spen71

Right it is some time ago that I first tried to go sober and kept failing. This time I am trying to do it probably one and for all to save my marriage and from losing the kids.

I have not had a drink since Saturday and feel fine. Sleeping well, eating well and drinking plenty of fluids. The one thing I have got is heart palpitaions. These are driving me crackers and sometimes I feel dizzy.

Now can anyone tell me how long I can expect these to last?

Thanks

faith08

welcome back and congrats on your sober time.
i know you probably don't want to hear it, but make an appt with you doc. heart stuff is nothing to mess around with. get a clean bill of health and ease your mind too.

spen71

Went the docs the other week when I had a couple of days off the drink and they were bad palpitations (funnily they stopped when I drank again). Had blood tests which they have said are ok. No heart murmur but have to have a ECG on Friday. Maybe the worry of that and they say something is wrong are making them worse.

This time I am determined to get off my drink problem. I am not going to say that I will never drink again as I would like to just get it under control so that I am not drinking everyday. Maybe a couple of times a month having a couple of drinks on special occasions.

Tazman53

Welcome back spen, glad to hear you are seeing a doctor Friday, I did not have the heart palpations nor dizziness when I was detoxed so I have no experience to share on that.
spen I do not know if you are an alcoholic or not, I am, I spent 5 years trying to do the occasional drink, I now know that alcoholism is a progressive disease and always gets worse for an alcoholic with every single drink and never better. My occasional drinking over that 5 year period led to me having no choice but to have to drink every day just to feel normal and function.

Spen if you are an alcoholic then trust me when I say that every active alcoholics dream is to one day be able to drink like a nonalcoholic.................. that dream never comes true for an alcoholic. When I controled my drinking I did not enjoy drinking, when I enjoyed my drinking I could not control it.

CarolD

Good to see you here again and that
you are making a new beginning....

It's always wise to have an honest talk
with your doctor. Then you will know
what ..if anything...you need to be concerned about.

Blessings to you and your family

spen71

I know what you are saying about not being able to control it, as this is what my wife always says. My whole social life has revolved around drinking from the age of 14. All my friends are in the pub and I always find it difficult to say no. Any social occasion being with friends or family revolves around drink. I have always been known as the person who gets very bored very easy so I have a lot of time to fill.

The thing is I know what damage it has done. I have lost my driving licence, been unable to hold down a job due to the drinking and am currently out of work. I have nearly lost my wife and kids through it as well.


I suppose the main thing I have to do is find a job that fulfills me 100%. But what do I say when employers ask why I have changed jobs so often? Do I say I had a drink problem or that I chopped and changed to gain more experience?

Thanks all for your help.

Spen

Tazman53

Well my experience has been honesty is the best policy, when a prospective employer calls your last job and finds out that they fired you due to drinking and you told them something else it will immediately make you a liar and I doubt they will hire you if they catch you in a lie.

I am sure you feel as though you are inbetween a rock and a hard place right now, but you will stand a far better chance of landing a job if you get into a recovery program and tell a prospective employeer the truth, if you get caught in a lie you will stand no chance.

Trust me, other recovering alcoholics have landed jobs by being honest with a prospective employer.

spen71

On day 5 and waking up feeling like I have had about 12 pints. Feeling groggy and achy but I did not sleep that badly. Still getting the palpitations but they do not feel as intense. I have read that the reason I am getting them is because my brain is overactive after so long of it being subdued with alcohol. Due to the overactive brain, too much adrenaline is being produced and making the electric circuit on the heart fire too much. Will ask the doc tomorrow if this is true and so hopefully I will not worry so much and this will make me feel better.

Apart from that I am feeling good. Getting on with the wife well, trying to do bits of housework (even though it is hard to concentrate for long) and playing with my kids. Might try and leave the house further than the shop today and then consider going back to my work on Monday. I suppose that is one joy of being self-employed, is that I can take time off and recover without having to run around like a blue arsed fly. The only problem is that it is cash in hand and so I will be tempted to go for a quick drink. Might say to my customers, keep the money till later and my wife will collect. One of the reasons I want to get out of self-employment is this.

I have been thinking a lot of what I want to do with my sober time and with the money I save. Might post that later if people do not mind.

Sorry for babbling on.

Spen

CarolD

You are making plans....not babling

It's good to know your making progress
Keep moving forward

spen71

Well not long to I go for my ECG. The palpatations come and. Slowly feeling better in myself and all the negative feelings seem to have gone about what thw hell am I doing on this planet.

i am going to ask the doc if it is ok to exercise with these palpataions, do not want to end up with a full blown heartattack.:s

spen71

Well was doing really well went 14 days then had a blip at the weekend at a friends party. Since then not had a drink again since. I have noticed one thing in the whole time that i have not been drinking is that i feel awful in the mornings as if I had been drinking all night. That is with having a good nights sleep. Also all my aches and pain seem to be worse. Is this normal?

Tazman53

spen every one is different, I would strongly suggest seeing a doctor for a FULL physical exam..... I would also suggest to be totally honest about your drinking history, there are a lot of things that alcoholism can mess up that they do not check in a normal physical.