alaskasunshine

thank you, all of you for your support with this and I am not going to fall for that. Do I get a new counselor/therapist? Or maybe not do therapy at all...

gr8ful42day

Why not find an 'addiction' counselor/therapist?

Enemdio

I had this before when I stopped, I think it's known as 'The Pink Cloud' in alcoholic circles and is seen as a sort of 'False dawn' - a glimpse of how you'll eventually feel if you stay sober long enough. I remember one author saying "You have to hang on until the real thing rolls in".

goodcheer

day 11 here...i have been feeling a burst of energy and clarity that feels like i am high or on a buzz. part of this i think is due to getting good sleep and not waking with a hangover as i did for years. i feel this almost unmanageable energy that i am not used to. feel like my eyes are going to pop, i am so awake! i had been thinking my energy was winding down, but now i am on fire and need to keep busy and keep moving. i am walking often and listening to music.

this may be the pink cloud syndrome. i think the return to physical health, and waking up happier does give a false feeling of security. it is actually a risky place to be, where my alcoholic voices start telling me that i really am not as sick as i thought and why don't i just learn to have a drink or two and stop this alcoholic nonsense? which is nonsense of course...i cannot moderate, and what brought me to this place was a crisis with alcohol.

feeling better is great, but i have to learn to honor this process. i am an alcoholic. stopping drinking is very hard, but i think what might be even harder is moving past the craving and living sober out into the future.

thanks for being there, everyone. sending strength today.

Iwantmeback

Good morning all,
I just wanted to check in quick and say hi to everyone. I hope that you are all doing well. I'm still trying to build up my willpower so I'm not going to state any day 1's yet. I have been tapering off my SSRI so I have been in a funk these days. I looked back at some of my past posts and it's obvious that I felt so much better about myself when I woke up sober. I want to get back there so badly.

I love reading your posts. Stay strong all.

06yz125

Gonna try again to get sober.

Thanks for you all being here.

Edit..I had stayed up til 1:30 last night reading the posts.
What an inspiration. Usually the only time I stay up that
late is because I'm..well..you know.

goodcheer

LOL...that's perfect, YVR!!

Iwantmeback

I definitly experienced "the pink cloud" after 12 days of sobriety. I'm going to dump out the wine when I get home. I can't revolve my life around merlot any longer. I have so much any nice things in my life, love, friendship, family, doesn't make sense to risk it all any longer. I'm gaining weight which is driving me nuts and I'm always too hungover to go to the gym. I'm not going to take this anymore. I'm angry at myself and this inner voice. No more!

honeypie

Yes yes yes. To all of it.

Energy, clarity, feeling giddy, it tends to hit me in the morning.

And then in the evening, it's cravings, irritability, sadness and a case of the effits - those are what have stopped my sobriety before. That is why, even though in the past I didn't want to, AA meetings help me. Because unless I have an alternate plan, my AV whispers loudly and that pink cloud is nowhere to be found!!

Alaska, I don't know much about the rest of your time with your therapist or how much you benefit from this person, but all I can say is, if I really liked my therapist I would tell her/him the truth, saying that I really thought I was an alcoholic and it endangered me to be working with someone who supported any idea of me drinking in the future...but if I did NOT really like the therapist or did not respect this therapist, I would definitely seek out another one. (God knows I have been through various therapists in my day. And I never had the balls to admit how scared I was of my drinking so they never had the tools to really help me. )

Good luck, everyone, all of us, hope today is a pink cloud for all! Sad soul how are you??

stevie88

Well i got through yesterday booze free so that means its day 3 today.....I slept well and woke up feeling great,have been very pro active this morning and ate a great lunch with my daughter....Its now 14.41 and i am having some crazy cravings and i really want a beer...Hope the craving goes soon....

honeypie

Stevie you can pass through this craving without drinking! Can you drink something else or eat something else. Coke, milkshake, water, coffee? Anything else.

The AV is not your friend.

