nellwall

So I am 37 days sober and I am feeling good. I know 37 days is not very long so I try to take one day at a time and not slip up. I had a dream last night where I convinced myself it would not be a bad idea to head to the bar for a few drinks. As I grabbed my keys and was ready to head out the door I stopped myself in my tracks and thought "NO!!!! This is the AV talking so shut it down!!!!!!" I ended up not going to the bar (in my dream). I woke up this morning and thought that dream could be a very real scenario in real life. In fact it is very likely. Waking in the morning feeling good with a clear head is a wonderful feeling. I hope in the future that "awake" me will be as strong as "dreaming" me. Way to go dreaming me, you kicked ass last night :-)

Behappy1

I've had those dreams a lot. I always wake up scared. It takes a while for me to realize it wasn't real. Great reminder. Maybe this is our way to inadvertantly keep ourselves in check. Great job!

Oglsby

Dreams of drinking or playing through the process are a healthy part of the process of recovery, especially in the beginning, but at any time, really.. I am really impressed you didn't drink in your dream. In most of mine (that still happen 3+ years sober) I actually drink. I actually had a dream the other night that I smoked marijuana, which is crazy because I have not had that since 2002! I relate that one directly to the fact that I wrote in the marijuana forum on here and it stirred some memories. Congrats for navigating that! Just know it is very common and it an AWESOME opportunity to really be proud of how far you are coming in sobriety. 37 days is a HUGE deal. I totally agree with BH that it is also a way of keeping ourselves in check.

aasharon90

Once I began to saturate my thoughts, actions, mind,
heart, soul with recovery, then my dreams began to reflect
all that. To be able to say no to alcohol in a dream or to it's
temptations, and then to stand strong to it or to others and
say you are in recovery and don't drink it any longer is a
huge accomplishment.

Keep listening, learning, absorbing, and applying all the
knowledge that is available about addiction and recovery,
then be prepared for many of life's miracles to be blessed
with on your own personal journey in life.

Zencat

Awesome dream New. Your subconscious AV butt-kicker is a master.

Dee74

Like others have said those kinds of dreams are a normal part of the recovery process for a while, Nellwall.
Our subconscious has a lot of raw data and memories to play with I guess…the fact you didn’t break, even in your dream, is great.

D

least

Drinking dreams are common in early recovery. It's great that in your dream you refused to drink.

DriGuy

I think we have these dreams because recovery is a monumental change for us. It's bigger than buying a new house or taking a round the world cruise. We are facing an "enemy" that is scary. It's bigger than betting the farm on a stock tip. This is a fight for control of our lives. This may be the biggest challenge we will ever face. We are affected at a very deep subconscious level and the dreams reflect what's at stake. For me they expressed my fear of failure, and not in some free association dream interpretation way. That fear was directly and explicitly expressed in the dreams. I think it's actually healthy to have such dreams. Once I was confident of my success, the dreams subsided.

nellwall

Thanks for all the replies I never knew dreaming about drinking while early on in the recovery process was so common.

DriGuy

We had a thread awhile back centered on a TV series about a woman who decided to quit drinking. It was called something like "Single Drunk Female." It might be the best depiction of recovery I've ever seen. It's the only time I'd ever seen the drunk dream phenomenon addressed in film. The drunk dream may be the most common part of recovery that no one knows about, at least for outsiders to recovery. We often view drunk dreams as odd quirks, but I believe they are very important and very meaningful. I'm actually grateful for all the times I woke up terrified after having a drunk dream.

nellwall

Although mine wasn't exactly a drunk dream because I didn't drink (in my dream), I still awoke happy and grateful I resisted the temptation. I hope I can show the same fortitude moving forward during my waking hours

DriGuy

We don't all react to the absence of alcohol in the same way. I can't explain why your dream was not of the nightmare variety. Only you would hold the key to that. Drinking was a big part of our lives. Cut that off, and your subconscious will be stimulated and will react, sometimes through dreams, other times in other ways. Our AV is the result of subconscious drives IMO.

Farrier

I don't wish dreams of drinking on anyone. So real, driven with terrible anxiety afterward.

nellwall

I keep having these dreams about drinking. Last night in my dream I actually drank and I remember thinking "I hope this is a dream" and I was very very relieved and happy when I woke up it was just that. Today I am 85 days sober

DriGuy

That has always been my typical scenario, but the dream always started with me already drunk and not knowing how I got there.

biminiblue

I tend to dream about things that are either unresolved in my life or something that I've been thinking about a lot. Makes total sense that a newly sober person would dream about drinking.

Hodd

I think we all have them occasionally. I certainly feel “annoyed” with myself during the dream and wonder if I’ll be drawn back in (which I would be in real life).

Thinking about it, I never had any sort of drinking dream as a drinker. This could be (my theory) due to sleep patterns changing. A drinker has less REM sleep (so I believe, I’m not 100% sure), and REM is when we usually dream. Maybe we’re just dreaming more each night?

fishkiller

Good Work on 85Days!

I still have those dreams though they are far apart these days.
I think they are a helpful reminder at times how disgusting drinking is and how disgusting I would feel if I ever drank again.

zoobadger

I'm 5+ years sober and still dream that I'm hiding alcohol, drinking alcohol, and struggling to abstain to a degree that is not true in waking life. That is, even in dreams where I'm tempted but abstain, it requires a mighty effort. In the real world, my occasional cravings are pretty easily defeated or easily ignored.

I take the using dreams as a reminder that the biggest threat to my sobriety is taking it for granted. My urge to drink, even if it's mostly dormant, is obviously still there; lurking patiently, just waiting for me to let down my guard.