Bored3

Hi

I know that it's easy enough to do a Google search and find out how long symptoms last when withdrawing from alcohol, the most popular result tends to be about 3 days, but is this just physically?

I'm coming to the end of Day 3 now, really wanting a drink in a way but knowing that I don't want it, and this is without doubt the worst I've felt. Will this go away, or will I just stop getting the shakes or the tremors, leaving my mind desperate for a drink?

I appreciate that this will be different for different people but I was just wondering what people thought who've been through this.

Anna

Have you talked to your dr, because the physica detoxing from alcohol can be dangerous?

For me, it took 4 or 5 days to begin to feel better physically, but I still had a long way to go.

I hope you feel better!

Kerbcrawler

its different for everyone i think...some breeze through with very little withdrawal symptoms, some go through heavy duty detox..depends on so much..congrats on 3 days,the mental side, triggers/temptation/ boredom/ force of habit, are,or hopefully were a little more prevailant,and needed keepin well on top of, i think i have a little liver damage,as had a lot of pain in that region,and it took a good few weeks to really begin to feel physically well, although i never got it checked out, which im not recomending,
but its important to eat and drink healthy, make sure you get all the vits/nutriants that,ll help put your body back into good shape again, and stay on the gameplan of sobriety, and the great benefits that it offers you, best of luck..stay strong.

smacked

Sorry.. took me longer than 3 days, but all our bodies are so different. Definitely see a doc, w'd can be very dangerous.. I was given meds to prevent seizures when I sobered up, and I honestly didn't even know I was at any risk for them as I'd "quit" many times before.

least

For me the first three or four days were sheer hell physically but started feeling better physically after day four. The desire to drink will probably stick around for a while, as it's a mental compulsion and force of old habit.

Whatever you do, don't drink, or you'll have to start all over again, and it seems that the more times I went thru w/d, the worse they got.

If you're feeling that badly, please get medical attention right away. W/d CAN be dangerous. Be safe while being sober.

Bored3

Thanks for the replies, sorry for asking so many questions I just really want to get it right this time.

I am not experiencing bad withdrawal symptoms physically at all, I realise reading back at my post it may have been misguiding. Physically I feel very well, have much more energy and feel much more my own self, a little sickness on the first day but that's all. My sleeping pattern is terrible but then it always has been, sober or drunk.

The only thing I worry about is that this mental challenge of not wanting alcohol won't go away. I appreciate I'll never be able to forget about alcohol completely, I just sincerely hope that the longer the process of sobriety goes, the less I'll be sitting here at 9PM thinking "hmm, I could do with a drink now". I know I don't want to drink, that's why I didn't, but tonight was the first time I was tempted. As it is, I didn't drink tonight, and I can only hope that Day 4 is better than Day 3 and that in the future my mental want for alcohol gets less and less, I think that's what I was trying to ask!

Physically the withdrawal goes away over days, as other websites have confirmed, but mentally does it get easier?

NewBeginning010

From my experience.. yes it gets easier & easier as time passes by. The challenge is that we now clearly see things what we avoided by drinking/drugging in the past & have to deal with them in a new way.

Keep posting & sharing... we are glad to have you here with us

Take Care,

NB

Peter G

If you'd read my early posts here you would know that just like you, on my 3rd day I started craving the sauce again - in a MASSIVE way. It would get so bad that I seriously made up my mind to just give up trying and get "faced" all over again. And that was while still feeling like I'd been run over by a truck with withdrawal pain.

What I can tell you now, having 47 days sober, is that yes the cravings do get less ominous and they really do lose their "oomph factor". I had cravings frequently, and so far the frequency has lessened only slightly, but the severity - that "banging hammer - I need a frikin drink right now!!" type of craving stopped being so bloody annoying and dangerous. I guess it was about 10 days before they really stopped being such a major hassle, but each successive NON drinking day made things easier.

The important thing is to just stick with it no matter how bad it gets. Even if it gets to be too much and you decide to drink again, go ahead and commit to getting a bottle, but then just put getting that bottle off - until tomorrow. I've done that a few times and it truly works. "One day at a time" is not a cliche, it's sublime when dealing with cravings.