Hi there-4 monts sober
 

Hi! I'm not SUPER new to recovery (I have 4 months), but I am new here. I thought I'd introduce myself, I'm trying to utilize every possible tool available to me this time around. All other attempts at sobriety I tried to do it "my way" and that obviously didn't work...I'm really trying to do what I need to do this time around, and so far so good (all other attempts at sobriety before this one lasted 1 month or less) but I know I still have a lot to learn. I've been doing OK so far, been hanging around sober people and making new friends. I will say though, the last week or so I've been in and out of a "funk" of sorts...nothing too major, just a little irritable and restless. Other than that, I'm trekking along.

Anyways, I'm glad to be here! :)

Hi Starsfan. 4 months is awesome, wtg!

Welcome Starsfan

Welcome and congrats on 4 months!

Welcome to the family and congrats on 4 months sober! :scoregood

Hi Stars! Welcome. I am just a few days behind you and so glad to be here.

I have really had an uptick in my desire to go to more meetings, focus even more on my BB study (and work with my sponsor) and get more involved with my AA community and meeting people. It is pretty cool.

Our moods will keep changing- hang in there. And go to extra meetings if you are an AA person ;)

Welcome StarsFan!

Congratulations on 4 months. :)

Hi Stars, What helped me a lot was researching PAWS (post alcohol withdrawl symptoms)after seeing it cited on these pages. It let me know the "off" feelings I was having were normal and actually positive. Its our brains figuring out how not to depend on alcohol as a crutch. Stay strong and welcome you are in the right place. Happy sober weekend :)

Welcome to SR Stars. Congrats on 4 months, that's a great accomplishment. It gets better from here, just stay sober.

There's a ton of support here in this community. Reach out when ever you are feeling weak or just need to talk.

Great article on PAWS -
https://digital-dharma.net/post-acut...r-immediately/

Reading about PAWS helped me a lot and I worried less about how bad I felt. At a year I still feel bad but I think it is getting better. I hope you have a great day and congratulations on four months sober!

Welcome, StarsFan, from a fellow Dallasite.

Four months is a good job. For me when I started to feel good and confident
That's when I would be on guard the most.

Congratulations on 4 months! I had a few rough weeks right around the 4 month mark. It will pass.

Glad to have you with us, Stars! :)

I had the same feelings at 4 mos. Everything changed & got much better & easier. It's a huge adjustment we're making. Be proud of yourself.

do yourself a favor and just make this sobriety attempt stick. 4 months is a long time, there's no point looking back now. You will be extremely angry with yourself if you decide to drink. If you ever find yourself in a situation where you're surrounded by booze and you feel the thoughts creeping in, trying to romanticize it, just flee, flee for your life. Leave that environment altogether, don't even try to test your willpower like a lot of people do. You will thank yourself the next morning when you wake up hang-over free, thinking to yourself that you've dodged a close bullet.

There will be many times where your friends will place a drink before you, begging you to drink. Just remember, you do not want to start at day 0 AGAIN, you'll be mad that one simple little mistake ruined your massive sober streak , you'll be mad that even though you made it so long consistently, that all it took was one little furtive mistake.

And then you'll either double down on your efforts to start another streak because you're so confused that it got you and that you know deep down that you can do this, or you'll relapse longer than just one day. But either way, you'll be very, very disappointed in yourself for having to start at day 1 again.

just do yourself a favor man, you'll still experience paws, but the more months you accrue, the more booze becomes a distant memory, and you will forget how it feels to be drunk, and keep it that way. Don't tell yourself, "Oh what's so bad about getting drunk once a year? I can do that and I want to remember how it feels!" - Well buddy, at this point, alcohol will just make you feel tired and sluggish, and give you a headache because it's been out of your system so long that it will be foreign to your body and you'll process it differently than what you romanticize.

You can, but chances are, you'll use that one day as an excuse that you failed, so you might as well keep drinking, and chances also are that you'll be so extremely mad at yourself. I'm heading into 9 months sober after trying over and over and over and over...Even when I get those thoughts of getting drunk, I say what's the point? The day will be over no matter what in a mere few hours and so I realize that I seriously do not want to experience the hang over, it's too painful.

Besides, most of us have drank enough alcohol in one lifetime, we've had our memories and moments with booze, it's time to move on though. Just stick to it man, 4 months will become 8, 8 will become 12, but don't look too far ahead into the future otherwise you'll get discouraged, and this is why people say just one day at a time.

Welcome. There is no way I can see a new post with a sports team avatar and not welcome them aboard.