Tesseract
Banned
5 is better than 0I just blew 5 days with no drinking....
This sums up my life right now
Pissin' the night away, getting knocked down and such.www.neogaf.com
reboot and go again
5 is better than 0I just blew 5 days with no drinking....
This sums up my life right now
Pissin' the night away, getting knocked down and such.www.neogaf.com
True. I got in a petty argument with one of my friends about politics and said fuck it. I cant stand that shit sometimes. I mean I swore off hard booze and have been doing pretty well with that. But im Irish so I dunno, I don't really get drunk I just get extroverted and lose my filter. Cant remember my last blackout or puke so that a plus I suppose.5 is better than 0
reboot and go again
the mind and body do very weird things when you deprive it of something it wants. i shit black for weeks affter a bad break up and subsequent depression/anxiety. and it was all in my head, you know? alcohol is in your head too, but it also has a physical component. to a certain degree, your body was used to it, and now it adapting to not having it anymore. just give it time, eat healthy, have the best meal/work/exercise/sleep routine you can will yourself to do. keep it goin dudeI’ve been sober for almost a month now. I’ve been taking AWFUL dumps. Used to take massive toilet blockers, fully satisfying release with a quick wipe. My dumps for the last few weeks have all been at irregular times, take forever to wipe, and don’t feel like a full release.
Anyone else experienced that getting sober?
My goal last week was to have zero alcohol from Sunday up until Saturday night. I made it to Friday night when my friend bought me a beer at a restaurant. I know it's an excuse but I didn't want to be rude so I drank the beer. (it was incredibly delicious).
The good news is that I only had the one. While everyone was drinking in excess I managed to only have that one beer the entire night. Serious major breakthrough for me.
Saturday night I had a few beers as planned but nothing over the top (like 6) and no liquor.
So this week same thing. Have not had a drop of alcohol since Saturday. Hoping to make it to Saturday night and control my consumption to be casual about my drinking.
Being at the point of exercising "no drinking period challenge" is a very good indicator that the problem you're facing may require more radical steps than this.
There is no shame in seeking professional medical consultancy. It does not immediately put you on treatment and it should be anonymous (not sure about the law in USA about this) but it's important to understand your own addiction and the specific role it plays in your life. Various regulatory functions it has for human emotion, all the triggers and habits, both social and non social.
The first explanation that usually comes to mind when you think about it - "I just like to get fucked up. It's fun". But usually it's way more than that and often getting to the bottom of it is the key to get out.
Its important to have some support. I was lucky enough to have had my now ex girlfriend who might have just saved my life. If you don't have any - seek a support group. Can be AA but organized, supervised group therapy for various addicts is IMO the best idea. And the first deep water dive - when was the last time you've managed to openly speak about how you feel while not being drunk or high? I'm guessing it's been a while.
You have a chance to get to know people for whom it's just as big of a challenge as for yourself. You get perspective. And usually notice shit you're in is relatively hollow to what others may be pulling through. That's a blessing for motivation and helped me a lot.
I found myself new hobbies. As mentioned before, sport is great. Mainly because it gives you kicks. It's a new and healthy way of releasing dopamine and serotonin at a time you need it the most.
I've never been in a better physical shape than I am now and it's been getting better ever since.
The social coping of being sober is something I'm having the biggest problem figuring out 'till this day. Most people simply don't understand what you're going through and never will, not in bad faith. Friends will want to celebrate your new lifestyle with an occasional like-in-the-good-old-days. Unfortunately - most of them have to go. A lot of what you were about has to go.
What most of us do in life is chase the "ideal I", an imagined scenario XYZ that we think will finally make us happy. We usually imagine it as various colours of success.
But if we manage get there eventually (I know because I have) turns out there is nothing there to make us less miserable, because what makes us miserable is not the lack of something but a presence something. In the background. It can be drugs, it can be alcohol, it can be toxic relationships, it can be your toxic family, your job, so many things.
