tonight we attended a big black-tie gala event. Bars were everywhere. Free bar, top shelf everything, open all night. In previous years, I took advantage. This year, I scouted out coffee. During the dinner they had a full wine service that went around to each table... lemon water for me. Open bars everywhere in the ballroom. Out of 735 people 733 were drinking and I could smell it. Though I knew I could resist, the temptation was intense. Mixed feelings come in because I'm proud that I had the willpower to abstain, but I'm not really happy about it. I kinda wish my start day was tomorrow. Weird, I know. At least I've got a solid week to show for it.

I dunno if it's just the lack of sleep all this week or what, but I find that I've been blah. Not bad, not good, just blah.

Congratulations; you've accomplished something quite significant. Trust me when I say that if you stay the course, there will come a time that you will experience another such evening without a thought to the alcohol that is around you.

Congrats!

Hi Kawboy

I don't think I ever had as many 'reasons to drink' as I did in my first weeks, but I didn't cave...and I'm glad.

If you're like me you drank for years - give recovery a little time investment too - things will get better :)

congrats on that first week :)

D

It was nice to wake up and not have to take advil for the headache or tums for the rumbly stomach. I also did the recycling and it was a nice change of pace not to have the bottles and cans taking up a good chunk of the real estate.

Sadly, now my wife is sick (caught what the boys had)... good grief.

I thought by day 8, I'd be more energetic in the mornings. But that's not the case, I feel the same in that respect. I also still have the bags under my eyes, which I was hoping to would disappear.

hello Kawboy, well done on getting sober.

I didn't feel that great when I first stopped, as think your body takes a while to get back on track. I didn't drink huge amounts but still think I had some ongoing withdrawal symptoms (see below, it's called PAWs).

I think sometimes I read too much into it, as my brain gets frazzled when stressed anyway e.g. forgetful etc. But I think when you first give up any addiction there is an adjustment period. Go easy on yourself if you can while doing the stressful things of life.

Why We Don’t Get Better Immediately: Post-acute Withdrawal Syndrome (PAWS) | What...Me Sober?

Things should get better. I assume you have looked into getting good nutrition and take time for some power naps.

Kawboy,
I cant offer too much advise because I only have 4 weeks sober but, I can tell you that until this last week I felt like s**t everyday. Then this last week it just kind-of lifted and I am beginning to feel good. Maybe we just need some time to heal. Jess

Grymt: I usually eat well (I love to cook using fresh ingredients) and take a daily multivitamin. I wish I could take some power naps in the course of the day, but unfortunately I'm running solid 7:30am through 9pm for all 7. You'd think I'd be in better shape than I am with my daily routines. :)

I'm hoping that when I phase in an exercise regimen, I'll be feeling better in the mornings.

The WRONG WEEK... Clips.

lol @ lexie

I wonder if some respite options exist. It can be that if you push yourself too much things can get more difficult. If possible then spend some of that extra time in some appropriate therapy until you catch up again. I don't know. I guess I wish I had at a time. Still, that's in the past for me now. Sounds like you're thinking straight about a lot of things. I wish you well.

Congrats for day 8 - and no, the light switch from being an alcoholic to a sunny go-getter doesn't happen overnight. The energy for me came back pretty suddenly, my husband still is not happy with his lack of energy. He stopped for me when my problem was clearly seriously worse for me than him. though, his job is physical and when he's not working, he tends to 'seize up.
I'd give the eye bags another couple of weeks! If you physically feel better you are more than half way there!

Those clips are hilarious!!!! A classic!! I don't think there has ever been a "right" time for me to quit. It's always something!!!:)

We spent years accustoming our bodies and brains to the more or less continuous presence of alcohol. It caused physical changes in our brains that made it possible for them to cope with the alcohol (and that also increased our tolerance for it). Eventually, the changes caused us to crave alcohol when we didn't have it.

It is pretty unreasonable for me to expect my body to immediately repair damage that I caused it over a period of years. It can take up to two years for things to get back to normal. During that time we have periods of feeling better, alternating with periods of feeling somewhat worse. These tend to even out over time, with more better and less worse. The whole thing is: time takes time.

Mild exercise, good nutrition, adequate rest (right...with sick kids!) and fun are the key, along with support group meetings. Before you say, "Oh, I can't go to AA, everyone knows me!" let me tell you that I was a prominent city official when I got clean and sober, and no one said a word. In fact, I don't think anyone even noticed. If offered a drink, I'd just say "I'm not drinking tonight" and let it go. After a few weeks, I ran into one of the city councilmen at a meeting and we went for a cuppa afterward.

Recovery isn't especially easy, but it's simple.

Hang in there!

Bill

When you're an alcoholic there never seems to be a right time to quit. As alcoholics our life revolved around alcohol and everything became a reason to drink. If you would have waited, something else would have just come up and presented itself as an opportunity to drink. When you're an alcoholic the best time to quit is right now, because every time you pick up a drink you are playing with fire.

Try asking your doc for a prescription of Antabuse. It curves cravings but most importantly it silences the battle in our heads about the desire to drink ("Should I? Shouldn't I? Maybe just one? 9 blah blah etc) because you can't drink on the meds or you'll get violently ill. I am at 7 days exactly and the Antabuse helps a lot! Good luck :) Don't worry, you're not the only one out there feeling like that. I have a bachelorette party in Vegas coming up! :( ugh temptations everywhere. Thank god for meds! Best wishes.

The week you picked to quit drinking is the best one, because it is now. It might not be an easy time to quit, but the degree of difficulty doesn't have anything to do with it. You decided you deserve a better life, and the only time to do something about it is now. If you think about it in a certain way, now is the only time there is for you to change it up - whenever you do it, it will always be now.

Congratulations to you, kawboy.

Serenity, you are showing yourself that you can choose to not drink because the consequences of drinking are something you won't accept. Good for you. Make no mistake though, you don't need a pill to do that. You can say to yourself that even though you have an urge to drink, you won't act on it no matter what, just as you are doing now. You just need to believe that you can.