5 days sober and struggling
AA Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Dec 2012
Location: The South
Posts: 73
5 days sober and struggling
Well, here I go again. I am just now coming back from a terrible binge after 18 months of sobriety, and I find this time to be the most difficult I've ever had. I know that this is somewhat due to my age (58) and also to the fact that alcoholism is a progressive disease; it only gets worse, never better.
So far so good on this day 5. Made it through an horrific craving today by praying hard, talked to my disease and said I wasn't going to allow it to kill me. This afternoon I literally had to take it five minutes at a time. I am still not eating well, so when the craving hit, I prayed, did the self talk and MADE myself eat something, and all of this helped a lot. I know that this will take time and I must be patient.
When I got sober 18 months ago, I quit smoking about the same time. When I relapsed this time, I picked the cigs back up. With the difficult time I'm having with sobriety, I wonder if it's too much to expect myself to tackle both at the same time. I detest smoking and want it gone from my life as well. Any ideas as to whether I should attempt to slay both at once? Thanks for your input.
So far so good on this day 5. Made it through an horrific craving today by praying hard, talked to my disease and said I wasn't going to allow it to kill me. This afternoon I literally had to take it five minutes at a time. I am still not eating well, so when the craving hit, I prayed, did the self talk and MADE myself eat something, and all of this helped a lot. I know that this will take time and I must be patient.
When I got sober 18 months ago, I quit smoking about the same time. When I relapsed this time, I picked the cigs back up. With the difficult time I'm having with sobriety, I wonder if it's too much to expect myself to tackle both at the same time. I detest smoking and want it gone from my life as well. Any ideas as to whether I should attempt to slay both at once? Thanks for your input.
Member
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: Southern California
Posts: 365
Welcome Kitkat... I quit smoking two months before I relapsed this last time (also after about 18 months but I stayed out about 6 months (bad bad idea))... Never did go back to the cigs but I don't know if I could have quit them both at the same time... Good luck to you and congrats on 5 days!!!
Its_me_jen
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Salina, Ks
Posts: 8,547
Welcome kitkat! 
I couldn't even think of quitting both alcohol and ciggs at the same time. I still haven't quit smoking. Just like we need to take 5 minutes at a time sometimes, we have to tackle one problem at a time. Many people have quit both at the same time so it's not like it's impossible. I made the decision that the ciggs were the lesser of two evils. I need to face that evil some time soon now that I'm sober.
I couldn't even think of quitting both alcohol and ciggs at the same time. I still haven't quit smoking. Just like we need to take 5 minutes at a time sometimes, we have to tackle one problem at a time. Many people have quit both at the same time so it's not like it's impossible. I made the decision that the ciggs were the lesser of two evils. I need to face that evil some time soon now that I'm sober.
Currently Active Users Viewing this Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
