Hi all, and Welcome ! I started out in May (midway) but just wanted to wish everyone the best and to hang in there, you will make it and you have a lot of help here at SR !!!! . I was a liter of bourbon (most everyday) dude and Sober Recovery IS essential with me being sober since May 13...Hell yeah, it is hard...Hell yeah I have temptations everyday...Hell yeah, I sign on to SR, read as much as I can, post, play in the arcade, hit up the chat room....anything to take my mind off going to the liquor store..and it has worked !! Not easy, but nothing is that is worth it...and trust me, each one of you is SO worth it...you'll start to feel that soon enough. I am. Congratulations !!

Hey, I'll be here too.... Been about 12 hours sober so far....

Day 3. I woke up feeling sooo good, proud of myself, motivated, optimistic. It was a nice change from my usual first thoughts of remorse and self-recrimination. This weekend seems so long. I am not used to having this much sober time. I'm exhausted now, though. I've only been up two hours and I want a nap. Yesterday I napped twice. Is that part of the withdrawal?

Hi all,

Just wanted to join the June group for support (both giving and receiving).


My first sober day was June 2. I had 3 successful days of not drinking, but relapsed on Saturday.

My coping strategy on the successful days was to very carefully plan my evenings around when I would usually start drinking.

On Saturday, my routine was changed because I had a family dinner. At some point in the evening I began to think about actually drinking, and the result was pretty easy to predict.

Oh well. I had a serious eating disorder for many years, and had MANY "recoveries" and relapses. I know from that experience that slipping isn't the end of the world, as bad as it feels afterward.

In joining the June group, I'm visualizing how much better my life will be just by the end of the Summer if I stay away from drinking.

Shalisan - from what I have heard and recently experienced, yes, being tired is all part of the withdrawal. It will go away soon.

KC

Hey Vixster and John :)

Like KC said, Shalisan, fatigue is pretty normal - it certainly was in my case anyway.
Give yourself a few days :)

Always see a Dr if you're worried.

D

Hey trader, I know what you feel like. I'm going through that internal struggle right now and my addictive mind saying it would be alright to give in. I've had a very strong sweet tooth every time I've stopped drinking - but I figure with all the calories from the alcohol that I'm no longer drinking, I can afford to be a little lenient!

Thank u for the message
Lilly xoxo

Welcome to Vixster and JohnGalt!!! I hope everyone else is doing well!

I went to a baseball game with my daughter. We had a great time, though it was a little adventurous with tornado watches, severe thunderstorm warnings, etc. Fortunately all we got was a little rain and wind and the game went on uninterrupted. My team lost, but it was a close game and a fun time.

On the drinking front, I had one diet coke and two large waters. I was so proud of myself for taking care of my body and hydrating myself so well. My body must be thanking me right now for the lack of alcohol and replacing it with water!!!

So many people were drinking beer. I was kind of surprised since it was a 1:30 pm game. I actually felt kind of healthy and proud walking around with my cold water bottle and seeing others going around with their beers. Not really tempted to join them.

There was this one very drunk guy who made an a$$ of himself. It was actually kind of funny. My daughter got to see this (she is 11) and I explained to her that he had had too much beer. Fortunately he was an amusing drunk and not an angry drunk. But it just made me all the more pleased with my decision to stop.

I'll check in tomorrow!!

It's so great to have this group up and running. I'm just struggling so much sometimes when I feel like I am starting to get stuck in a spiral of anxiety and I know that a drink would numb that (but not stop the anxiety/depression). My need of a short-term fix makes me struggle to remember my long term goal. But I'm reading obsessively on here because i find my undoing has been my addictive mind convincing me I'm not really an alcoholic, I don't really need to drink. When I can identify with so many people on here, I know that's just not true!

I hope everyone's doing well. I'm looking forward to making dinner in a minute and then sitting at my desk with a nice cup of herbal tea and doing my study with a clear head :)

:grouphug:

Oh and also when I post I want to list one good thing that sobriety has brought me today, that is that I still have an extra $10 in my wallet tonight since I didn't have to buy the usual bottle of wine!

Good morning all!

Lillyrose, great job hanging in there. These early days are not easy...I have the feeling things will start feeling better for you very soon.

