smilesdavis

Hi all, I have been on and off this forum and got great help so far. I was doing well and lasted 6 weeks or so with no booze. Now it's crept back in, and I'm having 5 or 6 beers a night. It's not enough for me to be really wrecked every day, I'm still doing exercise and working and functioning pretty well, but I am reliant on it again and I don't know how to stop. It means all my good work and progress in some areas of my life are being ignored again, and that can't go on if I want to improve as a person.
Every morning I wake up saying ok DEFINITELY none tonight but by the evening I say I can't stop tonight, I'll have a few but stop tomorrow.
I guess it's a bit scary stopping because that usually means being awake for a few days too, with the insomnia.
So what can I do to NOT DRINK tonight and have a lovely hangover free Saturday?
Thanks!

D122y

Drunk sleep is not good sleep. I suffered with insomnia too but I would take naps or fall asleep at lunch or go to bed at 4 pm to get caught up.

Actually, any reason to drink is the addiction getting what it wants. If I could think it, it was a reason to drink

Booze is a learned behavior. I unlearned it and have nothing but great things to say about that.

Being an active addict was not the real me. I was not born addicted to booze.

Suffering and time.

SR saved my life.

Thanks.

Philemon

"Now it's crept back in"... Or did you welcome it in with open arms?
Friday night was my night of long soak in the bath, with reeelaxxx oils, watching utter trash on Netflix and eating my weight in snacks while watching said utter trash. And drinking full fat coke out of a pint glass. Wild, I know

smilesdavis

Well it crept in as I started to excuse drinking twice a week, then 3 times a week, then every night... It happens.
There's a new film that looks good called I'm thinking of ending things on Netflix released today, maybe this can distract me from alcohol tonight.
Full fat coke though, let's not go to any extremes.

Philemon

Haha even that's gone now..on a diet
Hope you enjoy your film

Sober45

This is pretty much how I did it. Anything but alcohol in the beginning and it worked. After 8 months it's only now I'm now in a position to make adjustments to my routine without risking a relapse.

doggonecarl

You haven't forgotten how to quit drinking. It's just the memory of the last drink is too fresh. You want to quit? Quit bargaining with your addiction to drink one more day.

Noam19

Just don't drink today. Do anything to avoid it. Then when you get through today, you can worry about tomorrow.

biminiblue

Yeah, you haven't forgotten, your inner toddler just dun wanna.

I don't think it's really important in early sobriety to worry about becoming something (like a better person, though that's a work in progress for us all..) it's just more important to accept that the First Drink is the one that will cause all the trouble. If you don't take the first drink all this goes away. Keep it simple.

So.

Tonight go to bed sober. If you can't sleep, Netflix is on all night. This site is too.

Anna

I think you need to recognize your AV and dismiss it immediately because it's evil and will pull you in every chance it gets.

smilesdavis

Yeah I hear ya. You just have to toughen up for the first nights. Well so far so good, 3.5 hours until the booze shops close.

Hawkeye13

There is a certain amount of willpower needed to get through acute cravings. Good news is acute cravings are not constant, but come in surges and only last about 20 minutes or so. Distract and be strong.

LumenandNyx

Hi,

Stop reaching for a drink. Do something/anything else.

least

Welcome back! It's not easy but it is simple - you just don't have that first drink. Distract yourself, go for a walk, clean something, read, watch TV or a movie. Anything but drink! I wish you well on your journey to sobriety.

biminiblue

Well, you don't drink any more so who cares what time they close.

You got this.

Obladi

What works for me and worked particularly well in the earliest of early days was telling myself "I don't drink now" or maybe sometimes, "I don't have to drink right now." Either way, I think it was the most simple way to go. Don't have to think about tonight or tomorrow or when my daughters get married or the sky falls in. I simply don't drink Now. It's always Now and I can do just about anything for the moment that is Now, even not drink.

biminiblue

Hey, smilesdavis, how's it goin'? Did you get any sleep?

I found in those first few weeks that when I couldn't sleep the best thing for me to do was get out of bed and fix a small snack. Either some chamomile tea or hot cocoa and a slice of buttered toast seemed to work to help me sleep. Alcoholics in early recovery have notoriously highly sensitive insulin response, so low blood sugar would often wake me up or keep me awake in the middle of the night. It's worth a mention!

Kdon853

Tomorrow never comes with an alcoholic.instead of saying I’ll stop tomorrow flip it to I’ll drink tomorrow but I won’t drink today.

smilesdavis

Hi. Still stuck in the loop, I am going to try again tonight. Once I get the first night over with I seem to be ok for a while at least but it's just the dread of being awake all night that bargaining in my head to postpone quitting that seems to win every night.
Hopefully I don't cave later.

Sammy1980

The first night for me was 3 years later.