Robbie64

For me, it takes twice as long as I have drank for the sweating, anxiety, tiredness etc to stop. So if I drank for 5 days (and that is pretty much every waking hour when I start), it will take me 10 days to pull around. Of course as the days pass I feel less and less rough but I still get sudden feelings of exhaustion even after a few days. The sweating is probably the worst for me. I literally perspire at doing very little for days of end which is embarrassing when I'm walking outside or in a shop. My blood pressure and pulse rate also take several days to return to normal. My stomach usually takes about a week to settle down properly. Strangely I rarely get headaches.

Khorhey

Watch for things bad for your liver too. Sugar, processed meats, medications, anything with toxins in it. Your liver has to process that. Once you stop drinking try to cut those things out when possible. Low fat healthy diet.

Milk thistle, vitamin E, brewed coffee, turmeric and some other things are good for fatty liver. Exercise too.

This will help you feel better faster.

JADIII

Thanks so much. Great advice. Should be a good test today. Playing golf this morning w friends. I’m determined not to drink a drop!

ClearPath64

Following from what Khorhey said, here is a SR article regarding nutrition and the liver:

https://www.soberrecovery.com/recove...mp-your-liver/

Scd619x

Well done for staying sober. The ALT and AST are not high as i had similar tests when i was a couple of years into sobriety, and remember what i was told. A muscle injury can increase liver readings along with a lot of other things not associated with alcohol abuse. Being overweight puts a lot of pressure on the Liver so losing weight can make a huge difference as it did with me.

novips

No liver pain stories, but just want to check in to say that I hope you'll keep an open mind about: (1) you might be an alcoholic; (2) you might be the type of alcoholic who can only stay sober by fully committing to the recovery program of Alcoholics Anonymous. I'm one of those alcoholics. Feel free to PM me if you want to chat more about that.

JADIII

Thanks SCD. Are you saying yours were higher than mine even with sobriety? Managed to stay sober golfing which wasn’t that hard actually.

JADIII

Hey all, so I'm going to make it to day 8 in an hour or so. Do I feel better? Yes (about 80%). Is my head clearer, Yes (95%). I was having pains in my side pretty consistently but they have pretty much subsided with a little tinge here and there. I still have some pins and needles in my foot but they are subsiding also and only feel it when I run. A few questions for the longer haulers out there.

1) Weight - So I've dropped some weight over the last 8 days (probably 3 or 4 pounds). I'm assuming thats water weight? I know there are a lot of calories in booze so just wanted feedback.
2) I'm stuck in what you might call a "rut". What I mean is I'm doing the same thing each day and trying to not to veer too much. Get up, get the kids ready for camp(s), eat, work, get the kids from camp and come home and eat dinner, watch TV starting around 6 and go to bed at 8:30. I've literally done the same thing except for golf one day for the last 8 days. Do you slowly climb out of the rut by doing a little more each day or just break the chain and change everything.?

I'm not on.a tightrope right now and I feel as long as I stay in this "rut" that I'll stay sober. I'm thinking if I start to do other things that are off the beaten path that my car will slowly but surely stop at the liquor store when I'm out and about.

Thanks, any feedback is welcome.

DriGuy

Interesting question, and at the risk of sounding caviler, I would answer, "Yes."

I remember an old timer describing a conversation with a new guy. New guy asks, "What do I need to change?" Old timer replies authoritatively, "Everything!" I disagreed back then, and I still do. Not all alcoholics come to recovery so severely damaged. We don't need to throw the baby out with the bathwater. Some of us do have life skills, and even some very good ones.

However, as I recall my own recovery, there were some major changes at the beginning that were absolutely essential (for me). And that was followed with a slow climb out of my affliction, with some major changes needed occasionally throughout that slow climb. So the correct answer is "Yes, both of those."

This is going to be a judgement call. Most certainly avoid things that may inadvertently end you up at the liquor store or at a two fisted drinking party. Keep that goal at the forefront. Whatever it is you call a rut may or may not be necessary or even advantageous. I found changing my routine to be an advantage depending on what that routine was. I obligated myself to an AA meeting every night for a year. Talk about a major change of routine into a foreign environment, but it was good for me. Eventually, I decided it was no longer good for me. It was there to get me over a hump and safely to the other side, but making my life all about AA meant missing out on a wondrous world of enrichment outside of that environment. You have to decide what is good for you and bad for you. You might make a mistake too, but you can make corrections as you go when necessary.

