Making Peace with never having the EUPHORIA/PLEASURE of drinking
 

I'm very grateful to be here and to be able to share my struggle (there's probably a more positive word than struggle but can't think of it lol) and thank you very much to everyone who contributes to my posts, I am taking it all in, thanks! It is really helpful to learn from people who are further down the road than I am, how they think about things and look at things etc...

One thing I am realizing is that one of the major issues for me is what looks like to me the NECESSARY LETTING GO of having the pleasure and euphoria of drinking. Let's be honest, I doubt anyone out there who is now sober ever really feels that high intensity kind of pleasure/euphoria that alcohol gives. I'm sure there is A LOT of happiness and peace and joy etc... out there for the longer term sober people, no doubt. Please correct me if I'm wrong about this but it seems like we have to kind of let go of having that pleasure/euphoria ever again and settle for a a much more mellow yet REAL kind of happiness. And if that's true what I REALLY want to know is how people reconciled letting go of that pleasure, for life? How do you look at that?

Thanks so much

You're right it's not the same....but I can promise you that once you feel real pleasure, real joy and real contentment it will hit you like a slap just how empty hollow and futile chemically assisted euphoria is.

You'll have to take my word for it for now but honestly bluhend - noone would stay in recovery if they felt they lost out on the deal :)

Give recovery a chance :)

D

Easy

Euphoria vs pain, suffering, anxiety, depression, anguish, shame, money, health, quality of life etc etc etc

Well for me I got to the point where I only enjoyed about a few hours of a overall horrible 2 or 3 days. Life itself can be euphoric at times. I just need to find healthier ways to relax and shut down my brain

Exactly what D & Chewy said

Euphoria for a hour or two at most and then feeling awful for days. I still wonder why it took me so long to quit.

Honestly it is easy for me because I had no euphoria at the end. I was drinking to survive and that's all. I am now finding true happiness in things and I only have 90 days.

That fun, nice buzz from alcohol has been long gone for me. I'd run home and drink but the enjoyment disappeared a while back.
I'm with Chewy: alcohol has many negatives associated with it for me.

Blu,

Perhaps you never experienced this, but eventually the alcoholic progresses to the point where that window of pleasure/euphoria gets incredibly small. You are on this site presumably because your experience with alcohol on the whole has become a negative one. Because this is a progressive disease, you are not giving up the euphoria you experienced when you first started drinking, you are giving up the ever worsening consequences had you continued to drink. Be careful how you perceive your sobriety - this kind of thinking is a very slippery slope imo:

... it seems like we have to kind of let go of having that pleasure/euphoria ever again and settle...

In my experience, sobriety is a gift not a sacrifice.

There really was no euphoria/pleasure from drinking in the latter years of drinking for me. The only things I can associate with it now are negative. And to be honest, I hope it stays that way.

I started running! I read an article about how the endorphins from running were a lot like the pings you got in the pleasure center of your brain from opioids. Since that is my DOC, I definitely paid attention. I haven't run in quite some time but I do work really hard physically and that really does help with my mood. I cannot encourage people more-start some kind of exercise program-even if it's just walking 3x a week. You will benefit.

honestly, look at it like this: the pleasure/euphoria is long gone. It is fleeting now at best and will never come back. This is the nature of alcoholism. What we are left with is the memory of what it might have been in the beginning. It is now only pain, suffering, anxiety, depression and regret.

So, let go of the illusions. It was so hard for me to finally get to this point! I'm glad you have!

Love from Lenina

Like Allen Carr said, drinking may feel wonderful for a brief while but you wouldn't wear shoes that were two sizes too small all day for the quick relief you get in the evening taking them off.

It's a sick and fake pleasure which keeps some people in a trance of self-destruction.

It was hard for me in the beginning also...to think I'd never have that euphoria again. But ditto to all of the above regarding the horrible, negative consequences that went with it. If sobriety wasn't WAY better, I would be drinking.

