Class of October 2017 Support Thread pt. 1
 

https://www.soberrecovery.com/forums...-part-2-a.html

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Sober October. The time has come. I start with 4 sober days and with resolve. Good luck everyone

Welcome Horatio :)

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Good luck everyone :) just saying hello from the September class. you can do this :You_Rock_

I'm here!! So um.... I quit alcohol last February, and haven't had a drop for a little over 1 year and 7 months. HOWEVER, recently I've been stressed and went back to abusing other things.... mostly over the counter stuff... I feel so stupid, but it's like I've been taking bits and pieces of everything I can think of that can get me high.... just not alcohol. :/

I'm here to see if I can shake this. I don't want it to turn into something worse... the OTC stuff is pretty dangerous because of so many chemicals and tylenol and other stuff put into it. And of course the slippery slope of wanting to take sips of mouthwash or take cough syrup and so on (and T1's aaaarrrrgh) Sorry - I can't remember if we're not supposed to mention certain substances or not??

Anyway I have to learn to manage my stress without all of this stuff. :(
Welcome to everyone else joining the October class. October is my favourite month!! I wish everyone well. :D

Hi Layali - welcome :)

Please do share your experience - thats very welcome too...and pretty hard to do that without mentioning our drugs of choice :)

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Hi, Octsobers!

I am from Class October 2012 and would like to welcome everyone to join this class and SR.

Yes, it's been almost five years for me. And since then October became my favorite month. Colorful leaves, crispy clear air, and, finally, clear head.

I couldn't even imagine that an internet forum, a virtual space, strangers from all over the world would make such a huge impact on my life. That this place would change my life. But it did.

I had never met such compassionate, understanding, intelligent people who cared so much for someone they had never met in their "real" life.

There are many miracles that happen within SR community. Some members even get married, would you believe?

No doubt, sobriety road is not all rainbows and unicorns. And so is the life. Early stage of recovery can be as tough as it gets. And that's where taking it one day, one hour at a time helps a lot.

Sharing struggles and wins of recovery with people who are on the same journey helps immensely.

Sobriety doesn't just mean you stop putting poisonous substance in your body, and that's it. It's opening the door to a totally different world which otherwise was locked and blocked by addiction.

So, join us!

There are long autumn evenings ahead. Let's spend them together!

Good luck on your sober journey and best wishes to you!

:Fall18::Pumpkinshiny::Witch6::Fall10:

Hi everyone, I figured I'd join again as it's a good added incentive to stay sober and read the stories.

Iam on day 15. I'll say that I actually don't remember this sober feeling, that's how long I've been under the stress of alcohol.

And theres no doubt Iam really enjoying it.

Only problem is I get celebration cravings. Last night, after work, it was Saturday night and all I wanted to do was go out on the town and have a few drinks. (I didn't occourse).

Then my mind switched to getting some wine and beer to celebrate at home and listen to music. (Typical old habbit)

I must say this was like a "moment of truth" craving. I could go on a sober journey or go back to day 1 and come back here, say sorry, I screwed up etc and Iam starting again . (Good excuse for redemption, right?)

I won't lie, I nearly gave in but something this time just kept me on the couch, I suppose it was responsibility for my actions.

Woke today feeling very glad I made the right choice.

Thanks guys, good luck with October.

Hi everyone :) I'm 75 days sober and about to celebrate my 40th birthday. Sobriety is the best gift I can give myself - but it will be tough as in I'll be in Mexico (on vacation) and around a lot of booze. Joining the October class for support.

I am back on Day 1. I can't believe I relapsed. It is a a blur but I know I drank too much. Having a hard time sleeping. This is no way to live.
Hoping to get a fresh start here in October and never drink again. My body can't take it. I really want to have sober days adding up.

Im in for sober october!

Why i am doing this month and hoping to carry further is down to me getting news and i am away to visit my daughter on the 15th oct as she has a Dating Scan as she is expecting and im going to be a first time GRANDMOTHER!!! and also sober oct is a charity month here in UK.

So at last i have been able to say why this is now important for me to do this and give myself tough love on any struggles thats going to happen. as Dee will suggest and i have downloaded the PLANS information from your link Dee x

Day 1 and will relax into this sobriety to keep anxiety at bay xx

Have a great sunday all and welcome to old and new people who posts here today xx

Hello all. Enjoying my Sunday morning coffee. Five days sober. Back to working out. Not entirely 100% after my four day binge last week. But that is to be expected. Accept and move on. Given my multiple relapses (too many to count), I am attempting to move on with a difference this time. A difference which will ensure that I do not start drinking again. I have a new plan. Have a good Sunday.

Welcome everybody :)

If anyone wants to share their plan, thats fine by me and a great idea - we can only make our plan stronger with more input :)

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Congrats, Erratic!
My mom is also going to be a first-time grandmother and I'll be a first-time aunt! I'm so excited and want to remain sober for my niece or nephew so badly!

Good Morning Everybody!
 

