AveryMarie

Started tapering off opiates April 2. Out patient detox has gone better than I thought it would. I will be completely off subs the week of May 5. This was the longest month ever but worth everything I have put in. I have lot's of you to thank for your support. Much love and hugs to all!

Applekat

Reading is a huge hobby of mine so I've been reaching for addiction/recovery related books this month.

So far I've read:
Drinking: A Love Story (Caroline Knapp) - great overall read - I could relate to her, minus the men/food related addictions
Guts (Kristin Johnston) - very blunt/bad language - it's by the actress from Third Rock I think
Dry (Augusten Burroughs) - intriguing - a gay man who is forced into rehab by work

I just ordered:
Mommy Doesn't Drink Here Anymore (Rachael Brownell)

Anyway, that's one thing I'm doing to keep these hands and mind busy!! I'll have to return to some 'lighter' reading soon enough!

SolitaryThinker

Hello all!!!! Day 19 is going well. I have been reading like crazy and it has been helping me keep my mind at ease and engaged. And NOT thinking about drinking. I slept in on my one day off today. Went for a walk, ate some pizza, now I'm at my local library. I'm getting back into reading and I owed the library two books that eventually escalated to collection agency's being involved lol. Used my "beer money" to square this issue away and now I'm on the computers here. Very nice to be able to come back here honestly. Taking out some more self help type stuff and some graphic novels I have been missing issues too. Def for the people finding it hard when there is boredom (which is when I want to drink the most) force yourself to read anything!!! It was hard for me to get back into it at first but I eventually got it.
Hope everyone is doing well today! If I can do this anyone can, I never thought in my wildest dreams I would be almost 20 days sober from all drugs and booze. Take care everyone <3 be on here later today after my walk home

freein14

Hi all,

ST, you've overcome so much over the past 19 days, wow, almost 3 weeks!

Well done to everyone who's reached a milestone in their journey.

I firmly believe that sobriety is freedom, not something to feel restricted by. I know of 3 people who don't drink, 2 of whom have never drunk. Each one of them has such vibrant energy, a joyful outlook on life, and a healthy body. They seem free. Every time my gremlins voice tries to sabotage my efforts, I try to imagine what one of these people would do in the same situation, imagine what it would be like to deal with things with no thought of alcohol, it seems to dissolve the intensity of these negative thoughts.

I'm trying to stay away from any situations involving alcohol as much as possible, and I'm making this journey as easy as possible, but it really is a challenge. Glad I'm journeying with you guys and girls, we're on our way to freedom. Keep climbing one step, one day at a time.

Upward2Enlightenment

obosob I get it now, was racking my brain trying to figure it out too, don't care for Thorohgood since he turned his back on Delaware.

Thanks Izzy,

Still feeling better here and finally got the cable inet installed here. Hope everyone is having a good day. Feel better chickchick, and others who are sick. Remember no nyquil.

Mrsbee

Applekat, I'm about to start reading Dry! I read Burroughs's first memoir Running with Scissors years back and loved it so I have high expectations for Dry! Have you finished it yet? I'd be curious to hear more of your thoughts on it

Hope everyone is hanging in there! Welcome to everyone who has joined us...I think it's awesome that there are new classmates almost every time I log in to check this thread great to see our group growing!

Oh, I have a phone interview tomorrow for a technical writer position that is full-time and basically perfect for the English degree I just spent thousands on haha! It's close to home and something that I think would be right down my alley, so I'm praying SUPER HARD! I've been reading up on the company, too, so I am more knowledgeable about what they do when I speak to the recruiter tomorrow. I've been out of work for close to five months now and as much as I love my days spent crafting, wearing pjs if I'm lazy, and hanging out at the library, I'm also broke as a joke and BORED! Talk about cabin fever!!!

Well, I better get offline soon, my sister-in-law is having a lasagna dinner for everyone in a couple hours and I'm not ready yet am I the only one whose social routine revolves around food????? I feel like us recovering alcoholics and addicts are newfound foodies...not that there's anything wrong with that! I feel like I was just as fat when I drank bottles of wine nightly and at least now I'm clear-headed, happy, and nourished!

obosob

Chickchick: Please don't worry about the name business.I've been called far worse things than getting a couple of letters around the wrong way! Much more important issues than that for us both to look at....Good luck!

Applekat

Mrsbee, I enjoyed Dry. From the forced rehab, to the initial feeling of 'I don't belong here/I'm not that bad', to post rehab with meetings and therapy....I won't spoil it for you, but I appreciated the post rehab realizations he had. Feelings of loneliness, boredom, need, fear and optimism, all coupled with his sarcastic wit. Some of the end scenes were very powerful and you just get a visual of what he was going through.

I actually borrowed Running with Scissors from the library at the same time because I recognized the title, sitting right next to Dry on the shelf. Cool.

I'm excited for another woman's story, too. That 'Mommy' book should arrived from Amazon later next week.

Good luck with your phone interview, Mrsbee!! Fingers crossed!

Dee74

Best wishes Mrs Bee
Hope you feel better soon CC and libertas

welcome back Aistar and Gibbons

I'd miss the party too obosob - there will be other parties - when you feel stronger and more secure.
JLH was the man

It's great to see so many people here moving forward

D

ee1979

Thanks for such a warm welcome back from all of you guys! And to Dee, the mother and watchful guardian of this great forum : )

The positivity on this thread is really inspiring. It is so hard to make the decision to quit. One questions whether life will be incredibly boring after drinking.. however, after only three days without a drink, I am already feeling more positive psychologically about the future and am starting to think about how much more enriched life can be without my hateful 'drinking personality' and horrific hangovers.