Great responses. :)

Bluhend, I felt like you for a long time. I couldn't imagine life without the fun & excitement it once was. So I held on to the idea that I could manage it if I just used enough willpower. I almost lost my life proving I had no control. As Lenina said, we are clinging to the memory of our early drinking days. I was completely dependent on it in the end - and like Della, I drank to survive. I'm glad you're working on getting free.

Being sober will produce pleasure/euphoria for short periods of time just like alcohol did. Expecting total blissful peace 24/7 ain't gonna happen, that's what I'm learning to let go of. Rootin for ya. :egypt:
https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/i...Fg_dikRLAJJx3g

I would much rather have the peace and contentment of living sober than the "euphoric" fleeting feeling alcohol gives. I like what Neferkamichael said. Total constant bliss isn't the goal anyway, it's being at ease with yourself and the rest of the world. I'll take sober any day. :)

cutting and pasting this one into a reminder, thank you!!

Everyone's right on. Towards the end there is no euphoria. There is no enjoyment. That comes from years of abuse. The problem is we continue to think that we enjoy it despite all the consequences. Hence, addiction.

I haven't had any pleasure or euphoria from drinking in a long time. Every time I drank this last year I felt:
1. Suicidal
2. Intense depression
3. Shame
4. Fear
5. Anxiety
6. Self-hatred
7. Hopelessness
8. I had consequences
9. I vomited
10. I passed out
11. And the list goes on and on.

Are you sure the euphoria you are remembering isn't just "selective memory"? Try to think back to the last time you drank. What happened? Why did you decide to quit?

i never got to the point where there was no more euphoria, but I was headed down a bad road, drinking too much every night, getting the beer gut and the only thing i ever looked forward to or really DID, other than work, was drink so .... it looks like a good tradeoff, let go of the euphoria thing and settle for the deeper more real happiness ...

it's so funny that I write "settle" ... obviously I need some kind of electro shock therapy to not look at it that way argh

Well you have 2 choices. You can get off the elevator now or wait until it hits the bottom floor. If I knew then what I know now I would have saved myself ALOT of pain and suffering and quit years and years ago. I actually DID have 5.5 years of sobriety and relapsed at the end of 2013. I "missed" the "euphoria" too...So I thought... :-(

The euphoria I thought I missed ended up feeling like hell. I'm lucky I didn't get caught drunk driving this time. I'm lucky I'm not dead. I'm just lucky I get another chance at life.

BUT.... I'm stubborn. I needed to feel the pain MYSELF. I needed to feel every second of the pain and misery that I felt to get to the point that I wanted to quit again. Nothing anyone "said" really mattered. I HAD to experience the hell to want to change. I hope you believe me when I say it truly does get much much worse and more and more miserable. I wish you the best on your journey! I truly do. :-)

The part that identifies and experiences the deep pleasure/euphoria doesn't have to pay the exceedingly high cost chasing the fleeting feeling, and the longer the abuse goes on the exponentially higher the costs become. It will eventually drain every last bit of mind, body and soul.
To get out you have to say enough is enough and not look back, look forward and never listen to the idea that trying to chase that dragon is worth it. It just isn't.

Bluhend I have had similar thoughts. I think those of us who did not go as far down the scale may struggle more with this? For me I struggled with the after effects hangover, guilt, ineffective, disappointing myself and others. I can trade the euphoria for that.

I appreciate this thread. I quit this time before any serious consequences. I just knew that if I continued, it would get worse. I have to remind myself what COULD happen rather than reflect on what did happen, which is why I appreciate all of you that shared your experience and raising the bottom for me.

exactly, get off now, thank you so much, your post will pop up on my phone once a week starting now :)

thank you, that's kind of where I'm at, stopping now before it gets even worse, thinking about the possible future health consequences motivates me the most

I'm sure there is some "rose colored glasses" thing going on here, for sure

Guess I got some sort of euphoria from drinking for some time. Last several years I had to drink more and more just to feel normal and not sick. It's no way to live and is not worth the short term perceived pleasure it brings.
For me no longer shaking, sweating, lower anxiety, regaining my self respect and my family, well, I guess that equates to sober euphoria.
Good to get out (and stay out) while your ahead of the game.