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Day 3

Old 08-18-2010, 12:45 PM
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Day 3

Ok, I'm on day 3. The smiley doesn't really express my true feelings. I woke up this morning (at like, 1pm...ugh) feeling the worst I've felt since I stopped drinking. Is that normal? This isn't as bad as a hangover, but close. I felt pretty good the first day, kinda sluggish yesterday, and terrible today. My eyes are PUFFY, my head is thick, and I don't want to move. Haven't been able to fall asleep at nights until about 4am or 5am.
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Old 08-18-2010, 12:54 PM
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it *sounds* like you are experiencing the withdrawal that makes you realize just how much of a PHYSICAL dependence your body had on alcohol. for me it was a real wake-up call as to just how addicted i was....no hiding it.

Be glad that you are on Day #3 because it will get better....but if you feel this crappy, you might want to give your PC doc. an accurate description of what you are going through. your sleep patterns are out of whack (unless you work a graveyard shift of course). try some stretching to relax before bedtime, a warm bath, relaxing tea to get yourself back in sync.

whatever you do NOT want to get back into that vicious cycle of drinking to help you sleep....

good natural sleep WILL come back and so will feeling well.
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Old 08-18-2010, 12:58 PM
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That sounds like me on day 3 for sure. Just a few more and you will feel a lot better. Of course it varies, but for me and what I've read from the others here 5 days or so and the yuk part clears up. Keep it up one at a time!
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Old 08-18-2010, 01:06 PM
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Day 3 here, too, and no I don't feel great. Anxious, kind of elevated heartbeat, foggy headed, etc. I felt better yesterday, and far, far worse on Monday.

You sound worse than that, though. You should probably call your Dr. Maybe some meds will help you get through til you're detoxed.
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Old 08-18-2010, 01:22 PM
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I feel so confused. So much for all that "I'm not physically addicted". But I just don't get it. I always thought that you had to drink all day to become phys dependant on something, because it had to constantly be there to stimulate the body. Sometimes I would take a day off drinking just to see how I felt, and I felt fine. I definitely do not feel fine right now. I'm not so bad that I'm worried - it's just that I'm not *myself*. I'm usually hyper and have a lot of bouncy energy (probably why I never thought I had a "real" problem). Like I said, I'm confused. I never thought that I drank that much. I do drink more than all my friends, but I'm also in better physical shape than all of them (I know now that these are excuses). I workout daily, and I'm usually not MAJORLY hungover unless I go out to a club or big party. I never thought that I would feel anything if I stopped drinking....I only stopped drinking because I thought I was fixing a problem before it REALLY became one. Sorry guys, but I'm really in total "wtf" mode right now.
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Old 08-18-2010, 01:27 PM
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No worries Maggi...I found that day 3 was worse than 1 & 2 for me as well. Actually Day 2 was always the best day for me. Your symptoms sound exactly like mine...but it's good that it sounds like the physical realities are a wake up call:-)
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Old 08-18-2010, 01:27 PM
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A hangover is withdrawal. What I've figured out from just these few days is that obviously alcohol has a much bigger effect on the brain than I realized, and not just to us hard boozers. I know an eye surgeon, social drinker, that will not drink except on Fridays or if he's on vacation. Says there are always surgeries scheduled Monday morning, and if he has a couple glasses of wine on a Saturday night he can notice the very slightest tremor in his hands Monday morning. Takes two days to burn the alcohol out of a very moderate drinker. Something for us all to think about.
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Old 08-18-2010, 01:52 PM
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Wow. I had no idea.
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Old 08-18-2010, 01:53 PM
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It's very normal Maggie - hopefully you'll start to feel better tomorrow
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Old 08-18-2010, 01:58 PM
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If you are that concerned, seek medical help. You may be having a little depression episode because you have now realized that you may never be able to be the same again....and that's good and should motivate you to stay sober. It does not take drinkign that much to create a physical and emotional dependency on it.
Good luck
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Old 08-18-2010, 02:25 PM
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not to give medical advice, but be sure you drink enough fluids to help flush your system.

you seem trying to convince yourself that you didn't have "that big a problem", but in fact the symptoms show that you do....if I remember correctly, 6? or more "stong" drinks a night...averaging on almost 42-50 per week...the big picture is pretty big.

no matter how great shape you are in, you were consuming a huge amount of alcohol and i think probably alcohol sugar? now your body is retaliating. I would have thought your symptoms would be worse, but your good physical condition is probably helpful.

it would be much worse if you waited a few more years to address this problem...what you are doing now is proactive.

