krete77

Yep, just as title says..i'm 2 months into alcohol sobriety and I almost gave in. Well, i didn't really but lemme tell you, my mind was working over time in trying to convince me that it was ok for me to drink. i have never experienced this before.


anyways i think the reason is because i just quit pot 7 days ago as well and now i have no idea what to do with myself. no weed, no alcohol....no substances to put into my body, therefore no way to deal with life? lol.

seriously, i have no idea what to do with myself.

Thepatman

I get you totally. It's hard at the beginning. Specially I didn’t find new hobbies yet.

Lucky for me, I have my 7 year old with me this week, and we got a new puppy so that's keeping me on my toes. Next week will be more challenging.

Great job for not listening to that AV!

bigsombrero

They say that animals who spend most of their lives in cages don't know how to behave outside of a cage. That's why you can't just release a camel or zebra or even a tiger from a zoo and expect them to survive on the outside. You'd expect them to be happy - run free, little hedgehog! Run free! But they are clueless and afraid and often walk right back into their cages. Unfortunately, habits and conditioning have overcome their best wild and natural instincts.

I think you can figure out the analogy I'm trying to make here. And I do feel you: I quit alcohol first, then weed, then cigarettes. These were very severe addictions in my case, and each substance I quit, my brain was crawling up the walls!

The good news is that this will become the "new normal" for you. Have faith in the system and stay the course. Don't backtrack. Keep moving forward. You can adapt to this new life, just keep putting one foot in front of the other!

krete77

thanks for the good words bigs. this site is honestly what is keeping me on track. only my roommate knows whats going on with me, nobody else in my life.

congrats on quittiing buddy. i actually quit cigarettes back in 2006 with a brief little 1 month relapse in 2009 but have been cigarette free since then. i will never ever light another one up..hopefully i can be like that for the booze and weed in the years to come.

Kris47

CONGRATS on 2 months, Krete!

You're making it happen. It does get easier with time.

Are you in a program or reading the BB? Keep coming here.

Together we can do this.

krete77

no program just using this website and lots of research on my own..

LBrain

Hey Krete, I have a suggestion for you.
Every time you feel like having a drink or lighting up, pick up that little girl and tell her how much you love her. Then remind yourself why you should not pick up again.

Mrsbee

One thing that has helped me is what they call "playing out the tape." Basically, envision the timeline of what would happen if you did pick up that drink or joint or whatever it may be. I had a rough day myself yesterday, and even after spending time on these forums, I still had that unscratchable itch....so I "played the tape out." I had a specific craving to smoke weed (my DOC) and knew that I could get it from my dad's place. Then I thought it through....I'd drive 20 miles there, and 20 miles back just to get it. I already live paycheck to paycheck and my car isn't in the best of shape so the gas and wear and tear would cause me to feel guilty. Then the fact that I would have to pick up my husband from work afterwards and be all paranoid that he would know I smoked was another thing. My week of complete sobriety would have been ruined. Basically, after playing the tape out, the end result would be that I'd feel even worse afterwards if I gave in to the craving. As soon as I thought about how I'd feel afterwards and all the downsides, the desire to give in to the craving literally vanished.

Now, I can't predict if this will work every single time or for everyone, but it definitely helped me yesterday, so I figured I'd share in case it can help someone else

krete77

yea i wish it was that simple. i wrote in another post of mine why this doesn't work for me. but its definitely a motivating factor

Arbor

I hear ya. I have a two year old son. The last three years I've drank more than I'd like to admit. Think I stepped it up due to the stress of becoming a father. You would think this would be motivation enough to stay sober, but not the case.

Be well!

Anna

Krete, you're doing great.

And, you will learn what to do to get through tough/boring/stressful times.

Have faith that it will get easier.

Kris47

Krete,

You may need to step up your program a little more for when your av is loud.

Do some meditation and it wouldn't hurt to try and pray. Walks and music can help the boredom. Find an outlet for when things get a little worrisome for you.

Keep on moving forward. You are making it happen.

It was at the two month mark I got a little fidgety, too.

LBrain

krete, I would consider trying to find an outlet - support that is - to help get you through this. Whatever your opinion may be on it. I would try to attend an AA meeting if you can. Just being there around other people and hearing their stories can be quite motivational.
And others will reach out to you if you need it.

Hope4Life

Congratulations on 2 Months w/o booze and 7 days w/o weed! I'm glad you are recognizing your AV trying to trick you into picking up. This will lessen as time goes by but you need to always be vigilant as the SOB will pop up again and again. I even had him trying to talk to me the other day and I have 20+ months.

Keep it up my friend, you are doing FANTASTIC!


You / AV

least

Congrats on two months sober! Don't blow it now!

krete77

thanks for all the positive replies. i'm certainly not going to blow it anytime soon. i mean i knew i wasn't going to give in but my brain was definitely trying to convince me otherwise.

anyhow, i sat around all day today just doing nothing...i got a job fair tomorrow i'm heading to. i shoulda been job hunting all day today. i did get some chores done. but i thought to myself that at least i'm sober and i did spend the majority of the day thinking about all my issues and why i abused drugs/alcohol in the first place.

this is going to be a long recovery process i can tell.

wackybunny

Sounds like you're doing great Krete, well done! I spent a ridiculous amount of time on here and the internet in general, just trying to fill the moments until I went to bed. Not really productive but not smoking weed. I did that enough days/weeks in a row and the misery passed. I'd say be easy on yourself and don't put pressure on yourself to get stuff done for a while.

BigSombrero, - thank you! I just posted earlier today that I felt intimidated to go out and do things as this new straight/sober person - the opposite of what I expected. Your cage example really resonated with me!!

Kris47

You're up to the task Krete! Remember that.

I find myself craving meetings now. Why not try one?

krete77

yep just filling in the times is the toughest part for me. been having crazy dreams lately..sleep has been OK...but its definitely not great.

wackybunny

Hang in there. Fill that time, wait it out. Going through it felt like forever but looking back it didn't last that long at all.