What is it about being sick??
 

Good morning, my SR friends. I'm closing in on nearly 4 months now (woohoo!), and felt it timely to post a brief update.

For the past week my toddler has been sick with a virus. Then a few days ago I caught the damn thing. Nothing TOO serious mind you, but yesterday I stayed home from work and basically flaked on my couch with my son.

Being ill and cooped up does things to my mind. Even back in my drinking days some of my WORST binges happened when I was sick. And yesterday my cravings were pretty bad. I'm thinking because there's just simply no way to 'fix' how I'm feeling, other than wait it out. And I know how we alcoholics are an impatient bunch, wanting things to go our way NOW.

I'm going to work today, although I'm not 100%. Can't burn through all my sick time this early in the year. I'm sure keeping busy will ease this mild depression, although one day I'm hoping to learn how to sit with discomfort without thoughts of booze flooding my brain.

Anyhoo, happy Tuesday everyone. :thanks

I drank everyday for 27 years - even when I was sick. I used to buy a bottle of Leroux Blackberry Brandy when I had a cold - it was my "medicine". Of course I was only wearing my body down even further but my alcoholic brain figured it was the perfect remedy.

I am also close to your sobriety date (today I am 4 months & 4 days sober) and the last few days I have been out of sorts - I have to ride it out and have faith it will pass.

I know. I used to drink after dentalwork. My AV thought I deserved it.

For me, everything was a reason to drink. Being sick, happy, healthy, sad, excited, nervous, you name it. Pretty much being awake was all I needed to start drinking.

Regarding your question though, I think you are already learning how to fill your mind with other thoughts when you are sick - coming here and asking for help is a great example. Spending time with your son too - that's an excellent use of your time in so many ways. And you hit the nail on the head...we ( addicts ) want instant gratification, but we simply have to adjust to the fact that things take time in the "real" world. Good job and hope you are feeling better soon along with your little guy!

I hear that!! But in the end it was all bad.

I used to drink whiskey when I felt a cold coming on. I would swear that I could avert being sick that way. Now I realize that even if that were true, the flip side of the coin is that I averted myself from feeling well the same way!

I am about the same time sober as you and I got a bad cold a few weeks back and felt the same. I guess I felt weak, which brought me down further then the cold. I know that is silly because it's not an issue of strength or weakness, but that is how I felt.

I heard someone with nearly four decades of sobriety say: "life only sucks one day at a time". It passes, everything passes, and you're right, we alcoholics want it now. Try asking yourself: will drinking help anything? You'll be sick and drunk.

I've been sick all week with the flu. Fever, coughing, headaches, body aches, the whole shabang. It's sucked. Today was the first day I was fever free and started to feel human again.

When I was drinking, it was around the clock drinking so i could sleep through the flu...I'd be sick for like 3 weeks. This flu lasted 6 days.

I didn't want to drink, I think the knee jerk reaction is gone for me as it's been a year since I got clean. I just wanted copious amounts of chicken soup. That s#it is better than any booze I ever drank.

I hope you feel better soon! :)

I worried a bit in early recovery about getting sick, though as it turned out it was several years before I even caught a cold. I used to use that as a big excuse to binge, which of course made me feel worse and made it last longer - which fed my desire to binge even more. Whenever I was faced with a new-to-sobriety situation that used to be heavily associated with drinking, it would feel triggering, at least the first time. But the next time, it would seem easy. We're re-training our brains in recovery, and beating down those reactive urges, so every time we make it through a new trial, we come out stronger.

"What is it about being sick??"

It isn't. It's about being in early recovery.
Is it possible that you're also experiencing PAWS?

Best
:)