New to this!
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: UK
Posts: 38
New to this!
I joined when I first stopped drinking and felt now that it was time to post something on here. Well today is day 13 sober! Still cant believe ive got to this day - althought i know its only early days.
Being sober isnt what I expected to be honest - there hasnt been any huge happiness or seeing life through a different len. To be honest I just feel numb and like this is not real.
I hope things improve as I certaintly dont plan on going back to drinking, maybe being sober is what this feels like all the time?? Im not part of a recovery programme so im unable to speak to anyone who has been or going through this and apart from a few people - noone in my life knows this is going on - so it can get abit lonely. Thats why I joined here, so I dont feel alone and hopefully from reading other peoples stories I might be able to make some sense of all of this.
Being sober isnt what I expected to be honest - there hasnt been any huge happiness or seeing life through a different len. To be honest I just feel numb and like this is not real.
I hope things improve as I certaintly dont plan on going back to drinking, maybe being sober is what this feels like all the time?? Im not part of a recovery programme so im unable to speak to anyone who has been or going through this and apart from a few people - noone in my life knows this is going on - so it can get abit lonely. Thats why I joined here, so I dont feel alone and hopefully from reading other peoples stories I might be able to make some sense of all of this.
Member
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Venus, Space
Posts: 757
Glad you decided to get sober and join Newstart. I'm super tired (almost 2am here) but it may seem hazy and difficult at first but life in sobriety is better than anything I'd ever imagined. Hold onto your chair, your in for a wild ride if you stick with it. Hope you do. There's lots of great people and post here on SR to keep you company. Grats on 13 days. 
bona fido dog-lover
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: SF Bay area, CA
Posts: 99,776
I too felt kind of 'out of it' in early recovery but then when I started being grateful, counting my blessings, I started feeling truly happy. Recovery is about more than just 'not drinking', it's about a whole new better way to live.
Recovery is about more than just 'not drinking', it's about a whole new better way to live. 
Groovy Dancer
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: The States
Posts: 4,751
Welcome NewStart! Congrats on 13 days.
You may be starting better off than a lot of people did, including me. I know I did feel happiness and a sense of exhilaration when I quit. Slowly it came crashing down as I realized my problems were still there...I just wasn't using alcohol to cover them up. Maybe it's better to not start so high.
Either way, for most people a lot of issues do get better fairly soon.
You may be starting better off than a lot of people did, including me. I know I did feel happiness and a sense of exhilaration when I quit. Slowly it came crashing down as I realized my problems were still there...I just wasn't using alcohol to cover them up. Maybe it's better to not start so high.
Either way, for most people a lot of issues do get better fairly soon.
Administrator
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Australia
Posts: 211,432
Hi NewStart
I think most of us feel a little fuzzy - if you've drunk for years like we did, it's gonna take a while for your mind and body to readjust...13 days is great but it's just the start...
I expected that being sober would equal happiness too...it doesn't. Makes it a whole lot easier for us to look at our lives and figure out what areas we need to work on to be happy though
You'll find a lot of support for that here
Welcome to SR
D
I think most of us feel a little fuzzy - if you've drunk for years like we did, it's gonna take a while for your mind and body to readjust...13 days is great but it's just the start...
I expected that being sober would equal happiness too...it doesn't. Makes it a whole lot easier for us to look at our lives and figure out what areas we need to work on to be happy though
You'll find a lot of support for that here
Welcome to SR
D
Member
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: SE Michigan
Posts: 1,066
Yay for you, NewStart!
I think it's common to feel somewhat fuzzy and out of sorts at first...I'm at not quite a month and still feeling low energy but otherwise good.
As least said...recovery is more than simply abstaining from alcohol or your drug of choice...finding joy and fulfillment in being clean and sober is another component. Keep reading and posting.
I think it's common to feel somewhat fuzzy and out of sorts at first...I'm at not quite a month and still feeling low energy but otherwise good.
As least said...recovery is more than simply abstaining from alcohol or your drug of choice...finding joy and fulfillment in being clean and sober is another component. Keep reading and posting.
welcome to the group
Member
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: New Jersey
Posts: 581
The biggest surprise of recovery is learning that removing the alcohol does not remove the problem. In fact, it reveals the problem.
See, alcohol didn't create my alcoholism, alcohol treated my alcoholism. I drank to overcome fears, anxieties, distress, depression, bewilderment, etc. My entire perception of the world needed to be anesthetized. Calling alcoholism a drinking problem is like calling tuberculosis a cough.
So when I stop, I get worse. Now I need to face all that stuff sober. Who wouldn't want to drink once they took a gander at what was waiting for them in sobriety?
Here's my take: it does not get better. It gets worse. Unless we take action to treat the underlying causes of our alcoholism. That's what recovery is-- treating the causes. And abstaining from alcohol is just the beginning.
See, alcohol didn't create my alcoholism, alcohol treated my alcoholism. I drank to overcome fears, anxieties, distress, depression, bewilderment, etc. My entire perception of the world needed to be anesthetized. Calling alcoholism a drinking problem is like calling tuberculosis a cough.
So when I stop, I get worse. Now I need to face all that stuff sober. Who wouldn't want to drink once they took a gander at what was waiting for them in sobriety?
Here's my take: it does not get better. It gets worse. Unless we take action to treat the underlying causes of our alcoholism. That's what recovery is-- treating the causes. And abstaining from alcohol is just the beginning.
