Originally Posted by SportsFan15

The more I read I understand what you're talking about Roxy.

This isn't exactly it but is related....reassuring to us who are experiencing these symptoms during recovery, from Huffington Post:

“It turns out that there [is] a whole host of wiring that actually gets worse in the next four to eight weeks.” One of these is cue-induced stress response—people in early recovery are more responsive than non-addicts to stress surrounding people, places, and things that remind them of using. This measurable increase in symptoms of stress is the “physical evidence of craving,” Sack says. Cue-induced stress responses get worse over time and seem to peak between 4 and 8 weeks; the intensity of how much stress addicts feel correlates to relapse, he says. Unfortunately, this peak in stress or craving is typically the time when people leave treatment facilities—“we’re sending people out when this is getting worse.”
The second thing that gets worse is that addicts experience increased impulsivity. Studies have shown that first, addicts continue to make more mistakes than non-addicts when trying to learn how to do things differently, and second, they tend to continue to put less value in future, or distant, rewards, Sack says.
Finally, addicts continue to experience a loss of working memory—they have trouble remembering the things that they’re supposed to do. This is more the case for alcohol and benzodiazepine withdrawal than for opiates, he says.
The biggest thing Sack’s seen in his patients is increased anxiety. People are “more nervous, more anxious, less resilient; and that anxiety is experienced as fear, as uncertainty, a greater sensitivity to rejection.” Some of this excessive reactivity is linked to the glutamate neurotransmitter system, as many drugs of abuse block glutamate. In response, the body ups its production of this chemical, even after the drug is taken away.
This emotional reactivity can be seen with people who abuse opiates, too, and it can be referred to as hyperalgesia. “When people are on pain meds for a long time, their tolerance for pain and discomfort goes down,” Hazelden’s Lee says. This applies to psychological and emotional pain as well, he says.

Originally Posted by Geralt

Recently I have read some comments here from new members that want to quit drinking for a couple of months/years and then try to drink responsibly again.

Well, I have to disappoint you (but believe me this is a blessing in disguise), that's not possible for 99% of us.

The cause is the progressive nature of the disease alcoholism and the mechanisms of .

Every withdrawal is worse than the previous one and each time you drink you will need more alcohol for the same effect. There is no way to reverse it, not a couple of months or years.

I wish I had understood this earlier, instead of binge drinking the last decade away. Over the years I forced myself into thinking that my alcohol consumption was a matter of strong will, persistence or control. I had to "master" the art of moderation and become a happy 1-2 drinks person.

But my body had already changed. Due to the effect of tolerance there was no happiness after 1-2 drinks, my nervous system screamed for more. And after that first drink, I was already powerless over alcohol and would drink more, more... till black-out. Good morning shakes, anxiety, thirst and welcome to the effect of kindling. The hangovers became acute withdrawals.

Actually it's quite silly. Someone with diabetes doesn't have an issue of "strong will" with sugar, neither someone with peanut allergy. So why do we keep fooling ourselves that our alcohol consumption is a matter of mind?

Accept that you can't ever drink again and it will be a lot easier.

Originally Posted by jryan19982

So I read recently that when you are sober for a given period of time, that when you return to drinking after this sobriety and drink for 3 days at your old usual amount you are back at square one. Then if you drink for more than 4 days you are further behind the 8 ball.

Then you are likely to increase your drinking from your normal usage which at that time the 8 ball becomes distant and you are free falling.

Does kindling also mean that each time after you try and get sober, that your withdrawals or time it takes to feel good again is further out than the previous time.

I seem to remember that after about a week at my first attempt at getting sober I was feeling pretty decent about myself. Then the second time, it took a few more days to get to that good feeling point. Then the third time, again took longer. 4th time even longer still- and I believe I am on that #4 time now. Or maybe it is #5. I cant remember. But I can distinctively remember that I was complaining about how I was feeling this and that on day 6 during the second sober stint and by day 6 the first sober attempt I wasnt.

I even went back and re read every one of my posts to pin point, or try, what I was feeling days 1-10. Each time I would be hungover day 1, and sometimes even day 2. Then the progress that i was making seemed to get further and further out to achieve the same results, the more attempts at sobriety.

Is that what this kindling is talking about????