Introduction
 

I'm new to the group and wanted to say hi and introduce myself. I've just begun my first serious attempt to stop drinking and stumbled upon this site. I have never been to an AA meeting before but am certainly not opposed to it. I am an atheist, so I was extremely excited to see there was a secular aspect to this site. I've haven't had a drink in three days and I'm having a very hard time. I hope to contribute to the conversation here and gain support from like minded individuals.

Hey Gato, nice to meet you :)

This is a good place for all sorts of different approaches to sobriety - you'll be able to chat to people who advocate everything from AA to huge amounts of exercise.

I'm sorry you're having a hard time - for most people the first week is the worst, but it does get easier, and for most of us sobriety ends up being the very best aspect of our lives, so don't be disheartened.

By the way, the fact that you made it to day 3 without any support is amazing :)

xx

Nice to meet you Huxley. Thanks for the response. I'm trying to work as much as possible , to try and take my mind off of it. It helps a little bit, but I feel sick and get bad headaches. It's hard to sleep but oddly enough, when I do get a couple hours, they are the best hours of sleep I've had in years!! Does this sound typical, or is it different for everyone?

I guess it varies, but sleep is a big deal at first - people can't get any, or get too much etc. It was a big deal for me - I slept like the dead but woke up with splitting headaches, which was weird because I never got any while I was drinking.

Work is good if you can do it - so is plenty of water/tea, vitamin B and taking it easy. If you've been drinking heavily enough to get withdrawals, your body's doing a huge amount right now to try and put itself right. Even if you can't sleep, rest is good.

I've got an old blog under the name Stillsleeping - I haven't read it in forever but I wrote every day in the first couple of weeks. It might help? I don't know haha - it might just be gibberish, but it'd kill the time :D

Hi, Gato.

Welcome to SR and secular section of the site!

Congrats on 3 days and decision to stop drinking.

Sobriety journey is not easy but it's definitely worth it. The first days are not a piece of cake, for sure. Take one day at a time. Focus on today. Take it easy on yourself, give your body and mind some time to recover.

Don't listen to Addictive Voice (AV) which tries to trick you into having "just one" or any other nonsense. It's not you who wants it. It's just nasty Beast.

You'll find a lot of support and useful information here.

Best wishes to you and keep posting)

Hi Gato, welcome! Very glad you found us and decided to post. There is a lot of support here, and a lot of great information. Check the sticky posts at the top of the page, and read read read. A useful tool for me at the beginning was 'urge surfing', so I recommend that to you.

The most important piece of info I can give to you is to simply believe that you deserve a life without addiction, and that you will have it, no matter what will happen. It might not be easy at times for you, but so what? It is nothing that you cannot handle, and handle well. Believe in yourself. Visualize the life you will have now that you no longer drink, and then do it!

Onward!