blackened83

Hello,
This is my 55th day of being sober.
Today i got angry for the first time since i quit drinking and felt like i want to drink a lot. So i stopped in front of the liquer store and went in. Since i didnt have any plan to stop me from drinking if i get angry, i didnt know what to do. And just as i walked in, i remembered when i stopped in the first place.. But i needed to do something, i was angry and craving a drink. Than i thought something silly, i bout 2 liters of coca cola and 2 big bags of potato chips. And ate them really fast. I am feeling dizzy from the sugar rush right now : )..
Anyway i survived my anger, but i realized i need a plan for this kind of situations...
Any ideas ?

MidnightRider

I commend you for not buying alcohol.

Here's a start ...
Remember the Word ... H A L T

When your AV (Alcoholic Voice) kicks on..

Ask yourself the following:

Am I ?
Hungry, Angry, Lonely or Tired.

blackened83

I was hungry, angry, lonely and tired lol

doggonecarl

1. Recognize you are angry.
2. Cope with the anger.

Google "Anger Management" or "Dealing with Anger" and then find a coping strategy that you can implement.

Good luck.

MidnightRider

Yep.....

Coldfusion

Hi Blackened!

I think it's good to have a plan for staying sober. I need to be constantly vigilant, and get strength from SoberRecovery and AA. Keep reading and posting--it works of you work it!

biminiblue

I used to drink for every emotion. When I first got sober I only had two emotions, anger and sadness.

Both were fear in disguise. I didn't drink. I'm glad you didn't either.

Thing about emotion is that it passes. Deep breaths. Well done.

Forward12

You can go to a meeting, maybe get a sponsor you can call at bad times, post here, go for a walk, there are a million things you can do besides drink!

january161992

blackened

great job on 55 days

i have had serious problems with fear driven, adrenalized, out of control rage, hate and anger in my life.

in fact, thats exactly why i tried to drink myself to death after high school

just like my drinking was out of control ...

one of the great tools i was taught in anger management is to take a series of deep breaths

it is impossible to be taking DEEP BREATHS and be out of control with adrenalized rage at the same time

taking deep breaths shuts that $hit off

shockozulu

Been there, done that and I also porked out on junk food instead. I still will grab a bag of tortilla chips and Frito bean dip and eat it all with a Strawberry Melon Brisk when I feel that way. Since I generally eat healthy I allow myself this one indulgence. In fact, I may just head out to the store later today for that combo.

Here's a little ditto for us

OfEpiphany

I hate anger, it's so hard to fight it off and a craving when they strike

August252015

Glad you posted. Most of us have turned to some kind of junk food - I am still big on the ice cream train at nearly 9mo!

Are you working a program? AA (and others like SMART, etc) are exactly that- programs that teach you tools to not drink, no matter what.

Here is what I do to pre-empt cravings, to deal with emotions that shake me up, to get through life on as even keel as possible- some of it is spiritual/etc and some is practical:
I always have something to drink with or next to me. ALWAYS. A bottle of water, sometimes two, coffee, diet coke or sprite, whatever. In the car, on the side table, next to me right now....Keeps me hydrated and busy if I ever need something in a social situation.

I rest. I take naps, still, and I notice that I get drained emotionally after a couple days of good or bad stuff, so I have to be careful of the fatigue hangover.

I call my sponsor. I also talk to my boyfriend (also in recovery) all throughout the day whether on phone, email or text.

Maintaining an even keel- keeping my emotional sobriety- is my primary focus. I believe everything else- the physical drinking- stems from that.

I don't go "bad" places. For you, don't go to a liquor store. For many, the thing is a bar or other place where they used to drink. For me, I didn't go out to eat except with my parents for the first five or so weeks. I don't go anywhere, still, that makes me uncomfortable for any reason (side note: for me, the problem has been removed as AA teaches, so I can go anywhere and be fine- I even work in a restaurant- however, I don't go places I don't LIKE).

I have six things I do every morning- I write them in a planner and cross them off: SR, I read a daily meditation email from Friar Richard Rohr, I read the daily devotional from Keep It Simple: Daily Meditations for 12 Step Beginnings and Renewal; I ask myself HALT; I read pp 85-88 and 417 of the Big Book; from those original five I have more recently added a devotional reading plan from a Bible app that I share with my boyfriend.

A program, to me, is a whole-life form of action.

You can get and stay sober- ruthless protection of your sobriety, from where you go to how you think, to who you spend time with.....all of it can work for you or against you.

Keep going- hope to see you around.

Maudcat

Hey, blackened83. I used to be a rager, particularly when behind the wheel of a car. How I avoided getting shot, I will never know. Al-Anon helped me to understand from whence my anger sprung--dad, childhood, powerlessness in the face of his anger, etc.--it was huge when I came to understand that I didn't need to react to situations with anger, that it was the other person's problem or issue, not mine. It was as if a great weight had been lifted from my shoulders. Also, HALT is one of the truest acronyms I know with regard to drinking. Any one of those emotions has had the ability to send me into a tail spin. I keep food, crackers, raisins, stuff like that, in the car and a bottle of water, always. It has helped!

Dee74

There are some wonderful solid gold ideas here

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

thomas11

Good on you for not drinking. We need to learn to not drink "at" things. Because there will always be something to drink "at".

blackened83

Having something to drink with you at all times is a great idea... Thanks for that. I will use this aproach, since i realized the part of the addiction to that first beer is mainly sugar. I need to fill the gap sometimes with soda and stuff i guess.

blackened83

Same here...