Tiffyw12

I'm on day three of staying sober. I've been drinking for at least 12 years. I'm 39 and a mummy to two beautiful little girls. I function on a day to day routine, but my drinking has always started in the evening, the witching hour of 5pm. I drink wine, two bottles of Rose, Red, or white......I don't get falling over drunk on this, but I will go to bed and pass out if I consume more. Sometimes I'll have another bottle of beer or if there is more wine in the house, I'll sink that down too. Last year I started to get panic attacks and palpitations. I have always suffered from severe anxiety, since I was a kid really. The drinking at first helped and stopped my OCD thoughts. However, last year the drinking really started to take affect on my body. I had liver pain and thought I was about to die. I was struggling to get my girls to school and go to work. Felt like crap every morning, hungover, gross.I felt so panicky and hated leaving the house alone with my girls, in case I passed out in the street with them. I went off sick from work and went to see my gp. I didn't tell the truth about my drinking. I'm now nearly a year off work and have had two sober weeks in that time. I am determined this time, as I feel like a ticking health time bomb.

How long did any of the members on here take to start to feel better physically? I feel bloated and sore around my abdomen? I don't really have any bad pains. I eat well, need to loose allot of weight though. I'm feeling less symptoms of anxiety, no faint feelings, out of body feelings, palps, headaches, diarrhoea. Just this feeling like I've been doing sit ups, with the soreness.

Wish me luck. Would be great to hear from anyone else.

Notimetoloose

Congratulations on day 3 sober..it is wonderful and exactly what your body is screaming out for.
Our bodies are amazing and you should start to pick up in a few days.

My bloated features went away around the 2 week mark for me. Stay hydrated.

This is a great site and is full of wonderful information and people.

Dee74

Hi and welcome tiffyw

I think it varies. For me it was usually a week or ten days, but your experience may vary

It's a good idea to see your Dr if you can, especially if you're concerned...

D

DisplacedGRITS

I think seeing your gap and being honest about your situation would be very helpful. They can set you up with great information and resources.

michaels_w

My experience, so far, has been rough as well. One of the best things I've done is to see my GP throughout the process. It's been like my safety net. Just to talk about what's going on has been a big deal for me.
The most important thing I'm doing with this is to stay honest. I need to tell everything I'm feeling so I get the best feedback. This GP is especially compassionate and is a great help.

michaels

milesfromhome

Hi Tiffyw12. Congrats on deciding to be sober. I am also in day three, but I am 57 years old, all my kids are grown and they had to deal with my nightly drinking for large parts of their life. Some times were better than others, but it still affected them. Best of luck, and let's do this!!

kepeb30

hey Tiffyw12, I've been sober 13 days. Never thought I'd be able to say that. Like you my liver hurt, an almost constant dull pain. I have found that lots of showers and straight to bed help me a lot when I'm struggling like that and when you can't, keep you hands on something cold non-alcoholic to drink. Helped me anyway... Hang in there it absolutly got better for me after a few more days.

Tiffyw12

Thanks all of you - your replies mean a great deal. I think the scary part of being sober is you start to feel you may have done it all too late and the damage has already been done. As well as the usual OCD thoughts and anxiety, I developed a health anxiety too. Although, I think this may just be my cure from alcoholism. I'm scared I will drop dead if I continue, and no matter how much my addiction tried to tell me otherwise, I'm pretty much on a different level to where I have ever been to staying dry. milesfromhome - thanks for your comment, Its good to hear your story. I do not want my girls to experience the same. I had a similar childhood and you would think i'd know better tssskk! Keep in touch we can do this together! Kepeb30 - 13 days is brilliant, well done to you. Thanks for your reply. I too had this dull ache, its been going on for years. Sometimes it would be bearable stabbing pains. I think I need to rest and just relax my body until I'm healed. Going to my GP is not an option as my anxiety will hit the roof. I think when I am stronger and the aches and pains have gone, I will go to CAS and get checked out. I work in the NHS and find it so hard to let go of my professional head when I'm with my doc, bloody stupid I know. Keep in touch too. I've got a feeling we could help each other. x

charchar75

Hi! Welcome. I'm a few days sober myself. I'm also 39 and have been drinking for the same length of time. I tried quitting two years ago but had many relapses.

