Anonymous B joined in and replied with this 8 years ago, 1 hour later[^][v]#896,438
Replace booze with gym
Meta !Sober//iZs joined in and replied with this 8 years ago, 6 hours later, 7 hours after the original post[^][v]#896,469
It got a lot better after a week. One thing that helped a lot was reading This Naked Mind by Annie Grace. Once you understand how alcohol really works as an addictive poison it loses a lot of its appeal. Why do you want to quit? For me it was because alcohol was making me miserable and I was unhappy because I couldn't keep my drinking under control and I wanted to be free.
I'm not sure cravings ever actually vanish completely. I had some yesterday at day 33. They do get 100% easier to manage after a bit. After joining r/stopdrinking and reading a few books on alcohol addiction I now have more tools and it's easier to talk myself down from the edge so to speak.
When you drink for years because of stress or unhappiness, you eventually end up conditioning yourself just like Pavlov's dogs that alcohol cures anxiety and stress. And it does! For a few hours. Except when you wake up tomorrow you'll still have whatever was causing your stress, but now you'll be even more stressed because you're hungover and poorer. It's like drinking salt water to quench your thirst.
When I get a craving, I try to figure out what has triggered it (anxious, in pain, bored, sad, etc) and then I ask myself how a drink is going to help what triggered it. I haven't had one yet where "temporarily anesthetize yourself with an addictive toxic substance and wake up tomorrow feeling like shit and $10 poorer" was a good solution to the underlying problem.
I have to go to work in a few minutes but when I get back tonight I've got a lot more to say on the subjext!
Anonymous D joined in and replied with this 8 years ago, 4 hours later, 12 hours after the original post[^][v]#896,524
itt: A man speaks more about how he once drank like an edgy rebellious teen girl for several months, and how it made him throw up a lot and made his tummy and head hurt a lot.
Meta !Sober//iZs replied with this 8 years ago, 14 minutes later, 12 hours after the original post[^][v]#896,530
@previous (D)
Why does my sobriety bother you so much?
Anonymous D replied with this 8 years ago, 13 minutes later, 12 hours after the original post[^][v]#896,532
because I am a real drinker...who has drank an average of six days a week for several years..
Anonymous E joined in and replied with this 8 years ago, 1 minute later, 13 hours after the original post[^][v]#896,533
@previous (D)
Is the idea of Meta being sober driving you to drink?
Meta !Sober//iZs replied with this 8 years ago, 2 hours later, 15 hours after the original post[^][v]#896,568
@previous (E)
What if it's like conservation of mass where if I stop drinking, bert has to pick up the slack?
@896,532 (D)
You know every time I see your sad "im a reall... alcoholic...cause..i....drink...eberclear...." shit I feel happier to be sober.
Omen !!gg89Kgn2v joined in and replied with this 8 years ago, 6 minutes later, 15 hours after the original post[^][v]#896,569
@previous (Meta !Sober//iZs)
I stopped drinking several months ago, haven’t missed it. Quit smoking about the same time that I miss sometimes.
Meta !Sober//iZs replied with this 8 years ago, 7 minutes later, 15 hours after the original post[^][v]#896,570
@previous (Omen !!gg89Kgn2v)
Congrats! If we get enough people together we can start a stickied sober thread!! ?
Anonymous E replied with this 8 years ago, 41 seconds later, 15 hours after the original post[^][v]#896,572
@896,568 (Meta !Sober//iZs)
A really shaky invisible hand?
I'd offer to pick up some of the slack for you, but I've been cutting down recently.
Meta !Sober//iZs replied with this 8 years ago, 10 minutes later, 15 hours after the original post[^][v]#896,575
@previous (E) > I'd offer to pick up some of the slack for you, but I've been cutting down recently
Congrats! ?
Well no wonder Bert's pissed. He has to keep drinking more and more. He's like Atlas holding the world's alcohol consumption on his shoulders.
Anonymous E replied with this 8 years ago, 10 minutes later, 15 hours after the original post[^][v]#896,579