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14 Days Clean

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Congrats for sure. 26 years this August for me. Anniversaries were always rough times. One month, 6 months, one year etc. By year 5 I thought I was good but that anniversary almost got me. Be prepared. Build a strong support network. Learn to talk and be with them when it gets hard. For the insomnia, regular (every damn day) exercise works better that any drug I've ever tried. Hitting 70 - 80% of max heart rate and keeping it there for at least 30 minutes every day has completely cured my insomnia.
 
umbrella39 said:
Well.... congrats on taking the first step... Next March 18 will be 25 years of sobriety for me. Just a heads up though... When I tried to run MY program.. etc not listening to the suggestions, 90 meetings in 90 days, get a sponsor, stay out of relationships for at least a year, etc... I relapsed like everyone does by trying to pick and choose which suggestions I decided to follow. Only when I decided to stop trying to run the show did I find long lasting, meaningful sobriety. Good luck and I wish you lots of hard work... stopping drinking is only the first step, identifying the reason why you drank to excess in the first place and learning to live happily in the absence of your drug of choice is the rub... WTG PS
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That's amazing man. 25 years. That's a true testament to willpower. You have truly achieved. You haven't even had one drink socially?

My goal right now is day by day to 6 months and then more.

I'm not sure about AA. I don't like the religious overtones in it. I found another group called Smart Recovery that has meetings in my area. Gonna give them a try after outpatient is over.
 
s0me0nesmind1 said:
I've found over the years that the more I work and advance in life the more I want to drink more.

Thankfully it has yet to get to the point of doing it during lunch or before work or anything. But I swear these Belgian beers have made me love beer so much that I feel the need to have it every day practically.

Work seems to be a bit of a cause for it too, mostly because I'm much more of an introverted person - but with how our project is right now we are Sharing 2 people to a desk and we are constantly getting bombarded with people. This doesn't work well when It drains me of energy all day and there isn't a single place I can go to be alone and do work. So it just stresses me out all day and only way to quickly answer it is knocking a few back when I get home.

I would probably get laughed at if I ever went to get treatment though. I don't think I've ever gotten to the point where I would get DT.
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Yeah man just stay away from the day drinking. It can spiral out of control quickly. I don't think having a few beers after work is anything to worry about.
 
RY62 said:
Congrats for sure. 26 years this August for me. Anniversaries were always rough times. One month, 6 months, one year etc. By year 5 I thought I was good but that anniversary almost got me. Be prepared. Build a strong support network. Learn to talk and be with them when it gets hard. For the insomnia, regular (every damn day) exercise works better that any drug I've ever tried. Hitting 70 - 80% of max heart rate and keeping it there for at least 30 minutes every day has completely cured my insomnia.
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Another amazing story. 26 years. It's inspiring to read these stories.

You are right the support network thing is huge. I am so lucky to have strong family bonds nearby and a couple good friends. I can't imagine what this would be like doing it alone. I would probably fail. This girl might be good for me. She is very anti-drinking and supportive.

I know you are right about working out, I am just so lazy to do it. I joined a gym and went for 3 weeks. It didn't cure my insomnia at all though during that time.

All I do is take my bike into the city 3 times a week and ride for a couple hours. It's something I guess.
 
VirtualLarry said:
Congrats on getting Sober, keep it up! And hopefully, your new relationship blossoms.
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Thanks man. Date went very well. Met at 11:30am went to brunch, then to a science museum to see some exhibits and a movie. DUDES YOU MUST SEE AN IMAX DOME MOVIE! I've seen plenty of IMAX films but the dome movie was insane. Well worth it. Went and visited my dog then went to my place, watched a bunch of movies and then hooked up for hours. Great date. I got my mojo back.
 
Good luck man. Funny thing is I woke up this morning telling my self I wouldn't drink today. I've been trying off and on to stop for about 2 years. I always get 2 weeks in, a month, 2 months and decide I can drink a 6 pack on a friday night. Then it spirals back out and I'm drinking every night for months. I was drinking during the day for awhile there. It was too much, I kicked that habit last time I went a month and a half sober. Except for the weekends of course I was cracking beers at 10:30 am yesterday. Not this morning though. Luckily I never did it enough in a row to get DTs yet. I do get a little shakey and can't sleep when I do get to sleep, its really vivid dreams. Everyone calls them nightmares, I love them, don't like waking up in a puddle of sweat though.

I'm not a fan of AA but its pretty true what they say ones too many and a fews not enough. Last time I got serious I looked into alcohol withdrawals. Post Acute Withdraw Syndrome is why I end up drinking again. I can be sober for months and think I got it beat. The withdrawals are still there hiding, ready to kick my cravings into full swing as soon as a beer touches my lips. Apparently PAWS can last for 6 months to 2 years. Your brain basically has to re wire itself back to normal and it can take awhile. Be very careful thinking you can handle just the one.
 
