Day 4-Need Advice!
 

Hey everyone. It’s the beginning of day 4 for me and I can’t get over this feeling I’ve been having since last night. What I usually do is drink Tuesday evenings/nights and all day on Wednesdays because I don’t have classes then. Obviously I didn’t do that this week. For some sick reason I’ve been feeling like I have to hurry up and get drinking or else I’m wasting my day off. WTF right??? Totally backwards. Even so, the urgency of this feeling has really been making me antsy and uncomfortable. Even now I keep thinking, “there’s still time to drink; it’s only 9 pm!”

Can anyone relate to something like this? How did you deal?

Unfortunately, it takes time to get past that. You'll have to find something to do that is not conducive to drinking for a while until you get out of the habit of associating certain days or times of the day with drinking. I know that no one likes to hear that time is the answer, but it really is.

Yes, it just takes some time to get used to the changes.

It's a good idea to change around your routine as much as you can so that you can start to break the habit and learn new ways to cope.

I think everyone has special times that they associate with drinking, and in the beginning you have to work to do something else with that time.

For me, it was flying on airplanes for work. I love flying on airplanes for the free booze. A glass of champagne before takeoff? I couldn't imagine at first how I could fly without drinking. I had to reprogram myself (asking for a seltzer with lime) and not fall back into old habits.

Oddly enough, I found that it is possible to be on an airplane without drinking alcohol. But it wasn't a sure thing for me :)

D

Ugh, this is hard. I associate almost every night of the week and some entire days with drinking :(
But I've been here and in chat all night long and it's helping, I think.

I look at my recovery with a two pronged approach. There is my recovery from the disease, and my habit. I don't mean habit like the street term, I mean habit of daily activities, holidays, birthdays, and weekends. When I was ten months sober, I had my 43rd real birthday. FiFi and I were bee-boppin' down the freeway, and flying out of my mouth I said, "hey, it's my birthday, we got to go to the liquor store". :gaah I didn't have a craving, or anxiety attack, or anything. It was just habit. Now I am at fifteen months, and just the other day I was thinking that I needed to go to the warehouse and organize my tools. Without thought, I said, "honey, I think I'll take the day off, grab a twelve pack and spend the day organizing my tools". Again, habit caught me. Again, no craving, or thoughts of drinking.

So, while you're feeling like this :headbange, it's normal. Try to laugh it off, and do something for yourself that you couldn't do if you were drinking. Although, early on there were times when I grabbed some ice cream and put in a movie. Another thing I did early was put on my jammies as soon as I got home so that I would have to change clothes if I got tempted. It would give me time to think it out.

Your doing great! Keep looking for those warning signs, and narc yourself out to another person.

Hell yes I can relate. My drinking pattern was basically ever other day. I would drink a ton, then spend the next day hungover, then ramp up to drink the following day. At the end of my drinking there were times when I was so hungover that even the 2nd day after I drank I felt like crap. I would typically make a decision to "not drink" sometime that afternoon. I would then get VERY anxious about not drinking that night. Sometimes I'd end up drinking at like 10pm just to calm the nerves....

I'm so grateful that I no longer have to live in that self imposed prison. I no longer have to drink. For me, I had to find a program of recovery that allowed me to not drink and be happy. It's available for us all, we just have to work for it! Best of luck to you!

Way to go on day 4! Stay strong - it really does get better. Imagine how nice it will be to wake up tomorrow without a hangover. Each day you don't drink will make it a little easier to say no the next time. It's hard dealing with the mental stuff, but it's worth it when you finally see those drinking thoughts fade away.

Get through it an hour or a minute at a time if you have to. Sending prayers and hugs....:ghug3

Thanks everyone. I made it through Wednesday sober. I'm really worried about Friday and the weekend, but I guess I'll deal with that when it gets here. This is the longest I've been without a drink since October.

Hi Bella, Happy to hear you made it through Wednesday. Try taking it one day at a time and not look forward to much. It will make you antsy. For right now, today, you did not drink. When I quit drinking, and struggling to make it through the day, I would often sign on to SR and read or chat until the urge to drink passed. I was so grateful to be able to do that. Hang in there Bella!

Best Wishes To You! :grouphug:

Congratulations on your progress Bella - worry about each day at a time.

D

Congrats on making it this far. Keep posting. If you need support, we are here for you.

My habitual time to start was right when I got home from work. So during the first couple of weeks after I quit, the urge would start to ramp up at around 5:30, peak around 7:00 and then taper off until 8:30 or 9:00.

After about a week and a half that pattern went away though.

You just have to break the cycle a few times and things should change.

Since I always drank at home by myself I had to change my way of thinking, my whole mindset, to stay sober. I had no triggers other than just being awake and upright.;) I had to get comfortable with myself sober, and as has been said, it just took time.:) You'll get stronger and more comfortable with sobriety with each passing day. Be good to yourself, eat healthy and rest as well as possible. It will get better.:hug:

Good for you, Bella! One day at a time.

It gets better, then it gets worse, then it gets better again...I am still hanging in there on day 12. Weekends weren't a particular trigger...like least, any time I was alone at home (or driving home from work) was enough to start drinking.

Thank you again for all your responses. I'm on day 5 now and hanging on by a thread. I'm literally taking it a minute at a time at this point. I talked to some people and read through these posts again and now I feel a little better. I think I'll try to get some sleep and hopefully it won't be this bad tomorrow.

Keep hanging on Bella, you can do this! Just got home
from work and read your last post. Hope you are restfully
sleeping.

Do. Not. Give. In. You are not missing a thing by choosing
to not drink one 24 hour period at a time. I promise you
while you are maintaining your sobriety all the alcohol in the
liquor stores, grocery stores and bars is not going to disappear
from the face of the earth. It'll still be sitting there. It isn't
going anywhere. Give yourself half a chance to see what
it is like with a new sober life. Those day ones suck big time,
that's if you are lucky enough to make it back.

:hug:
I found it easier to not drink when I began attending AA.
One plus was to be around others who shared my goal
of living sober...and enjoying it.:yup: