6 months sober - here's my story!

[Janice]

6 months sober - here's my story!

I always look forward to your posts Sausage...especially your updates which are always very inspiring. Well done!! xx

[Kaslo]

6 months sober - here's my story!

Again, congratulations Sausage. I especially went looking for this thread to see your update. I am at 16 months now and occassionally find myself with AL thoughts and seeing your determination not to relapse is reassuring.

[mama bear]

6 months sober - here's my story!

OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
16 months Kaslo?? That rocks!!!

[henrypurcell]

6 months sober - here's my story!

What a terrific story

gREAT SHARING...
tHANKS FOR SHARING THIS...
lOVE IT!!!

[Tipplerette]

6 months sober - here's my story!

Wow, Sausage, your post is exactly what I needed at day 16 (a milestone for me) AF. Your positive attitude is so inspiring. I am feeling the effects of not drinking but have only just begun to open my petals and emerge into this new sober world. As a sober person among drunks, I find myself as a non-judgemental observer and every situation reinforces my decision to give up alcohol. Your post really gave me the boost I needed to strive towards a future alcohol free life. Thanks again... the miracles have started in tiny ways already.

[Kaslo]

6 months sober - here's my story!

Thanks MamaB. Thanks.. Yes, I have only had one sip of champagne on last years Fathers Day, just out of curiousity....and it tasted like old socks and pee, so i threw it out, and I dont count that as a relapse or even a slip. Besides which Mof3 and Greenie kicked my butt seriously. I have logged in here on the month ab thread pretty much every damned day, except if I am off in the bush.

Im checking in to cheer Tipplerette and Sausage on.... WAY TO GO... FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT! lol!

[Mick]

6 months sober - here's my story!

Well done

Sausage..just read your story...its brilliant not only are you determined but when the wheel came off you had the courage to come back and let everyone know what had happened

Mick

[stella123]

6 months sober - here's my story!

sausage i love your story you write very well x

[LillyE]

6 months sober - here's my story!

Sausage, I get a lot out of your posts so I'm glad you continue to post your update here. It's great to see your progress and hear your thoughts on ongoing sobriety.

The bit about feeling more articulate - makes sense to me! Your brain chemistry is probably still unscrambling, leading to greater clarity and coherence I'd imagine. I have realized how bad my memory is and how much trouble I have concentrating. This is better after just two weeks AF so I hope the improvements continue.

Anyway, great job on a challenging month - keep it going my friend.

[SAUSAGE]

6 months sober - here's my story!

Update at 5 months (153 days AF)

Well I'm now at the 5 month point and feel a bit confused actually.

I'm craving / thinking of alcohol less and less, on many days I barely think of it, yet paradoxically I do have some random days ( probably 1 in 4) when I do have strong moderation thoughts ( more powerful than I used to a have a couple of months back) and this is really scary. I think this is because 5 months down the line I really am forgetting how awful I felt (both physically and psychologically) from my daily drinking, and in some ways this is a bad thing. I have seen so many benefits / improvements in my life in the last few months that it is pathetic I am thinking why I would I want to mod / drink anyway - it is just not logical. However such is the power and addiction of alcohol.

My husband seems to have accepted I'm not drinking any more and doesn't really pressure me, he still drinks around me, but this bothers me less and less. He often puts non alcoholic drinks in the fridge to chill for me, and we generally don't discuss it. I actually really dislike the smell of alcohol on people's breathe. The other night I must confess I did smell a glass of 14% red wine, he was drinking and I really didn't like the smell, which is good, however I must admit I was always more of a white wine drinker than red.

I know I can handle holidays without alcohol, and meals out, and stressful days at work and stressful days with the kids / wet weather / school holidays etc. The weird thing is it's not that difficult, it's just that I do sometimes have romantic notions of that glow / buzz I'd get after a glass or two, despite past experiences showing me time and time again that I just can't moderate and I know I would be back drinking every day if I just give in just once. These romantic notions / drinking thoughts seem to occur more when things are going really well and I want to celebrate rather than when things are tough.

