alcoholfighter

A text message woke me up this morning. It was from a really good friend of mine who I never get to see anymore. I moved far away from where he lives and he and his wife just had a baby so we simply don't get together like we used to. I guess that's a good thing because he texted me randomly this morning and said 'remember when we went out and got irish coffees before work'..... ugh.... yes, I remember, and it's things like that which are the exact reasons I needed to stop drinking in the first place.....

I got that text at 7:48am and now I'm so anxious for the rest of the day. I know I usually drink on Tuesdays after work so I feel like I have a long day ahead of me. I just feel like today will be hard emotionally and the cravings will be tough to get through. Plus, I already have a headache and my anxiety is through the roof. All that because of a text message a really good friend (who had no idea I quit drinking) sent me first thing today.

YogaAbba

alcoholfighter,

Those types of triggers -- same times and places, the people, the anxiety-- are powerful. How did it go yesterday?

alcoholfighter

Thanks YogaAbba. Yesterday was really tough. The cravings ended up being really bad. Today I'm just depressed at the thought of maybe losing some friends and some of my normal hang outs.

YogaAbba

Yeah. When I first stopped using, rearranging the relationship landscape was really really hard. Although many of those relationships led to (and were tied up) in using, they also had substance. As it happens, I got clean and sober outside of AA. But now, years later, I am also struggling with significant cravings. It seems like the relationships that can be formed in a recovery fellowship are really important in balancing out the relationships that remain hard or that were lost. At least that's what I'm aspiring to. Otherwise, it's really isolating. And for an addict, isolation is a bad thing.

Is there anyone you are able to talk to when you have the cravings? Some of the phone numbers I've gotten from AA are people I could even just text randomly throughout the day.

I hope today goes easier.
--YA

Dee74

hi alcohol fighter - things change, no way around that - but my real friends supported me not drinking.

Anyone who doesn't would obviously only be a drinking buddy.

Things work out - noone would stay sober if they felt they lost out on the deal

D

alcoholfighter

All day today I felt like I had the world's worst hangover, so I've just been very down today. My coworker went out to a bar we used to hang out at and she texted me and said the bartender gave her a free drink and was wondering where I was. Knowing that bartender, I'm sure he just made fun of me when she told him I'm not drinking. And I honestly don't even care.
So far, the people I've told have been supportive except for one person who I thought was a really good friend but I'm betting was just a drinking buddy. I told her over text and she said she could never just stop. I said "that's exactly why I need to"..... she didn't respond to that.