The Sober Squad- Alcohol Free Living

Good morning all AF friends!

I have been AF since December 25 2019. It's a decision I have taken heavily. In my youth I would drink a lot (as there was nothing better to do) yet since a year of changes in 2019 I feel I now have more respect for myself and don't want to drink alcohol again.

I tend to have awful symptoms afterward - racing heart, anxiety, sore skin, bad headache and feeling listless and no energy for 2-3 days afterward no matter what alcohol it was. I am so glad that no alcohol makes me feel so much happier in myself!

It is difficult not to drink with friends around, and due to the Pandemic I have not been out in social situations with friends for nearly as long as I have not been drinking. So, as socialisations happen later this year, I will face a new challenge in keeping on with juices and mocktails but with friends who are drinking around me. I don't feel this will be a difficult challenge but it will make my life different!

Just want to wish you all well whatever your choices are today, and hope that your day is good. It may be a long road in front of us but it will be a healthier and happier one!

RubyRed427 wrote: »

Still sober for four days. Loving it. Feel so good. Sleep is not good but that's menopause's fault. Nothing beats mornings when you didn't drink the night before.

I admire your determination to continue fighting for sobriety. When I made my life-changing decision recently I briefly thought, "25 YEARS of my life" but then my next thought was "Nothing is wasted if I learn the lessons" Your journey is helping you to know yourself in a much deeper way, and it WILL lead you to your goal in your own time and in your own way...You have always been an inspiration to me and I hope that you realize how true that is for many others in this group. No matter what, you keep on keepin' on AND being so supportive of the rest of us ~ thank you!!

Hi All! Love those quotes- that is the truth!
I am on vacation for a week with my kids, so I don't drink when I'm with them; they're young adults. We just drink water or soda at dinners, etc. So, this will be an easy sober week for me.

Sooooo…. I did a thing

BeIn2day wrote: »

Must remember this if I'm having a wobble.

No regrets here! 🙂 Sober since March 28, 2011. 11 years, 4 months and 13 days since I made the best decision of my life. I applaud all of you. It's difficult in the beginning, but it gets a tiny bit easier every day. If you can take it one day at a time, one hour at a time, 10 minutes at a time if you have to. You can do it! And @Beka3695 Yes girl! 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽One day at a time. Read the book, go to 90 in 90 and get a sponsor. It works if you work it! ❤️

I really don't know if the information I am going to share will contribute to this group -- I'll be honest and tell you that I've only read the last few posts here. But, this is my story. I have never been alcohol dependent, but I did enjoy a glass or two of wine nightly, and of course, socially I would have gin and tonics or beer (Guinness was always a favorite). On Superbowl Sunday this year (Feb. 7th, 2021) I was walking our dog (a very large black lab) with my husband, my 24 year old son, and his girlfriend. There were four of us, and a large dog, in a crosswalk on a street in a very nice neighborhood, in the afternoon. An "inattentive" driver (driving too fast, btw) HIT ME and ALMOST KILLED ME! For the next two months, I was in a very wonderful trauma hospital, and I had a broken pelvis, and traumatic brain injury. After two brain surgeries (a craniectomy and a cranioplasty to repair the craniectomy -- they call it 'reshelling' when they put your skull back together!) and lots of physical therapy, I am on my way back to normal.

Here's the "sober" part of this post -- I have been told that I cannot drink alcohol for 18 months -- that puts me at October 2022, btw. And when they (the medical community and neurosurgeons) tell you that drinking alcohol could cause your brain to hemorrhage (and cause death), that's the only thing that matters. Now, following the cranioplasty, I am told that drinking alcohol could cause a seizure. I go out and order club soda with fruit, or sparkling water, and I always tell the waiter or waitress that I cannot have alcohol -- I sometimes mix in some fruit juice, and truly, I have not missed drinking. Not because I "chose" sobriety, but because of this really awful life-changing experience, I do not think alcoholic drinks will ever be a part of my life again (I am 64 yrs. old, btw). Here's what I now know and truly believe -- alcohol, in ANY form, is bad for the brain. It just IS. The way cigarettes are bad for every one of our organs, alcohol is just bad for us too. Like someone above posted, no one ever regrets getting sober. There is freedom in NOT drinking, and I embrace the feeling of health and getting back to normal that I have now.

If it helps you at all, think of me if you are tempted by alcohol. Think about the fact that it could end up in brain hemorrhage or seizure. Read about alcohol and the brain -- this has been truly informative for me -- and I hope you do it for yourselves! My mantra now is to LIVE! LIVE WELL AND STAY WELL. My doctors say I am a miracle, and I tell them THEY are the miracles! Love to you all -- I hope this helps in some crazy way!

BeIn2day wrote: »

Gave myself a bit of a scare last night.

Put it this way, I'm realising AGAIN that the only off switch I have, is in my imagination somewhere. I don't know when to stop.
90+% of the time, I have no off switch. I will need to stop thinking of the small handful of times (in reality) I have been able to drink 'reasonable' amount with no negative outcomes.

Time for me to get firmly back on the wagon.

That off switch for me is broken. There are times when I can handle it and I do stop. But it's like walking a tightrope. I never know when I will go off the rails.

So the short answer to the question of why people so often drink more than they intend is that every drink creates a feeling of anxiety as it wears off, and you need another drink to replace this feeling of anxiety with another feeling of relaxation, and as you constantly chase this feeling of relaxation you become increasingly intoxicated.

excerpt from alcoholexplained website.
Here is the URL for the blog entry.... https://www.alcoholexplained.com/2018/08/26/why-you-drink-more-than-you-want-to/

Yes we can! I am sober, too. When I told some new work friends, they all looked at me and were like: Are you serious?!?! We’re all in our late forties so I felt like we are a little bit old to question someone else’s decision to do anything for themselves 😂. Anyway, I wanted to recommend the book: Quit Like A Woman by Holly Whitaker. It finally got me to quit. Best of everything to everyone here! ♥️