| Today 06:08 AM |
| H8DWINGS |
Quote:
Originally Posted by DozerDan
Not so much a fear of missing out. More of a 'everyone' I know is a drinker. I think I tolerate people because I drink. All in all I am not very social and not a big fan of most people. In the past when I have been DD or not drinking I really don't like being around most people.
When I stop and think about it most of my social interaction is based around drinking, and I am not a very social person as it is (with drinking)- so I wonder what I would do.
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Hang out in the garage alone.
Make new friends.
Exercise or go wheeling if possible.
Miscellaneous tasks at home.
Binge watch TV or YouTube a lot.
Eventually hang out with people again when you feel like you can do it without drinking. Watch them and realize how they REALLY feel waking up compared to how you feel. If you’re only drinking around friend and you want to quit drinking you’ll need to avoid those friends for a while. The real friends will call and see how you’re doing. The drinking buddies will be happy you’re back and never cared where you went or why. At least all the drinkers in my life are family. I never liked people anyways and now I laugh thinking how much time people lose ‘because I earned this’ On a Friday night.
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| Yesterday 07:41 PM |
| ADD |
Quote:
Originally Posted by DozerDan
I know I use beer as a coping mechanism. My body always hurts, but after 6-8 beers it is tolerable. I fully understand the watching the clock. I need to cut back/stop. But I have realized it is such a part of my life in so many ways I don't know where to even begin.
I was traveling for work this week, nights alone sitting in a hotel room I drank 52 beers (not including the ones out at dinner) in 4 nights. Not good. Even worse is that I can do that and get up at 6am and go to work no problem.
Def need a change. For me the Beer and Cigs are a direct correlation, so not going to be fun. After the holidays (yes I know everyone says that) I need to make some changes.
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That is an exact page from my book!
I chew tobacco (all day every day) and quitting drinking didnt help. But i figured booze needs to go first, as it had a greater negative effect on my life other than just my health.
plus i still need to keep the body count low
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| Yesterday 07:16 PM |
| ADD |
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cool Hand Luke
Congrats. After 3 months how are you feeling now? How is your body/health/mental state as opposed to before, day 5, etc?
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for me, everything is night and day different. quitting drinking is hands down the best thing ive ever done for myself. here are some of the most notable things for me.
1) Morning nausea (and not from a hangover)...... I own a company that has 6 retail locations, 52 full time employees, and 700 weekly service accounts. The stress level is always high. This is what lead to most of my drinking in the first place.
EVERY SINGLE MORNING i would wake up and dry heave/vomit profusely for 5 to 10 minutes because i was so nervous to go to work. where im the OWNER. Ive been there for 18 years!!! and i was terrified to go to work because of the awaiting fires i knew i had to put out.
I would have 10 text messages, and a full voice mailbox before i would even get out of bed...
This is what led to my morning drinking. It would numb me up enough to face the day. Since the first day i stopped drinking, i havent had the problem 1 single fucking time. the stress is still there, but i dont let it control my life anymore.
2) My mental alertness....When i was drinking, i would forget EVERYTHING! didnt matter if it was at work or at home. i couldnt remember shit.
now that im sober, i dont have the problem nearly as much.
3) work performance....when drinking i would be working till dark every damn day just to get all my shit done. Now that im sober, im getting done and off early everyday. i work faster, harder, and more proficiently.
4) my overall mood...Im so much happier than ive been in years. I dont snap at people/things like i used to. and i actually care about things that are important to me
5) sex! One of the biggest things ive noticed (and this is also from getting off my anti depressants) is my sex drive. ITS THROUGH THE FUCKING ROOF!!!!
I cant tell you how many times, i couldnt get it up, keep it up, or not cum at all. so many night i was the one with the "headache" and wasnt into it at all. My gf would be begging me for sex and it felt like such a chore. Im only 34, so my drive should be dead yet...
Now that im sober, our sex lives are back to better than when we first started dating. Its multiple times a day, in crazy places trying not to get caught, and doing some dirty shit you only see online. Its fucking amazing!
6) Money....this one is self explanatory. Im saving a lot of fucking money and its great
I was so scarred to quit drinking. No way life or social events can be fun without it right? WRONG!
I went to sand mountain for halloween ( for those that dont know, just look it up on youtube). Partied all weekend out in the desert with my friends, rode my quad, had a blast!!! drank water and redbulls all weekend. It was great waking up in the morning seeing them puking outside their trailers and being hungover as shit, and i felt like a million bucks.
