Friday night blues
 

Hi, I'm sure a lot of you have been through this same scenario before...it's my first sober Friday night in a long time! I am at home with my daughters, my husband is working late. The house is clean, the baking done, the kids clean and in their pj's. I am so annoyed at everything and everyone, especially the husband, and he's not even here! In previous Fridays, I would probably have had a few glasses of wine already which is what I want most right now. But, I am choosing to write here instead and read other's stories. Thanks for stopping by and 'listening'!

Hiya chick, I'm pretty new to SR but I thought I'd stop in and say hello, and well done on deciding to be sober. I am on day 10, I can relate to how you are feeling, but my time was in the mornings, I would get everything I needed to do as quickly as possible so I could start drinking. Now I get everything done, and look for more to do lol.

It's great to be busy or be on here, the others here have been really friendly and super supportive :)

Can you get the kiddies off into bed and have a lovely soak in the bath, get yourself a nice drink of juice, coffe etc... and a nice snack together and put a good movie on to distract yourself?

I hope your evening gets better, it's hard, but only temporary !!!

Thanks! I am drinking lots of water! I am feeling more calm and less annoyed as I read more...

Hi Chick,

For what it's worth, I think it's normal to feel annoyed and antsy when you are in early recovery. I had to learn ways to deal with those feelings. I walked a lot, I listened to music and tried to get involved in reading books I'd wanted to read. Do whatever you can to try to relax and get through this.

You're doing great!

Hi Chick. Your feelings are all perfectly normal, but that doesn't make it any easier. I felt like an alien for the first few weeks. We say it all the time on here, but it does get easier and you can learn to live again in a whole new way. I was very uncomfortable & my emotions were raw in the beginning, but I gradually began to appreciate not having a hangover or worrying about where my next drink was coming from, or what I'd said or done the night before. It's so freeing to no longer be a slave to it. Glad you're here with us.

Hello Chick,

I too am home on a Friday I have cooked cleaned laundered, fed the baby changes her and got her off to bed. I am now watching a movie and just hanging out. It is different that is for sure but it is OK, certainly better than some of my decisions in the past. I was once told that we should do the next right thing, however I did also here a very bright person say we should always do the next right hard thing, as that is most likely better as the comfortable things are more what we are used to doing and they have not always been the best. Enjoy your Friday night at home and you will feel better and better I am sure.
JT

Hi Chick~ I can relate to how you are feeling. That annoyed feeling is what I hate the most. It just seems like my moods are so all over the place lately! I even felt so frustrated earlier with a situation that I simply wanted to drink myself stupid and stay there until the end of the Holidays. I didn't and I won't but needless to say waiting for the feeling to pass was no fun.

Glad you came here to SR, keep posting and reading. It helps =)

Hi there! I am so glad that all of you that are struggling are posting about how you feel and choosing to stay sober instead of just giving in to the temptation to drink.

I think it is very common what you are feeling. I know it sure was for me. I was totally lost at first. I didn't know what to do with myself as I couldn't bring myself to even go into my bedroom (I drank in secret in the bedroom) or be alone (I drank in isolation). What I did was go to a meeting as soon as I got off work which would last until 7:30. Sometimes I would stay for the 8:00 meeting which would end at 9:00 which would get me past the time that the liquor stores closed (my choice of drink was bourbon). Then I felt like it was safe to go home but even then I needed to be around people. I didn't find SR until I was a year sober so that wasn't an option. My insomnia was wicked so sleeping was out of the question.

So, I would hang out in the living room with the family until they went to bed and then I would lay in the recliner and read a book and watch tv and pray to at least catch a tiny bit of sleep.

Weekends were really hard for me. I stayed busy and tried to stay around family, friends or my new AA group. I did a lot of cooking, shopping, movie watching, reading and meetings. Being alone was a HUGE trigger for me so I avoided it at all costs for a long time.

The good news is that this didn't last a real long time. I want to say it may have lasted a month tops if that long. By then I had more confidence in my ability to stay sober, the withdrawals had passed, I had made friends in my AA group and I felt a lot more positive about things in general.

I would say to all the newcomers just hang in there, it WILL get better. Just don't drink today. Post on SR and let us support you. If you have access to face to face (f2f) support by all means take advantage of it. Come up with a list of things that you like to do that you can do in your spare time or when you are bored or need to keep yourself occupied.

Hope this helps!
Kellye

I'm reading this thread wishing one of you would come over and help me clean my apartment!

Glad you're all here and sober.

Peace & Love,
Sugah

Lots of good advice has been given. Very early sobriety is a rocky road, but it does get better. Distract yourself any healthy way you can. Drinking lots of water and juice and eating good stuff can help. B vitamins are also good as alcohol depletes B vitamins. You can also try some of the relaxing herbal teas, chamomile tea is helpful for soothing anxiety.

Take it one minute, one hour, one day at a time - it will get better! Come here often to vent your feelings. Be good to yourself.:ghug3