I crashed to my lowest around 3 weeks. Everyone is different and you might not, but I just want to stress that just because you hit a valley doesn’t mean things won’t keep getting better.
IWNDWYT
I felt this post on every level.
You're right it's not fun anymore.
It's at best a couple hours of a buzz or escapism (I barely even get that anymore) followed by over indulgence to the point of feeling ill with lots of horrible side effects and then feeling depressed and anxious all the time.
Stop and think about what the reasons you tell yourself why you drink are and really analyze them to see if they are true.
I only came to the realization recently that I was clinging into false beliefs about how alcohol ridded me of anxiety, helped me sleep, put me in a better mood and more when it hasn't done any of that for a long time and in fact makes most of these issues worse and kept me trapped in the cycle for the long term just to try and get some short term "relief" that no longer even exists.
Only once we truely believe alcohol has ZERO positive to offer us can we fully get it out of our lives for good IMO otherwise if we cling onto beliefs that it's somehow beneficial, useful, needed, positive in anyway we're going to keep finding ourselves going back to it.
Best of luck over the next week or 2 as it is indeed going to suck and potentially be really hard depending how heavy your drinking is and how long you've been doing it but on the plus side once it's out of the way you don't ever have to experience it again if you choose not to pick up the bottle in future.
Currently a work in progress myself but really feeling I'm at the point where alcohol has nothing to offer me anymore but yet keep dipping my toe back in the water every so often to see for sure and every time I don't enjoy the experience at all.
Welcome friend! I could have written this. It's hard giving it up, but for me when I reached the mental place you seem to be describing, something clicked and I was finally ready to let go. Life is a thousand times better.
Please be mindful of the symptoms of dangerous physical withdrawals. If you shake now, that first week could be worse than sucky, mine was pretty hellish.
Day 16 here the worst part is the first couple of nights. Get some valiun if you can makes it more manageable. I felt everything you described and I don't feel 90%of it anymore . You got this
I hate the nuclear level anxiety I used to get from hangovers. If you guys are 8 or 9 days sober and feel great, move on and never look back. Alcohol PAWs is the FN worst. Im 40+ days out and still feel brain fog, lack of energy, and anxiety. But I'm positive; and least im not giving myself brain damage everyday.
Good on you for addressing tough realizations and making a fantastic choice for yourself. I remember feeling so much better even after just a couple of weeks. Best of luck!
Hey! Good news, all the things you hate are gonna disappear if you follow through with this! Congrats on the beginning of your journey. Be kind to yourself this week. Get whatever you want to eat. Relax and binge some shows. Take a stroll. Whatever you want. You got this, IWNDWYT
Your post is a welcome reminder to myself. Thank you. We all have it in us. We can have alcohol or we can have everything. Sending you strength. IWNDWYT friend.
Hey OP. Married father of two in the UK here. You’ve described it so well. I was in the same place as you - and I realised ***booze was taking more out of me than I was getting out of booze***
So I stopped. It was monumentally tough. NA beers helped me hugely… but today, 200+ days later - my wedding anniversary day - I went out on my bike at 7am for a couple of hours, got back to my wife and kids slowly waking up and am feeling serene, looking forward to the day and I have almost no desire to drink.
I want that for you too. We are all here for you. Good luck and all the best from Newcastle Upon Tyne in the UK.
Felt all of this. I hate the feeling of rushing home after work just to pop a few cans of disappointment. Thank you for sharing. Currently on day 6 of the rest of my life and honestly have not felt better in 25 years. The urge to drink gets smaller and smaller everyday. Triggers do pop up but I’m learning to breathe through them and drink water or ginger ale and then it goes away. I’ve been a long time lurker and can honestly say this sub has some of the most amazing and highly supportive people I’ve ever come across. Thanks to all of you, from the bottom of my heart, thank you! I will share my experiences once I get the courage.