You are not alone!!

microbio1

Hey everyone, just checking in. It's so great to read how well everyone is doing!I cannot wait for the pink cloud!
Welcome to the newbies! The people on this forum are really amazing and I can't tell you how much reading everyone's experiences is helping me.
Day four is starting good. My sugar cravings seem to have diminished a bit which is good, I have been working out a lot to counteract them and I am so sore today I don't think I could do a squat if I tried.

Gerbosko..I am on day four now too. Reading your post about the drunk guy sitting next to you made me cringe. I can only imagine how many times I have gotten mouth diarhea while drunk and talking to a sober person. I so do not want to be that way!

Last night I was very irritable for no apparent reason, but than just took a deep breath and watched some silly sitcoms with the teens and actually found myself laughing!

Good luck to everyone today! If I can't sleep again tonight I am going to log on here. This place is hopping after midnight.

goodcheer

iwantmeback....your experiences relate perfectly to mine. i cannot let my life revolve around merlot any longer!! yes, good idea to dump out the wine. i also think i am going to pack away the wine glasses. every time i open the cupboard and see them twinkling at me, i feel such an awful conflict. so go the corkscrews and the wine stoppers, everything that reminds me of wine. wine has given me so much pleasure and pain, like a bad love affair.

honeypie...you are so right! the evening voices push me to pick up when i am feeling weakest. no more....there has got to be more to life than this.

hang in there, steve!!! glad to hear your honest report.

good luck with day 4, micro. day 4 is a miracle....in my solo attempts to quit or moderate, i rarely made it past day 3, so you are doing an awesome job.

sending strength to all.

alaskasunshine

She is...or so it says on her website and the sign on her door. LOL. I think I'll just take the advice someone gave me in aa, take what you need, leave the rest.
Congrats to all for another day. Good to see you back Iwantmeback, and congrats on your day 3 Stevie.
Today i am dealing with a sulking bf. He was all sweet and loving last night but I fell asleep pretty much as soon as my head hit the pillow(imagine that!) so he didnt get any "attention" and all night he clung to his side of the bed and this morning i am getting the silent treatment. What is wrong with him? This is the stuff that makes me want to say f** it, and drink. I wont.

sadsoul2011

Good Morning! Honeypie - thanks for asking about me I'm doing pretty good. I've just been so busy at work this week that time is flying by each day.... I guess it's good. I've been able to get work done that hasn't been done for a while, plus handle the "crisis" this week.

Still sober - On Day 11 I think and holding pretty well. This time around has felt different from every other....I'm in a totally different mindset.....it is good. I haven't been able to get a very good handle on the sugar cravings yet; just a little better. Hopefully I'll have more time next week. Would LOVE to start working out. We'll see.

Even though I'm irritable and craving sugar it's still not hard to not drink even though my husband is. I am using AVRT and SR so far - great combination for me. His drinking is strengthening me and weakening my AV - I'm getting lots of practice telling AV to pound sand. The previous times I've tried to quit the alcohol has called out to me constantly and my AV could talk me into anything - but not this time! And, I'm being mindful to keep reading on SR. Sure wish I would have been able to keep up with everyone this week - maybe this weekend.

So many are having the pink cloud.... Should I be jealous? I don't know much about it.

Everyone stay strong on their journey and keep posting. It helps so much!!!

sadsoul2011

Deserto - Way to Go!!!! I saw that you returned from your SOBER trip to Vegas. That is awesome! Congrats - don't you feel stronger?

sadsoul2011

Husbands and BFs can be a pain sometimes - they do not understand do they? I know! Hang in there!

gr8ful42day

There is a TON of info on the web regarding 'the pink cloud'...google is my best friend

microbio1

So I just recieved some positive news about something that has been causing me stress...My thought process was literally, "that's great! I should have a glass of wine to celebrate!" I didn't, nor am I going to..but how messed up is that?

honeypie

It is a totally normal reaction if that's what you've been doing for a long time!

My mom and I were talking about Thanksgiving today and my mind went to the "hmm, maybe I could have a glass or two of wine on Thanksgiving with my mom?" file.

What an alky I am!! :-(