alcohol addiction is different for everyone...i could only see mine AFTER i got sober. whew!
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Old 08-18-2010, 03:12 PM
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Yes Fandy, I do think you're right. The heavier drinking only just started about last year, but I would average 1-2 drinks every night before that, and much more when I would go out. I do think my "health" in other areas of my life is almost like an excuse to keep drinking. My diet is almost perfect and like I said, I stay highly active. I'm a personal trainer - what a joke that is in some ways. I'm always advising others to take care of themselves, but then I go and drink for hours at night. Coupled with my age, I think I've been able to overlook the effects - at least until now. I do find myself having a hard time accepting that I really have a serious and actual problem. I mean I get it mentally, but I guess I just don't want to come to terms with this for real. That would mean never drinking again, which right now sounds impossible and not like something I fully WANT to commit to. Does that make sense? I went one month without a drink a while back (just to prove to myself that I could), and it only got worse once I started drinking again. I felt great in that month. Now drinking has stopped being as fun as it was, because right around my 2nd or 3rd drink, the guilt sets in. Then I drink more to cover that guilt. Then I wake up in the morning feeling so defeated and dumb, I workout for an hour or two to make myself feel better. By evening, I've convinced myself that I was overreacting and that I'll keep it to one drink for the night. After that one drink, I'll decide that I don't really feel anything, so one more can't possibly hurt. And so it continues.

I'm starting to see that whether I want to or not, I need to stop this. It's only getting worse. This is not who I want to be. It is a problem.
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Old 08-18-2010, 04:01 PM
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Hey, none of us set out to become alcoholics. It wasn't on MY agenda, that's for sure.

I haven't encountered one situation yet, where I felt seriously deprived because I couldn't drink. I accept that I can't control my drinking in a way that makes it safe for me to drink. It's pretty much a non-issue so far as my enjoyment of life goes.
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Old 08-18-2010, 09:41 PM
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I just went to dinner at a place that served, and was able to avoid drinking. This forum really makes the difference.
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Old 08-18-2010, 09:46 PM
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Good, Maggi,

Glad to hear it. Once you get to feeling up to it, you might want to consider going to an AA meeting. As helpful as this forum is, AA is that PLUS.

Honest--we had a few people just go to their first meetings and they were pretty much blown away by it, I think.
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Old 08-19-2010, 07:05 AM
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Indeed. Where are ya, Maggi? Where's my Day 4 buddy?
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Old 08-19-2010, 07:46 AM
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Hi Maggi!

I think it's great that you are realizing this now instead of when you get to a point that is really awful. You are young and healthy so kicking it now is much easier than waiting ten years:-) I wish I had gotten serious about quitting when I realized I had a problem (about 6 years ago).

There's a lot of great reading material out there as well, that I've found really helpful for me in getting sober.

Keep us posted.
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Old 08-19-2010, 07:47 AM
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good morning to everyone. Hope you are feeling well and getting stronger.
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Old 08-19-2010, 08:05 AM
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Maggie, I too worked out at the gym almost daily while drinking 4-6 drinks the night before (and much, much more on days off), so I hear where you're coming from. I also ate healthy and took vitamins. I think the exercise can help off-set the severity of the withdrawal, but not eliminate it altogether. As others have suggested, drinking lots of fluids and taking a B complex vitamin can help. If you give in now and drink, then you'll just have to go through this process all over again. If the symptoms are that bad, then ask your doctor to prescribe something that can help you get through the next few days. Once you get through this, you'll enjoy the physical exercise even more--at least, that's been the case for me.
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Old 08-19-2010, 12:32 PM
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Hi guys! Wow, feeling so so very much better today. Sorry, after the forums went down, so did I. I think I slept about 11 hours last night....and except for waking up to pee the LONGEST pee in my life LOL, I was OUT. Still groggy now (I woke up at 1pm - I HATE getting up so late but lately that's not my main priority). Anyway, I definitely feel better. Started feeling more up once yesterday afternoon hit. I worked out, then we went to dinner and I ate grilled chicken, rice, and avocados - with water. Shower, then bed. For the first time in about 4 years (sober, anyway), as soon as I laid my head down, I fell asleep.

I have some extra beers and wine in my fridge that are always there ("in case of emergency" - omg I'm a total alcoholic), I decided I'm going to give those away to friends. Pouring out hasn't worked, I've done that many times before in my past attempts to quit drinking. But I want no alcohol in the house at all. I'm totally serious about this, I feel so much better without it.

THANKS EVERYBODY!
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