Nobody gave me shit or said a word about not drinking, because they are my true friends and support my decision.
sobriety isnt for everyone. and im not here to preach it one bit. But it is for me, and i truly belive Im a better person because of it.
I got my gf back, our wedding is back on for next October and i couldnt be happier than i am in life right now.
-Adam
edit: one thing i will also add that has helped me tremendously is therapy. I was the type of guy who would laugh at the idea of therapy. Thought it was BULLSHIT. I didnt start going because of my drinking, i started going to help with my stress. a few sessions in i found out that my therapist is a recovering alcoholic. So, we started talking about it and she was the first person i admitted to that i had a problem. She said "I know you do and i have known that since our first few sessions. But i wanted you to say it, not me" Ive now being going 2x a month for almost 8 months and i absolutely love it.
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| Yesterday 06:46 PM |
| microtus |
Two month mark for me today, so far so good. The odd thing is my wife and kids don't even know I quit drinking. We were talking about hangovers today and I made the comment that it's been about 2 months for me and it went right by them.
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| Yesterday 04:22 PM |
| Byro |
First of the year will be my 3 year mark. As said before the first week/month is probably hardest. Once you retrain your brain that you don’t “need” to have a drink in your hand to do ________.
Anyone early in their sobriety, know it will get easier as time goes on.
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| Yesterday 04:17 PM |
| DozerDan |
Quote:
Originally Posted by H8DWINGS
Holidays is hard if you make it. I honestly think you're like me and you think you'll miss out on something (Fear Of Missing Out) if you're not drinking with everyone. Plenty of ways to make excuses of why it isn't a good time to start. Plenty of guys here will tell you how they'd go to work, wheel, work on stuff, etc. "no problem" until they quit and had a week or two without alcohol to realize the difference.
Know when a good day to start is? Yesterday. You'd be done with the first day already.
Know when a good day to quit is? Tomorrow. You don't have to change anything today.
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Not so much a fear of missing out. More of a 'everyone' I know is a drinker. I think I tolerate people because I drink. All in all I am not very social and not a big fan of most people. In the past when I have been DD or not drinking I really don't like being around most people.
When I stop and think about it most of my social interaction is based around drinking, and I am not a very social person as it is (with drinking)- so I wonder what I would do.
|
| Yesterday 04:01 PM |
| H8DWINGS |
Quote:
Originally Posted by DozerDan
I know I use beer as a coping mechanism. My body always hurts, but after 6-8 beers it is tolerable. I fully understand the watching the clock. I need to cut back/stop. But I have realized it is such a part of my life in so many ways I don't know where to even begin.
I was traveling for work this week, nights alone sitting in a hotel room I drank 52 beers (not including the ones out at dinner) in 4 nights. Not good. Even worse is that I can do that and get up at 6am and go to work no problem.
Def need a change. For me the Beer and Cigs are a direct correlation, so not going to be fun. After the holidays (yes I know everyone says that) I need to make some changes.
|
Holidays is hard if you make it. I honestly think you're like me and you think you'll miss out on something (Fear Of Missing Out) if you're not drinking with everyone. Plenty of ways to make excuses of why it isn't a good time to start. Plenty of guys here will tell you how they'd go to work, wheel, work on stuff, etc. "no problem" until they quit and had a week or two without alcohol to realize the difference.
Know when a good day to start is? Yesterday. You'd be done with the first day already.
Know when a good day to quit is? Tomorrow. You don't have to change anything today.
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| Yesterday 03:43 PM |
| '71 800B |
Quote:
Originally Posted by DozerDan
I know I use beer as a coping mechanism. My body always hurts, but after 6-8 beers it is tolerable. I fully understand the watching the clock. I need to cut back/stop. But I have realized it is such a part of my life in so many ways I don't know where to even begin.
I was traveling for work this week, nights alone sitting in a hotel room I drank 52 beers (not including the ones out at dinner) in 4 nights. Not good. Even worse is that I can do that and get up at 6am and go to work no problem.
Def need a change. For me the Beer and Cigs are a direct correlation, so not going to be fun. After the holidays (yes I know everyone says that) I need to make some changes.
|
I was the same way. I could get up at 3:00am no problem.
I do feel way better in regards to the drinking thing. I also quit smoking pot. Smoking and RA don't mix and can cause serious lung problems.