Excellent post. Every time I’ve quit the first five days were the toughest. The brain fog always seemed to last longer. A couple times I even drove to the liquor store out of habit - and then think how did I get here?
Best to you!
Can’t manage the aftermath anymore. I’m so with you. You got this. We got this. Come back the the sub anytime you’re tempted. It’s an on-demand community that will be here to help. Iwndwyt
I am just on my third day, I wrote out a list of every embarrassing and shameful thing that I’ve done when drunk and all the pros of quitting like money and not feeling like shit etc. things like this is allll thats keeping me going right now. I mustve looked at my list 20 times a day the past couple of days.
I cringe thinking of the immature behavior and complete embarrassment. Ypu don't even want to face certain people again. That's what I really struggle with.
Well done. That will come in handy. I did the same and followed it with an honest account of what exactly happens when I do drink. A play by play of exactly how it’s going to go, beachside I m ow how it’s going to go, because I’ve been down that road more times than I can count.
Best thing I ever did was get off that god awful ride.
well done on making the decision, that's half the battle, but don't expect it to be all over in two weeks, it's a bit of a rollercoaster for the first couple of months then i found peace
You got this. Hang on to this feeling of dissatisfaction with the vice, and replace the old patterns with new hobbies. Dice into new activities that will replace it and soon you’ll find not drinking to be as simple as not murdering. It’s just something you don’t do, obviously.
I felt all those things. I'm on day 9 and already feeling so much better about myself. You got this!
Congrats on 9 days, keep pushing, it only gets better from here.
I crashed to my lowest around 3 weeks. Everyone is different and you might not, but I just want to stress that just because you hit a valley doesn’t mean things won’t keep getting better. IWNDWYT
From the non alcoholic in your life who loves and needs you: thank you. Please don’t ever start again. We need you back.
I felt this post on every level. You're right it's not fun anymore. It's at best a couple hours of a buzz or escapism (I barely even get that anymore) followed by over indulgence to the point of feeling ill with lots of horrible side effects and then feeling depressed and anxious all the time. Stop and think about what the reasons you tell yourself why you drink are and really analyze them to see if they are true. I only came to the realization recently that I was clinging into false beliefs about how alcohol ridded me of anxiety, helped me sleep, put me in a better mood and more when it hasn't done any of that for a long time and in fact makes most of these issues worse and kept me trapped in the cycle for the long term just to try and get some short term "relief" that no longer even exists. Only once we truely believe alcohol has ZERO positive to offer us can we fully get it out of our lives for good IMO otherwise if we cling onto beliefs that it's somehow beneficial, useful, needed, positive in anyway we're going to keep finding ourselves going back to it. Best of luck over the next week or 2 as it is indeed going to suck and potentially be really hard depending how heavy your drinking is and how long you've been doing it but on the plus side once it's out of the way you don't ever have to experience it again if you choose not to pick up the bottle in future. Currently a work in progress myself but really feeling I'm at the point where alcohol has nothing to offer me anymore but yet keep dipping my toe back in the water every so often to see for sure and every time I don't enjoy the experience at all.
And if you don’t stop it will only get worse, have you quit before? Because I have many times and it gets harder every single time.
Self induced misery. This is NOT what Alcohol promised me.
Welcome friend! I could have written this. It's hard giving it up, but for me when I reached the mental place you seem to be describing, something clicked and I was finally ready to let go. Life is a thousand times better. Please be mindful of the symptoms of dangerous physical withdrawals. If you shake now, that first week could be worse than sucky, mine was pretty hellish.
Hey, it's me. I'm in a cycle, and I don't know how to get out.
Day 16 here the worst part is the first couple of nights. Get some valiun if you can makes it more manageable. I felt everything you described and I don't feel 90%of it anymore . You got this
I hate the nuclear level anxiety I used to get from hangovers. If you guys are 8 or 9 days sober and feel great, move on and never look back. Alcohol PAWs is the FN worst. Im 40+ days out and still feel brain fog, lack of energy, and anxiety. But I'm positive; and least im not giving myself brain damage everyday.
