one year post switch

[LadyLush]

one year post switch

Serenity,

Sorry I am late with the kudos! I still remember when you changed your dress of holes! Thank goodness you are doing okay and helping us all persevere with your story.

Stay healthy and keep fighting the fight!

LL:l

[help4me]

one year post switch

Awesome to read Serenity! Our stories are so very similar....

I'm at just over a year with so much success due to baclofen. ups & downs for sure, but so many more ups! I'm still trying to find my perfect stability dose...

Cheers to YOU!

[Doggygirl]

one year post switch

Hi Serenity and congrats on your Switcherversary!

[_serenity_]

one year post switch

Thank you SO MUCH terryk, GingerDust, Bruun, Neva Eva, ifulovelife2, bleep, Greg, redhead, spacebebe, taw, LadyLush, help4me, and Doggygirl! I so much appreciate your support! :h

Ne/Neva Eva;1263695 wrote:
It's not a smooth transition to sobriety. The transition to abstinence is also a matter of time. Particularly if one doesn't resist the completely understandable impulse to titrate way down immediately.
Filling up the time, and finding interests, is an important part of it.
The fact that you're actively exercising is (I think) another key. It's a huge help, I think. Would you agree? Absolutely! I think it takes a lot of time to learn how not to act like a drunk, i.e. isolating, etc. And it takes time to learn how to fill in the time with more productive activity. I think my post-switch depression was a wake-up call. When I got tired of being bored, I started finding things to do!

Ne/Neva Eva;1263695 wrote:
I am not so sure I agree with the current wisdom of staying at the switch dose. It makes more sense to me to go down and up and around a little bit (in moderation) to find a comfortable place. I wonder if you have thoughts on this, too.
I agree with you. I think the switch dose is hard to tolerate for most people in the long term. We all have to (smartly!) play around with the dosages afterwards. I think it's far too tempting to want to go way down (or completely off) and as we've seen on here, it can be disastrous. I think it's especially important to watch the dosage if a person decides to moderate. I made my attempts at that, and it just taught me that I shouldn't try to drink.

Ne/Neva Eva;1263695 wrote:
Finally, I thought that you got there before me? Do I have my date wrong???

I am not so sure I agree with the current wisdom of staying at the switch dose. It makes more sense to me to go down and up and around a little bit (in moderation) to find a comfortable place. I wonder if you have thoughts on this, too.

Finally, I thought that you got there before me? Do I have my date wrong???

You do! You were about ten days before me. I remember you saying that you would have been pissed if I'd hit my switch before you did! :H

ifulovelife2;1263890 wrote: Personally, I love to run. When I'm pounding the road or the treadmill, I remember what I was like 1 year ago: 90 pounds overweight and unable to walk up a single flight of stairs without panting like a steam train and sweating buckets. Now I can run and run and finish off by sprinting the last quarter mile. I couldn't do that if I were still a big fat drunk.

I'm positive that baclofen makes exercise easier! Lo0p found the same thing. I love to run as well, though I don't do it as much now...not enough time! Congrats on such an amazing transformation!

taw;1265975 wrote: I think filling up my time is one of the things that scares me the most...boredom leads to drinking...need to find a hobby and quick!

It's so important to find things to fill up the time. I know you've struggled terribly, taw, and I hope your journey to sobriety goes more smoothly from here on out. You mentioned taking Antabuse, is that still helping?

bleep;1265998 wrote: One thing you mentioned stands out - the cigarettes. I am completely indifferent to cigarettes, in the sense that even though I have just had one, I'll light up another. It's getting way out of control. Strangely, I gave up for 6 weeks about 6 months in to baclofen, and it was easy, however, that's not the case now.

Baclofen definitely does something to cigarettes (imho).Oh my God it so does! I find myself smoking like a chimney. I know I should stop, but MAN I don't want to because I love smoking so much. If anyone here has quit successfully post-switch I want to know their secret!

help4me;1266971 wrote: I'm at just over a year with so much success due to baclofen. ups & downs for sure, but so many more ups! I'm still trying to find my perfect stability dose..

Congrats back to you! It's amazing how much better life can be without the cloud of alcoholism hanging over everything. The search for the perfect dose can be a tough one, but I'm sure you'll find it! :l

Again, thank you SO MUCH, everyone, and sorry for my belated reply. :eeks: There is so much love and positivity on this forum, and I've been so grateful for your support.