NightsWatch

For a few years now, I've been attributing my forgetfulness, inability to focus, loss of coordination, perception problems, etc. to "getting old". Then I stopped drinking alcohol long enough to realize that some of that is from drinking alcohol excessively for years.

I've only recently decided that I need to completely stop because moderation wasn't working and was actually making withdrawal symptoms worse. I'm frustrated with how my brain still feels like mush and it makes me feel generally stupid and slow. I read that stopping will heal the brain, but I'm worried that I'll never be the way I was before. Also, it sucks to not know if some of this IS from aging.

So I'm wondering for those of you who have successfully stopped for a substantial amount of time if you get your mind back to the way it was. And if so, how long did that take?

Dee74

I don't want to depress anyone but it took quite a long time for me to feel I got my mental faculties back fully.

I guess the good news is it all came back - it's never too soon, or too late, to stop beating our brain up

D

MIRecovery

It certainly takes a while but as with most things in sobriety it gets a little bit better every day. Patience is so important in recovery. We didn't get sick in a day and we aren't going to get better in one either

GracieLou

Well it won't take years to get some of the clarity back but it does take time.

In my case I started drinking young and I don't think I ever had it to begin with. I see through new eyes, with a new mind and a new heart.

I know I am a "I want what I want and I want it now" person. Years of instant alcohol gratification is the cause. I have to practice being patient and it does take practice. I sort of think of that quote "all in good time"

Be patient. It will come gradually.

jdooner

Its all relative because this would assume that you once had your mind in the first place. It is the same mind, which caused the conscious decisions in our own active addictions.

I think the more we think in terms of relative improvement and a constant journey and less about a destination of finish line the better off we will be.

Aside from philosophical, I noticed the changes in weeks initially and then months. Now I think I will measure the changes in years. Looking back there are ebbs and flows of improvement but I can say with certainty that clarity is orders of magnitude greater then when active!

DoubleDragons

Towards the end of my drinking days, I noticed I often couldn't find the words that I wanted to say and that I would get appointment times wrong and things like that, which was never my nature. (I'm a little Type A) I am in my early forties.

I feel like my mind is working much better now at over nine months sober, but I am also more at peace in my life which I think helps, too. I would say it took 5-6 months sober for the whole, "can't find the words thing", to stop.

LDT

17 months in and I'm having more clarity than ever. It will happen, Nightswatch. It just takes a little time for some of us to heal.

Mountainmanbob

One cause of drinking can be wet brain
These never fully recover
Although most see great improvement within a year or two
MM

jdooner

Wow - this just took me back. I am sometimes amazed at my ability to recall certain vocabulary in a conversation. Whereas a year ago I felt like my ability to communicate was that of a teenager.

NightsWatch

Yes!!! This is exactly what I've been experiencing. I feel like an imbecile when I have conversations and resort to using very basic words. I also lose my train of thought more often, forget where I put things. This isn't how I was (also a little type A) so it's very distressing. Another thing that freaks me out is this weird perception thing, like things sometimes seem to appear out of nowhere. I know they didn't, so I know it's because I somehow didn't see them (or process it?) until a second (or even third?) glance. This is especially scary when I'm driving. I really hope it was the alcohol and not aging. At least I might be able to feel like myself again.

Boleo

Post Acute Withdrawl - Relapse Prevention Specialists - TLC The Living Center

BobArctor

Echoing what jdooner said, "your mind" means many things. Being "sharp" is not necessarily greater growth. Someone who has an obsessive need to tidy their desk for example has unusually good ordering skills regarding the desk. But, it is an inbalance.

After a year and half abstinent, I started feeling like creativity was bursting out of me. I started writing and making things. That is not an increase in sharpness. It's also not all recovery from alcohol and substances.

Now, 3 weeks into abstinence after briefly drinking again after 2 years abstinent, I still feel slightly off. Part of it is anxiety about my situation.

There is similarity between people's experiences, but there are lots of variables.

Jfanagle

NightSwatch, as a fellow who passed 60 almost two years ago and having been sober the last 15 of those years, the answer is NO neither you nor I or anyone else will ever be "the way we were" because "were" is in the rear view mirror as time marches on. That said, we will better than we might have been if we kept drinking!

I got sober at 46 and I returned to good mental acuity in a very short time. However as time has marched on I admit to searching for the right word and sometimes the right name at just the right moment.

I can report however that since I stopped drinking, I KNOW I am losing my mind. Otherwise had I kept up the habit I may never have noticed.

Relax and enjoy the penalties of old age, as they say, "it beats the alternative!"

Cheers,
Jon

aborkie

Wow, I'm surprised to read some of these posts. I drank for two decades nearly every day and felt fine after 3-4 days. I guess everyone is different.

NightsWatch

Haha.. thanks Jon. I realize that I AM aging (I'm 38) but it was hard to separate what was the result of drinking and what was the result of aging. Now I have a better idea, and I wouldn't have been able to find out if I didn't stop.

You're lucky aborkie. How long have you been sober? I don't think I made the connection between some of these symptoms to my drinking until I stopped (and moderated) for a few months. It was like, "Ohh.. so I'm not actually that clumsy and forgetful" and when I binged a few times in June and those symptoms came back, the light bulb finally went off.

Boudicca

In addition to the link posted above, spend some time researching PAWS. The information will give you a good idea of what to expect.

Best Wishes!