focus123456

Since I seem to be spending a bunch of time on line trying to help myself with this addiction, this seemed like a good place to add to my list.

Has anyone else in recovery felt overwhelmed by the sheer magnatude (sp?) of stress you have been hiding from behind alcohol along with shame a remorse? It has been 24 days since my last relapse and I swear in the last few days these feelings have just made me feel like a zombie like,"Where do I even begin to fix this mess?"

If that makes any sense to anyone.

Nonsensical

Welcome to SR. COngrats on 24 days. Awesome!

I think everyone is different in what they find when they get sober. I have read posts from others who found a lot of anxiety and stress, but fortunately that was not the case for me.

As for where to begin? At the beginning. One bite at a time.

Good luck!

1Dayatatyme

Hi,
Welcome to SR! Feel free to look on the Substance Abuse forum of Sober Recovery. I just posted about PAWS, yesterday, when I had 23 days clean from pain pills, now I have 24.
Same symptoms, different drugs... it is all about addiction.

fantail

Welcome Focus! I felt that way for a bit as well, but now I'm at 56 days and my brain is starting to warm up again. I find myself making plans for the future without even having to stress too much about it... all that extra thinking time in the day means that when I come to a conclusion, I'm far more confident in it than I would have been during my drinking days.

NapsteR1

One of the things that's striking me at the moment is how stressful all the plotting and scheming and hiding was. How I'd be able to make sure I had enough cash to get today's stash in, hiding credit card statements, trying to remember where the empties were, making some ******** excuse to go to the shops, coming up with excuses for not being at work, jumping out my skin when I heard someone approaching while I was mid swig, trying not to let the screaming frustration show when for some reason I wasn't able to get enough to hit unconsciousness, trying to now get too close to the wife in case she smelt the booze, having to say "no problem" when asked to drive the family somewhere at 10am cos you can't admit you're already too pissed up to drive.

Cravings and depression aside, being sober is a lot less stressful!

Louise82

Good one on adding SR to your recovery toolkit.

Yes, the first time I tried seriously to quit altogether, I remember being overwhelmed by feelings of shame, guilt and remorse. I also had a lot of resentment and self-pity that I'd been suppressing with drink all these years. Once I took the drink away, they all came flooding back.

Now I'm 12 days back from a slip and from what I've read here and heard in my recovery fellowship, I believe that if I really work my recovery program this time, these feelings will be dealt with in time and I'll learn to cope with all the feelings that come my way on a day-to-day basis.

joy1984

Thank you for posting this. I can really relate to you. I am trying to get clean and sober but every time I attempt it I become overwhelmed by the stress of everything in life that I haven't been dealing with during the course of my addiction. I must learn to manage this stress in order to finally get clean. I'm aiming for the next 24 hours clean. Good job on the 24 days way to go!

deeker

Staying sober , your problems just seem to work themselves out. Work with other alcoholics helps. AA Is Good.