Ekohe

But, I'm sober. Not any real reason that I can think of for it, but I'm at 6 weeks now. For the most part, these last few weeks have been fantastic. I feel myself mending in a new way, spiritually.

Any advice on how to beat the blues in the first few months?

And thanks, for always being here.

kevlarsjal2

Hi Ekohe! Congrats on 6 weeks

I had to learn that also the negative emotions like sadness are part of life and that it is healthy to feel them too and to accept them. Usually they pass sooner than we think. Just because we experience a negative mood, doesn't necessarily mean there's something wrong with it. (Unless you are depressive or have some mood disorders etc of course)

Just try to accept that for now you are feeling a bit down, try to make life a little extra comfortable, maybe have your favourite food for dinner or watch your favourite TV show, something like that.
Exercise can also help or just being outside a bit, to spend time with a friend,...

So there are plenty of ways to distract yourself I guess or to help yourself to feel a little better.

But the main lesson for me was, that just because we feel down, doesn't mean that there's anything wrong. It's a normal part of life sometimes

Kaytea

I think that’s a normal part of life. Can you reflect on it and smile a little because you’re able to FEEL without the veil of alcohol? Sometimes that’s what gets me through even if it’s not a feeling I want to have.

Grateful11

Hope you are feeling better soon!

I'm at 7 weeks and have been feeling down the last couple of weeks. Before that I felt great and had so much energy.

Hoping it is just the dopamine levels in the brain adjusting.

kamm

I don’t have any advice but I do want to tell you I hope you feel better soon. Well all need people rooting for us, especially when we don’t feel our best.

*hugs*

boreas

In addition to a healthy diet, I started yoga and walking daily. I’ve increased the intensity of my workouts and added interval running over the last year. I feel this has been critical for finding an maintaining a sense of well being, as I really miss it when I don’t have time due to obligations.

I’m not trying to recommend any specific activity, but if you don’t exercise you might find that some type of program helps with the blues. It has made a big difference for me.

-bora

Verdantia

Hey, Ekohe--excellent work on 6 weeks. After suppressing our emotions with alcohol for long periods of time it's inevitable that sobriety brings back some uncomfortable feelings. It's normal and will get better.
I find that exercise has helped me greatly. I don't have a car so I ride my bike everywhere and I love the feelings of relaxation and exhilaration. I practice yoga, breathing exercises and meditation and have lost 50 lbs in 2 years 8 months of sobriety. I also volunteer in my community and find that helping others gets me away from the feeling of being down and stuck in my own head.
Keep up the wonderful work; I wish you all the best on your sober journey.

Helianthus

Hey Ekohe

Congratulations on 6 weeks I'm at 4 months now and have had two periods of time where I have felt a bit down once around 6 weeks and again around 13-14 weeks. I think the occurrence at 6 weeks was really just down to my brain learning to cope without alcohol, it had not had to provide certain chemicals for so long (because the alcohol took over that job) that it had to catch up and say oh...ok it's back to me.

Have you read about PAWS? Basically it's random occurrences of weirdness during the first year of sobriety. Some people believe it is true others not so much.

Good luck and stay strong.

PS - I forgot to add that practicing gratitude has helped me greatly, I didn't start doing it daily until my 13-14 weeks funk but I can't recommend it enough.

Dave42001

Nice job on 6 Weeks!! Kudos to you, keep up the good work!!!

I stayed busy, read a lot of recovery books, went to meetings, exercised, when I first got sober I was unemployed due to a layoff and went to a lot of matinee movies, they were cheaper than a night movie and I’d go during the day just to escape for a few hours, worked in the garage, worked in the basement, anything!!

Wishing you the best!!! I’m a sales guy, have you ever read, “ The power of positive Thinking?” Norman Vincent Peale, quick read find it anywhere used for $5

Ayers

Hi Ekohe

I'm in no position to give advice as I am still miles behind you. But I have been reading every book about recovery that I can lay my hands on.

A recurring theme in all the books, is the fact that recovery does not end once you have stopped drinking. There is a lot that must happen after that. One being - that most people who have a problem with alcohol abuse , have a reason for doing it. We all have to delve deeply and do introspection and try and pinpoint where the "hole" in our lives are, that we tried to fill with alcohol.

I'm not there yet, I am giving myself time to get to that point. Hope you feel better soon ?

Be123

Hi Ekohe

I’m also at six weeks today and in the most foul mood of my entire life. Low, angry, tired, cross, pissed off, not sleeping, angry, cross, stop the world I want to get off

We’re in the six week club, hooray for us 😂😂.

The only way I can view this with any grace (and not punching a few people and/or hitting the bottle) is to embrace it as part of the process. Six weeks! - I never thought it possible!! We’re doing it

I’m hugging my inner hoodlum, embracing my anger....anger is too nice - it’s fecking rage....

It will pass. I knelt to go through my gratitude this morning, for an atheist that’s a miracle 😉. And I won’t drink

Dee74

I think like people have said we've all been conditioned to think feeling sad or down is bad - and to fix it we drink or use drugs or whatever...

of course the truth is everyone has sad days or down days...and they usually give way fairly quickly to good days again

Of course, if thats not happening for you this time, or you've been down like this for long periods before, or you're really worried about this, maybe seeing a doctor or counsellor is a good move Ekohe?

D

Branches

Dear Ekohe, I had a flat feeling at 2-3 weeks in and yeah, yesterday, despite being at day 50, I was feeling quite blah until I was halfway thru a museum outing with hubs. As someone who's inner child likes a quick fix, I tended to focus on the posts written by people who said how fantastic their sobriety was, how interesting their life was, how happy they were, and I was like, Wait. What? I'm not feeling THAT happy or fantastic and my life has sure not gotten more interesting. WTH?

But as a grown-up, I acknowledge that I don't know what other posters' "before" lives were like in comparison to their "now." I also don't know what my "after" life will be: It could very well be much more interesting, happy, fulfilling than today . And my today is much better than 50 days ago. When I was drinking, I thought blue days were meant to be "fixed" by alcohol, but now I accept it's just part of the human experience. I hope your blue mood passes quickly, but as others have said, if it continues for more than a couple weeks, a visit to a doctor might be a good idea -- sometimes reassurance that what you're feeling is normal is a great mood lifter.

tekink

Early sobriety was a roller coaster of emotions for me, especially for the first six months. All I could really do was ride it out and hang on hoping it would get better.

The good news is that it did get better! It takes some time for our brains to adjust to sobering up. It's unusual at first and was a bit of a mind game for me.

Hawking22

Thank you! I've had a lot of anger issues my last year of drinking and am overall so much better emotionally and calmer since quitting two months ago but I get into these seething rages and just want to smash bottles! Glad to know I'm not alone. Thanks for sharing. #Hulksmash

Culture

I was very up and down for a long time. I could go through about 20 different emotions in the course of one day. I certainly did not experience the pink cloud euphoria that other people mentioned. In the first 2 months I spent a lot of time on my own as people could easily annoy me just by being there, talk about irritable and oversensitive!
A lot better now, but like everything else it doesn't happen overnight and I was another one who expected miracles overnight.