Are you worrying too much about getting it right, or should you just go ahead and make some changes intuitively based on your own best reasoning? Again, the answer is, "Yes!"

advbike

I found in the first 30 days it was best to make no waves. Just take care of myself - diet, some exercise, let the sleep improve. Most important thing is to stay sober and avoid temptations or undue stress (for the first 90 days). Spent a lot of time just reading and relaxing, doing routine chores. We are not even thinking clearly in early recovery so avoid big decisions and shaking things up too much.

After 6 months I was able to travel internationally again without wanting to drink.

Khorhey

JAD III how are you feeling

JADIII

Doing ok. Just bored but keeping on moving forward.

AlbaSober

Where did you golf JADIII?

I find Golf can give me a buzz that I got from alcohol. Sitting at home post-round thinking about my good shots.

JADIII

Hey all, figured I'd give a quick update on things. So been going along pretty well. 99% better than I was when I first posted. I'm starting to have days where I'm truly motivated to do things and not just half ass, like do things to the fullest. I read a good post on facebook that helped me also which talked about doing one thing at a time and 100% completely that before you move on versus trying to do 3 or 4 things at once and doing 75% of that. It really helps me focus but I have to admit sometimes too much time goes by but at least I feel liek I've accomplished something when I'm done. When I was drinking, I would literally do things half way and then just lost interest and started to drink. I'm not exaggerating when I say this either but it could have been something as easy as getting dressed. I would throw on a golf shirt and instead of putting on golf shorts I would put on gym shorts and just say screw it, I've done enough.

I will say this. At the very least, when I was drinking I rarely if ever did things 100%, not even 80%. Now at least I'm finishing things which is fulfilling. On my 2nd to last day of drinking I went to the grocery store as I was making some stew that had about 10 things in the recipe. So I got home and realized I was missing two of the spices I needed so I just made it without those and it tasted horrid. So I wasted about $30 in ingredients for this and instead of driving 2 miles back to the store, just said screw it.

Thanks for listening.

ThatWasTheOldMe

I am a process / automation engineer.
I literally wouldn't be able to do my job for a week if I were to go on a drinking binge.
Alcohol fries my brain connections.

On top of it, I'd be too sick to even make it to work in the first place.
I don't miss it one bit.

JADIII

So I had some good time in for me which was about 3+ weeks. For some reason (even thought I had a plan) I weakened last week and went on a 4 day bender which didn't end that well. Last week at this time I was throwing up on the golf course and had to face clients at a golf outing for the day which was miserable. Woke up Tuesday with many aches and pains in the right flank and overall felt like death even though I didn't even drink on Monday (must have been dehydration and alcohol poison). Felt like sh*t all last week with stomach issues, bathroom issues and mental health issues to name a few.

So here's a few things I've learned this week.

As you get older (I'm 53) it takes longer to "recover" from drinking. I'm literally just starting to feel normal after 7 days of abstinence but am still having a few odds and ends with pains, etc.
I will say that I still think of drinking each day but as the days go on, less and less. I find that doing the same thing each day helps me focus on sobriety. Whether it's watching TV at a certain time or just getting in my car and taking a 15 minute drive to refocus, it does help.
I was with some drinkers yesterday and really noticed how they drink versus how I drank. Even when my wife went a little overboard she was well within limits of drinking and was fully functional and actually threw away the last half glass of wine which, in a million years, I was never have done. In fact I would have filled up more.
People don't really care if you drink or not and I'm being literal. I was with people on Saturday and noticed that out of 10 or so people, only 1 drank like me and he was known as a "drunk" so what does that say about me. Even though I didn't think I was a drunk, others most likely did and it was kind of embarrassing.

I have more but have to run to work but hopefully my next blood test comes back with lower LFT's. I know that just taking 7 days off won't be that much of a difference but it's better than 7 days of drinking.

Not looking for medical advice here but does anyone have any good suggestion for how long to wait to get another blood test after my July results. I went from basically drinking every day to 3x a week with a few weeks with nothing. I know that cutting back helps but abstinence is the best to get you LFT's back down to normal.

Any suggestion are welcome. Not looking for negative or "my friend had cirrhosis":, etc. more encouraging if possible.

Thanks for listening, this site is super helpful to me especially now.

Bethany57

I would go 6 weeks without drinking and then retest. The thing is if your results come back better that does not mean you can drink. again. You can do this.

Thrillhou

Even at 34 I totally get what you mean about taking longer to "recover" as you get older. In my early 20's I hardly got hangovers at all, at 34 I felt like I was dying the next day.

anxiousrock

I'm 33 and my hangovers feel like 4 days long lol

WaterOx

Any time I start drinking it doesn't take long before that dull ache appears. It scares me every time it comes back and every time I go running to the doctor. Tests always show up fine, including ultrasound and blood work. That doesn't mean something else isn't happening.