Member
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: I'm exactly where I should be.
Posts: 1,889
Congratulations Newstart.
24 days here...and counting...in the past few weeks my head has cleared up and I've realized I can actually think again and put things into perspective. It gets better.
My eyes are alittle fuzzy but I think I need an appt. at the eye doctor. LOL
24 days here...and counting...in the past few weeks my head has cleared up and I've realized I can actually think again and put things into perspective. It gets better.
My eyes are alittle fuzzy but I think I need an appt. at the eye doctor. LOL
Member
Join Date: Jan 2011
Posts: 551
That is fantastic NewStart, I also waited a couple of weeks of not drinking before joining here. Now I visit each morning before work and each afternoon afterwork. I seems to strengthen my resolve. Take what you need from some posts and park others that don't feel right for you. You sound like you have made a firm decision, like me!! I was a bit fuzzy at first and then things started to brighten, a spring in my step now!! I am on around day 50 and it is the best I mean the BEST decision i have ever made, no way no how will I go back. I will be keeping an eye out on your journey and keep up the great work!!
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: UK
Posts: 38
Thanks for the replies - Im still doing good, and I feel better than I did yesterday so thats a good thing!
The past two weeks have been sooo long, hopefully the next two wont feel as long, not that im gonna get ahead of myself - one day at a time!
The past two weeks have been sooo long, hopefully the next two wont feel as long, not that im gonna get ahead of myself - one day at a time!
Member
Join Date: Jan 2011
Posts: 1,126
Time and time again I'm reminded by reading these threads of the work I have to do.
I'm one of those double-trouble types. Alcohol and pills were salve for all the problems of me being me. Those problems haven't gone away. But one thing has changed: I believe in a power greater than myself, and I pray to that.
Approaching six months of sobriety for the first time in decades, the depression, anxiety and sick thinking that got me to where I'm at prevails. I don't scoff at psychiatry. But I do question the shrinks that kept cranking out prescriptions while letting me off the hook of doing the work to address the issues that made me willingly swallow them. More importantly, I realize I can't blame them. It was my self-will that opted to live that life. That led to me living on 20 milligrams of Klonopin a day and washing it down with beer and adding pot to smooth out the edges.
It's funny. When you've lost it all you realize just how much you do have. I will always be sick. I've lost everything to alcohol and drugs and self will. Hope is all I have. Will a HP fix my finances and my relationships and the precarious footing I have on all things emotional and material?
At first I thought it would. Now I just pray that God gives me the strength and the wisdom to fix these things myself. It's frightening, this "it works if you work it" part. Hey, SR folks, am I getting this wrong? It becomes overwhelming. I can't go back to drinking and drugs. For 20 years I used my diagnosis as an excuse to numb the beast. Now it's sober, awake, clawing at my insides. Are those cravings?
FirstStep, were in the same boat. But sober time brings things into perspective, especially those things that we couldn't face, that we shrouded in booze and drugs. I wish sobriety solved everything. It doesn't. We have to live soberly to face our demons. I'm at the point where I appreciate there is a huge difference between abstaining from alcohol and drugs and living a sober life. Surrender is another concept to appreciate.
FS, please keep coming back. AA does promise us a lot and that's what I'm hanging my hat on. It doesn't promise us happiness or material success or the evaporation of the damage we've wrought. From what I gather, it promises the tools to face those problems. Tonight I'm going to a meeting. What are you doing tonight, FirstStep?
I'm one of those double-trouble types. Alcohol and pills were salve for all the problems of me being me. Those problems haven't gone away. But one thing has changed: I believe in a power greater than myself, and I pray to that.
Approaching six months of sobriety for the first time in decades, the depression, anxiety and sick thinking that got me to where I'm at prevails. I don't scoff at psychiatry. But I do question the shrinks that kept cranking out prescriptions while letting me off the hook of doing the work to address the issues that made me willingly swallow them. More importantly, I realize I can't blame them. It was my self-will that opted to live that life. That led to me living on 20 milligrams of Klonopin a day and washing it down with beer and adding pot to smooth out the edges.
It's funny. When you've lost it all you realize just how much you do have. I will always be sick. I've lost everything to alcohol and drugs and self will. Hope is all I have. Will a HP fix my finances and my relationships and the precarious footing I have on all things emotional and material?
At first I thought it would. Now I just pray that God gives me the strength and the wisdom to fix these things myself. It's frightening, this "it works if you work it" part. Hey, SR folks, am I getting this wrong? It becomes overwhelming. I can't go back to drinking and drugs. For 20 years I used my diagnosis as an excuse to numb the beast. Now it's sober, awake, clawing at my insides. Are those cravings?
FirstStep, were in the same boat. But sober time brings things into perspective, especially those things that we couldn't face, that we shrouded in booze and drugs. I wish sobriety solved everything. It doesn't. We have to live soberly to face our demons. I'm at the point where I appreciate there is a huge difference between abstaining from alcohol and drugs and living a sober life. Surrender is another concept to appreciate.
FS, please keep coming back. AA does promise us a lot and that's what I'm hanging my hat on. It doesn't promise us happiness or material success or the evaporation of the damage we've wrought. From what I gather, it promises the tools to face those problems. Tonight I'm going to a meeting. What are you doing tonight, FirstStep?
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