froscow

Anyone else still deal with compulsive and obsessive thoughts when they get sober? (which doesn't involve alcohol or other substances.) I will obsess about the absolute silliest things...like if I barely made a yellow light which turned red..oh no..what if I got caught on a red light camera. Or if I make a bad joke..oh no..what if I offended that person. My most recent craziness is from the other night at a gas station..after getting back in my car I lit a cigarette and as I drove away I realized 'oh crap, you shouldn't light a smoke by a gas pump (my window was closed though)'. Bad I know. But I can't stop obsessing about if I got caught on camera and that I'll get some massive fine..even tho I CALLED the gas station to ask, and even they said no (and don't do it again obviously) Urgh. In sobriety it's like my brain just searches for anything to worry and obsess about. I'm nuts

biminiblue

Pretty common, I think.

Modern life is very complicated! I probably make a hundred mistakes a day like that...I try to keep it simple; forgive myself and move on.

That grabbing-onto-everything dies down in time, and you'll know real peace. It's pretty great. Give it a few months.

froscow

Thanks bimini. On day 64 right now. It's like my brain goes completely hyperactive after abusing and numbing it in the past.

Andante

When your brain gets used to alcohol as a sedative and then you take that sedative away, it's quite common for it to rebound into a hyperactive mode for a while. Most people experience this as anxiety, and one way of looking at OCD is that it's a particular expression of anxiety. Try to stay patient, and things will even out eventually. Time takes time!

NYCDoglvr

I had crazy thoughts quite a while after I stopped drinking. It should pass........

apollo986

It will pass and it's perfectly normal. What helps me is to acknowledge that it's my brain chemistry rebalancing.

daredevil

OCD is often a separate condition, sometimes unrelated to drinking. I’d see a psychiatrist if it were me. It may not remedy itself with time.

Bunny211

Yes. Over time my anxiety and OCD have lessened considerably. I take L-Theanine (green tea extract) daily in the morning and eve to curb my anxiety.

tomsteve

obsesseing over doing recovery perfectly- being a perfect human. most definately.
it took time to relax and not take myself, or life, too seriously.
im just an imperfect human-warts and all and will make mistakes. its part of being human.

froscow

Thanks for the advice guys. I think its the whole control issue too...wanting to maintain control over little area in my sobriety..which isn't realistic I know.. Whenever things start going well for me, I start getting really scared of losing it all, which sends my head spinning

Doug39

Once I get a thought in my head I can't let it go until I take action.

For example, I could be sitting somewhere away from home and the thought will pop into my head that I am hungry. So say I decide to make a sandwich when I get home. I will then play it over and over in my head every last detail of making and eating a sandwich - taking the ingredients out the the refrigerator, assembling the sandwich, eating the sandwich. This will go on and on until I actually do it.

It is sometimes very aggravating.

SoberCAH

I took me a while to be restored to sanity within the meaning of the 2d Step.

I am pretty sure that I had a significant degree of psychosis when I finally sought help.

After 13 years of nightly excessive drinking, it would certainly be reasonable for my brain and central nervous system to be abnormal.

But, everything has eventually evened out and i haven't had those symptoms in many years.