I have been anxiously waiting for the October class to be started as I wanted to start over fresh in a new class. Something about October and the crisp fresh air always make me want to make changes, either in myself, my home etc. I look forward to spending these beautiful fall days sober and productive.. :-)

I have been trying to quit alcohol or moderate for years but got serious this past January. I look back on my calendar and I have spent probably 80% of the year sober. Unfortunately when I did drink it always turned into two, three day binges, then I would quit again. On August 18th I had a good stretch of sober days and decided I could drink on vacation... The drinking lasted a month... quit for a week.. drank for a couple days, repeat.. You would think that would be enough to convince me that moderation just isn't an option but it hasn't. I'm still trying to moderate. Today is day 6 for me, well kind of.. I had 4 drinks last night.. not enough to get me hammered for sure.. probably what a normal person may drink on a Saturday night but definitely more then the one glass I thought I could allow myself with moderation. So my question is.. should I start over on day one and restart my sober days tracker? What do you guys think?

Anyways, Right now, I don't want to moderate, I want nothing to do with alcohol but I know by Friday I will be convincing myself I can have just one... I can't do it! I have to stop

Here's my plan so far..

1. I have a recovery workbook type thing that I picked up and started filling out months ago. I'm going to reread what I've wrote so far and continue working in that.
2. Write in my journal.. this is really difficult for me as it's never been something I've done regularly but I'm going to try!
3. I'm going to ask my husband to not buy any alcohol for at least two weeks so I can get through the really hard part. He's not an alcoholic but I do think that he's been relying on it a little too much lately due to stress.
4. I'm going to keep busy!
5. I'm going to use an app that I found every time I have a craving and see if that helps.
6. And lastly of course I'm going to spend as much time as I can on Sober Recovery

I'd love to hear everyone else's plans or ideas too!

Well I hope everyone is having a wonderful sober weekend!

Congrats Erratica!! That is so exciting and the best reason in the world to stay sober!!

Hello everyone

I thought it’d be best to sign up to the October class, I was just short of 3 months and I slipped up Friday night/Saturday morning so this is my day 1 again. I didn’t seek advice on here when I should have I just listened to the AV alone, that’s going to be a big change I make this time around as this website is a wonderful tool. Have a great sober Sunday everyone.

Hi October class!

I'm joining you all because I can't do this alone! I was part of the March 2016 class and while I've found that class to be amazing, I need more support. Over the last year and a half, I'd have a few weeks of sobriety and then slowly slip back into drinking by thinking I can limit drinking to, say, weekends only. That obviously doesn't work because here I am beginning day 3 after having returned to nightly drinking for a period of a few months. I hide. I don't reach out for support. I'm still trying to figure out how to override that default behavior since it is the #1 red flag that my addiction is getting its hooks into me and a slip will turn into months long relapsing.

Yesterday was an unexpected test. I knew I had a kids birthday party to attend but thought that it was today, and that I had yesterday (day 2) to hang low and have a quiet day around the house to focus on cleaning, and other things to stay occupied. So I was thrust, feeling rather unprepared, into a day full of temptations. People asking if I wanted a drink, etc. Cravings popped up throughout the day. I acknowledged them, reminded myself that it was temporary, and played the tape forward. It definitely helped me stay focused on staying sober. But I felt depressed. Headachy and body-achy. Uncomfortable. It would have been easy to say, "well, I guess I'll tackle starting over later," but yesterday I wanted to stay sober more than I wanted to drink. The starting over later mentality is what had me stuck on the drinking merry go round for the last few months, and it sucked. Yesterday I wanted to stay off that ride.

Layali - I totally get what you are saying. I found that I was doing the same exact thing during my brief stretches of not drinking over the last year and half. I figured that if I wasn't drinking, numbing with OTC was okay. Until I started taking it out of habit instead of for a specific reason like a 3 night stretch of insomnia. Looking back, I think the habit of taking something was a slippery slope for sure. Thanks for this. It's timely that you brought this up as I was JUST reflecting on this over the last week.

Looking forward to getting to know you all. Sobriety is a gift. Let's not forget that (me included!!). We can do this!

Hello from a September class mate.

Wishing you all the very best in staying sober and enjoying all of the things it has to offer.
Stay strong

Hi! I'm glad you have a plan... :)
I am hoping that your husband really understands how serious this is for you. One thing I've learned is that when living with drinkers, it really is best when they know how serious of a problem drinking is for you. Otherwise, there is way too much wiggle room for your addictive voice to get in there.
Also, I personally would count this as day 1 for you. It seems obvious to me that you can't have just one, right? But yesterday you had four. Which honestly isn't even what most normal people drink on saturdays. I mean I don't think so.... many normal people have no drinks, a bunch seem to have one or two. Anyway I hope I'm not sounding mean or anything... I'm just trying to help. I just really love that you have a plan all set up and you seem pretty hopeful. :) So I hope that your talks with your husband go well and that he understands what you're going through. I think that's very important.