I’ve been tracking my drinks for 2 years, first time I reach such a sober streak - and I feel really better!
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Oh that’s a rad mapping tool! I just quit cold turkey in 2018. I wonder how things would have been different if I’d done it this way.
Great job! You should be really proud of yourself. It takes a lot of resolve to make better decisions for yourself especially when there’s so much external pressure to participate in things that you’ve demonstrated are bad for you
Keep up the good work.
Incredible progress, internet friend! You can do this. IWNDWYT!
The longer I look at this, the worse it gets
Not sure if it helps, but from one Internet stranger to another: massive congrats
I grew up around someone who tried, and couldn’t. And I know how it ended
It’s hard, but worth it
Congrats man.
Some personal updates
I don’t plan on completely quitting alcohol, but have managed to tone it down quite a lot. I now only drink on the weekends, only in the evenings, and up to 2 drinks.
Also, it’s been about 7 months of no smoking for me. (I do use some nicotine pouches every once in a while though.)
Congrats! I stopped drinking two years ago, and I don’t miss it at all. IWNDWYT 😊
Did you get pregnant?
j/k
Seriously though, great job!
This is not mildly interesting. This is a pretty big deal.
c/interestingasfuck
massive props!
This is me too but with weed. Last time I smoked was 18 January!
Awesome job! o7
Congrats!
Wild catch this post as I’m with ya, I just broke 24 hours. This is the worst part (3 days of anxiety, etc) , I really hope I can make it your numbers being sober.
The first day is the hardest part. I have full faith in you and for your next 24 hours, I’ll pledge with you, IWNDWYT (I will not drink with you today). Don’t worry about next week or even two days from now. Lets do another 24 hours not drinking together.
Also, not to swamp you with books but the book Allen Carr’s Quit Drinking Without Willpower changed my entire mindset around alcohol and that made it much easier to get thru the cravings that happen in the first couple weeks.
I can do that pledge with you! I got some food and me and thats helped, still need to eat a bit more. My next 24 hours would be right around noon EST. I’ll keep the eye on the prize and not over think what its going to be like on day 3 or day 30.
I’ll look into that book. Last one I read was Russell Brands book “Recovery” its a good read. And someone sent a .pdf link on here for same recommended reading. The outpouring of support has been great, I really hope I don’t miss anyone and not respond.
Thank for the encouragement and the challenge :)
The sweats get better pretty quickly, and you’ll soon be amazed how much of your dreams you remember!
Looking forward to that time :)
Right now its a light headache, stomach inst happy and go back from hot to hold every other minute. Oh and can’t stop yawning, so its a ton better than 12 hours ago.
You probably already know this but as a general PSA, don’t hesitate to seek out medical help if you’re having other symptoms or severe anxiety; alcohol withdrawal can be fatal without intervention
https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/25052-delirium-tremens#symptoms-and-causes
I have been keeping tabs on my body temp and heart rate. They seem to be the first signs that you best get to the ER immediately.
Also there is a CIWA-Ar calculator. I hit pretty low when it comes to what I’m experiencing. I was tapering pretty good before I said enough is enough.
But I really appreciate your concern and taking the time to msg me about it. I did find a new concern on the page you sent, the B1 effects. God knows I have no desire to eat anything right now, but I may just have to force it.
Thanks again!
Soup, or ramen. Easy foods man. Stuff like miso soup since you can basically just drink it.
lol thats exactly I did, I had a bowl of soup not even 20 minutes ago! I got some really good ramen too in the pantry that will be next! Great advice, than you!
Also you get all the ice cream you want
I had trouble stopping for a good while, then one day I realized it was Saturday morning and I was out for a walk on a chilly, sunny day and I felt good. It was like a switch flipped. In a flood I realized that I had trapped myself in a habit I didn’t even like any more. My health had already suffered a bit from it, and the upside of having a ton of friends and family at gatherings cracking open a few had faded, friends moved on as they do, family expanded and the growing complexity of it all made alcohol an anchor rather than a buoy, and it went from a catalyst for fun to a stress factor that only had downsides.
I realized those old days were gone. My cousin wasn’t going to hurl over the railing at my other cousin’s wedding reception while our uncles roasted and toasted him from an open trunk. I wasn’t loosening up in the hopes of talking to a cute girl at a party. I was sitting alone in my basement on a Saturday with a jug of questionable vintage, drinking because there was in that habit a faint recollection of good times past, and a compulsion that was just strong enough to keep me there, but weak enough to fly under the radar.
