Notices

Made past the 6PM witching hour

Old 09-15-2015, 06:24 PM
  # 1 (permalink)  
Member
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: Sep 2015
Posts: 27
Made past the 6PM witching hour

22 hours under my belt and things are looking up!

I visited a caring family doctor today. He said go to AA every single day and he wants me back in on Friday morning. He said for the first month, he wants to stay engaged closely. Meeting him once a week. He gave me a prescription to help with the anxiety. It works. I took a quarter of the pill to start at noon today. That worked pretty well. Tonight, I took a half pill and it seems to do the trick well.

I will also stay in conversation with the psychologist for help with managing any noise in the mind. I went and found my AA location and it is a sweet little White House, clean and comfortable. Looking forward to get started there.

Last night as recommended by the group, I watched hours of AA videos. AA Steps 1,2 and 3. Looking to watch steps 4 and 5. Thank so much group!!
MyNewStart is offline  
Old 09-15-2015, 07:42 PM
  # 2 (permalink)  
Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2010
Posts: 8,614
That sounds like an exceptional doctor!
You have a good foundation going.
Congrats on your decision and making it past the witching hour. Looking forward to more sober updates!
sleepie is offline  
Old 09-15-2015, 07:56 PM
  # 3 (permalink)  
Blue Belt
 
D122y's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2015
Location: Soberville, USA
Posts: 4,174
Congrats on your direction.

AA meetings in your future. Went to 2 so far. Great meeting like minded folks that are working the steps

Been reading the BB tonight a bit. Chaps 2,3, and 4.

Great read.

I started out saying ODAT. Now I say never drink again.

What ever works.
D122y is offline  
Old 09-15-2015, 08:02 PM
  # 4 (permalink)  
~sb
 
sugarbear1's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: MD
Posts: 15,951
step 1 is the first 43 pages including the prefaces.......
sugarbear1 is offline  
Old 09-16-2015, 01:16 AM
  # 5 (permalink)  
Do your best
 
Soberwolf's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2014
Posts: 67,047
You are awesome
Soberwolf is offline  
Old 09-16-2015, 01:31 AM
  # 6 (permalink)  
aka Nesty
 
NestWasEmpty's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2015
Location: Northern Vt.
Posts: 1,554
Very happy for you Great way to push through
NestWasEmpty is offline  
Old 09-16-2015, 04:47 AM
  # 7 (permalink)  
Member
 
Ruby2's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: Midwest
Posts: 9,029
Good for you! Going to your Doctor and getting support was a big step. I did 90 meetings in 90 days when I started and it helped shake my mindset and establish healthy patterns. Keep at it!
Ruby2 is offline  
Old 09-16-2015, 04:49 AM
  # 8 (permalink)  
Administrator
 
Dee74's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Australia
Posts: 210,929
good going mynewstart

D
Dee74 is offline  
Old 09-16-2015, 05:37 AM
  # 9 (permalink)  
Member
 
FLCamper's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2015
Location: Florida
Posts: 874
Very happy for you! Checking in here often had helped me. (7 months tomorrow!)
FLCamper is offline  
Old 09-16-2015, 06:38 AM
  # 10 (permalink)  
Member
 
happyandfree's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2014
Location: usa
Posts: 3,938
Good for you newstart.....sounds like you have a great doctor. Remember that the first days are tough but the difficulty passes and it gets easier. You are doing great...take it a day at a time and soon you will be feeling great.
happyandfree is offline  
Old 09-16-2015, 07:18 AM
  # 11 (permalink)  
Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2014
Posts: 1,272
Fantastic! And I agree with Sleepie: you have one fantastic doctor!
matilda123 is offline  
Old 09-16-2015, 07:23 AM
  # 12 (permalink)  
Member
 
scaredikklegoth's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2015
Location: UK
Posts: 323
Well done and good luck to you!
scaredikklegoth is offline  
Old 09-16-2015, 10:45 AM
  # 13 (permalink)  
Member
 
Berrybean's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2014
Location: UK
Posts: 6,902
Sounds like you're doing great (and congrats on finding such a good doctor!!)

The 12 and 12 is a great accompaniment to the Big Book for understanding steps in more detail - might be worth taking at a look at the first three.

Living Sober is also a very helpful AA publication.

Keep going And good luck at your meeting - are you going tomorrow?
Berrybean is offline  
Old 09-16-2015, 10:47 AM
  # 14 (permalink)  
Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: Ozone Park, NY
Posts: 18
Awesome work! Sending positive vibes towards your recovery!
ajr91 is offline  
Old 09-16-2015, 11:21 AM
  # 15 (permalink)  
Member
 
jryan19982's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2014
Posts: 1,355
Awesome job. But if I may, watch out for those pills. I know you took less than 1 the first day, but gradually you will need more and more for the same affect. I would say only take them when you REALLY need them, and that may be for the first few days/weeks. HOWEVER, save yourself enough to wean off of them. Your body will get use to them after a few weeks, and you WILL notice when you dont take them. I was hooked on ativan for YEARS because I used it for anxiety. I wasnt supposed to take them for as long as I did. Just be on the lookout for addictive behavior when it comes to those.
jryan19982 is offline  
Old 09-17-2015, 03:52 AM
  # 16 (permalink)  
Blue Belt
 
D122y's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2015
Location: Soberville, USA
Posts: 4,174
Agree w jryan ...get off them pills....asap

Never took pills for anxiety...I learned here..some folks say the withdrawals are worse than booze...

