My house is a MESS!
 

I did my best cleaning while drinking. Minutes after I start to clean I feel like I need a drink.

The bathroom is a swamp the dishes are pilled. When I was drinking I couldn't stand dishes in the sink and a gross bathroom. Now it's like I don't care.

I don't know how to get this place clean without feeling the pangs of wanting a drink.

:a108:

~end vent~

Maybe a non-drinking buddy could come over & hang out with you while you clean? Help keep your mind off the urge.

Don't be too hard on yourself, a bit of squalor is well worth keeping your early sobriety intact. Hang in there!!

Could you make a substitute drink up whilst you clean?
A nice herbal tea :)

Also I agree a sober friend helping could help a lot

I'm sensitive to caffeine so I get the jitters. I don't have any close friends that could help. I do have children that could help. I dunno why I've always felt guilty for requiring them to do chores. I'm paying for it now that they are older.

I'll have to have a sit down with them to let them know how I'm feeling.

Thanks for the advise.

Funnily enough, I would have to drink during tasks like housework. I thought I was the only one :) Just try and do little bits and then stop and have a massive glass of water.

Hey cloudy ,
your still kinda early days , take care of yourself , you don't have to be perfect , just get through sober :)
A little and often is how i break it down , i'm still not very good, my home is very messy.

Sometimes i've found chucking excess cups plates and cutlery out into the shed useful . if there are 4 people in your house only having 4 of everything in the cupboard means if people want clean plates they must wash up … I used to only have one plate , knife fork and cup in my old house and didn't have washing up issues ;)

I also simplify in the bathroom , which used to collect nearly empty bottles of product everywhere ,i just threw the lot , de-clutter , make keeping it clean simple … i rinse the shower and use a squirty foaming cleaner as i get out after my shower / bath , it makes quick work attacking it when it's still warm and wet .

I also use the squirty cleaner on the hand basin every morning and evening when i brush my teeth

Hope this helps a bit ..

Take care , m

Whoa, two other people who cleaned while drinking. I was the same way and since I quit drinking my bathtub is not half as nice as it used to. For some reasons I really dug drinking and cleaning while cleaning alone is just a chore. Oh well, being sober is worth not being able to see my face reflected in the bathroom enamel ;)
What I do is that I just treat it like a job. I have a set time weekly to clean, it's on my calendar and I stick to it. I also do things as they come along the way like dishes, picking up after myself the same day and folding and putting away laundry immediately. That way it does not pile up and become unmanageable.

Maybe another one to add to Myths about alcoholics:
Alcoholics live in filth and do not clean LOL

I used to clean, fall asleep for two days, sober up, clean and then get drunk again. How strange!

Herbal tea is generally caffieine free--lots of fruity flavors, mint, chamomile, etc. and it is even great cold mixed with sparkling water like a sugar free soda.

Getting alternative drinks is really helpful to stay quit--I drink gallons of the stuff every week because I can't have a lot of caffeine or sugar.

Hang in there. A dirty house and sobriety is better than drunk and tidy :-)

I also was a cleaning drinker. What odd behaviour !

I was a cleaning machine while drinking and cleaning. Still sorta am I guess, its just not nearly as ''fun''. The rewards, sense of accomplishment, after looking at the finished results feel the same though happyface: just feels like it takes longer to get there. This will probably change in time..for the better.

Once you force yourself to start cleaning - and get into it - its not all that bad!...get started OP!!!!

Give it some time, you'll get that clean swing back!

I was the same way with drinking and smoking. I'd reward myself before, during, after, household chores.

My best advice: do it but don't drink or use. Or pay someone.

Not sure why, but your post really made me laugh out loud. We were odd weren't we? But you gotta laugh or you'd go mad :)

Aussieblue's post made me laugh too. Another cleaning drinker here, though I still enjoy the cleaning quite a bit. I put on music and tell myself I'll only do 10 minutes, but after 10 minutes I usually don't want to stop.
If the house doesn't sparkle, that's okay. Progress, not perfection.

June

I was also a drinking cleaner (and gardener). I am hating sober housework. When I first got home from rehab I was shocked to realize housework was a trigger.

Maybe set some money aside and hire someone just in the beginning. Funny . . .i always feel an urge to drink when i am finished cleaning. My "reward" i guess.

I thought I was the only one who cleaned while I drank. My house was a wreck for months (and months) after I got sober. My husband finally took over (and still does a lot of it still). What odd behavior is right....who would have thought the smell of lemon pledge would drive me to drink!

I didn't drink & clean, but I did clean. Since becoming sober, I found my cleaning has taken a back seat to me, to my meetings, to my being of service, to my Recovery! I've also found I don't cook "dinners" as often. I have been a stay at home mom/wife for 20+ years.

I went into Rehab last October for month. Well, Whatda know...my husband and our then 21 year old son knew how to cook, clean, and do laundry. The house didn't fall down and nobody went naked. With help from my counselor at Rehab, then my Sponsors, I came to realize that by keeping that Becky Homecky household , I was protecting my right to drink. If it all looked good on the outside, then I MUST be 'good' on the inside. So, continue to drink Bobbi....you aren't affecting or hurting anybody...not even yourself! Keeping my secret all bottled up inside that I was an alcoholic and needed help. I still do household chores because that really is my job. My husband works outside the home, and I work inside, that been our agreement for 25 years. We're both sober and in AA now, working our programs and keeping it together.:bananadan. Bobbi