I love a fizzy club soda. I love a cup of mint tea. I love feeling the day as it happens, the drag of a bad time felt fully ricochets into the actual good feeling of an accomplishment, however small.
It’s not a tough choice any more, because I’ve seen it in the light of day… But it’s still there.
Also, to echo another poster, you CAN do it.
There are too many similarities in your back story that I have had. I can’t wait til I don’t have to cancel plans or go out to eat because I had 6 beers and counting. How may times I caught myself w/ the keys in my hand of because I was drinking so much I would forget and nearly get behind the wheel.
I cut off all my “bar friends” years ago. Too much to deal with when not wanting to drink and they are riding you “Come on just have one”
Health issues too, hopefully its not too late.
Also I have 2 restaurants owned by of close friends that I can go to. They saw how much I was drinking and banded me from ordering alcohol. I do get all my soft drinks for free, they really were worried when they said “no more”. And its not like they don’t a lounge full functioning drunks, they do. But for me they must liked me more than what I was spending a night at their bar. And it was a lot of money.
I’m sure there are a ton of grammatical error in my post, forgive my brain is in a state, but you know that :)
Thank you for taking the time to respond, I really appreciate it. And I have to do it, I don’t think I have it in me if back slide and have to do this again…
You can do it!
The hardest part is what you gave already just done, good luck!
Thank you and I’m gonna do my best, the 1st 3 days seem like the hardest. Day 1 down now just a couple more.
Then the after care, thats all new to me. But I’m sure thats easy to find out about.
Find some hobbies, books, etc., whatever you’re genuinely interested in. Don’t push yourself in these first few days; if all you want to do is sleep, then sleep. But in the coming weeks/months it will help tremendously to have something you can pour your whole being into, just completely immersed in. A book, a video game, hell even binging a tv series if it’s all you can motivate yourself to do. Arts, crafts, woodworking, soldering, language learning, whatever it is that gets your gears spinning.
If you ever feel yourself wanting to reach for a drink, ask yourself if you’re just bored. If the answer is yes, find something to do just to occupy your mind. It doesn’t matter if it’s something “lazy” or “unproductive.” If it gets you to bedtime without taking a drink, it was worthwhile.
If it’s not boredom, ask yourself if what it is. If you’re tired, sleep. Frustrated, depressed, stressed, lonely? If you can identify the cause of the craving, it gets easier to find something else to do instead of reaching for a drink.
Its nice to hear this from another that knows because thats what I’m doing. I got a call from my mom and just couldn’t deal with it because its sometimes like a interrogation with all the questions.
Keeping my YT/Rumble vids as non political as possible. Light interaction on Lemmy, absolutely no reddit. Fortunately (or unfortunately) not working so that stress isn’t over the top. My industry is a heart attack industry so I am ok with burning up some savings to get “right”.
Thank you for reaching out w/ some great advice. I will put it to work now :)
https://www.aa.org/sites/default/files/2024-10/b-7_livingsober_1-17_updated_10-2024.pdf
Not the AA Big Book, but a guide to tricks for not drinking.
I’ll give it a read, I have been of and on looking good info and how to deal with this. Thank you!
It’s easier to stay stopped when you hear other people’s stories and realize how much you have in common with them. Good luck!
Others have said that too, next step after I hit 3-4 days it will a meeting or two. I wish I had more options, its pretty much only AA here and I have been to some really ugly meetings.
Get the Everything AA app and the Meeting Guide app.
Everything AA is a yellow background with a blue triangle and circle. Meeting guide is a white chair on a blue background. Both are free to get in any app store.
Everything AA has all the literature and connects you to 24 hour Zoom meetings. I like big city meetings because you get a diverse crowd.
Meeting Guide will help you locate meetings near you.
And I’ve seen people walk into meetings with less than one day sober.
I’ll check out that app. And I get wanting big city meetings over what I have run into in rural area’s. The infighting was nauseating. Crosstalk, threats, epeen comparing, I walked of the last one midway thru.
I hit a couple meetings in LA and San Diego (before I got bad I went to support a friend) and meetings were 100x more civil. So I seen what your saying. And like you said way diverse, I got more out of it than you know.
Again thank you and everyone else on here for taking the time to help me.