Seriously all of you guys are an inspiration to me, and coming on here makes the world of difference; I feel I can actually do it when I see you guys achieving milestones and supporting each other. Big respect to you all

shone101

Hi everyone. This is the end of day 2 for me. Glad to have found you all

Dee74

Welcome Shone

D

ChickChick

Welcome Shone and anyone else new I might have missed!

I feel like death warmed over but I'm not drunk! Thanks for the well wishes.

Adnamaeel

I just lost another long post, so I'm trying again. I have no idea what happened to it this time...

Obosob, thanks for the explanation of your name. I'll always remember how to spell it now, and you're not a loser for knowing enough to avoid a challenging situation right now. You're actually pretty smart.

Welcome Gibbons, and good job to you and Sweetenuf on 2 days.

Eagles, I'm glad your still here.

Noolan, 14 days is awesome, and you sound so much stronger and more confident than you did.

Libertas, you'll get your energy back. It took me about 2 weeks.

I hope you feel better ChickChick. The new chick in your picture is really cute. I'm guessing from the way you talk about them that none are destined for the dinner table.

Welcome Aistar.

DancingDiva, I hope your appointment goes well, and that you are nice and relaxed after it.

I hope it's been a good day at work, Mariah, and I'm glad you had such a relaxing weekend. I want a punching bag too.

Thanks for the science info, Izzy. I really like the idea of more meaningful productivity in the future, thank you.

I'm glad you feel calmer today, Kitten, and I hope that's all the high stress work you have to deal with for a while.

Good job on day 6, AppleKat. You have a good plan.

Soliloquy, I found a lot of strength in the notion of choice, too, and I recommitted to my choice each day I was weaning myself off of opiates. I felt like it really helped break the mental hold they had over me.

Ccam, good job getting through your first sober weekend. Hopefully it will just keep getting easier.

AveryMarie, I'm glad you're here. I spent 3 weeks tapering myself off of opiates, and took my last one on April first. I really think the low level torture of tapering is worth it. It was so much easier than I expected it to be once I finally stopped taking them. I hope that's your experience, too.

19 days , Solitary! Remember how hard it was for you just a few weeks ago? I think you just may be our poster child. It's wonderful to see your process and progress, and I'm really proud of you.

Freein, I agree about sobriety being freedom. I was completely enslaved by my habit, and feel so liberated now. Such relief.

ScrewdUp, you'll keep feeling better and better, and I'm really glad you're here with us.

MrsBee, I'll be thinking about you tomorrow, and I really hope you get this job. They'd be foolish not to hire you. Good luck with your interview.

ee, your name makes me feel like a little kid running as fast as I can downhill. I don't think life after drinking will be boring, and I'm glad you've joined us.

Welcome, Shone.

Dee, thanks for all you do.

It's been another less than stellar day in my studio, but I can still get a lot more work hours out of it, so it's not over yet. I know if I have a bad show, the sun will still come up the next day, I won't starve, and I'll still have a roof over my head, so at least I have perspective on things. I haven't transcended my ego yet, and I hate that I'll probably look bad. It's my 11th year of doing this show, and they give me one of the best locations in the hall. This time I really don't deserve it.
I do deserve to feel really good about going 27 days without opiates, though, and I have a lifetime to catch up on work. I know the work I've been doing on myself is a lot more important than a few days of success, so I'm trying to focus on that.

Stay strong everyone, and thank you all for being here.

xnarcissist

Hey everyone! Day 1 for me here...again. I'm hoping this time I can stay sober for good. I need to get off this merry-go-round!

Dee74

Welcome xnarcissist

D

DancingDiva

Hey everyone!

Had a good MD appointment today - I talked about the generalized negative emotions and horrible nightmares I've been having since I quit. I mentioned something I had heard the last time I got sober, which was when you start abusing substances, you stop growing emotionally. So, in simplest terms, if you start abusing alcohol at 15 and quit at 30, you're basically still a 15 year old emotionally.

Anyway, he likened it more to letting dishes pile up in the sink - when you drink emotions and feelings aren't processed or addressed so they pile up and get really crusty and nasty, and now that I've quit I have to do the emotional dishes. Problem is, it's been so long that I've forgotten how to do the dishes, and now have to re-learn and attack the pile, one by one. That analogy really resonates with me, because that's exactly what it feels like. And therapy, meetings, friends, and SR are my soap and sponge

Time to lather up and keep washing! Hope everyone had a great day

DreamingDog

Hi folks. Day 2 for me and I'm staying sober today.

I made some calls this morning to schedule a doctor checkup and a counseling intake. Appointments on Tuesday and Friday. Still have AA on my list, too.

Couldn't fall asleep last night until about 4 a.m. and I think I read every post on SR from the past month. I'm leaning on you guys and your success. Thank you.

Probably won't post again tonight as my brain is foggy and it's hard to formulate thoughts into coherent sentences but I'll be lurking and reading.

Harmihavedone

Hello all,I am new and I am studying these treads intensely ,this is an amazing site! I've only just finally admitted I have a problem.i had always been under the impression that I didnt because I didn't drink every day.however ,when I DO drink ,and it's rarely more than a week apart,anything could happen.i don't stop til I fall over pass out or everybody calls a taxi .i have behaved like a monster when I'm drunk and the black outs became constant and worse.id insist on only going out with the heaviest drinkers I knew because,hey ,other people were just boring,right? Alcoholism takes so many forms,I had just trained myself to go without it Monday to Friday because let's face it,to buy booze you need a job.i may have just lost the love of my life thanks to vile comatose drunk behaviour and I'm praying to god that she can forgive me.alcohol has stopped me applying myself properly to anything for the last 15 yrs of life ,it has always been there to keep me in fear of living and loving .is there anything easier than having a drink instead? That's what makes it a life destroyer and it's a monster that thrives on fear.i need it gone.

Dee74

Welcome Harmihavedone

D