I wouldn't discount AA because you have issues with religion. I don't know if there's hard data but from my experience it's the best way to get sober. There's TONS of people who have did the AA thing and have been atheists or religion-shy. I'm not here to beat the drum for AA, I'm just saying not to completely shit on it.

Anyway, glad the date went well man!
 
clamum said:
I wouldn't discount AA because you have issues with religion. I don't know if there's hard data but from my experience it's the best way to get sober. There's TONS of people who have did the AA thing and have been atheists or religion-shy. I'm not here to beat the drum for AA, I'm just saying not to completely shit on it.

Anyway, glad the date went well man!
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I may be being a little harsh. At in-patient I went to two AA presentations. At the end of each meeting we ended with the Lord's prayer. I was like wtf. But I'll go and check it out if SmartRecovery is no good. Some girl in out patient last Friday said she went to an NA meeting on Thursday and there was no religious overtones just some mentions of a higher power. That's cool with me.
 
Mayne said:
Congrats on hooking up with a 26 year old. You give me inspiration.
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lol anytime. dude it's been a brutal 2 years of online dating ego destroying hell. used to get mad chicks but the decline started happening at 36. not fun. i needed this to get some mojo back.
 
dave_the_nerd said:
Update? 3 weeks?
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Yep all good. Couple small urges nothing significant so far. Tomorrow is 21 days. Outpatient rehab is a trip some times. The stories you hear. It's fascinating, amazing, interesting and also a total shit show. Puts things into perspective. As in my life doesn't seem so bad right now and vice versa.

Some people you want to punch, others hug.

Thanks for asking.
 
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Awesome man keep it up, good times I did court ordered outpatient/AA for heroin about 8 years ago. It worked haven't touched that stuff since but ended up drinking instead against their advice. You definitely meet some interesting characters. I still work for the ones mom, one dude worked for me for a bit til he got back on the shit, good guy if he'd stay clean, I ran into multiple guys I used to run with over the years, another goofball I ran into on a job years later we still keep in touch. . Then there were the gang member drug dealers playing addict to get out of prison. I gave one a ride home which was code for drop him off at the corner dope spot come to find out. He was cool too, I still use some of his lines like you couldn't get laid in marysville(the local womans prison) that sumbitch is probably back in prison or dead by now, no telling. He had already been shot like 6 times and been in prison most of his adult life. The one time he was arguing with the counselor and lifted up his shirt to show his scars like nothing matters I'm invincible, you see this I should be dead. I should get back to AA it keeps you grounded.
 
PixelSquish said:
Now I'm breaking the rules. They say not to fraternize with people in your program, whether in-patient or out-patient. But I met a girl at in-patient, which is over now, and we are going out. So technically not breaking the rules. She is 26 and I'm 41. What could possibly go wrong?
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It's kind of like RAID 0 striping. If one drive fails you're screwed. If one of you falls off the wagon you might both because you can influence each others behavior.

As long as you both stay sober you might be ok so don't worry about the rules too much but do stay sober. If you need incentive look up pancreatitis sufferers personal stories online. Not everyone's pancreatitis was caused by drinking but a lot of them were.
 
The Beer Store is closed today...damn stupid statutory holiday. Me and the boss were at the Keg waiting for the doors to open up at 11 am. Could only afford 6 beers and said fuck this.
 
disappoint said:
It's kind of like RAID 0 striping. If one drive fails you're screwed. If one of you falls off the wagon you might both because you can influence each others behavior.

As long as you both stay sober you might be ok so don't worry about the rules too much but do stay sober. If you need incentive look up pancreatitis sufferers personal stories online. Not everyone's pancreatitis was caused by drinking but a lot of them were.
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She came over again this weekend and stayed over and it was great.

She doesn't abuse substances - she is now in outpatient for anxiety and depression only (psych), she is not in there for dual diagnosis (psych + substance). She does drink socially, but rarely, but refuses to drink in front of me no matter what. I said look if we go out to dinner have a glass of wine, and she refuses, even though I hate wine. So that's not a problem with her at least.

I'm already suffering from a lot of memory loss. And that can take years to heal. Many of the other bad things that happen to your body while abusing alcohol go away within months, so at least thats good. But memory is kinda important. I used to be known for a pretty sharp memory. Fuck.
 
Keep at it! I sometimes take a few weeks or months off from drinking. I don't drink to excess but I do tend to drink regularly (one or two drinks usually). I found out recently that I have high blood pressure though so I haven't been drinking much at all because that just makes it worse.
 
4 years 1 month and 2 days here.

I'd recommend 12 steps and I don't subscribe to any particular major faith. If you've been to an AA meeting you've been to one AA meeting. Just like people, restaurants, clothing stores, etc. shop around you'll find one that fits you. Personally I go to NA meetings and find them a bit more 'liberal' with regards to the religious vs spiritual part. That's in my particular area however, yours may be different.

Keep at it, one day at time.
 
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