Three days sober, can barely focus
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Thread Starter
Join Date: May 2020
Posts: 8
Three days sober, can barely focus
Well I made it through another day. I feel much better physically, after a couple days of feeling sick to my stomach and shaky.
I had a knee-jerk craving to drink at my usual time and I reminded myself that I didn't want to go through this whole miserable process again after making it nearly 72 hours, and the craving actually passed.
My anxiety was bad this afternoon, so bad I wanted to get out of my skin. So I did the only thing I could think of and took the dog to walk in the park. It helped a ton. Also I never drink juice but I had a glass of cold OJ this afternoon and it tasted like the best thing ever.
But I can't think straight. My job requires intense focus. Fortunately it's only part time, but I have to be on top of my game with mental focus to do my work correctly. And my brain feels like it's gone. I can't concentrate and I can't remember words and I'm really sucking at work this week.
Is this a withdrawal symptom? If so how long til I get my brain back? Is this going to get better?
I had a knee-jerk craving to drink at my usual time and I reminded myself that I didn't want to go through this whole miserable process again after making it nearly 72 hours, and the craving actually passed.
My anxiety was bad this afternoon, so bad I wanted to get out of my skin. So I did the only thing I could think of and took the dog to walk in the park. It helped a ton. Also I never drink juice but I had a glass of cold OJ this afternoon and it tasted like the best thing ever.
But I can't think straight. My job requires intense focus. Fortunately it's only part time, but I have to be on top of my game with mental focus to do my work correctly. And my brain feels like it's gone. I can't concentrate and I can't remember words and I'm really sucking at work this week.
Is this a withdrawal symptom? If so how long til I get my brain back? Is this going to get better?
HereNow: Glad you’re doing well.
Yes, brain fog, grogginess, even clumsiness are all part of it. Most of us really clear up nicely at 5-7 days sober.
I’ve had trouble remembering even simple words during conversation. This link offers some perspective from actual sufferers.
https://www.verywellmind.com/is-this...-it-last-80197
(I have obtained facilitator permissions to post)
‘’Stay well. A couple of tough days will be worth it when can lead to many days of “happy, joyous, and free...”
Yes, brain fog, grogginess, even clumsiness are all part of it. Most of us really clear up nicely at 5-7 days sober.
I’ve had trouble remembering even simple words during conversation. This link offers some perspective from actual sufferers.
https://www.verywellmind.com/is-this...-it-last-80197
(I have obtained facilitator permissions to post)
‘’Stay well. A couple of tough days will be worth it when can lead to many days of “happy, joyous, and free...”
I had that too, at first, but the longer I was sober, the better I started to feel. Give yourself at least a month sober and see if it gets better. If not, a visit to your doctor wouldn't be a bad idea.
HereNow44, congrats on the 3 days sober. Goin on 10 years now and what I did more than anything else was just suffer through the cravings and temptations. All the ugly goes away with time sober. Rootin for ya.
Member
Join Date: Jan 2019
Posts: 864
Congrats on 72 hours! I’m at 48 (2 days) and experiencing the same thing: specifically, I’m having intense cravings and reflex to drink during the hours when I drank.
im also blanking on words, pieces of my memory are blank, and I’m not able to focus. But trying to work drunk or constantly hungover did not work either.
im also blanking on words, pieces of my memory are blank, and I’m not able to focus. But trying to work drunk or constantly hungover did not work either.
Congrats! I’m a bit over three months and it probably took me until month two to be able to really focus on anything that wasn’t physical, like reading a book and comprehending it, for example. It keeps getting better though.
Member
Join Date: Jun 2013
Posts: 73
Definitely normal, just coming out of that. Day 7 for me. I got myself so sick that I got 0 cravings so far and even if I did booze can kiss my ass.
give it another day or two and should hopefully be full throttle or at least close to it.
Hang in there its not easy that's for sure. My job sounds very familiar to yours so just slow it down is what I've been trying to do.
give it another day or two and should hopefully be full throttle or at least close to it.
Hang in there its not easy that's for sure. My job sounds very familiar to yours so just slow it down is what I've been trying to do.
I had a counselor tell me one time that Day 3 without a drink was when most alcoholics reported being the most difficult. I think she described the experience as "agitated" (nervous, distracted, antsy). It was true in my case, but these things vary from person to person. But these kinds of experiences are very normal. After feeding your body an addictive substance for years, you can't expect your body and mind to react without complaining when the substance is removed.
Walking your dog like you did is helpful. Helpful is probably the best you can hope for at this stage, but doing something to distract your mind from the jitters helps. Later you will feel great about not drinking, but right now you have to pass through this "not feeling great" stage. It's going to get better, however.
Walking your dog like you did is helpful. Helpful is probably the best you can hope for at this stage, but doing something to distract your mind from the jitters helps. Later you will feel great about not drinking, but right now you have to pass through this "not feeling great" stage. It's going to get better, however.
What that does is drag out the recovery and continue the brain cell loss.
The hell I suffered getting this clean is burned into my brain.
I hope it never goes away or I will more risk relapse.
Thanks.
Member
Join Date: May 2020
Posts: 3
Well I made it through another day. I feel much better physically, after a couple days of feeling sick to my stomach and shaky.
I had a knee-jerk craving to drink at my usual time and I reminded myself that I didn't want to go through this whole miserable process again after making it nearly 72 hours, and the craving actually passed.
My anxiety was bad this afternoon, so bad I wanted to get out of my skin. So I did the only thing I could think of and took the dog to walk in the park. It helped a ton. Also I never drink juice but I had a glass of cold OJ this afternoon and it tasted like the best thing ever.
But I can't think straight. My job requires intense focus. Fortunately it's only part time, but I have to be on top of my game with mental focus to do my work correctly. And my brain feels like it's gone. I can't concentrate and I can't remember words and I'm really sucking at work this week.
Is this a withdrawal symptom? If so how long til I get my brain back? Is this going to get better?
I had a knee-jerk craving to drink at my usual time and I reminded myself that I didn't want to go through this whole miserable process again after making it nearly 72 hours, and the craving actually passed.
My anxiety was bad this afternoon, so bad I wanted to get out of my skin. So I did the only thing I could think of and took the dog to walk in the park. It helped a ton. Also I never drink juice but I had a glass of cold OJ this afternoon and it tasted like the best thing ever.
But I can't think straight. My job requires intense focus. Fortunately it's only part time, but I have to be on top of my game with mental focus to do my work correctly. And my brain feels like it's gone. I can't concentrate and I can't remember words and I'm really sucking at work this week.
Is this a withdrawal symptom? If so how long til I get my brain back? Is this going to get better?
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