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| Yesterday 03:05 PM |
| DozerDan |
Quote:
Originally Posted by '71 800B
I quit 87 days ago.
The day after my granddaughter was born.
I quit for a few reasons. The first is because I knew I would become a nanny and would be/am watching the baby every day while my daughter is at work. I cannot be a drunk while doing that.
I was at the point that I watched the clock waiting for 3:00pm, 2:00pm, noon to grab a beer. I would kill a case of beer then switch to whiskey and coke. I would drink half of the half gallon bottle of whiskey every day. I would down a whiskey and coke then make another one to take to bed. I missed a lot due to being drunk and I could see it was taking a toll on my wife and daughter.
Drinking became my way of dealing with pain. I have damage to the L5-S1, C3-C4, C5-C6, C6-C7, C7-T1 and T1-T2. I also have Rheumatoid Arthritis in my hands, wrist's, elbows, knees and toes. My fancy autoimmune disease also causes my skin to burn like a bad sunburn. You could say I'm pretty fucking miserable. 
I have other health issues that I thought could be related to the booze but those issues haven't changed. I went in for dementia testing and was told my memory issues could be due to the amount of pain I am in. Now I eat pain killers that don't work for shit.
I made the choice to quit. The first 3 days sucked but after that I am over it. I don't crave it at all.
I also don't break my scout anymore which is pretty sweet  |
I know I use beer as a coping mechanism. My body always hurts, but after 6-8 beers it is tolerable. I fully understand the watching the clock. I need to cut back/stop. But I have realized it is such a part of my life in so many ways I don't know where to even begin.
I was traveling for work this week, nights alone sitting in a hotel room I drank 52 beers (not including the ones out at dinner) in 4 nights. Not good. Even worse is that I can do that and get up at 6am and go to work no problem.
Def need a change. For me the Beer and Cigs are a direct correlation, so not going to be fun. After the holidays (yes I know everyone says that) I need to make some changes.
|
| Yesterday 03:01 PM |
| COcamper |
ADD- congrats on the 3 month mark, that's awesome! I certainly remember those first few days and wondering how da fawk I was going to make it, great job fighting through.
H8DWINGS- sober sleep is amazing, something I never really thought was possible. I'm the same way as you, I can get 5 hours of sober sleep, feel great and ready to attack the day.
To all- best of luck making it through a tough time of year, where it seems everything and everybody revolves around booze.
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| Yesterday 02:42 PM |
| ADD |
Quote:
Originally Posted by H8DWINGS
After watching Season 9 of Shameless I'm so glad I didn't have the temptations of some SERIOUS addicts. I can't imaging going back to just not caring about anything and getting drunk all day every day, or going 100 days then having to start over. Maybe I'll have a beer after the 125th Boston Marathon, but even that seems like "why?" at this point.
Somehow I'm able to stay up until midnight watching TV, sleep for 5 hours and get better sleep than I ever did drunk when I use to think I slept BETTER while drinking. NO WAY could I have operated this whole week getting drunk every night because my wife is out of town.
@ ADD you need to come around these parts more often.
Christmas should be fun. I'm not expecting many people to get too drunk since it's a weekday however I might get lucky. |
I'm up there a lot more now actually. Where you located?
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| Yesterday 02:37 PM |
| H8DWINGS |
After watching Season 9 of Shameless I'm so glad I didn't have the temptations of some SERIOUS addicts. I can't imaging going back to just not caring about anything and getting drunk all day every day, or going 100 days then having to start over. Maybe I'll have a beer after the 125th Boston Marathon, but even that seems like "why?" at this point.
Somehow I'm able to stay up until midnight watching TV, sleep for 5 hours and get better sleep than I ever did drunk when I use to think I slept BETTER while drinking. NO WAY could I have operated this whole week getting drunk every night because my wife is out of town.
@ADD you need to come around these parts more often.
Christmas should be fun. I'm not expecting many people to get too drunk since it's a weekday however I might get lucky.
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| Yesterday 01:24 PM |
| Cool Hand Luke |
Quote:
Originally Posted by ADD
3 months today for me.
I remember posting in this thread for the first time on day 5. I was scared as fuck thinking I wouldn't even know how to get through a week.
I think about this thread and your guy's stories almost every day.
Cheers boys
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Congrats. After 3 months how are you feeling now? How is your body/health/mental state as opposed to before, day 5, etc?
