augustwest

You will make new friends

pangur

GalFriday, taking more won't help the comedown, 10 years ago I quit popping speed but I'm sure the same basic rule applies. I understand how you feel about your friends too, the same has happened recently due to booze, I used to be the life of the party. The only advice I can give is to focus your energy everyday on your recovery. I love making lists, it helps keep me active and involved in my own recovery, perhaps that might help you too. Small but helpful goals at first, don't over-reach or you might give up.
I hope this is of some use.

GalFriday

I've read that a lot on here, and I need to write it on my walls! My nature is plan plan plan and have every detail worked out on thru the whole year. But i have to bring myself back to reality here and realize I simply don't have that kind of control and/or ability. that old "one day at a time" phrase is really tough for me.

keltie

good job on having a plan. The hard part will be resisting the temptation to continue stealing from your co-worker. Make a plan for that and stick to it. If I had an unlimited supply anywhere, when that obsession kicked in, there would be no way for me to stop it. No access is the only way to go when those obsessions kick in. Best of luck.

GalFriday

that is for sure my greatest worry. If I didn't have such easy access I would feel more confident that I could succeed. But I am still going to try. I have even looked for alternative sources of income so I can get away from my source.

Lost3000

Hi GalFriday! I quit alcohol on Jan. 1 this year. I too had a plan, and geared up for it beforehand. Here's my list:

1. I had my husband remove all of the booze from the house.
2. I told one trusted non-drinking friend (my husband).
3. I got all the books I could to prepare. One extremely helpful one, not geared specifically towards alcohol but quitting a substance, is called How to Quit Drinking Without AA. It's full of charts and worksheets and I think it'd match your personality well. Also includes a worksheet you create that you can look back on when you are tempted. I wrote mine when drinking and when I look back at it I remember why I quit in the first place.
4. I scheduled all kinds of activities the first 2 weeks. I mean a PACKED schedule. Funny too because I was way too tired to do those things. But that schedule helps me now that I'm not so exhausted and am over the initial withdrawal symptoms.
4. I write and read here a lot. A few reached out to me via private email, and I continually correspond with them.
5. I attended the online meetings here. They are great and full of really nice people. I also drop in the chat room when I'm having a hard time, or bad day.
6. I went to the gym as much as I could. Or just did a brisk walk, anything will help a lot, you'd be surprised.
7. I forced myself to write in my journal. That helps too. I also forced myself to read my past drunken ramblings. That was really hard to do.

Good luck!! You can do it!!

desertsong

All great suggestions here. One thing that has really helped me through early recovery is keeping a journal. Whatever I'm feeling ... anxiety, agitation, frustration, happiness, etc. ... I write it down. It's very cathartic getting it all out on paper.

camedown

I'm not a pill user, but I just want to say that recovery is a long term process. When you go to the NA meeting, get some numbers and start working on a lifestyle built around a program. I'm almost at eight months sober, and still hit six to eight meetings a week. My sobriety is secure for today because I work a solid plan of meetings, stepwork, reading, SR, and therapy. I also accept that it will be this way for years to come. I drank for 25 years, it's not going to heal completly in just a few. Maybe in 25 years, when I"m 67, I can let up a little in my program. Best of luck to you, and welcome to the wonderful world of sobriety.

choublak

Who do you live with, just your son?

GalFriday

Yes, just us two.