One Year Sober Today
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Thread Starter
Join Date: Jul 2017
Location: New York, New York
Posts: 600
One Year Sober Today
Three years ago my long time doctor left me a voice mail. My blood work was back & he needed to speak with me right away. He sounded alarmed. Turns out my liver enzymes were way, way out of bounds. We talked & I was honest with him. I was drinking a quart of vodka a day, beginning first thing in the morning & continuing all day, every day. As a self employed accountant I was able to function & get my work done but my hands were shaking & I generally felt sick & looked awful. He referred me to an addiction psychiatrist & I was diagnosed with severe alcohol dependence & severe alcohol withdrawal. He supervised a safe detox, for which I am forever grateful, & we started weekly therapy sessions & daily medication for anxiety & depression. Let me stop here & say that different things work for different people at different times & I know from reading here that medication & therapy can be a big part of sobriety. But this was not working for me. The medications flattened me out, which I hated. We talked, but never connected. I did stop drinking for a couple of stretches which would end when I thought I could moderate even though he said I would have to be the one in a million. I wasn’t adhering to his treatment. Something was missing. I didn’t have the first ingredient in my recovery - I didn’t have the belief that I could do it & the fact that I didn’t like this guy wasn’t helping. After about a year and a half I stopped seeing the psychiatrist.
About this time I did a google search for “sober” & stumbled onto this site. It is not an overstatement to say that it saved my life. I had never done anything like this. At first I just read the recovery stories, sometimes the same one over & over. I had no idea why. A few months later I posted for the first time. I connected. The generosity of the heartfelt sharing, the wisdom, the encouragement, gave me the belief. I could live a better life without drinking. I could do it. I used what I learned here to form a plan, a daily routine. Exercising first thing in the morning, which has been critical to my recovery, practicing daily gratitude, & eliminating negative thinking, adjusting & resetting to the inevitable downturns & disappointments with gratitude & positive energy. I wanted to post on this day of course to brag, but also to honor the SR community of which I have become a small part.
About this time I did a google search for “sober” & stumbled onto this site. It is not an overstatement to say that it saved my life. I had never done anything like this. At first I just read the recovery stories, sometimes the same one over & over. I had no idea why. A few months later I posted for the first time. I connected. The generosity of the heartfelt sharing, the wisdom, the encouragement, gave me the belief. I could live a better life without drinking. I could do it. I used what I learned here to form a plan, a daily routine. Exercising first thing in the morning, which has been critical to my recovery, practicing daily gratitude, & eliminating negative thinking, adjusting & resetting to the inevitable downturns & disappointments with gratitude & positive energy. I wanted to post on this day of course to brag, but also to honor the SR community of which I have become a small part.
Member
Join Date: Jul 2019
Posts: 2
First time post in honor of my twin brother
I'm posting for the first time today in honor of my twin brother's one year milestone:
With deepest pride, love and respect for what you have accomplished. I knew you could do it and have always believed in you. And to this wonderful SR community - THANK YOU for helping my brother get healthy and back to his true self. It means so much to our family. You are an amazing group of people.
With deepest pride, love and respect for what you have accomplished. I knew you could do it and have always believed in you. And to this wonderful SR community - THANK YOU for helping my brother get healthy and back to his true self. It means so much to our family. You are an amazing group of people.
Member
Join Date: Mar 2014
Posts: 25,373
Congrats on your Year. Pretty great isn't it?
I agree that this site is a powerful tool. I think it's just as important to post as it is to read, but then I'm chatty like that. It has been good for me to give voice to my inner fears and successes plus it may help someone else sort out what they are going through.
Thanks for posting.
I agree that this site is a powerful tool. I think it's just as important to post as it is to read, but then I'm chatty like that. It has been good for me to give voice to my inner fears and successes plus it may help someone else sort out what they are going through.
Thanks for posting.
Member
Join Date: Oct 2018
Posts: 221
Congrats on a year that’s amazing!
Your drinking sounds a lot like mine. This site is one of the best sobriety tools around. I found it one day when I was researching alcohol withdrawal when I was going through it and absolutely terrified. I clicked on a link to a post and was amazed to find I wasn’t so alone after all.
Your drinking sounds a lot like mine. This site is one of the best sobriety tools around. I found it one day when I was researching alcohol withdrawal when I was going through it and absolutely terrified. I clicked on a link to a post and was amazed to find I wasn’t so alone after all.
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