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| Yesterday 11:06 AM |
| ADD |
3 months today for me.
I remember posting in this thread for the first time on day 5. I was scared as fuck thinking I wouldn't even know how to get through a week.
I think about this thread and your guy's stories almost every day.
Cheers boys
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| 12-11-2019 03:30 PM |
| jasonpop |
ill drink to that!
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| 12-10-2019 05:20 PM |
| Eric K |
I quit everything, including Asprin for about 4 years. Now 10 years later
it's everything in moderation. 3 beers is my limit any time, rarely drink anything stronger. The further away you get from it, the easier it will get.
Now I quit smoking 4 years ago, in retrospect, that really wasn't any harder than quitting anything else.
Good on Ya
E
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| 12-10-2019 12:01 PM |
| H8DWINGS |
I'm sure the alcohol doesn't help the pain and just masks it. If I had that much pain I'd probably drink as much as you for the same reason. Good for you going almost 3 months. I'm sure your daughter is really happy you quit since you'll be watching the kid. It's more fun when you can remember stuff anyways. Before you know it the kid will know what you're drinking and you can't hide it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by '71 800B
I quit 87 days ago.
The day after my granddaughter was born.
I quit for a few reasons. The first is because I knew I would become a nanny and would be/am watching the baby every day while my daughter is at work. I cannot be a drunk while doing that.
I was at the point that I watched the clock waiting for 3:00pm, 2:00pm, noon to grab a beer. I would kill a case of beer then switch to whiskey and coke. I would drink half of the half gallon bottle of whiskey every day. I would down a whiskey and coke then make another one to take to bed. I missed a lot due to being drunk and I could see it was taking a toll on my wife and daughter.
Drinking became my way of dealing with pain. I have damage to the L5-S1, C3-C4, C5-C6, C6-C7, C7-T1 and T1-T2. I also have Rheumatoid Arthritis in my hands, wrist's, elbows, knees and toes. My fancy autoimmune disease also causes my skin to burn like a bad sunburn. You could say I'm pretty fucking miserable.
I have other health issues that I thought could be related to the booze but those issues haven't changed. I went in for dementia testing and was told my memory issues could be due to the amount of pain I am in. Now I eat pain killers that don't work for shit.
I made the choice to quit. The first 3 days sucked but after that I am over it. I don't crave it at all.
I also don't break my scout anymore which is pretty sweet |
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| 12-09-2019 09:26 AM |
| Joe_W |
Quote:
Originally Posted by KDXSR5
One year down. Didn't even realize it until tonight. Spent the day skiing and snowmobiling. Have lost 40lbs in the last year (started at 216lbs). I feel great!
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by H8DWINGS
Qualified today. Actually a guaranteed entry since just qualifying isn’t good enough. Ran under 3 hours and feel really good. 2:59:10 unofficial time. It’s like 8.8 miles per hour. That’s almost 1 hour faster than my first one and almost 15 minutes faster than the last time I ran this marathon. Even back then I had high cholesterol and now it’s down below 170 total. The biggest drop in cholesterol came a few months after not drinking. Typically I’d celebrate by drinking lots of beer and add more pain to the recovery from a marathon because “I earned this” but now it’s just easier to not drink especially when others around me don’t care that I’m drinking or not.
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Congrats to both of you
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| 12-09-2019 09:16 AM |
| '71 800B |
I quit 87 days ago.
The day after my granddaughter was born.
I quit for a few reasons. The first is because I knew I would become a nanny and would be/am watching the baby every day while my daughter is at work. I cannot be a drunk while doing that.
I was at the point that I watched the clock waiting for 3:00pm, 2:00pm, noon to grab a beer. I would kill a case of beer then switch to whiskey and coke. I would drink half of the half gallon bottle of whiskey every day. I would down a whiskey and coke then make another one to take to bed. I missed a lot due to being drunk and I could see it was taking a toll on my wife and daughter.
Drinking became my way of dealing with pain. I have damage to the L5-S1, C3-C4, C5-C6, C6-C7, C7-T1 and T1-T2. I also have Rheumatoid Arthritis in my hands, wrist's, elbows, knees and toes. My fancy autoimmune disease also causes my skin to burn like a bad sunburn. You could say I'm pretty fucking miserable.
