weepingwillow1

Hey-I'm on day 2 of no beers. I've been drinking a 6pk every single night of the week. I am 40 years old and strongly feel I need to grow up! I started drinking when I was having marriage issues-and other issues with the "ex"-I used alcohol as a way to cope with the stress. Now, 4 years later, everything is calm and pretty much settled. Except, I kept drinking because I was so bored. My kids are getting older and they don't need me like they used to. Obviously, I don't have a lot of friends, and I pretty much keep to myself. My favorite thing in the world to do is to come home from work, drink my beers, watch Netflix and sew, then go to bed. Only to repeat this process the next day! Except, lately, I've been feeling like I'm missing out on life, and I need to do something for me.
Anyway, I get so agitated and grumpy. I know it's only day 2 but its like I don't know what to do with myself. Has anyone else dealt with this? If so, how did you handle it? Thanks for your advice!!

flyboy7200

Yes,actually very common until you decide you have had enough of " being sick and tired of being sick and tired. I know, I have been there and there is a better way!!!!

Here for you!!!!!

Dee74

There are some great tips here

http://www.soberrecovery.com/forums/...-cravings.html

Welcome to SR weepingwillow - you'll find a lot of support here :0

D

Nonsensical

Congratulations on your decision to start living!

Make a list of those things.

Work the list.

New habits will form. It takes a little time. I found the harder I worked at my list, the happier I became. Now I wouldn't sacrifice a single minute to booze. I've got stuff to do!

GroundhogDay

I know how you feel. I am dealing with some second day irritability myself.

Johnsonsober22

only second day, so I understand your frustration, it will take time, I started drinking lot s and lots of water, and now if I feel like a treat its ice coffee.
keep your mind occupied with thinks you like, and remember each craving doing last that long. you will get great support here and we have all been there one way or another

Ruby2

Ice cream. I eat ice cream. And I found it helpful in the beginning to Keep busy with something other than what I did while drinking. Read a book instead of watching television. Go for a walk at the time you would start drinking. If you make it past the time you usually start drinking without drinking the cravings usually go away or are less urgent. At least that was my experience. Try to keep from getting hungry, angry, lonely or tired (HALT). Those things are usually the biggest triggers for most people.

Hang in there. Coming here and reading and posting helps me too.

Joe Nerv

Welcome.

There's a great little easy reading book called Living Sober, that has lots of very useful tips for keeping away from the first drink. I highly recommend it. Can be bought for pennies, used, on Amazon. Pretty sure it's only a few bucks, new, too.

PurpleKnight

Welcome to the Forum!!

NightsWatch

Try getting the flu and multiple colds one after the other for two months. I kid, but that was the way I initially curbed my drinking. After I came out of that sick period, I found that the cravings were less because I had gotten in the habit of not drinking every other night or whatever I was doing before.

Something that has helped me a lot is a book on ACT therapy. When I tried quitting in the past, I'd be able to stop for a few days, but I white knuckled my way through them and it was VERY hard and exhausting. I came to realize that was because I tried very hard to push away the cravings. The problem is that trying not to feel something guarantees that you're going to keep feeling it. ACT therapy advises something that seems counter-intuitive, which is to let yourself feel the cravings. Don't try to get rid of them, BUT don't give in to them either. I know it probably isn't for everyone, and it doesn't make it easy by any means (again, it doesn't reduce the intensity of the cravings), but I don't feel exhausted every time I successfully abstain, because I don't spend hours actively fighting the desire for alcohol.

Another thing I would recommend is some form of aerobic exercise. Find something you love doing that you will do consistently and for at least 30 minutes at least 3 days per week. Most people hate the gym (well, I do anyway) and making yourself do something you hate isn't going to work. I started hiking a lot and ended up canceling my gym membership because I was wasting my money. Endorphin will be your friend.

Anyway, it sucks now but it will get better!!

DisplacedGRITS

When I was first sobering up, I asked my husband to "encourage" me to get my ass up and go for a walk with him when he got home. That helped a lot. Right now, I go to my meetings. I love meetings and hanging with other sober alcoholics. They're a ton of fun and I love being around people who have fun while staying sober.

TheMiddlePath

Hello,
I use a trick I learned from when I really wanted to tie one on: If I wanted to get drunk, I avoided food. I knew that eating would destroy my buzz and maybe even make me want to stop drinking. So now, one of the easiest ways for me to break a craving is . . . to eat.

I get urges to drink right around quitting time. If I can throw a burrito or something in the microwave before I leave, it goes a long way at keeping the urges at bay. It doesn't always work, but it's worth a try.

Good luck to you. You're self aware, so I think you've won half the battle.

SoberCAH

We're glad you're here, Weep.

Sobering up is a lot about growing up.

Please don't drink and do stick around.

weepingwillow1

Hey Groundhog Day,

I hope day 3 is going for you! I think today is a just a little bit harder than yesterday, only because I had a bit of a headache. Hopefully things are going good for you too

weepingwillow1

These tips were very helpful! She sounds a lot like me actually. And I might take her advice about moving the furniture:O

weepingwillow1

LOL-not much of an ice cream fan, but I've been eating the heck out of toast! And of course, I like coming home from work and reading through all the posts.

weepingwillow1

Oh Congrats! You're almost at 3 months!! I do need to be more active and I think that will help a lot

grubby

How to fight cravings?

One word:

Hobbies

No really, recently i got back into an old child-hood hobby........ and blissfully spent most of the end of last week (Weds, Thurs, Fri) playing playing playing into the night, fun stuff!! Noticed i all but forgot about booze during these few days, it didn't even cross my mind........... some of the WORST days for me regarding cravings all had one thing in common and that's idle time/being bored. That day back in May where i had an AV attack i was here alone at home with absolutely nothing to do.

I'd wager that MOST of us used booze at least partly to simply "pass the time", so it is that we must find new things to do with our time.......... *something else* to occupy our minds with.