WindPines

Good morning all,
I am just over two months sober, and have been riding on the most beautiful pink cloud during my short sobriety. It has been a magical experience.
During a zoom AA meeting that I was in in the last few weeks, an "old-timer," as they like to call people who've been in the rooms for a LONG time, shared that he had over 50 years of sobriety. He mentioned how folks would always tell him that the pink cloud he was on will run out, that he'll come crashing down to a reality at some point or another. He shared that that hasn't happened yet, though he has kept himself prepared for if it does.
I just wanted to share this man's share. It was so positive, and felt to me to be truly a "one day at a time" attitude toward sobriety and life.

Hope you all have a great weekend.

Truthbetold76

Thanks for sharing

DriGuy

It can be like that. Whether yours goes on forever or not, it's a rush, but with or without it, sobriety still beats alcoholic drinking any day of the week. I like to say my pink cloud never left. Instead, I say I adjusted to it as my new normal. I'm not exactly sure about that, but I think it's at least partially true. Parts of that high remain with me. As the euphoric mania went away, it left behind a quieter more thoughtful joy and comfort, and that has never left. I can still have a bad day, but that occurs in an atmosphere of calmer knowledge that I'm still far better off than I imagined I could be, and emotions still come and go.

D122y

Wow! 50 year pink cloud.

I have times of complete happiness, off and on. I also have times of sadness and obsession etc.

But, the happiness comes on much easier and lasts longer every single day and vv.

I just got my second covid shot and I think my body is still adjusting. But, I feel good, just different.

Bottom line: Booze is poison. Suffering and time make things better.

Stay sober by any means.

Thanks.

Mizz

I believe we have the power to change our lives and to see life as something joyous or something terrible.
I am not missing out because I do not drink. I am actually gaining a lot of strength and improving my life condition by not drinking. I get to choose the way I deal with problems that arise in life. I have choices. Lots of choices. Lots of different ways to look at things.
Pink cloud for the WIN! May it always be present.

CBS62

Congrats on 2 months. That is great! I am 4 and 1/2 months sober and still waiting for this so called pink cloud or even a window of feeling good. I know I am healthier now that I am not consuming a bottle of wine a night but I am suffering from a lot of physical and mental PAWS symptoms. My brain is taking a while to heal. Maybe that is because I drank for decades with few breaks.

DriGuy

I don't know why some don't experience the pink cloud, and I've thought about it before too. It seems more random than to have a specific cause. The good news it's not a requirement to have it. Many people do just fine without it.

Aellyce

This pink cloud phenomenon is always interesting to me, I would like to know what causes it, but don't think it would be easy to figure out. Don't think I've experienced it though, at least not forms that people describe as magical or almost a manic high (I was prone to that while drinking!), elation or euphoria. I can experience the latter normally (before/after my alcoholism) more as what is sometimes described as peak experiences, while on a hike in nature, while immersed in a very engaging task, or during moments of particularly meaningful insights, but those are usually a few minutes or hours, not days or longer. I did have a form of that soon after getting sober, both the first time and after my relapse, when I came out of the closet after long periods of hiding my drinking, made a deeper commitment to recovery, and started working on it. Lasted a day or two but I would not describe it as euphoric, more a very pleasant state of calm and determination.

The part that has changed quite dramatically for me, which wasn't even abolished much by my two-week relapse, is my motivation - both the quality and level of it. I struggled with ups and downs in motivation a lot during my drinking, to a point when I believed it just became my normal with aging. Turns out completely wrong - just had to stop drinking. It's even better than ever before, because in my youth I was very driven but often experienced excessive, more manic forms of it. Hasn't been the case since last fall, it's so steady and even, I'm not even sure how this happened now as it's a quite new to how I know myself. This is hands down one of the best benefits of sobriety for me and I do hope it never leaves, I personally also like that it does not feel like any form of euphoria or high, yet I have a lot of energy and get things done. Maybe it's my pink cloud, except that it does not appear to have an unrealistic, enhanced color .

I think whatever form someone experiences, it's caused by changes in brain chemistry and function, but there are many different baselines in that. Some people are also just naturally quite excitable, happy and joyous individuals, there is personality like that. Maybe if these folks started drinking very young, they never even got to experience their true self before getting sober later in life, and that can be perceived as a pink cloud that lasts forever? I'm naturally more even-tempered I think, so this steady motivational boost and feeling healthy but grounded is enough.