I have other health issues that I thought could be related to the booze but those issues haven't changed. I went in for dementia testing and was told my memory issues could be due to the amount of pain I am in. Now I eat pain killers that don't work for shit.
I made the choice to quit. The first 3 days sucked but after that I am over it. I don't crave it at all.
I also don't break my scout anymore which is pretty sweet
|
| 12-09-2019 07:10 AM |
| H8DWINGS |
Quote:
Originally Posted by GiS
Congrats man!! Sub 3 is a huge accomplishment! I can appreciate the "boost" given by your sobriety but cmon, you've gotta give those Vaporfly's some credit too .. or were you the one guy I saw not wearing Nikes? |
I had the cheap (not the orange 4% or pink/green Next% or $250) ones and best plenty of people wearing them. The shoe DOES have a carbon fiber plate. As I told my buddy, money don’t buy skill. That shit is EARNED.
Edit: buddy told me I earned the $250 shoes. I told him my XJ needs sliders so we can hit FORDYCE. Seems like lots of guys on here started with 33s and had a blast learning to fix and wheel so I figure I could start there and take my son (turned 2 Friday) with me and not have him know about my past like my brother saw my dad.
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| 12-09-2019 06:59 AM |
| GiS |
Quote:
Originally Posted by H8DWINGS
Qualified today. Actually a guaranteed entry since just qualifying isn’t good enough. Ran under 3 hours and feel really good. 2:59:10 unofficial time. It’s like 8.8 miles per hour. That’s almost 1 hour faster than my first one and almost 15 minutes faster than the last time I ran this marathon. Even back then I had high cholesterol and now it’s down below 170 total. The biggest drop in cholesterol came a few months after not drinking. Typically I’d celebrate by drinking lots of beer and add more pain to the recovery from a marathon because “I earned this” but now it’s just easier to not drink especially when others around me don’t care that I’m drinking or not.
|
Congrats man!! Sub 3 is a huge accomplishment! I can appreciate the "boost" given by your sobriety but cmon, you've gotta give those Vaporfly's some credit too .. or were you the one guy I saw not wearing Nikes?
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| 12-09-2019 02:54 AM |
| H8DWINGS |
Quote:
Originally Posted by KDXSR5
Congratulations on the marathon time, guaranteed entry, lower cholesterol, and of course the sobriety! Sounds like you have had a lot of wins!
|
Congratulations on one year. That’s my next win. Sometimes I think I can still drink socially and get tempted to try it out. I keep telling myself I’d go RIGHT back to where I was and it would hurt so much more probably because I’d forgotten how bad it felt before.
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| 12-08-2019 09:18 PM |
| KDXSR5 |
Quote:
Originally Posted by H8DWINGS
Qualified today. Actually a guaranteed entry since just qualifying isn’t good enough. Ran under 3 hours and feel really good. 2:59:10 unofficial time. It’s like 8.8 miles per hour. That’s almost 1 hour faster than my first one and almost 15 minutes faster than the last time I ran this marathon. Even back then I had high cholesterol and now it’s down below 170 total. The biggest drop in cholesterol came a few months after not drinking. Typically I’d celebrate by drinking lots of beer and add more pain to the recovery from a marathon because “I earned this” but now it’s just easier to not drink especially when others around me don’t care that I’m drinking or not.
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Congratulations on the marathon time, guaranteed entry, lower cholesterol, and of course the sobriety! Sounds like you have had a lot of wins!
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| 12-08-2019 08:59 PM |
| H8DWINGS |
Quote:
Originally Posted by CJF
So, how'd ya do?
Are you qualified for Boston already, or is that what today's about?
Good luck!
|
Qualified today. Actually a guaranteed entry since just qualifying isn’t good enough. Ran under 3 hours and feel really good. 2:59:10 unofficial time. It’s like 8.8 miles per hour. That’s almost 1 hour faster than my first one and almost 15 minutes faster than the last time I ran this marathon. Even back then I had high cholesterol and now it’s down below 170 total. The biggest drop in cholesterol came a few months after not drinking. Typically I’d celebrate by drinking lots of beer and add more pain to the recovery from a marathon because “I earned this” but now it’s just easier to not drink especially when others around me don’t care that I’m drinking or not.
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| 12-08-2019 08:55 PM |
| KDXSR5 |
One year down. Didn't even realize it until tonight. Spent the day skiing and snowmobiling. Have lost 40lbs in the last year (started at 216lbs). I feel great!
|
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