Quitting drinking

Those night sweats are hell. I didn't realize what they were caused by the first few times I tried to quit. Woke up with clothes and bed sheet drenched - freezing cold. Sometimes 3 nights in a row before they subsided.

They are "withdrawal" symptoms.

Haven't had anything since 10pm 12/31/15. Going to go without a drink until after Portland 2016.

I do crave some salt/sugar though so my next battle will be to replace chocolate with an apple.

I'll usually go huge blocks of time. Month or 40 days without a drink. Productivity rises. Recovery is better. I read more. Clean the house, garage, shed, etc.

But once spring and summer come around a nice beer is great while your in the garden or post run workout or while your manning the grill or whatever else floats your boat.

I think I just want to seek a good balance. I don't want to drink 5 IPA's in an evening. One or three isn't bad.

Best of luck to your guys!

I really respect all the people who have posted.

Its a hard thing to do.

I used to go the 1st 100 days if the year without, that was a tough challenge....

I havent done that in a while, i think this thread is helping me to resurrect it.

I need to.

Jimmyboy wrote:

I really respect all the people who have posted.

Its a hard thing to do.

I used to go the 1st 100 days if the year without, that was a tough challenge....

I havent done that in a while, i think this thread is helping me to resurrect it.

I need to.

There's no better time to start anew than right now. LR is a place where you can talk about your challenges (and victories!).

39 days and counting. My longest period of sobriety in a while. The first week was tough, but it's getting easier.

I'm feeling better all around. Because of my work and personal schedule, I have to get in some early morning runs (4:30 to 5:00 AM). Having an easier time getting up and been feeling better once I start my run.

I did what I needed to do. I was mostly a daily drinker for years and that can't possibly be good for you. I have a great girlfriend and I did not want to screw up our relationship because of alcohol. I'm involved in ministry work and my church. I'm qualified and currently training for the 2016 Boston marathon. There's so much I'd be throwing away if I continued the road I was going down.

I don't miss the hangovers and black outs. I'd don't have to worriedly look in my rear view mirror and hope there's not a cop driving behind me. I don't have to worry if I have enough alcohol to last me the night.

It's getting better. Slowly, but headed in the right direction.

39 days is Great! Wish I could say the same but I bought a six of some rather high alcohol beer for the national championship game

Probably some of y'all know this already, but if you've been hitting it hard enough to have withdrawals you want to see a doctor before you go cold turkey. Those withdrawals can cause brain damage and they get worse over time-- so if you go through enough withdrawals or a bad enough one, you'll get the seizures etc. It's called kindling, and it's the reason why people who quit a bunch of times can be worse off than steady drinkers. It'll also make it harder to quit later.

There are drugs that help with the withdrawal, IIRC they're all benzos.

This is an interesting thread. I can't quite relate to alcoholism (never really enjoyed drinking), but I'm definitely addicted to marijuana. I smoke every day after work and tend to really go to town on the weekends. I don't feel particularly good about it; I try to quit or moderate my consumption all the time, but part of me enjoys it too much to make any sustained effort. I might have a greater will to stop if it had more of a negative impact on my life; getting high just makes me more anti-social and much more apt to watch tv than read a book.

I had to do some research on how the prescription opioid epidemic is being addressed for work, so I couldn't help but notice that no one has mentioned treating their alcoholism with medication. Does anyone have any experience with that? Seems like there's been some promising research.

Well done!

I'm 12 days in - I had half a glass of wine on Sunday after a stressful day at work but I put it down away quickly and left it unfinished.

I really feel great - sleeping much much better and needing far less sleep. I used to need a nap unless i got 8 hours, now if I get just 7 I'm fine.

And I'm running well. Might even have lost a pound.

b;ack wrote:

I'm 12 days in - I had half a glass of wine on Sunday after a stressful day at work but I put it down away quickly and left it unfinished.

I really feel great - sleeping much much better and needing far less sleep. I used to need a nap unless i got 8 hours, now if I get just 7 I'm fine.

And I'm running well. Might even have lost a pound.

Cool!

How's everyone doing?

Thank you all for sharing your stories. I grew up with a fully functioning alcoholic father, who was also a dedicated runner, and thought that was how you were supposed to deal with every day stress from work and family. I was getting tired of the hangovers and headaches resulting from extra drinks on the weekends. Gin martinis were my thing. Anyways, with a little extra motivation from this thread, I've entirely cut out the solo drinking for a few weeks now. I am allowing myself a single glass of wine with dinner a couple nights a week with my wife. Already feeling better and interacting with kids better. Hope everyone can keep it up and avoid the urges when they strike!

Feeling Motivated wrote:

Thank you all for sharing your stories. I grew up with a fully functioning alcoholic father, who was also a dedicated runner, and thought that was how you were supposed to deal with every day stress from work and family. I was getting tired of the hangovers and headaches resulting from extra drinks on the weekends. Gin martinis were my thing. Anyways, with a little extra motivation from this thread, I've entirely cut out the solo drinking for a few weeks now. I am allowing myself a single glass of wine with dinner a couple nights a week with my wife. Already feeling better and interacting with kids better. Hope everyone can keep it up and avoid the urges when they strike!

Thanks for sharing. It's great that you noticed such an immediate difference when you cut out some of the martinis.

Feeling Motivated wrote:

Thank you all for sharing your stories. I grew up with a fully functioning alcoholic father, who was also a dedicated runner, and thought that was how you were supposed to deal with every day stress from work and family. I was getting tired of the hangovers and headaches resulting from extra drinks on the weekends. Gin martinis were my thing. Anyways, with a little extra motivation from this thread, I've entirely cut out the solo drinking for a few weeks now. I am allowing myself a single glass of wine with dinner a couple nights a week with my wife. Already feeling better and interacting with kids better. Hope everyone can keep it up and avoid the urges when they strike!

Was he a good dad ?

Was he happy with his life?

Not trying to be a dick just wondering.

Day 12.

Went to an NHL game last night. Very enjoyable without beers.

When people asked me today how the game was, I could actually talk about the game rather than say "I got wasted it was a blast" or "I didn't see the end we left to go to the bar."

This thread is great, thank you all for sharing.

Well done, everyone--please keep checking in and sharing your stories.

Still sober since 07.27.2014

3333 wrote:

How's everyone doing?

8773 days yesterday. AA works. No joke.

3333 wrote:

How's everyone doing?

Great. Thanks for asking. I'm addicted to sugar.

How are you doing?