dutchsyrupguy

Hello all, I hope you all are well.

I finally stopped drinking last year after 18 years of regularly binge drinking to blackout. Today I am 299 days sober and could not feel any better. Due to support and techniques learned from places like this I do not feel tempted to drink and truly do not feel as though I am going to slip up. However I seem to dream an awful lot about being drunk. To the point where I wake up and for 30 seconds or so am disgusted and ashamed of myself, before realising that it was a dream and I didn't f**k up!

Does/has anyone else experienced this? Does it stop? What does it mean? ! lol.

Dee74

Congrats on your sober time dutchsyrupguy.

I never put too much store in my drinking dreams.
I still sometimes dream of high school but I have no desire to go back there

I figure I drank a lot for a long time - my subconscious has lots of raw material to draw from.

If you feel your recovery is strong and resilient while you're awake, I think you've got the bases covered

D

InMyBlood

I know exactly what you mean! I used to dream about trying to hide my beer cans, or forgetting to hide them before my husband came home. You have more time than me-congrats on 299!- so I can't really say when yours will stop or why you're still having those dreams. I think my dreams are just my subconscious way of trying to come to terms with the shame and guilt. They're a nice little reminder of what I'm working my way out of.

dutchsyrupguy

Thanks for the replies and congrats guys.

I suppose the dreams are quite a good thing in one way, as the remorse and shame are very real for that short time when I wake up, haha.

KristyCat

I will have 2 years sober on July 5th and I still get those dreams. In my dream, I'm either trying to hide my drinking from loved ones, or I've gotten drunk and done something terrible and I can't remember doing it.

Typically ends with me waking up in a panic and then I see that I haven't drank and everything is okay. I don't think I've met an alcoholic that doesn't have these dreams, even after long-term recovery. I think becoming an alcoholic, hiding the drinking, the anxiety we've felt trying to hide it from loved ones, etc. is actually very traumatic and sticks in our permanent memory like a scar.

It comes out in dreams sometimes but it definitely gets fewer and fewer the longer sobriety time you have (at least in my experience).

least

Drinking dreams are pretty common in recovery. They do lessen with time.

greens

Haven't had one in a while but I go through spurts of them at a time. Scary when they are vivid

SwimKim12

Congrats on 299 days! I'm only 37 days in but have had a few drinking dreams. And like you I wake up feeling very anxious just like I did if I really had drank. If anything it's a good reminder of why I'm sober!

keef21568

I've be sober since 1998 & occasionally have those dreams. I wake up so disappointed in myself and depressed. So relieved when I realize it was only just a dream or should I say nightmare.