Alcohol Free Week 1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What would you do if you spouse was drinking really heavy almost to the point of me coming home and they being passed out with kids in the house (10 and 12) and they quit and has been dry for 2 months and now wants to start having one or two again when we go out or something?

Spouse of an alcoholic here. In my experience, this never works, they are kidding themselves, but they might need to experiment to learn it for themselves. There isn’t much you can do other than register an opinion.

Agreed. I think they are kidding themselves. Ask them if they'll try going 3 months. I keep reading that the 3 month mark is when people really understand how good they can feel without it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hello! OP here. I'm still alcohol free! I've been doing Annie Grace and have found her daily videos very helpful in staying on track. It's nice to have a daily reminder, it's like a pep talk for me. I did great over the weekend, although I have been having cravings. I had some cravings when I was listening to a podcast and the host was talking about his favorite bourbon, and I got sad thinking about how I can't do that anymore. I can't bond with anyone over our favorite bourbon, or favorite wine. It was fleeting, but I felt it. I also had some cravings Sunday evening when I was stressing about something work related - but I got through that. I reminded myself how much more difficult dealing with the situation would be if I was hungover.

I thought I was going to get through it without needing any support, and that I wouldn't have cravings since I was so determined to do this. I was wrong about that. I've definitely had thoughts of going back to drinking, so thank you for recommending Annie Grace and for the support you've shown in this thread. I do not want to go back. I don't think I can be that person who just has one or two. If I go back I'm certain I'll go back to overdoing it on a regular basis.

I'm starting to feel so much better, too! I'm not jumping out of the bed in the morning, but I am slowly gaining energy. I spent time this weekend organizing closets and weeding junk out. I've been wanting to do that for so long but haven't because I'm always hungover on the weekends.

Great job, OP! As someone who was never able to drink alcohol, let me assure you that you will find other things to bond over with people. I used to have a friend who also had a home ice cream maker, and we would take turns looking for bizarre recipes to make for each other. I have other friends who are tea drinkers, and let me tell you, the range of flavored teas on the internet is vast. My husband and his best friend are coffee lovers and geek out over beans and grind granularity and water temperature. Other people drink craft root beers (yes, it's a thing) and ginger beers (try it with fresh lime). Now that you are not focused entirely on alcohol, I hope you will see just how many other options are out there.

[Anonymous]

Hi OP! I wanted to offer my support to you. When I stopped drinking, at first I felt a little nostalgic about the things you mentioned regarding bourbon or wine. It’s been nearly 2 years for me now and my perspective has changed. Now I am very aware of the tireless glamorization of drinking that goes on in our media. There are references to it on shows for children, shows for adults, and everything in between. It is very shocking once you step back and take alcohol out of your life.

Hope things are going well this week for you.

[Anonymous]

Great OP! You are really inspiring to me. I"m behind you, but our patterns are very similar.

Headspace is a meditation app that has a series on sleep and another on cravings. I'm adding that. Somebody upthread mentioned pain. There's a series on managing pain too in the headspace app.

I am so happy to see a supportive thread.

[Anonymous]

Good for you, OP. My DH and I don't really drink because one of us has an allergic-type response to most alcohol and it's like roulette knowing what will set it off and what won't, and the other gets heart palpitations and is sensitive to it. We have wine and spirits in the house, serve it, and will occasionally drink it ourselves, but it's just so not a thing in our lives. Socializing with others who are drinking is also not a thing. If you find that you have friends whose social lives center around alcohol, and that that is a problem for you socially, you probably need new friends. I realize not everyone is weird about not drinking, but I definitely know some people who could not hang with us if we didn't drink 3-4 drinks or rave about wine.

Good luck!

[Anonymous]

You go, OP!

[Anonymous]

OP: How are you? Wishing you well. and warmth.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP: How are you? Wishing you well. and warmth.

Agree -- hope you are doing well. I'm doing Dry-January, I'm with you OP! You got this.

[Anonymous]

OP here, checking in again. Thank you so much for the good wishes. I'm doing really well! 23 days alcohol free! The longer I go the easier it gets. I'm sleeping better, looking better, less irritable, feeling more positive in general. I feel more engaged with work, and with family. Things are not perfect, of course, but it feels so good to be.... feeling my feelings? I don't know how to explain that except that I'd been using alcohol to numb myself for years. Ditching alcohol didn't make my problems go away. They are still here, but I'm tackling things with a clearer head.

I still get cravings - almost always stress related. I remind myself how good I've been feeling, how I don't want to feel like crap in the morning, and then the cravings go away after a few minutes.

Hope you are all doing well, too.

[Anonymous]

Great Job! I am well. Also, well behind your progress but progressing.

[Anonymous]

It's Feb. 1. I started Jan. 10. Over the last 20 days I cut intake by 50%. It's my first step, and I did it. Goal for Feb is cut another 50%. I'm positive I can do that. Maybe I'm done. Who knows.

[Anonymous]

Awwwrighttt, OP!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's Feb. 1. I started Jan. 10. Over the last 20 days I cut intake by 50%. It's my first step, and I did it. Goal for Feb is cut another 50%. I'm positive I can do that. Maybe I'm done. Who knows.

This isn't OP, this is an OP inspired poster. Just FYI, don't want to confuse anybody.

[Anonymous]

I applaud OP and 11:26. This is a tough road and you both are warriors!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's Feb. 1. I started Jan. 10. Over the last 20 days I cut intake by 50%. It's my first step, and I did it. Goal for Feb is cut another 50%. I'm positive I can do that. Maybe I'm done. Who knows.

This isn't OP, this is an OP inspired poster. Just FYI, don't want to confuse anybody.

PP, I'm similar to you. Not cutting it out completely, but drastically reducing. Although I just started, I'm excited about the prospect.