Its like clock work
 

Seems like every time I "detox" or whatever you want to call it... its all on the same schedule.

Day 1- just plain old hung over, anxiety, etc
Night 1- restlessness
Day 2- slight hang over feeling, less anxiety, thristy
Night 2- waking up every few hours in a panic
Day 3- more anxiety than day 2
Night 3- night sweats start- its not the drenching night sweats, just waking up cold and feeling a little sweaty- nothing is drench
Day 4- that is today, anxiety is starting to peak...
Night 4???? I can imagine more waking up with night sweats

The night sweats usually last through about a night 7 or so, but dont start right away... Its such a crappy feeling waking up cold, but sweaty, you are unsure what to do! Add blankets, kick them off...

I guess having the humidifier on all night doesnt help but its so dang dry with the heat on...

The good news is you never have to go through this again Jryan, this can be it, the last time, draw a line under alcohol once and for all!!

Hang in there, light is at the end of the tunnel!! :)

I hope you get some rest tonight. The anxiety should ease up too.

Do you have a solid plan, Jryan

It never has to be this way again if you don't want it to be Jryan

I think I have a better plan... yes.

If you want to run it by the community I'm sure we can workshop it jryan :)

D

Run your plan by us Jryan if you want. Bottom line is you have the power to make this the last "detox" you ever have to go through. I remember my last one well and never want to have to do that again.

Stay strong and stick close to the community. It's always good to have company that understands.

1. Keep hands busy
2. Keep mind busy
3. Spend more time with family
4. No situations that involve alcohol for time being
5. AA
6. Talk about what I am feeling instead of letting it bottle up
7. Exercise, working out, jogging, etc
8. Money calculations to see how much saving
9. Keep writing down my thoughts, and read them every week
10. Reading educational books that I am interested in
1. Appreciating what is in front of me

Your list is a great start. Here are a few other ideas for your consideration.

It may sound too simple but I found that the exercise of adding something to my gratitude list first thing every morning helped a great deal in getting through the early days, weeks and months. My list started out predictably but eventually I had to think harder to find something and that increased the value dramatically.

Some kind of f2f activities can be especially helpful in the early months. I wasn't keen to do AA but it ended up being very valuable for me.

Thirdly, it can help to think about concrete actions you will take if this time doesn't "take". I did an outpatient rehab. I wasn't at all keen on doing inpatient rehab but realized that I had made real progress when I realized that I would do inpatient if I needed to. And, of course I didn't want to need to do that - it helped me getting through the early months.

The outpatient program I did taught me some good info about the relapse cycle and how to deal with it, what's the differences among addict mind, clean mind and wise mind. We also did meditation.

reads good.
with,#5 i hope ya add more than just go to meetings. get the big book, read it while also going to meetings, read the first 164 pages over and over. you will learn what the program has to offer. if you decide ya want what the program promises, work the steps, preferrably guided by a sponsor.
And we have ceased fighting anything or anyone - even alcohol. For by this time sanity will have returned. We will seldom be interested in liquor. If tempted, we recoil from it as from a hot flame. We react sanely and normally, and we will find that this has happened automatically. We will see that our new attitude toward liquor has been given us without any thought or effort on our part. It just comes! That is the miracle of it. We are not fighting it, neither are we avoiding temptation. We feel as though we had been placed in a position of neutrality - safe and protected. We have not even sworn off. Instead, the problem has been removed. It does not exist for us. We are neither cocky nor are we afraid. That is our experience. That is how we react so long as we keep in fit spiritual condition.

Sounds like a good start jryan :)

here's some links if you want to flesh things out even more:

http://www.soberrecovery.com/forums/...ery-plans.html

D

I could set my watch by withdrawal phases, I quit so many times my last year. The last three the kindling had gotten crazy though so I started going into new territory.

I kind of look forward to the day when this is all so far behind me that I can tell someone with no addictions about what withdrawal is like. Just to see their reaction.

Hang in there, your plan sounds good.