Aellyce

Forgot to add, I guess the more conventional pink cloud experiences can also be just regular novelty effects? Much like moving to a new place, having a new and interesting project or job, a new relationship... Experiencing life sober after so many years of drinking is pretty new, in many and probably more significant ways, for everyone. Those novelty effects are known to subside within a couple weeks or so, I experienced that a million times as I am very novelty-seeking and highly responsive to new and positive experiences, it can be really fun but usually know even at start what it is and that it won't last too long.

https://lifehacker.com/novelty-and-t...so-g-508983802

PeacefulWater12

Congratulations on two months sober.

Thanks so much for sharing about the pink cloud lasting.

In my sober life I am enjoying mood stability instead of the exhausting highs and lows between mania and deep depression.

Stability with healthy sized bumps as I deal with life on lifes terms.

DriGuy

It's emotional like an insight or a peak experience, so we would expect it to pass. But it's not quite the same either, because it's part of a major behavioral life change. Insights are major shifts in perception, but don't signal a behavior change, they may lead to that, but not necessarily immediately. During my pink cloud, I was also overwhelmed with gratitude, to whom I did not know, and victory over an addiction that I wasn't sure I was ever going to accomplish. I felt a great deal of pride too. I also knew I was done with alcohol.

In nature and other peak experiences, I get the high too, but it is fleeting, sometimes lasting only seconds, sometimes for a better part of a day, and then a pleasant memory of the feeling that lasts for a while longer. But in nature I expect it to happen. I can't make it happen or anticipate it. It just happens and there it is again. So it doesn't have that "this is forever" quality.

And what carried me on that pink cloud more than anything was the gratitude I felt for my new life, and unlike other emotions, the gratitude has never left me. I still feel it when I stop and think about my life today, maybe not almost to the point of tears like I did in the beginning, but still the most powerful emotion that I can call up to consciousness on demand, so to speak. I can understand why other alcoholics make such a big fuss about gratitude. It plays an awful big part in my sobriety.

But the pink cloud is also similar to a manic reaction, not so manic that you can't keep it to yourself, and I felt like I had to keep a lid on it too, otherwise other's may have thought I was daft in the head.

Aellyce

It sounds like you are describing what many would regard as a spiritual experience and say it was the most important part of their recovery, even if you don't like that term, haha. I don't think it matters what we call it or regard as the source, sobriety is definitely a huge change, whatever emotions accompany it. The gratitude is interesting too - something else I often wonder, because I see so many recovering addicts talk about it as transformative, why it's often suggested as a method to practice in recovery, something that can be learned. Not surprisingly powerful given that addiction causes so massive negative mood changes, intense resentments, hopelessness, bleak outlook on life. "Negative affect" is also a term describing those states and is often discussed as a trait combination not only caused by addiction but a predisposing factor, but it definitely gets worse in chronic substance abuse. I imagine any change in that (and it's very emotional) can be perceived as a major, exhilarating uplift that might feel even transcendental. I easily get how someone otherwise quite rational would want to keep a lid on that though even though I don't have anything to cover .

Okay, I'll put a lid on my analytical mind and stop dissecting this - better to just enjoy the cloud for those who experience it, whether for a few days or long. I am sure it can also be used as a source of motivation for many things, including continued self-improvement.

phebe

Aellyce, that was highly rational, but I enjoyed your analysis immensely, thank you. 🙌

phebe

Yes, this is how I experience the ‘pink cloud’ without the drink too🤗

Gabe1980

Thank you for this share. I think it is about perspective. There is so much to be grateful for but sometimes I forget to acknowledge the good things.....it instantly helps when I remember to x

Introvrtd1

Heh…I knew very little about the pink cloud 🤣 After four months sober, Im still waiting for it…I am however grateful for the support I’ve received here in times of difficulty…Even now

Im also happy reading all the posts regarding experiences of all kinds…😇

Keep pushing forward! 😊

Dee74

One of our former Mods, CarolD used to say she was still on the pink cloud after 25 years

D

Lpg

Thanks for sharing this it’s very uplifting to read. Has anyone ever experienced the pink cloud phenomenon later on in their sobriety?

I thought I maybe did experience it in the beginning but I think I was more just experiencing the peace of knowing I had been acting as my true authentic self for a period of time, It was definitely more a peaceful feeling then a manic high euphoria, I’ve experienced a full range of emotions during my time, all of which are helping me to build a stronger foundation for my sobriety. I do hope maybe one day to experience the pink cloud phenomenon though.

Outonthetiles

I've been sober for over five years and I think my pink cloud is still at about 80 or 90 percent of what it was when I first started recovery. I'm still extremely grateful and humbled that I was able to recover and stay sober.