Yikes...
D122y is offline  
Old 09-17-2015, 10:55 AM
  # 17 (permalink)  
Member
 
PurpleKnight's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: Ireland
Posts: 25,826
Fantastic!! Keep pushing through!!
PurpleKnight is offline  
Old 09-18-2015, 05:37 PM
  # 18 (permalink)  
Member
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: Sep 2015
Posts: 27
Originally Posted by jryan19982 View Post
Awesome job. But if I may, watch out for those pills. I know you took less than 1 the first day, but gradually you will need more and more for the same affect. I would say only take them when you REALLY need them, and that may be for the first few days/weeks. HOWEVER, save yourself enough to wean off of them. Your body will get use to them after a few weeks, and you WILL notice when you dont take them. I was hooked on ativan for YEARS because I used it for anxiety. I wasnt supposed to take them for as long as I did. Just be on the lookout for addictive behavior when it comes to those.
Thanks for speaking to the point. I am against medicine for the most part. I grew up on a Midwest farm and we didn't take aspirin. I think we did have Peptobizmo though. Lol. At any rate this medicine is addictive and so I am very cautious. The last two days I took none. Today, none until this eve as it's Friday night, home alone and the tension was there. My first Friday and that's when I drank more than typical.
I'm good and confident, which is great. My doctor already made it clear that has no interest in refilling this prescription and so the purpose is to soften the really bad points for the first few months. He gave me 50 pills and I hope to not even use all of these. Thanks again for calling attention.
MyNewStart is offline  
Old 09-18-2015, 06:24 PM
  # 19 (permalink)  
Member
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: Sep 2015
Posts: 27
48 Hrs Sober in 2 short hours!

Well my first night that I made it through was tough, but manageable with some anxiety relief. The next two days went really well with very little anxiety, so medicine was not needed. Today was a little more stressful at work, but I took no medicine. This evening, home alone on a Friday night when I would absolutely be drinking and more than typical because it's the weekend. Tension was a little concerning, so I did take a half pill to soften that. As I noted, I plan to get away from the pills as quickly as possible. Going through a week or so and learning what to expect will help.

I have AA at 7AM tomorrow. And daily, I have the following prayer and reminder notes to reference quickly from my Smart phone:

"God, I offer myself to You to build with me and do with me what You will. Relieve me of the bondage of self, that I may better do Your will. Take away my difficulties that victory over them may bear witness to those I would help of Your power, Your Love, and Your way of life. May I do Your will always."

Fact: The feeling is so shortlived
- it's ridiculously short lived.
- it is NOT worth it.
Fact: Hours after are totally wasted.
Fact: It controls your mind.
- daily it can create tension
- daily it can cause agitation
- daily it can impact my relationships
- daily it IS in control
Fact: It is not a right, it is NOT necessary.
Fact: I can not live Gods word with it.
Fact: My wife was right.

So, I wanted to recall those things that were in my mind that made me decide to quit. I can reference this when reading my morning prayer.

To note, I have been searching out God for 10 years. Regular church attendence and bible school. Reading the Bible. I can say that I absolutely believe what is written and it makes sense. A skeptical guy myself, I removed my doubt through this search. What I had not been able to do was feel like I had the ability to hear God, nor did I see he was impacting my life directly.

Last week as I laid down to bed, I was really down, near breakdown about how I wanted to end my drinking because of how I had come to feel about it. I cried and I prayed to God to help me. I didn't hear anything that night. The next day thinking about my concern, I came to an unbelievable perspective that is completely contrary to my life long perspective. I have always been protective of my right to drink. Seriously. On that day my mind clearly let go and I said I don't need alchohol. I don't need it ever. Wow. I breathed easier already.

Not only that, I immediately found and arranged for a Phsycologist and also followed that with setting up a doctors appointment.

I can tell, that was not me. That is not what I would have done. Yes, for the first time in my life, I had God personally lead me. That feels good. And what's funny is I didn't realize it until after I had done that all. The Phsycologist even asked about my religion and I shared that I want to but had not yet communicated with God. I laugh now.

Thanks to all for your support and feedback. I know it is four short days and there will be trials ahead. I try to prepare in advance for that and my notes and prayer on my phone is one way. Would love other ideas.
MyNewStart is offline  
Old 09-18-2015, 11:33 PM
  # 20 (permalink)  
Member
 
Berrybean's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2014
Location: UK
Posts: 6,902
Wow - 7am meeting??!! They start their sobriety early in your neck of the woods!!

Sounds like some pretty big thoughts and feelings have been occurring - you must be exhausted If there is a Big Book or 12 and 12 Study group in your area, I think you would enjoy that. At mine last night we looked at Step 3 http://www.aa.org/assets/en_US/en_step3.pdf and shared on that. That being said, there was little mention of a Christian God in that group, but it was good to hear people's thoughts on it all. One man said, he has an image of an elephant, and himself hanging off the elephant's tail, trying to make it go HIS way. One day he was just too tired and despairing to keep hanging on the elephants tail and he let go. And he realised that its Gods job to steer the elephants. And steers them better than he could have done. I quite liked that analogy. I think I've hung on a few elephant tails myself in the past .
Berrybean is offline  

Currently Active Users Viewing this Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are On
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are Off




All times are GMT -7. The time now is 07:05 PM.