SoberinSyracuse

The internet is full of warnings about potential lingering withdrawal effects after becoming sober. The discussion of these seems to outnumber reports of people feeling better. This misrepresents the benefits most people experience SOON after becoming sober. Those who are taking that brave first step into sobriety need to believe they will feel better!! It's not helpful to suggest that they're likely to suffer a bunch of unpleasant symptoms which will limit their quality of life for a long time. Most of them will have minimal symptoms if any, and they will be short lived!

Look, PAWS is real and some people suffer from it. And it's discussed extensively throughout this forum. But...


I'll start...

SoberinSyracuse

I drank daily, extremely heavily, for about 25 years. I was a physical and mental basket case. (See some of my early posts!)

Once I stopped, here's what happened:

• On the first day, I was hangover free.
• Within two days, I was no longer having "brain-zaps" and morning panic attacks.
• Within about five days, the tremors, sweats, and heart palpitations were gone.
• Within about five days, I was mentally alert with good focus and concentration.
• Within about a week, my lifelong insomnia was gone and my acute cravings were gone.
• Within a month, I was comfortable being around alcohol without feeling tempted to drink.
• Within a month, I was able to enjoy life's simple pleasures -- food, music, company, nature, romance
• Within a month, my zest for life and ambition had returned
• Within two months, my physical appearance had undergone a metamorphosis: I look a decade younger than my age -- skin is young and smooth, pores are small, redness is gone, hair is long and shiny (Fabat50....is this not true?)

I did not and do not use pharmaceutical meds related to addiction, insomnia, anxiety, or depression. I am healthy, inside and out, mind, body, and soul.

Anna

We are all different and we all recover differently.

Some people do have long-term effects from alcoholism and others don't. Stopping drinking and recovering is always the best choice.

SoberinSyracuse

Did you feel better quickly? If so, can you share?

Dee74

Like Anna said, our experiences are different, I think, and all equally valid and valuable.

I certainly felt an almost immediate sense of relief, and hope which made me feel better mentally - but otherwise I'm one of the 'others', in terms of this thread

D

Beccatenn

I just take one day at a time

SoberinSyracuse

Surely nobody can read my initial post and determine its meaning to be that PAWS is not real or its sufferers experiences are not valid. I'm simply trying to have a discussion about something else for a change.

My hope is to start a discussion of the near-term positive effects of quitting drinking.

Dee74

my problems not with you, and I'm certainly not against a positive thread.

well, I would not have posited your central thesis that way.
It predisposes one result as desirable, and the other as less desirable, surely?.

I see both as simply different experiences.

D

venuscat

.

sleepie

I agree with Anna. It is reassuring to those of us (the many of us) who have lingering symptoms to know that it is something to expect in sobriety and that we are not necessarily abnormal. As far as limting the quality of one's life, even with the long lingering effects of alcohol in sobriety, I am better off than I was while drinking. I do not feel my life is limited by the after affects of drinking, rather I am in disbelief that I am still here to be fully present if even only for moments in sobriety, something I never was while drinking.

In any case, in the spirit of something to look forward to in immediate sobriety, even as one with lingering effects... here is a small list of what I had starting the very first day of being alcohol free:

1) No worries about what I had done or said the previous day/night.

2) An immediate positive effect on my relationship with my main squeeze (who is important to me).

3) No more throwing money down the drain.

A short list... but still all good! In regards to feeling better... I felt good about all of that!

HollyWouldnt

I felt great after 2 alcohol free sleeps.
In fact for the first couple of weeks I began to crave sleep because it felt intensely good!
Slight forgetfulness for a couple weeks perhaps.
Holly.🎋

JimmyJam

I agree with the many post that state( in my interpretation) that recovery is a unique process for each individual due to multifactorial variances from person to person. I have nothing but positive things to say about my early recovery but am guardedly with sobriety. 35 years of drinking isn't going to vanish like it never happened. Remnants (whatever they may be) will come and go the rest of my life.

Hawkeye13

Besides being "mentally fuzzy" for quite awhile,
I physically recovered quite quickly as well.
My anxiety and insomnia diminished greatly in the first
four weeks and like sleepie, my relationship and pocketbook
got immediately better.

I am lucky in that I have had a relatively easy time also with cravings.

Soberwolf

When I stopped drinking the relief wasn't immediate I wasnt myself until a week or 10 days in but slowly I felt better

FeelingGreat

What I did notice from the first morning onwards was a feeling of achievement and a lack of self-reproach. That meant a lot to me.

Apart from cravings I had no physical withdrawal symptoms at all.

SoberinSyracuse

Wow, you hit the nail on the head with that! Just not hating myself in the morning was like a minor miracle all its own! Thanks for reminding me about that. My self-esteem improved in a hurry.

waterlogged

It was about three days for me
I was admitted to a detox program for a week. When i was leaving i saw the doctor the same one i saw when i went in. She didnt recognise me
They take a pic of you when you arrive she showed it to me Omg i didnt recognise myself. I now have the pic on the fridge to remind me.

SoberinSyracuse

Thanks, I forgot about money and relationships, too. I saved $15/day right out of the gate and at the end of the first week, I had enough for some new clothes.

And also, petty conflicts and squabbles seemed to magically disappear.

SoberinSyracuse

Isn't it ironic how bedtime, the old dreaded enemy, can quickly become a welcome friend?

least

I was feeling better after two weeks. Better yet after two months.