Mandy73

Some changes I have noticed:

A very real craving for sugary sweets, going to need to get a handle on this one lol

I stopped waking in the wee hours with my heart racing, dehydrated, headachy and full blown anxiety aka I sleep better

Speaking of sleep, I feel like I'm just dreaming constantly! Long crazy vivid dreams. I'm guessing the alcohol dulled all of that or at least my memory before? Lots of dreams lol

Less foggy and better able to concentrate

I do feel fatigued sometimes, but I recognize how different that feels from the draggy low grade hangovers and chronic dehydration I was experiencing.

I'm curious to know what you have experienced : )

Anna

Mandy, hopefully you will feel better each day.

Renvate

Basically everything that you mentioned and mostly in that order too.

Other things I've noticed are: stable emotions, rational thoughts, weight loss and a calmer feeling.

I also didn't realise how much energy the body used to function normally on a hangover.

Every morning on a hangover I would say "alright, get moving and you should freshen up soon, you can do this"

I don't miss how my eyes used to sting every morning either.

least

It wasn't too early in recovery, but after a few weeks I noticed my sleep was a lot better. I slept better and woke up feeling better.

I was also less depressed after I'd been sober for a while.

Zanna

On a purely vain level, my face/skin looked a lot clearer (and younger), my hair soon went back to being shiny and soft (as opposed to dull and a feeling of 'sheeps wool' and a lot thicker too (I hadn't realised that all the hair on my brush, was due to drinking)
x

Kachal

I've got a month sober and sleep is better and my digestion is SO much better. People are starting to comment that I look better although I can't see that yet. I avoided mirrors when drinking though, so I might not notice for a while.

Zanna I'm really hoping my hair gets better. It is dull, thinner, and lifeless.
I haven't lost weight, but I didn't really eat when drinking. I eat now. Sugar cravings are still annoyingly present. I absolutely hated sweet things when drinking.

Drink cravings have lessened. I am reading loads of books. My house is cleaner than it has been in years. Strangely, one thing I absolutely loved to do when drinking was cook. Loved it. Now it feels like a chore. I barely ate, but loved to cook for others, and now I eat food again but don't feel like cooking. Weird.

I feel like I'm just getting through the intense loneliness that was the first couple of weeks. I was too fragile and wanted a drink way to badly to socialise then. Now I'm having mini catch ups with friends. I don't even mind if we meet at a bar, but I usually get bored of it pretty quick. I leave after they've had two drinks.

I am more productive at work, and really enjoying it again.

That's all I can think of 30 days in but it's true what everyone says, it does get better. The first weeks were tough. I'm looking forward to the next 30 days.

stephengb

All of the above. Plus I lost 3 inches off my waist in 3 months, despite not doing exercise and eating too many biscuits at AA meetings.

Downthepath

Great thread.
We often get caught up in saying how much we hate drinking and discussing how we can stay off it. Saying what's great about being sober is a much better way of looking at it.
I'm on day 45 and my sleep is amazing. Much more restful and no more waking up at 3/4am to go to the bathroom and then being unable to go back to sleep for ages because of the irritating headache.
My anxiety has almost completely disappeared.
I'm much better at my job.
My skin fits my face better.
I have more cash.
I have a much better diet and am maintaining my weight easily.
My memory is better and I have greater clarity of thought.
I get to use the second half of the evening/day doing something productive and worthwhile.

ChloeRose63

I eat alot better. Instead of depriving myself of food and filling myself with alcohol, I am satisfying my hunger and thirst with healthy choices. My mind became more health conscious.

WritingFromLife

In early recovery for me, I noticed each day I was taking better care of myself. Not that I was going around for weeks at a time without a shower or anything--but when drinking, i wouldn't keep up with a good skin care regimen, nails, etc. Wouldn't take the time to truly pamper myself--those things. Also, there's no chaos. Things get organized and stay organized-so I don't sweat to death in panic trying to find something to wear that's not dirty, wrinkled, or ill-fitting at the last minute. Waking up sober is the absolute BEST.

These are all great things for an ongoing journal, so you can look back later and see how far you have come--also can quell euphoric recall!

Readytodothis

I absolutely love this thread. I'm on Day 2, however have had periods of sobriety in the past. It is so helpful to look at what inevitably lies ahead for me-thanks all!

AM100

No hangovers!

That's the best part for me on my little 5 days. I had completely forgotten what normal people feel like when they get up in the morning.

Griffinsgal

Since I have been sober I have stopped playing catch up on absolutely everything from planning with my kids, to housework and most importantly taking care of myself.
Personal wellbeing was definitely not part of my vocabulary when drinking. Feeling revolting was a typical day with very little food and enough water to hopefully skip a hangover.
Paying attention to nourishing myself has helped immensely with cravings.

Computer

Hopefullness that I am not my mother who drank herself to death when I was 13 and left two younger brothers with FAS.

I was a wine drinker- almost a bottle a day towards the end- 16 days sober now.

Enjoying not having the swollen belly, nightsweats and weirdly stained sheets.

Also enjoying the clearness of thought, being able to eat sweets again (they tasted gross) and smelling better. Took a week of detox to get the funky smell off me and twice daily showers with loofah scrubbers. I am in good shape, 5'10 138 lbs but wow the toll alcohol takes on a body is shocking.

Eaglelizard

Some changes happened faster than others for me, and not all of the early changes were daisies and buttercups, but after several months of consistent care, nutrition, exercise, everything started to come together (still not quite there). Early on, I felt tired and hungry, but the lower back pain (kidneys) and general stiffness (dehydration) improved. Skin condition (seborrheic dermatitis) actually got a little bit worse at first but slowly healed and is pretty much cleared up (knock on wood). Skin went from being pale and irritated by sunshine back to a normal tannable skin tone. The best thing was being able to improve athletic performance and to begin to make some forward progress in at least one aspect of my physical life. You have to start somewhere and the realization that something had changed definitely gave me hope that other things could improve as well. When you drink consistently (especially after a certain age), obviously, it becomes almost impossible to improve physically. For me, personally, whatever anger, frustrations, or resentments I may have can be dramatically reduced or even eliminated by a healthier self image.

thomas11

I recall eating everything in sight and sleeping like a normal person which felt great. I also remember thinking about "not drinking" a lot. Its amazing how after a certain amount of time, we don't really think about it. We just live our new lives and it is pretty rewarding.

Wizzooo

My face stayed red all the time. People would sometimes comment about how red my face was... I couldn't stand it. Now my face has gone back to it's natural color. makes me feel a lot better.

rainyengland

My biggest boost is lack of words from others

Many times ..”you always look tanned,you been on holiday?”

Nope that’s my liver giving up !!

My liver is now happy and I have to be outside to get a tan ! :-)

Dee74

Peace and serenity

D

notgonnastoptry

Yup. I lost a lot of hair. I thought it was age when really it was just the drinking. my hair was thin and wispy.

I noticed sleep. It was weird to sleep even four hours without waking. at the end I was waking every hour or less.

I gained a lot of weight because I was significantly underweight.