Is this normal or crazy ?
 

Hi,
I've been trying to quit drinking and it seems nearly impossible... Went out to the bar last night, after a full meal, switched from beer to gin, came home, crashed, woke up feeling depressed, and then late morning, I had a beer, and suddenly I feel 'Ok'. Is that normal? I feel like i can function. Has anyone had this? I don't want this continue. I want to be free from booze, but not sure how to go about. When i get a day or 2 or when my body has healed, I think it's ok to go back and have more beers, in a 'controlled' way. Crap.
Mind you, I've had 5 years Sober before, and now I can't remember at all how i did it... begeezuz.
Any suggestions or experiences ?
Thanks.

Hi mkvan :)

If you withhold a substance that you are addicted to and then take some then you will of course feel better.

I'm confused as to why you were in a bar if you are trying to quit?

Once you quit you need to stay quit, it's not ok to go back that's how you did it before right?

I think it's important to know that it will take a lot more than a day or two for your body to heal. That will be an ongoing process when you stop drinking.

When you wake up feeling depressed, then drink, and feel better, it's because you are stopping the withdrawals.

Since you had 5 years of sobriety in the past, you know you will be able to do this. Make a plan and figure out how to get through each day, each week without alcohol. You can definitely do this!

Yeah, if you're drinking in the morning, a little hair of the dog, you may have a problem.
That's how I drank at the worst of my drinking. Doing shooters of whiskey at 8am then beer from there. All day for days on and until I needed a break. Not drinking for four days until I felt 'well' again.
Only to stat the cycle over.
This went on for five years until the binges got closer and closer together.

By then I was addicted to alcohol. And needed to drink nearly around the clock to feel 'normal'.
In my opinion, drinking in the morning is a sure sign of alcoholism.
But only you can decide that for yourself.
I knew I had a problem. Not many people are drunk at 10am.

I would try and give it a break. After that two days see how long you can go without a drink.
If you find you can't strop you may have a problem.

Yes - 'hair of the dog' seemed like a magical remedy. Hangover would go away, I'd feel calm & happy again. I never thought about what I was actually doing to myself. It led to 24/7 drinking eventually, & a ruined life.

it is both, mkvan, normal AND crazy.
normal for an alcoholic to feel un- okay without the drug and then feel much better after a drink.
crazy is the insanity of having that drink when supposedly you are not going to drink again.
nothing unusual in that situation at all.

When I was addicted I needed a drink to feel normal, and if you need a drink to feel normal, being sober is no longer your normal state. Your normal state is having alcohol in your body. That's addiction and that's the cycle that needs to be broken.

But you had five years of sobriety, so you know you can do this.

Well said, fini! Totally agree.

The only way I could stop the insanity, literally, was to quit drinking completely. I went through a lot of suffering during this phase. I had to do that to get to the mental and emotional kind of insanity.

I'm an alcoholic, albeit a recovering one with 2.5 years sober now, so my mind still goes to the "crazy" at times....but now I am much more able to right myself and proceed.

Thank you all for your posts in this thread. They were exactly what I needed to read right now.

Hi, thanks for all your feedback. I went to an AA meeting this morning, because I was feeling bored and wanted something to do besides drinking. It was actually a nice experience. People were mature and welcoming. I think i will go back to that one.

So I am moving forward...

Thanks !

It was when I realized that I needed alcohol to feel normal that I knew I had jumped the shark. Same thing for withdrawals. Once I got to that point, it was never the same. Might be different for you, but that's my experience.

I hope you can get sober for good. :)

I'm glad you went to a meeting mkvan.

I had to change my life considerably if I wanted to get and stay sober because my old life was all about drinking.

I think its something we all need to consider.

D