It takes an enormous effort just to identify what is that actually makes you unhappy in life. Most of us feel trapped in it. But when you do eventually manage to identify it, the biggest challenge is to get rid of it. That's your final boss. And when you do defeat him: successfully change something, sacrifice something, let go - as impossible as it may seem - turns out what is left, as boring and mundane as it might have seemed - is pretty great! It's fun. It makes you feel much better than you've ever felt before chasing the unicorn when loaded. You just never noticed before.
Sobriety teaches you that. It's the cliche "finding happiness in small things" in practice. It works and it's worth it.
I get the headaches pretty bad also.
I had a relapse a couple of days ago, but I started outpatient treatment yesterday and feel good overall. Stay strong bros.
I just blew 5 days with no drinking....
This sums up my life right now
Pissin' the night away, getting knocked down and such.www.neogaf.com
its gonna get hard before it gets better. but it does get better. i know, ive been there before. youre doing great man! keep it up and just promise yourself youll get through the day, no matter what. and 100% on the exercise. that is insanely key for me.Man I felt like dogshit most of Monday and yesterday and I realized I wasn’t making time to exercise. Forced myself out of bed at 5 this morning and took the dog out for a few miles, already feeling much better today. Gotta find a replacement for that dopamine or some shit folks, don’t neglect the exercise.
absolutely! i hate the link an era thread, but there is literally proof in this thread that it can help. i think im on the first page there as awesome kev. and i kept using that thread for support and help. and it really helped! here ill just take a pic of my first post from two years ago. people can go look up sober era to see the rest if they want to.Kev Kev thanks for starting the topic and the continual encouragement. For me at least, it’s just the nudge I needed to make healthier choices for myself and my family.
Just wanted to say, that I am sober 1 year and 3 months. It's after liver transplant and you can read it on this site, as you probably already know. Bois and girls, don't do what I did.
PSA: Don't drink alcohol too much. Liver transplant experience. NeoGAF special edition.
Prequel: So.... I've been planning to write this in here for some time, but let's say it's not that easy to talk about that. I've been preparing this in my head, how to write something for this wonderfull community, which imrpoved my mental state a lot. I was abstinent, till my 22 years old. I...www.neogaf.com
Great thread. About nine weeks since my last porn binge. Still on the fence as to whether I can play video games or watch anime and YouTube. The binge mindset is really draining.
I was thinking earlier about asking in the Mental Health OT if anyone wanted to join a "GAF Anonymous" Discord. Before getting there I find this thread. The idea I have is a private Discord where NeoGAF members can have scheduled meetings based on the twelve steps and traditions of AA and other 12-step fellowships where members can learn to deal with their addictive and compulsive behaviors. While a forum such as this has anonymity from our every day lives I do believe it's too public for a person to open up about certain issues before being ready to do so. Anyone who is interested is welcome to send me a PM.
Alright sober GAF I’m jumping on the wagon. My vice is the alkyhawl. You could probably peg me as a high functioning alcoholic: don’t miss work, get my shit done, don’t have days I can’t get outta bed but...it’s definitely something that has more control over me than I have over it many days. And with COVID out there and my ass getting fatter, I need to take care of my liver and drop some weight. Don’t know if I’m done for life but let’s start with to the end of August.
Start the clock.
Yep, definitely for me the "down time" was an accelerator in my drinking, especially with COVID quarantine and working for home. Finding new activities does help a lot, now I garden and mod game systems. It helped me a lot to learn something new plus the physical act of doing it (especially the gardening) is less time a drink would be in my hand.
Here's to starting a new day with a tall glass of water versus vodka and pills. Best of luck to you guys today!
I’ve been sober for almost a month now. I’ve been taking AWFUL dumps. Used to take massive toilet blockers, fully satisfying release with a quick wipe. My dumps for the last few weeks have all been at irregular times, take forever to wipe, and don’t feel like a full release.