I've also learned from my week or so when on holiday, when I had a dodgy WiFi connection and couldn't reliably connect to the Internet / MWO, how dependent on MWO I am for my sobriety, and failure to regularly read / post could lead to my downfall. I think 5 months down the AF line, I now understand a lot more about why I failed at 8.5 months last time;

I was drifting away from MWO, and not reading / posting very often
I'd forgotten how awful my drinking life was
Once again I had fantasy notions that I could moderate ( which were really kicked into reality after I failed to mod this last time)
So, when I did think of alcohol it was always a fantasy notion, not the reality.

Despite this now being the second longest spell ( by a long way) that I've done AF, in some ways I am now more vulnerable than ever.

I hope this makes sense? Thank you again everyone for your support and inspiration.

[daisy45]

6 months sober - here's my story!

Sausage, yes, I get everything you are saying; I know I didn't get as long as you at only 68 days, but those are the very same thoughts and feelings that I gave in to a month ago. Now I am resorted to starting again tomorrow.
Please look back on your old posts when you were desperate to get alcohol out of your life. Take a look at the excellent post that Byrdie sent to a thread I started today. (reaching for the stars).
I hear you and so don't want you to go down that pissy road where I have spent the last month....
I will say a wee prayer for your strength....

[Janice]

6 months sober - here's my story!

Sausage, Daisy is right, go back and reread your old posts and turn those romantic thoughts around. Focus on your life now, how great it is, how much healthier you are, that you're not making any sacrifices and that you have nothing to pine for. You can pick up that drink any time....BUT you're choosing not to because life is great without it.

Hope you dont mind but I am going to quote a passage from Jason Vale's book as this really got through to me.....

"You were stuck in a mental prison. Now that you are free you should not think you have left anything behind. If you returned to look round the prison you would realise straight away that there was nothing there but by then it would be too late. As you turned to leave, the door would shut tight and lock you in. The key to lifelong success is to imagine the prison with glass walls around it so that you can see there is nothing inside long before you even contemplate having that one drink. Looking into the prison through glass walls is a great reminder of why you wanted to quit; why you wanted to escape.That way once again, you will remind yourself of just how great it is to be free."

[bicyclesurfer]

6 months sober - here's my story!

Beautiful quote Janice!
Sausage, Develop a strategy for riding the urge.(The lie) Yes we are capable of lying to ourselves. The advantage you have is that you now know better.
Your story reveals that we all need to try and strengthen our beliefs and what we know alcohol to be.
Its ok to hate what is bad! Love what is good!
You are rebuilding the very thing alcohol (almost) destroyed.
One is too many, 1000 is not enough?
Who needs it?

We are proud of you.

[SAUSAGE]

6 months sober - here's my story!

6 month sober - once again!

Hi everyone

Today I am 6 month sober once again. It was on 24 Feb 2012 that I returned to MWO after over 2 years absence and vowed I'd attempt another quit. Here I am 6 months later on 24 Aug.

Since last month ive been diagnosed with hypothyroidism ( which now explains why I was so tired, cold, breathless and not losing weight despite quitting alcohol). The doctors haven't quite got my thyroxine levels right yet but I hope to be feeling a lot better soon. I went running today for the first time in almost 2 years and although I wasn't fast, I jogged steadily and feel a lot better for it. It was a positive way to mark 6 months.

I've been here before at the 6 month AF mark so I'm certainly not complacent. I'm working towards beating my record of 257 AF days now.

I'm definitely out of the routine of nightly drinking now and in some ways I cant even remember what the "buzz" feels like, and I don't really get cravings, but I know that if I do decide to take that one drink, I will be straight back to daily drinking within days - don't ask me how I know this, I just do, and it terrifies me and keeps me strong.

I also know that I must still continue to post regularly and stay accountable on MWO as it is a key part of my sobriety, without it I will fail.

For those of you reading this desperate to quit and break the destructive cycle of alcohol, it can be done - 6 months ago today, i was embarking on day 1, posting on here desperate for support to enable me to quit and now I've got 6 AF months under my belt.

Thank you everyone for helping me get this far.

[Janice]

6 months sober - here's my story!

Sausage, your story inspires me each time I read the next chapter. Jxx