Right now, I'm feeling pretty bloated and have discomfort. That should subside in a couple weeks as I remembered it last time I tried to quit.

I just wanted to say hi and there's so much support here.

Thepatman

Hi Tiffy,

The title of your thread is determined, you are on the right path. At some point we all need to realize enough is enough and that drinking becomes a necessity to try to camouflage other issues we have. I am not a doctor but one thing is sure, other issue such as anxiety will only keep getting worst if you keep drinking and so does liver damage.

Quitting on the other hand, has a pretty awesome chance of making those issues diminish or simply go away. Specially if you had your doctor and some therapy for support.

Sorry this i somewhat long, I also have a little one, I have him this week so I can't spend as much time on SR. So I tricked him and got up at 4:00am. LOL!

Be kind to yourself

Tiffyw12

Hello charchar75, thanks for your reply. I'm trying to work out all the functions on this site, cant see a tagging option! Thanks for sharing your symptoms, I'm sure by the time we get to next week we will feel 100 times better. I think if we all stay in touch we can help one another. I know I will start to have problems once my health improves. Its been the case before. I went cold turkey for weeks and then found a million and one reasons to have a drink. What is your drinking history? Are you a daily drinker or do you binge? I have a habit of evening drinking, always after 5pm, that's an acceptable time to drink right? Ha, how ridiculous is addiction. Keep in touch. x

Tiffyw12

Hi Thepatman, thanks so much for your message. You are entirely right. The forums I joined for anxiety have many people relaying stories of addiction based anxiety. I have a good GP and she said she would refer me to a psychiatrist. This was in January and I have not been back. I did not mention my addiction to her, but once I get past this week I'm going to get myself referred. As you said its the only way to stop the vicious cycle.

I must try that trick lol. My girls get up at the same time every day, regardless of the time they went to bed! They are my little alarm clocks lol x

new star

Hi tiffy I've sent you a pm

Thepatman

If like me, you will soon realize that real sleep VS blackout sleep is sooo different!

It appears I need a lot less sleep now that I am sober.

Tiffyw12

Hi new star, I read it thanks very much, but this site will not let me reply? x

PurpleKnight

Welcome to the Forum!!

A few weeks and physically I was feeling a bit better, pains and my digestive system started to adjust itself within the first month.

I think replying to messages needs a minimum post limit to be met, if it's 5 posts, you've just hit that!!

charchar75

I'm trying to figure how to work this to. I was trying to send some a PM earlier but I wasn't sure I was doing it right so I didn't. I'll try on my actual computer later.

I'm daily drinker and binger. A blackout drinker. I was drinking 1-2 bottles of every night but changed to straight vodka again.

Since I stop drinking I can't sleep. It's almost 2 am here. I'm used to passing out. I didn't think I would make it this far to say two I think.

I'm glad your here.

Tiffyw12

Thepatman, Yes absolutely true. Our littlest girl (nearly turning 4y), slept in our bed up until 2 months ago and I was suffered severe booze related anxiety during the night. Whenever, she wriggled my heart would pound and I'd get really, inwardly stressed. Sober sleep however, is lovely, I got woken by my 6 year old 4 times last night and did not have one palp. I went back to sleep almost immediately after putting her back to bed with a kiss. Oh gosh Its ridiculous what we do to ourselves by drinking! x

Tiffyw12

charchar75 I don't think we can reply with PM messages. purpleknight kindly informed us above. Stay on here and we can talk. I find my sleep is 100% better when I don't drink. But I have always loved my bed. I find my sleep is really poor when I'm drunk. I will usually go to bed about 11pm and will black out, waking around 2pm with terrible palpitations. charchar75 I'm certain your sleep will get better, lets hang in there together and just think, as I'm in UK I can be your nigh time/insomnia buddy while we stay sober!!! x

charchar75

Yes! I love that idea. My insomnia and bring a night owl that would work out.