Snarf

I'm at 10 weeks without a drink, and I feel better than I have in a really, really long time. I don't obsess over drinking at all. The occasional thought will enter my head, like when I drive pass the wine store and think, "A nice Chianti would go well with dinner tonight," but I quickly dismiss that thought and just chalk it up to habit after 14 years of drinking. I even work in a restaurant and serve alcohol, and am never tempted to drink. When we go out to dinner, my fiancee will have a drink or two (after I assure her that it's OK), and I drink my Coke or tea. My friends get beers at the baseball game, I drink the sodas and waters I brought in. My alcoholism is my problem, not theirs, and I never really have a problem with other people drinking. Basically, I don't feel consumed by the desire to drink, as I believe that my Higher Power has lifted that desire from me.

But every once in a while, maybe once a week, I have a dream about drinking. In the dreams, I always start drinking before even realizing it. Like, I don't wrestle with it and then decide to do it. All of a sudden, I look down and realize that I'm drinking. And I think to myself, in my dream, "What are you doing? All that work for nothing!" And then I proceed to think, "Screw it," and just keep on drinking. And I get all upset and guilty at myself in my dream. Then, every time, I wake up all kinds of upset and feeling horrible about drinking, until I realize that it was all a dream. But it's so darn realistic, I can feel myself and think to myself and analyze myself in the dream. It's crazy.

Has anyone else experienced anything similar? I've noticed since I stopped drinking that my dreams are more realistic and I tend to remember them a lot better, but these drinking dreams are intense.

NEOMARXIST

yes, they come and go. I have had periods of drinking dreams and many drug taking dreams, They come and go.

Every dream I have had has been full of remorse and guilt/anxiety. I don;t really think about them now and just wake up and go and have my cup of tea.

I used to get drinking and drugging dreams years ago when i was still in 6th form at school. I never met anyone else who used to mention them, only me, i used to say it was a free trip. I used to love them when i was still drinking/drugging.

Now I just accept them for what they are ie- dreams and they come and go. Sometimes i will have a run of a week or so of them evry night and then none for months.

They further my resolve if anything for my sobriety. They are always unpleasant and I wake thinking how grateful I am to be sober. In some ways I am glad I have them. They further emphasise to me my alcoholism and addiction. It's all gravy.

Peace

yeahgr8

yeah sure every so often, always coincide when i am worried about something the day before which isnt so often anymore im glad to report!

I used to get that horrible feeling that i had actually drunk or gambled the first few seconds whilst waking up but now i think they are quite funny and like to replay them in my head and have a bit of a laugh...

Just to confirm though i did have a couple in the first few months and exactly the same reaction as you described and the same feelings...i think the difference is that i was worried about going back to it but now i know and trust if i do a,b and c everyday then today i wont drink but if i stop doing a,b and c then i am sure my dreams will be the same as they were before...and id better start doing a,b and c pretty darn quick again after that lol:-)

Ive got a mate in NA and he still gets the dreams like we have had after a year so...mind you he still hasn't done step 9 all the way so...dunno?

HumbleBee

Yep, drunk (or drink) dreams are common, esp in the first 6 mos or so I've found.

Most of mine were about hiding alcohol, which was strange cuz I actually never hid bottles.

Think it had more to do with me trying to hide my alcoholism before I got into recovery.

You know...thinking that I sounded fine on the phone only to be told the next day that I was slurring my words. Duh. Or thinking I was standing straight and walking okay, only to be swaying and unbalanced?

Oh, the insanity.

I have very few dreams about alcohol now. When I do, they're more about me being in situations where alcohol is present or people around me are drinking, but I don't feel any pull or stress about it in the dream.

The subconscious mind is a remarkable thing. These kind of dreams are very common, I've experienced and been told, though.

Fandy

I've had a few dreams not about actual drinking, but that horrible hang-over and think in my dream, "oh I blew it"...when I wake up I realize i'm not hung-over.

I remember my dreams a lot more now too...I usually experience a lot of nightmares, but think it is just from stress and mental discomfort, I have a lot on my plate and it has to come out somewhere.

Chavo

Very common. I haven't had as many drunk dreams but the drug dreams are pretty vivid and kinda disturbing when I'm trying to get clean. Sometimes it feels real and I wake up a little upset. Good thing it's just dreams right?

Chavo

FBL

As I get further along in my recovery, I've had them less frequently. From about once a week to about once a month.

Fandy

my sleep pattern is completely different in sobriety. Even a few hours give me more actual rest and deeper sleep no matter what I dream/nightmare. and I will take normal morning energy over that horrible first look in the mirror,than dry-heaving any time.

Dee74

Yeah drinking dreams are pretty common Snarf...and yeah they really are real aren't they?

I had one recently, after a long break...everyone was offering me drinks...I found I couldn't even drink in my dream

I don't think they mean anything as such...I've never treated them as if they do, and I've been ok

D

Recovery1983

Funny that you mention this because the last two days, I have had nightmares of drinking. I wouldnt even wake up from it either, the nightmare would play itself out completely. In my last nightmare, I had 30 days of sobriety, which is weird, since I am on 93 days today. Anyways, I was with friends and I ended up just drinking. I didnt even really fight it and I just remember where I get mad and feel that I have to start all over again. Then I wake up at my normal hour and realize it was just a nightmare. Some weird stuff.

Snarf

Yeah, I'm not necessarily worried about the dreams. I just find them interesting. I tend to believe there's some meaning behind dreams, so I may explore a little bit and see if I can come up with anything. It's just striking to me the level of emotion I experience in being upset with myself in my dream, and for the first few moments after I wake up. It's truly an odd feeling.

Toronto68

For some reason, I don't remember my dreams very much - which is ironic, since I am supposed to be very unusual for my memory (not photographic, just detailed and dated; and it's been considered weird). But I think I have had dreams like this. When I read this, I asked myself whether I'd begun to have "I don't drink anymore" dreams yet...Maybe so. And if I do, I will probably have the drinking ones again later on (just like being at an earlier school instead of university, or the hometown instead of the current one, or the previous sweethearts, etc - all the usual anachronisms we experience in dreams).

Freedom1990

I'm almost 20 years clean/sober, and I still get those kinds of dreams from time to time.

It seems to happen when I'm overly stressed, and dealing with a lot on my plate.

Those dreams used to upset me terribly in the beginning. I would feel out of sorts the whole day!

Brucel

I've had them occasionally, but rare. When I do I wake up in a panic, like I really did drink or use. Not in the last coupla years have I had them. I don't think they mean anything, at least not to me. But they are scarry. Probably cause it took so darn long for me to get this that I fear losing it still. God Bless

Gano

That's quite funny, I was going to make this exact same thread yesterday but then though it was just me being mad. I've had a few drinking dreams over the last few weeks and always wake up feeling disappointed in myself. Then stoked that it was only a dream.

LovesToTravel

I dream about it all the time. I also smoke in my dreams too and I quit that 17 years ago!
I do have to think about it a minute and then am glad that it is only a dream.

jacknscoob

Hiya all

I am still drinking at the moment...but when I am or not drinking I have loadsa dreams re drinking. Usually dreams about running out of booze & stress of finding my next drink...or dreams about being dehydrated...looking for water. I wake normally every hour to drink water during the night.

J xx