Welcome! Great advice here and different options for you. Try them on and see what fits. There are many paths leading to the same place (imo)
Glad that your here.

Hi and welcome. I'm new myself to SR but have been an alcoholic fo 19 years. You're not going insane - it's the alcohol that's doing that to you. My advice would be to seek help from your GP or local drug/alcohol agency and start from there. Never be ashamed to seek help. My thoughts are with you x

Welcome to SR Panacea :)

There are lots of recovery methods out there and I'm sure you'll pick up some useful tips here. AVRT is what helped me early on, which suited me because it didn't require meetings and I was way too scared to 'come out' by going to AA. It is an irrational fear but I think we all had it at some point. I'd recommend doing something different when 4pm rolls round too. That was always my danger time when I wasn't at work so I started going for a walk in the afternoon, usually to the supermarket to buy copious amounts of herbal tea!

it is 7:12
 

I feel terrible - my head hurst, my muscles hurt, everything hurts...but I have made it past 4 PM. I took everyone's advice and took the family out to dinner even though I feel like I have a 20 lb weight on my head and my ears are ringing. Drank practically a gallon of green tea.

I tried to look online for web based AA meeting - there seems to be quite a variety of them - closed meetings, open meetings, chat, email, steps, 11th step, book study groups....it is all a bit overwhelming.

I did look a the AVRT sites (my It is quite loud) and downloaded the New Solutions to Drinking Problems book by Anne Fletcher as well. Both seem promising.

Am already in bed and hoping I feel better soon. Interesting enough, although I feel awful...I am wide awake and not as exhausted as I would be with multiple drinks on board.

Thanks again to all for your support. Panacea

Welcome to the site and congrats on getting thru the first day sober.:hug: The first few days of detoxing are rough but it will pass and you'll start feeling better provided you don't start drinking again.

Panacea, you've shown great strength in making through the day without drinking. But since you are feeling so bad physically, I'm concerned that you may need some medical help with detox.

See the first stickie in the Alcoholism forum: Quitting, what to expect, etc.

If you think you may be having some of those same withdrawal symptoms, please don't try to go it alone. It can be dangerous to your health. I'm thinking of you and praying for you.

How are you feeling today, Panacea?