niijikwe

1) Im only on night 5 but Ive lost 5 pounds of water weight. I always retained a lot of water.

2)My feet are not swelled up.

3)My hands feel so loose and good! Not all tight and swollen.

4) My face looks less bloated.

5) I can physically feel that I can bend forward better and not feel so much bloat.

6) Might be coincidental, but any facial acne has cleared up.

7)I dont feel 'fragile' like I did before. Probably just a head thing but I constantly worried that I shouldnt get to hot/ work too hard etc because so much drinking would make me have a heart attack or something one day. Plus-- I was always hung over lol... I felt fragile then. lol Ive felt pretty strong these last few days tho.


On the other hand--
Im really full of anxiety when I try to go to sleep. My BF had to rub my back for a good 1/2 hour to get me to sleep at like 4 am, because it was my 2nd night with no sleep.
I have been really really hot sometimes.

niijikwe

Oh! a few more!

I havent ONCE felt like I cant breathe. :-) I use to feel it all the time

I use to feel irregular heartbeats . I havent felt any now!

mecanix

Some i've noticed are:-

my eyes are clear,
skin is clearer,
Not jittery or fragile,
calm,
sleep well (eventually),
not sweating all the time,

Bestwishes, m

Raspberry

This time around I'm only on day 3, but the last time I reached 3 weeks I had already lost the dark circles under my eyes, and my eyes where whiter also. People had actually noticed a change. As for weight I always put on because I substitute alco for grub!!

All the best

Nonsensical

Improved arterial blood flow south of the border.

aw58

My heart has stopped pounding at 100 beats a minute
Im not out of breathe
My skin is clearing up (I have acne rosacea)
I don't feel swollen
My weight is dropping yippee
I don't feel paranoid that Im going to die when I had a hangover

I feel very calm ....

Lyoness

My coloring is much better, at least that's what people keep telling me. Been wondering exactly what color I was before, lol. Gray? Green?

Gained weight, not all junkie gaunt anymore. (Of course now I feel I have a little too much.)

Able to sit still, not all jittery and fidgety and antsy all the time.

I can remember better, think more clearly, better comprehension.

More physical energy and since I have so little to start with this is awesome.

New veins are "coming online" to help replace the ones I damaged with IV drug use. Still hoping I can repair at least some of the ones I used while using.

Good question!

Change4good

My workouts are SOOO much better. Don't feel like I am going to hurl while at the gym.

Heart has settled down. I had heart palpatations constantly when I was drinking.

Feeling a bit more. . .amorous. :-)

visch1

I remember what happened last night and didn't have the need to say I'm sorry to anybody because of my drinking for years. BE WELL

Lifewillgetbet

My liver is thanking me and felling better. I dont look like I just woke up 2 minutes ago, 24 hours a day.

wanttobepure

I lost weight, my wallet gained weight.

Lionhearted1

Too many positives to list...

duane1

Lost 25 lbs. Can now run a 10k. The tiny red veins on my face have disappeared. I can finally think clear. No longer have an ache from my liver, hands and feet. Anxiety level has dropped dramatically.

Saliena

19 months in...


1) I have lost 49 pounds...
2) I feel like the heaviness in my chest has been lifted
3) I have found a love of working out!!

niijikwe

This is exactly me, too. Sheesh did I hate living with that 3-4 days a week. Im glad you're feeling better. :-)

niijikwe

I had that look, too! I forgot about that! My eyes and face actually looked like I had just rolled out of bed, and I could not get rid of the look all day some days. I didnt even notice or remember that its gone now :-)

nomis

Yes, but..... it did not happen right away. When I first got sober I remember reading all the stories here about the people who lost 15lbs in their first month, felt fantastic, etc. It was frustrating that I wasn't losing any weight, my head felt like it was in a fog more often than not and I just didn't feel particularly all that great. But I wasn't drinking and destroying my life or waking up hungover and that was good enough.

I guess I would caution patience and priority here. I got sober because I wanted to be sober, nothing more than that. I did eventually end up losing weight and looking better, but I consider these things by-products of my sobriety. But I didn't get sober to lose weight or look better, I got sober because drinking was making my life unmanageable.

safeandsound

nomis, that happened to me, too, the last few times I tried to stop. Everyone else seemed to be losing weight, so when I didn't lose it after three and a half weeks, I started drinking again. I'm a bit obsessive about weight along with alcohol. So I need to keep my priorities straight this time at one week sober; thanks for reminding me!

I can relate to all the symptoms of drinking: being drenched in sweat at night, racing heartbeat, panic (especially since I'm a blackout drinker and never knew what had happened the night before), weird aches and cramps, super-bloated face. But lately everyone is saying how good I look. They can't figure it out, since I obviously haven't lost any of the 20 pounds I gained the last year, but I look different. Yesterday I had to go to a lawyer for a notarized signature. She guessed my age to be 15 years younger than I am. Woo-hoo!! I said she just needed glasses, and she laughed but said she deals with people all day long and is almost never wrong beyond a few years. That's not a reason to stay sober, of course, but it sure is nice to have some positive feedback to encourage me to continue. The first 5 days I was a mess and felt hungover, but the mist has lifted.

Olive1

How have you physically improved since quitting?


I am alive.

fhl41

My eyes look better (clearer and no dark circles)
My face is not permanently red
I don’t break out in pimples as often (i’m 43 for crying out loud, i should hope not)
People keep saying i look smaller (less bloated?) the scale only shows 5 pound loss so I must have been really bloated before or something
Food tastes better
I have the energy to work out every day

I do get anxiety, (used to drink to calm it) so that is new for me, but part of the process. I read on here "When you stop drinking, you have to deal with this marvelous personality that started you drinking in the first place.” Jimmy Breslin, so I guess the anxiety is all part of learning to just be me as opposed to wearing a mask.

Its better than the alternative (drinking).