14Sierra

I just started my 4th month and one morning this week I woke up and realized my head was clear, I was able to think and rationalize things much better. I feel so much more motivated than I have in about a month.

I remember feeling like this a couple of times in the earlier months but then the brain fog always came back. So now it's been a couple of days and my head is still very clear and I'm finally starting to think things are getting better.

So I'm wondering will the brain fog come back again? I really like feeling like this but don't want to get my hopes up yet.

biminiblue

I think we all have different experiences in extended sobriety. I felt pretty good at four months, but I didn't know just how much better it would continue to get in that first year.

So many changes, I'm just grateful I was able to experience them.

Doug39

I am almost 5 months sober and I am slowly feeling more clear-headed.

I have had moments here and there where I am suddenly very clear and focused but it isn't a constant thing; I also still have times when I feel out of it and I start to follow that off feeling and I start getting very anxious.

Over all I have seen great improvements.

14Sierra

Funny you say that cause I've been battling anxiety for months now, but I think that was an underlying problem that I always have been covering up.

biminiblue: I mean if it keeps getting better than that is definitely motivational. I was just surprised to multiple days in a row where I started to almost feel normal again.

I'm kind of at a point where I'll take as many good days as I can get, just hoping the bad ones get less and less

Mattq2

I second what Bimini said, everything keeps getting better and more stable. With several months of sobriety my brain is working quite nicely even for an old guy😃

ScottFromWI

It happens a little at a time I think, but it's cumulative over time. I bet if you looked back to what things were like 4 months ago and compared it to today you would see a lot or positive change.

14Sierra

Yeah man, I could barely spell anything the first month I was so much in the fog. I'm really glad that's passed

SoberLeigh

My brain fog was very significant for at least the first six months or so, at which time it began to gradually and noticeably lift.

Have faith; the moment will come when you will say to yourself "Wow, I feel so good again; things have become so clear". It's a very cool and satisfying moment!!!!

Angie247

I am at 4 and a half months and I am noticing that I don't have many instances of brain fog anymore. Happens occasionally but not a lot. My 3rd month seemed to have a lot of moments like that but it never lasted long.

14Sierra

That's kinda what I was thinking the other day, I was like ok now I'm getting somewhere!

The brain fog is just kinda like youre floating through the days but since a couple of days ago it's like things are starting to be more "bright" and vivid.

It is a very rewarding feeling, that's why I was hoping it wouldnt go away.

Crazy how I spent so much time wanting to NOT feel normal

MelindaFlowers

Honest to god, it took me a year for my brain fog to clear up.

Doug39

I was talking to a guy at AA who abused drugs and alcohol for 35 years. He told be that his mind was a mess for the first 9 months or so of his sobriety and then one morning he woke up and he felt great and his mind was clear and at peace.

I guess it is different for everyone.

August252015

I found mostly it lifted - I saw a lot of changes around 100 days, in all ways- with occasional "returns" that I generally consider age (40 ).

The longer you are sober, the better everything feels and I have found it true that each "significant milestone" (ie, 6 months, 9, a year etc) have seen me looking back and feeling clearer with each.

Keep going! Best way to find out how it works for you.

biminiblue

My moment was actually at 10 months, and boy I was ready. I think that's one of the best things about AA, going in feeling like, "Huh? What is wrong with me? I can't even put two thoughts together," and having people reassure you that it will get better but it's going to take time.

I had a few people tell me a year, and they were spot on. It happened to me just like SoberLeigh said - one day I woke up and just said, "Ahhhhhhh. The anxiety is gone. I'm clear and centered. Thank God."

When that stuck I knew it was for real.

Mountainmanbob

I thought the fog might never lift.
Actually, it also took for me around 4 months.
Proves that, we had enough of running with the liquid devil.
Good luck and stay sober.
M-Bob

Outonthetiles

Three or four months. I remember coming out of the fog about four months into my sobriety and thinking, "okay, I feel about normal now." It was a big relief to see my cognitive functioning wasn't damaged.

Jimmy58

Thanks for the question 14. We alkys all seem to heal in different ways and time frames. I drank daily and heavily for over 40 years and. was up and down mentally for about the first year of sobriety.At one year and four months of abstinence I literally keep felling better and better every day. Also making a promise to myself that I will never ever under ANY circumstance ingest alcohol has given me a tremendous felling of confidence and freedom from the living hell that was my alcoholic life.
My best to you and beating this horrible disease.

14Sierra

It's been about 5 days now and my mind is still clear, man I can't even believe I was in that much fog, I guess I didn't realize it till now seeing how clear things are supposed to be.

What's with the anxiety anyways? Mine seems to be going away as I clear up. I always thought I had an underlying anxiety disorder but now it seems to be directly connected to the alcohol.

JeffreyAK

I'm sure it varies from person to person, but for me there was a definite point a few months in where I thought to myself, wow, I can think clearly again! I was astonished how clearly I could think, and therefore how muddy my thinking must have been before that, during my drinking years - it must have happened slowly enough that I didn't notice. That feeling didn't last all that long, months perhaps, and I'm sure I continued to improve but didn't notice it so much - thinking clearly just became the new normal.

Done4today

I am at 14 months and I was just telling my sponsor that I think the fog has finally lifted. The biggest change I noticed was my attention span while reading. I used to have to read paragraphs over and over to comprehend. Now I can read full pages without having to start over. Good luck and many prayers. Stay strong the fog will lift sometimes slowly.