Day 2 Hints

[Boss.man]

New thread for the September crowd. A lot of people dealing with Day 2 today, and Day 3 tomorrow. Day 1 is pretty easy, since I usually start out hung over. I've found Day 2 and Day 3 the MOST difficult every time I try them. :-(

A new thread for everyone to chime in: what helps you most get through the first 3 days?

[tlrgs]

Day 2 Hints

staying busy and drinking lots of water and eating right that what help me and going to AA meeting and coming to this site and writing everything on how i feel for that day...AF 10months plus and going strong and thinking positive

[river0123]

Day 2 Hints

Eat! I personally never ate too much, because I knew the was already getting a ton of calories from the booze and I'm on a lifelong diet, at least it seems that way! Now I eat whatever I want (within moderation) and still am seeing the scale move down. Who knew food was so wonderful?!:H
But I still hate to cook - lol!
Oh, and reward yourself when you hit a milestone, whether it be day 2, 5, whatever. It's fun when you have a treat or purchase in mind just for you. :l

[1967]

Day 2 Hints

i've begun to loose weight too... always a bonus.
and in the beginning i could eat whatever as i wasn't consuming 1000 calories from wine!
weird enough though... the wine never made me fat. i ate a lot too... to try and save my stomach!

[brittzak]

Day 2 Hints

make a list each day for the next few days...it helps me. I stick to it and stay busy. Fill it up!

[startingover]

Day 2 Hints

I try to rest, treat it like an "illness" and go with the flow. Be kind to myself and treat the symptoms as best I can e.g headache take a painkiller, anxiety watch my breathing and try to calm myself and so on

[cymru]

Day 2 Hints

Think about what your triggers are and write them down. Ive found this really helps. Keep occupied and eat and drink lots of water. Getting up early helps me too, cause im tired by 9 and dont feel such an urge. Just watch a film or read and go to bed. Also, just doing normal everyday things like getting up and buying the paper or a mag and reading them over brekfast. Makes me feel proud that i dont have a hang over, or that im not getting up and drinking. Accomplish things. I always feel great after say cleaning the house. Couple of hours of that, a hot bath and i sit down feeling really good about myself. But thats not an excuse to drink! Those damn triggers!!

[bloggy]

Day 2 Hints

That's easy for me- Antabuse!

Without it I would be feeling better by day 3 and telling myself, "Well, it wasn't soooo bad..."

[man on fire]

Day 2 Hints

Everyone seems to have slightly different ideas on this, especially which is the worst time (mine was day 4) depending on personal experience ( and if you haven't experienced it before, there's the fear of the unknown to cope with) of course, but there's also a lot of common ground. For me the number one factor is to occupy your mind and not to 'stare into space'. I was working during the day, so that was OK, but in the evening you need a good book, film, whatever. I was too tired on day 2 and 3 to do much else anyway! Second - a glass of water, ice and fresh lime always at hand. The thirst was amazing in the first 3 days. Go to bed early and read until you're falling asleep! I had no difficulty sleeping as I felt exhausted, so can't help you with that if you can't. Good luck!

[Dazedandconfoosed]

Day 2 Hints

I was in the hospital on days 1-14 and they made sure that I had no urges to drink.

[vera-b]

Day 2 Hints

Hi Boss,

I think what helps me the most are listening to the cd's and coming here. The hypno cd's reinforce each other, and when you start out you're on a 30-day listening schedule. I looked forward to my "session" each day which helped take the mind off having a drink. That, and I made sure to come here during "cocktail hour." Once I could get through that time period, the rest of the evening was much better. Good luck to you. I know you will make it.

Veri-b

[kriger]

Day 2 Hints

In the first few days I wrapped my head around my new drink of choice and "decided" right off the bat it was a good, refreshing beverage substitute. I looked forward to coming home from work and making it every day. I chose lemon water with lots of ice. Every time I took a sip I thought of all the good it was doing for me, cleansing my body of the toxins. I am on day 30 and still drink it every and still enjoy it totally. Just one little thing that was successful to me. I also spend lots of time here! Kriger

[A Work in Progress]

Day 2 Hints

Good question! I don't think I have anything new to add but here's my own mix/combo of ideas, for the early days:

having something liquid (coffee, green tea, V-8, fruit juice, etc.) in a glass or cup always nearby;

doing some kind of sweat-producing exercise every day (feels as if "toxins" are being sweated out; feels good, virtuous, and healthy!);

spending a lot of time here, especially on the AF threads, comparing notes with others, encouraging each other, creating bonds with people who are going through something similar;

daily meditation;

I did some reading of some of the memoirs of people who recovered from alcoholism, too, and some self-help books for recovery (the non-AA stuff based on mindfulness meditation, such as The Tao of Sobriety and Mindful Recovery;

and, I took the attitude and stance that my recovery program was/is my most important "work" during the early days. Not that I disregarded other work entirely... but insofar as possible, I set the "regular" work stuff to a back burner so I could really focus on the work of recovery.

wip