Do you feel most normal when you are drunk or sober?

[Scandinavian]

Right now I have been sober for about five weeks or so, and I feel very "normal" all the time.

But most of the time when I drink I start drinking at about 6pm, drink for five to seven hours and feel "normal", and then don't feel normal until I start drinking again the next evening.

During these times I feel "normal" when I am drunk, and after about three days or so the "normal" feeling transfers to when I am sober.

So my question is: during longer sober periods, do you feel "normal" all the time? Or does the feeling of "something is not right" never go away?

This interests me very much because it can indicate two very different causes for alcohol abuse. I suspect I myself have a very psychological relationship with alcohol, but I suspect many have a more physiological craving for it.

[madmans]

Do you feel most normal when you are drunk or sober?

For me its normal all the time, after a while all the cravings go away and so does that feeling of something missing. So much so that I can't remember what it was like to crave AL, that's not to say I don't think about it, I do but I now think of it as a poison.
It does take time and I'm fairly sure if I went back drinking things would change quickly

[aihflvt]

Do you feel most normal when you are drunk or sober?

Interesting question. I would venture to say that when you are drinking and don't feel normal until you have another drink the following day, it's because you body and mind are still craving alcohol, but post-detox, the body and mind is no longer under the control of the alcohol, and sobriety becomes the norm. The longest I've ever gone is about two months and I always felt "normal," as you put it. When I resume drinking it's always stress-related and not a physical compulsion to drink per se. Perhaps it's only because I've only managed such a short period of continuous sobriety, so I don't know that I've ever experienced the symptoms of PAWS (post acute withdrawal syndrome). If I have, I probably just chalked it up to feeling crappy, not alcohol-related.

One thing I'd be interested in hearing from others about is multi-day binges. The first day, day and a half are ok, then after that, being drunk starts to feel really shitty. But you keep drinking because it's better than detoxing. And because drunkenness has become the "normal," there have been some mornings I've woken up (more like emerge from an alcoholic haze) and I honestly couldn't tell you if I'm drunk or sobered up overnight (I'm usually still wasted, BTW).

[kuya]

Do you feel most normal when you are drunk or sober?

I feel normal all the time now, it took about four months for the fatigue to lift.

If they invented a pill that stopped me becoming addicted I wouldn't drink alcohol again.

I like being sober/Normal

[decided]

Do you feel most normal when you are drunk or sober?

Still figuring out what my normal is, but when I think about a being drunk or the time between my "drinking hours" I can't imagine it being comfortable at all. Sober is my new norm and its constantly changing...how I wake up, how I go to bed, how I handle diffrent emotions, how I responds to diffrent situations etc. All a new normal. I felt cloudy for a week or 2. After stoping but not anymore. And apparantly it keep s getting better so I'm excited to see where it goes.

When I was drinking I was either drunk or in withdrawl day in and day out. Nothing normal about that NOW that I think of it...but at the time...

[Frequent Traveler]

Do you feel most normal when you are drunk or sober?

Kuya, interesting what you noted about fatigue. Now that I am in month number 2 both AF and NF and trying to work out my health by getting healthy via excercising I am still finding fatigue to be an issue. I am getting decent sleep, not staying up too late etc etc unless on road and job requires it.
There is this feeling for "tired" and or "drained" at times but overall feeling good inside, so you said that it took about 4 months for you to start feeling less fatigue makes me feel better and more confident.
Thanks,
FT

[spiderwoman]

Do you feel most normal when you are drunk or sober?

I've been sober almost 10 weeks and am still exhausted for no good reason, taking supplements, trying to eat sensibly but still needing at least 8 hours sleep a night. In my general demeanour I feel heaps better if only I wasn't so bloody tired and lethargic all the time but see now there is hope

[DimensionDrifter]

Do you feel most normal when you are drunk or sober?

More Human than Normal.

I feel like superman within just 3 months of being sober.. (I also work out and take supplements) but I found it super important to eat salads! Salads are the best way to replace your magnesium. You lose huge amounts of magnesium when drinking. Make sure the salads have not only the greens, but toss in some carrots and garlic too.. And for me lean meat helps too.. It can take a LONG TIME to replace everything you burned up being wasted! But you can do it in time! Now when I'm drinking.. ug! For the first 2 days I also feel like superman! Then I hit the invisible wall! And it's over, my brain chemistry has switched, my body feels like sh*t, and then I NEED booze to even feel human again.. or I guess u could say normal.. but needing poison to even function as a human is certainly not normal!

[emwv712]

Do you feel most normal when you are drunk or sober?

I'm curious if anyone else has used alcohol to keep anxiety in check. I have not had a drink in 10 days, and I have found it to be really hard to keep myself from thinking the worst, seeing the worst, saying the worst, etc.

Is this common? If so, any suggestions for quelling anxiety while sober would be greatly appreciated.

[kuya]

Do you feel most normal when you are drunk or sober?

emwv712;1463010 wrote: I'm curious if anyone else has used alcohol to keep anxiety in check. I have not had a drink in 10 days, and I have found it to be really hard to keep myself from thinking the worst, seeing the worst, saying the worst, etc.

Is this common? If so, any suggestions for quelling anxiety while sober would be greatly appreciated.

Lots here have anxiety that they initially self medicated with booze. The irony is that as drinking increases it causes anxiety then the really cruel twist is recovery, initially also causes anxiety.

I used GABA supplement when I first quit, worked a charm. For the first time in many years the anxiety went.
I moved on to theanine with GABA, then inisitol powder. All very good.

I have not needed any of these since I reached four months sober, when everything evened out, no moods, no anxiety, no fatigue.

You can buy all these from Biorecovery in the US. Some countries won't allow GABA as it can be made into a psychedelic derivative, gabapentin.

[iknowicandoit]

Do you feel most normal when you are drunk or sober?

I know I drank to combat anxiety. My doctor said that was pretty normal. Only problem is after a while you need more and eventually it makes anxiety worse. I haven't felt anxious since I quit. Going to the shrink today and know she will want to talk about that. I'll let you all know what she says.

[DimensionDrifter]

Do you feel most normal when you are drunk or sober?

Good Food Vs. Prozac!

iknowicandoit;1463178 wrote: I know I drank to combat anxiety. My doctor said that was pretty normal. Only problem is after a while you need more and eventually it makes anxiety worse. I haven't felt anxious since I quit. Going to the shrink today and know she will want to talk about that. I'll let you all know what she says.

Good food helps alot, ate a big salad with chicken last night.. (held it down) and took magnesium and liver cleaners with it... Got sleep around 2am.. not normal sleep yet, the dimension drift sleep with some lucidity. I felt myself constantly interacting with this physical reality and dreams, mixing them together (One effecting the other).. however I think normal sleep will come tonight on Day 3 of horrifying detox! It usually takes me up to 10 days or even more to feel calm and not have anxiety. But during that time I force myself to eat lots of salad,tuna,lean meats,garlic,peppers and take magnesium and other vitamins with them. Plus I do a daily work out to get the blood flowing. Also a big thing that is destroyed during being wasted is the proper stomach and intestinal bacteria to digest food properly! There are pills you can take to replace them and ramp up your metabolism, so that all that good food is used properly and gets where it needs to be in the body. (Stay off the Prozac etc.) just another thing to detox from.