Bombshell

Hi everyone, it's day 3 for me and I'm feeling restless and really antsy. A couple of times today I've been really tempted to get some wine for tonight and it's really only the fact that it wouldn't be easy for me to get it, that's stopped me.

I'm just trying to remember what I used to do for fun in the evenings before I got into drinking. I know I used to read, play my instruments, sketch, write... But none of those things appeal to me in the least now. All I want to do is drink.

I'm just wondering, did anyone else ever experience this in the first while after they quit? Does it go away, and do you start to remember how to have fun and do stuff you used to enjoy without drinking? I just need some reassurance here that it's not always going to be like this because I'm feeling very agitated and frustrated!

Thanks for any help guys,
Anna

doggonecarl

Yes, it is common to wonder how to fill the void that drinking took up. And the longer you drank the more difficult it might be to "have fun" without drinking. But the good news is that it does get better. As for your agitation and frustration, that's part of withdrawals. Just ride it out. Fill your time with something, anything, to take you mind off wanting to drink. In time, I promise, having fun will replace just filling time with activities. But for right now, anything...even if NOT FUN...is better than drinking.

Good luck.

Jabbadabutt

Organize. Spend your non drinking time organizing your closet, basement, desk, garage, whatever.......clean clean clean!. It can serve as a real life tangible metaphor for choosing sobriety.

least

Yes, it does go away, but give yourself time, three days is very early in. I used to be bored too when I didn't drink but over time that went away and now I just enjoy doing anything, or doing nothing - sober.

LaFemme

I went to bed very early for a couple of weeks....lol...then I became an SR addict

Then I did like Jabba and started organizing and cleaning up my life.

Now I simply live like a normal human being. I take my dogs to the park or for a walk, I run errands, I cook, I clean, I read, I watch TV, I embroider...etc, etc, etc.

It will get easier. I promise!

NEOMARXIST

I found that my recovery enables me to be peaceful, content and hopeful as a wonderful bi-product. This in essence is what my recovery gives me and means that I don't need to fill that void within with chemicals.

It takes much work and much time and it's a process 'one day at a time' and indeed very much a daily work in progress. I know for me that action was/is the key and I use AA, SR and much wisdom from elsewhere.

Recovery is a beautiful thing and has profoundly changed me as a person; the way I think, feel and react to life. There is a much deeper connection that I have with the earth and the universe in general. Recovery for me has revealed more and more as I've progressed but I have had to actively live it and apply it to my life and my mind.

I don't try to externally fill a void within my life, but rather am content with myself and so I find that external things just slot into place as a result of this.

For me music plays a massive part of my life, for the first 6 to 9 months I couldn't listen to my music as I would just get sad, nostalgic and feel that I couldn't connect like I could when i was able to drink and drug into oblivion. However music is my life again and I connect on a much deeper level now, it's a beautiful thing and I ain't looking to enhance things anymore; rather I accept them as they are.

I know for me I had lost a lot when I got sober, so I was content just working my recovery and reintegrating back into employment etc.

I knew too that drinking simply couldn't be an option for me as it would kill me and keep me stuck at the bottom of the barrel. I knew I wasting so much and it was killing me inside.

So in short, it's all very related to acceptance for me. I accepted that experiences and life would be different without drink and drugs, but that is Ok as I'm an alcoholic and addict and milked drink and drugs more than most ever would...

All The Best, Peace.

Bombshell

Thanks so much guys for all the reassurance, it makes me feel one million times better! I need to realise that I'm not missing out on anything by not drinking and that's just the addiction telling me that I am.

It's good to hear all your experiences too I especially agree with the organising suggestion - so much has gone by the wayside because I was too drunk/hungover to deal with it - sorting out the mess and clutter I've made should keep my mind occupied for oh, let's say the next ten years at least...