Still miserable and starving with 3 months of sobriety
 

Hi all. I'm glad I found this site, it has been helpful at times. I am coming up on 90 days without alcohol, and a lot of people have warned me that this is a big one. Only from what people have told me, this is a time where a lot of folks start to get complacent with their program. For me this is not the case, I am working this thing as hard as ever, and still attending a ton of meetings. For some reason I figured it would be getting easier by now. I don't know if what I am feeling is a craving, or if I'm just really noticing how empty life feels now. I keep hearing that it gets better, that this too shall pass, etc. But I still feel like hell, and now I am having trouble controlling my appetite. I just want to eat and eat, and I can't get enough sugar it seems. So I'm trying to control my calories; it seems like now I'm battling two consumption problems instead of one. I suppose it's all just coming from one general feeling of hollowness. I really thought I would feel better than this as time went on. Any thoughts?

:welcome I got to feeling strange around the three month mark myself. Still having cravings to drink and still feeling 'unsettled' emotionally. It takes time to fully heal. But if you find you're still overeating and feeling crappy, see your doctor for a checkup. :hug: Remember too, alcohol is sugar and your body is craving sugar right now. It hasn't gotten completely used to functioning without the alcohol. Give yourself a couple months and see if you feel better and if not, the doctor is your best bet.:)

Hi PAWS.

I'm not too much farther in than you are, and I still have good and bad days. I think our bodies just need time to recover, i drank for years and years every day, so it will take a while to get better. It's such a slow process though that we sometimes don't notice when things improve, and I think we sometimes look extra hard to find problems and they are magnified - I know that's the case with me for sure.

I do know that even in my current state it's light years better than how bad I was feeling when I was still drinking - I never, ever want to go back to that.

It's also important to keep an eye on our health with a doctor, I've got a follow up to my intial "post drinking" checkup coming up in about a month. It takes a while for your body to get all your levels back to normal too.

Best of luck and stay the course -it will be very much worth it down the long road.

I know that finding balance in my life was so important for me. If your life feels empty, I wonder if you've considered taking up new activities to help fill your time? Volunteer work is a great way to feel good about yourself and to give back. It's also a great way to meet new people. Do you have any kind of exercise that you do regularly? Long walks really helped my peace of mind.

Congratulations on your 90 days!

I felt worse around the 3 month mark too. I think it was because I was far enough from my last drunk to forget and the cravings came in stronger. I stepped up the support I had then. I say if a little sugar gets you by then don't beat yourself up too much. Maybe just try to balance it with some exercise. Hang in there, it does get better :) x

Hi pawsgal. I know how you feel. For some folks they feel great right away or fairly soon and for others of us it can take awhile, a long while before we start to feel better.

I am in recovery for heavy opiate addiction and am on suboxone as part of my recovery. I have read over and over that suboxone prevents PAWS and cravings and really wanted both of these things. Well, for me it has not been the case. I have had intense PAWS symptoms like deep depression and anxiety as well as near constant cravings at times. (I can only imagine how much worse it would be without the suboxone!)

We are all so individual in our biology and experiences, in how long and what we used and how that affected us so I guess it just makes sense that we are going to have a wide variety of experiences in recovery, too. And it is harder for those of us who have long and slow recoveries.

So I guess I just wanted to let you know you are NOT alone in this. And that it is really important to stick with your recovery even though it is still difficult. I have read and have come to believe from my own experience that the more we resist the cravings, each time we say no to using, we are slowly, incrementally changing our minds and bodies. And we are laying the foundation of longterm recovery with each and every time we choose not to use.

For me, I am 6 months into my suboxone taper and recovery journey. It took til about month 5 for me to really start to notice a difference in how I felt. To not have constant cravings and to feel stronger when the cravings do come. So hang in there. I know it is tough and right now you just have to keep your belief growing strong that things will change--because they will.

In the meantime keep doing what you are doing and hanging out here at SR. I've found that coming here is a real lifesaver, especially when cravings hit me. Take care. And congratulations on three months!

Hi Paws

Hi congrats on your almost 90 days. Hang in, keep reading and stay strong. This might be a bit much but I find reading up on how people die from the effects of alcohol really strenghtens my resolve. The thought of some of those things happening to me is just too much.

I find myself more hungry when I don't drink. What I find helps with that is a good healthy high fibre diet. It takes a few days to really kick in so at first I just eat whenever I'm hungry knowing that its all good and healthy. I cook a lot so I make muffins and soups and one pot type meals with lots of veg in them. Even if you don't like to cook a pot of soup is pretty much just throw it all in the pot and simmer kind of thing. I use things like lentils, beans, peas, onions, carrots, celery, tomatoes, peppers and chicken broth in my soups and sometimes put chicken in it too if I really feel the need for some meat. Also high fibre cereals and granola bars. After a few days then my appetite seems to calm down as the high fibre food is very filling, also you can increase your calories/carbs a bit with high fibre as not all of it is fully digestable.

Just eat though, when you look at the calories contained in alcohol then look at all the calories you are not consuming now, and at least the food calories are benefitting you.

Welcome PawsGal!

Fantastic work! Keep it up!

I'm at 100 days or so. The first 90 I focused on staying sober. For the next 90, I'm learning how to live the sober life that I want to live (if that makes sense). I wouldn't say that it's getting easier, but the focus is shifting.

I've been there in the past with feeling like I'm fight on 2 fronts, and it hasn't worked for me & inevitably I crash. What has worked is prioritizing one first and focusing just on that one. Once it is under control, then focusing on the second.

Also alcohol is a lot of calories - Your body might also just be reacting to the fact that it's used to getting more calories and is all out of wack now. Giving it what it wants may help it to settle down after a bit. & Honestly - I wouldn't worry about it. I indulged in a lot of food and it settled down and I still ended up losing 10lbs.

Exercise and Mindfulness have also been very helpful with reducing cravings across the board. (edit: and by exercise I mean just getting some activity, like a quick walk - it can do wonders to counter a craving) Highly recommend them!

Good luck!