I'm on Day 7 (I'm not quite sure how that happened so fast! For me 7 days without a drink is a LONG time!) Feeling very chipper this morning and off to play tennis.

I read the excerpt that KC posted on the August thread about how alcohol affects the body. Really eye opening. Honestly makes me not want to drink again. That kind of stuff gets to me. After reading that, I kind of diagnosed myself as early to early/mid stage alcoholic with only mild physical alcohol dependence. That explains how I am so easily able to stop without all the withdrawal effects. The physical dependence part just hadn't progressed to that point. But it certainly could if I continued drinking.

This is a better life for me. I'm happy. I'm more productive and concentrating on things other than drinking.

I hope others are doing well on this beautiful June day! Rock on, June bugs!!

Laura

taking another shot at it, today is day 1!!

Wecome rr423!!! It's a great day to start.

Count me in too and I am on Day 2.

My bad time of the day starts at about 3pm and goes until about 7pm. I torment myself with thoughts of drinking. If I can get home without buying wine and shove some food in me, the thoughts go away.

I am scared though - I have had way too many Day 1s and Day2s.

Hey Lyddie - I'm totally with you on that bad time of day thing. Mine usually starts at about 5pm, when I begin thinking "I have enough time now to go to the store and get some liquor, and can escape into drunkenness tonight."

One thing about my drinking is that I would be very scheduled about it -starting basically at 7:30 every night. Once I make it past that time without drinking, it's kind of really easy.

So keep on getting home without buying wine, and stay busy - eating, or whatever!

Congrats on day 2.

Best,

JG

Come on Lyddie, we can do it. Driving home from work is a mone field for me, too. I know all the different liquor stores in the many different routes I can take home (didn't want the staff to know how bad my problem is, so I spread out my business. Still know the staff by first name, their interests, families, second jobs, dogs. How sad.) Anyways, we can do it. It is just getting through those really bad moments by just continuing driving. Not forever, just for those few minutes. Just for today, right?

I am starting day 4. Yay me!

Can I come too?

Its Day 2 for me and Im pretty nervous as tonight I have to work at the bar.
Its from 5.30pm until about 3 in the morning and the usual pattern is that I would be 3 drinks in by now in preparation, listening to extemely loud metal and drying my hair. I will be leaving the job in 4 weeks time as I cannot financially afford to leave before then, and I will never work in a bar again.

Today has been real tough, Ive never been someone who drinks before noon yet today I woke up with a physical craving for a drink at 7am, which I ignored.
Im scared but I have to do this, it shows me how out of control things had gotten. And to think that for a long time, I wondered whether I had a problem at all.
On a good note, I had really weird dreams last night about Glenn Danzig which were rather enjoyable...lol
Glad to be part of this group, good luck to you all and my thoughts are with you xxxxx

Hi my name is Christina and today is day 14 for me. This has been a long 14 days, but each day is a little easier. I think the more people I meet in sobriety, whether it be online or in person makes me a little more comfortable. Glad to be here and glad to have made it one more day without a drink.

Welcome Christina!

I agree about meeting more people for whom sobriety is a goal and struggle making it easier to deal.

I'm pretty cynical and aloof, but I find just having the support of the SR community to be surprisingly helpful.

I hope it's as beneficial to you as it is to me.

Best regards,

JG

I was just thinking, imagine one day when alcohol and drinking is not so widely accepted in society, how much easier life would be for everyone. How am I supposed to not think about alcohol when every second character on tv is drinking it/every celebration, it's there? It's just everywhere. And I rarely see stories about alcoholism in my favourite shows. I just want to be happy within myself without alcohol. I'm so smart in every aspect of my life, why can't I make the connection that alcohol is what is making me so unhappy in the first place???

lilyrose - if you can stay focused and get up sober time, the prescence of alcohol really ceases to be a problem, I promise.

I see people drinking but it doesn't register as anything important or significant to me anymore - it's just a thing some *other* people do :)

D

Hey welcome to Lyddie, Stacey and Christina!!!