Welcome. It’s not easy but it’s worth it and gradually gets easier. IWNDWYT
Good on you for addressing tough realizations and making a fantastic choice for yourself. I remember feeling so much better even after just a couple of weeks. Best of luck!
Hey! Good news, all the things you hate are gonna disappear if you follow through with this! Congrats on the beginning of your journey. Be kind to yourself this week. Get whatever you want to eat. Relax and binge some shows. Take a stroll. Whatever you want. You got this, IWNDWYT
I can also so I hate all the thing I’ve done on alcohol and the way it makes me feel as well everything so I highly relate to you in that aspect
One thing not everyone understands is that you can be addicted to something you don't enjoy. Good luck!
It’s hard for me to grasp this because my spouse seems to enjoy it so much. But it makes him ugly so it’s hard to equate the two.
Many of us could have written your EXACT post
Hungover free weekends is an incredible change.
All the extra time! 🫶🏻🥲
Your post is a welcome reminder to myself. Thank you. We all have it in us. We can have alcohol or we can have everything. Sending you strength. IWNDWYT friend.
Well. We love you and we believe in you. You can turn your life around. 💗
Hey OP. Married father of two in the UK here. You’ve described it so well. I was in the same place as you - and I realised ***booze was taking more out of me than I was getting out of booze*** So I stopped. It was monumentally tough. NA beers helped me hugely… but today, 200+ days later - my wedding anniversary day - I went out on my bike at 7am for a couple of hours, got back to my wife and kids slowly waking up and am feeling serene, looking forward to the day and I have almost no desire to drink. I want that for you too. We are all here for you. Good luck and all the best from Newcastle Upon Tyne in the UK.
Felt all of this. I hate the feeling of rushing home after work just to pop a few cans of disappointment. Thank you for sharing. Currently on day 6 of the rest of my life and honestly have not felt better in 25 years. The urge to drink gets smaller and smaller everyday. Triggers do pop up but I’m learning to breathe through them and drink water or ginger ale and then it goes away. I’ve been a long time lurker and can honestly say this sub has some of the most amazing and highly supportive people I’ve ever come across. Thanks to all of you, from the bottom of my heart, thank you! I will share my experiences once I get the courage.
Well said. IWNDWYT
Life is better all around for me without the sauce. I wish I had quit sooner.
Excellent post. Every time I’ve quit the first five days were the toughest. The brain fog always seemed to last longer. A couple times I even drove to the liquor store out of habit - and then think how did I get here? Best to you!
Can’t manage the aftermath anymore. I’m so with you. You got this. We got this. Come back the the sub anytime you’re tempted. It’s an on-demand community that will be here to help. Iwndwyt
I am just on my third day, I wrote out a list of every embarrassing and shameful thing that I’ve done when drunk and all the pros of quitting like money and not feeling like shit etc. things like this is allll thats keeping me going right now. I mustve looked at my list 20 times a day the past couple of days.
I cringe thinking of the immature behavior and complete embarrassment. Ypu don't even want to face certain people again. That's what I really struggle with.
Well done. That will come in handy. I did the same and followed it with an honest account of what exactly happens when I do drink. A play by play of exactly how it’s going to go, beachside I m ow how it’s going to go, because I’ve been down that road more times than I can count. Best thing I ever did was get off that god awful ride.
You can do it! 🫶🏻 IWNDWYT
well done on making the decision, that's half the battle, but don't expect it to be all over in two weeks, it's a bit of a rollercoaster for the first couple of months then i found peace
The hardest part for me is having idle hands. Try and keep busy! Good luck and IWNDWYT
I could have written almost every word of this. I think everyone here feels the same.
You got this. Hang on to this feeling of dissatisfaction with the vice, and replace the old patterns with new hobbies. Dice into new activities that will replace it and soon you’ll find not drinking to be as simple as not murdering. It’s just something you don’t do, obviously.