Sharkez

Hi all,

I'm Steve from England. I saw this site recommended as a good recovery community on Reddit so thought I'd come and check it out.

I am alcohol free for 5 days now following a 6 month relapse having previously been sober for 3.5 years.
A big reason why I didn't succeed long term last time was because I didn't connect enough with others. Addiction has made me isolate myself to the extent that I have barriers to connection I don't even know are there.

Therefore, this time I know that if I am to remain on the straight and narrow I need to reach out and forge new connections so here I am!

It would be great to chat to others in the same boat so please feel free to message me and I look forward to discovering the site and connecting with some of you.

Onwards and upwards

LumenandNyx

Hi,

Keep up the hard work!

tursiops999

Welcome Steve! This community has been a big help to me. There's a lot of good info, but mostly, a ton of support. Glad you're here.

Anna

Welcome, Steve

Great job on 5 days of sobriety. It sounds like you know how to get sober and recover since you had 3 1/2 years, and I know you will find lots of support here.

brighterday1234

Welcome to SR Steve. Connection with other alcoholics and addicts In recovery each day is a vital part of recovery in my experience and SR is great for this. This is a wonderful resource with a proven track record of many many people with long term sobriety.

Mary88

Welcome Steve! I can relate to what you wrote about isolation. Connecting with others is definitely important. I look forward to reading more about your journey.

SoberLeigh

Welcome, Sharkez.

The support here is fantastic!

Forwards

Welcome Steve,

I'm UK based as well, as are a few of us here. SR has been instrumental in my recovery and is now my primary source of sobriety support. Stick close - there's everything to be gained...

Forwards.

Gabe1980

Hi Steve....welcome to SR. Congratulations on getting back on track mate

Sharkez

Thanks for the warm welcome everyone, I really appreciate it. Just trying to navigate my way around the site and see what's what.
Today is the first day I've felt good since I stopped. I had to taper down for 3 weeks from up to 50 units per day in order to quit this time. I won't lie, I was having acute withdrawals at first which terrified me.
However, I've got my nutrition, exercise and supplementation on point and am starting to do productive things with my days. Just need to get my sleep sorted but that's gonna take some time I reckon.

DriGuy

Welcome. Connections with other alcoholics were big for me. It's where I got a lot of tips on dealing with issues. More than that, I was inspired by recovering alcoholics who really did put their lives back together. By knowing them, I realized that quitting drinking wasn't some great sacrifice, but a positive place. I hope this can be enough for you.

Zevin

Hi Steve!
3.5 years sober is great....why did you start back up?

Sharkez

Hi Zevin,

Many thanks for your message. In short, I didn't make enough lasting changes in my life and lived too much in isolation. Also, I convinced myself I was different and would be able to moderate which I very quickly realised was BS. At least I know now.
How long has it been for you?

Sharkez

Great to see that there are fellow Brits here too. Thanks for the message. How long have you been in recovery?

Sharkez

Thanks Anna, much appreciated. It would be great to have some support and collaboration this time. I hope I can help others too with my own experience

Forwards

Hi, I've been sober and in recovery now for just over 20 months after 20+ years of hard drinking. I joined SR several years before this though and never managed to make it stick. If I could explain what finally allowed me change I would. What I do know though is that it has been an incredibly rewarding (though at first very difficult) journey so far.

If you look around you'll find the 'Class of September 2020' thread which you could join. I'm active on the 'Weekenders' thread which actually runs all week round and is a great source of camaraderie and support.

ReadyAtLast

Hi Steve and welcome
I can relate as also had 3.5 years sober then picked up again.
this is a great site and always someone around to talk to. I'm in the UK too

Sharkez

Fair play on getting 20 months under your belt. I've been caining it for 20 odd years too and not just booze. I have subscribed to the Class of September 2020 but I can't seem to find "Weekenders". Could you point me in the right direction please? It's gonna take a while to fathom the idiosyncrasies of the site I feel.

Sharkez

Hi and thank you Is it the done thing to ask whereabouts someone lives in a particular country or do people prefer the anonymity on here? Feel free to pm me if you would like to chat. It would be interesting to talk to someone who has been sober as long as I was and then fell back into it.

Forwards

Here is this week's Weekender thread: https://www.soberrecovery.com/forums/newcomers-recovery/449363-letting-go-weekend-weekenders-04-07-september-2020-a.html. (Letting go this weekend - Weekenders 04-07 September 2020) We have a new thread started each Thursday, currently by our dedicated Mags, to prepare for the weekend ahead. It's largely a social group but gets serious whenever needed.