I hope everyone is good. I have to admit I had some serious wine cravings tonight that I had to ride out. Got through it, but did not enjoy that. I have a danger zone of the same time frame as many of you --- 4:30 ish to 7:30 ish. That's it. And not even everyday, but that's the danger zone. If I can get beyond that, I'm usually fine. For some reason, today was a little rough. I hope tomorrow will be easier. It's a new day and I'll be waking up without a hangover again!!

I agree with you Lilly, that drinking is all around us and it's hard to ignore. I sometimes wish I was a crack addict (okay, kidding...) but then my addiction wouldn't be constantly in my face. Don't you love how all these characters on TV romantically sip red wine in big pretty glasses all the time? No one ever has a drinking problem and they seldom talk about hangovers, lack of good sleep, etc. It's all so romanticized.

Speaking of which, I love the movie the Hangover. Has anyone seen that?

traderjane - Today was a bit challenging for me too. I wasn't "craving" alcohol itself, but the carelessness it allows me to achieve.

I just concentrated on getting past my "danger zone" time of day, and here's to another sober one. Glad you made it too.

Also, The Hangover was great - but again, all fun and games with alcohol; everyone ends up happy in the end.

Oh - and regarding the portrayal of alcohol as harmless in popular media and society:

Maybe you feel frustrated by the rosy lens view of alcohol, it would help to look up some statistics on alcoholism in Eastern Europe and Russia. Not so glamorous.

Or look up the cost of alcohol abuse in the US from lost productivity, emergency room visits, car accidents, crime, etc, etc. I know it's not the most exciting way to get a balanced view on it. But at least you can prove to yourself that you aren't the only one who sees the negative sides of alcohol.

That is true, John!!! (about the movie "The Hangover"). I thought about the fact that they were all terribly hungover, but when their hangovers wore off, all was well with the world. No one was any worse off, no alcoholics in the bunch. In real life, I bet at least one of them would have a drinking problem!

I saw Hangover, as well. Sadly, it probably encouraged a lot of younger folks to go out and get trashed because it looks like you will have fun. I also had cravings tonight, which I got through. Cherry Water Ice Gelato saved the day. Tomorrow is another new day!

While on the subject of movies, I love the movie Sideways. One of my all time favorites. In that movie, the main character really does have a drinking problem and is most probably an alcoholic. He's not all that happy, either. I need to see that one again. Last time I saw it, I wasn't in this mess with alcohol that I'm in now.

Day 4, and I am past the danger time. During the weekend, I went to meetings at lunchtime, and that was all good. Tonight, I came home after work (highly aware that I was bypassing liquor stores). That was good. But then I was going to a meeting at 7:30. I was scared to go, because that is the height of my danger time. I was afraid I would end up buying a bottle of wine. And hell, if I was going to blow it at this point, it wouldn't be for one bottle of wine. The logic started as I drove, telling me that I might be late, that the room could be already full and I would have to sit in the middle, that I might as well call it off for the night... even at one point in the meeting I imagined stopping for wine on the way home. But, I made it through, made it home, another day. I will not regret that decision in the morning!

You hit the nail on the head there trader! And just like girls (including myself) think, well there obviously is a way to be as skinny as that and I'm just a failure at it, there is just a way to use alcohol in the right and appropriate situation and I'm also a failure at that. I can scare myself silly with the effects that alcohol has on the body. But my mind keeps telling me ONE drink has never killed anyone, but it always leads to one more and one more, no one ever tells u that part.

Hello June Group!

It feels so good to be part of this new group. I was reading your posts about the "danger zone" time. Oh goodness I can relate to that. Mine is 6 pm on the button when Judge Judy starts. The past few days have been full of surprises and one of those was that Judge Judy still makes me laugh just as hard when she slams her pen on her desk and shhhhhhhhh's people when I'm not drinking.

Every day for me is a bit different. I had a strong craving tonight around 7 pm so I went to the gym instead. Distraction is key! I like to remember that I am consuming about 1000 fewer calories every evening and burning about 700 more when I go the gym. Aside from the health benefits it sure feels great to lose weight. 7 lbs so far!

Good Morning June Group!

I made it through Day 2 and now it is Day 3.

And at the moment, I am feeling very hopeful. Thanks for all your support.