Anyone else experienced that getting sober?
My goal last week was to have zero alcohol from Sunday up until Saturday night. I made it to Friday night when my friend bought me a beer at a restaurant. I know it's an excuse but I didn't want to be rude so I drank the beer. (it was incredibly delicious).
The good news is that I only had the one. While everyone was drinking in excess I managed to only have that one beer the entire night. Serious major breakthrough for me.
Saturday night I had a few beers as planned but nothing over the top (like 6) and no liquor.
So this week same thing. Have not had a drop of alcohol since Saturday. Hoping to make it to Saturday night and control my consumption to be casual about my drinking.
I just blew 5 days with no drinking....
This sums up my life right now
Pissin' the night away, getting knocked down and such.www.neogaf.com
As much as it's probably not going to be positive message through 'n through, I don't alcohol. Which seemed...no fuck that...it was impossible. Now I can chill just with water and not having any retarded racing thoughts. More and more I am coming to conclusion, that something was very wrong with me physically, which than create this shitty habit. Now I just live you know, if that explains it. It's obviously pretty cruel from the standpoint, that I legitimely believe, that some people are doomed from the first time they got drunk. And I think that's the case. People who can stop and live normal life, can recover from being drunken idiot without an issue in the long term. My problems did not start with alcohol, it proceeded to be worsen by alcohol, but it was not why I seek that in a first place.Hey I just wanted to check in and see how you guys we're doing on your sober journeys?
No pressure to respond if you don't want to, but whenever you're ready, we'd love to hear from you. I know from first hand experience that no matter how rough, or up and down the journey has been, or whether you've fallen off the wagon or not... posting here can help you, and it will inspire others to start or continue their own journeys at the same time. It's a win-win. At any rate, I hope you all are in good health and good spirits (but not those kind of spirits hardy-har-har...)
As always, to anyone els thinking of jumping on the wagon, please feel free to share about it ITT. Again, the idea is for this to be a welcoming, uplifting atmosphere. No one is going to judge you. No one is going to think you are stupid. No one is going to think you are weak. Everyone in here has been there before, knows someone who has been there before, or are just really great and empathetic listeners who, in all likelihood, have struggled with their own demons and know how helpful it can be to talk shit out.
Today marks 803 days sober for me. Believe me when I tell you that that first day seemed impossible. But I and many others ITT are proof that you can do it. And maybe you only make it one day. That's fine! In fact, one whole day sober is fucking great! Maybe try again next week, and this time go for two days, then three, then a whole week, and so on. But you must believe you can do it, and if you're struggling with that, look around you! There are so many of us in this topic who are proof that it can be done.
The important part is to keep trying no matter how many times you fall. We only fail when we quit. If we get back up and try again every time, then there is always a chance. And that is an encouraging thought.
Love all you mother fuckers. Take care and don't take any shit, especially from yourselves.
dude that is amazing. keep it goin! sounds like you just need to keep doing what youre doing. thanks for sharingI’ll bite: I had two “special occasions” (camping) during my stint where I drank two nights in a row each. Didn’t get overly fucked up, didn’t keep going afterward but definitely felt physically like shit afterward. So I didn’t make it all the way, but I’m going on almost 3 weeks now and feeling less and less inclined to even drink on those occasions considering how bad my body felt on the drives home.
I haven’t reverted to drinking during the week, and I’ve declined lunch beers with coworkers multiple times, so overall I feel like I’ve turned a big corner. Those are the times I’d always be like fuck yeah and pound a couple 9% IPAs at lunch. I’ve found a little indica before bed helps me get to sleep and leaves me much more rested in the morning, and that’s it for my intake other than a multivitamin and supplements. I’ve stuck to my exercise routine and feel much more energetic there too. Looking forward to skiing season.
So yeah, didn’t hit the goal of going all the way to end of August, but I’ve kicked the daily drinking cycle pretty well so far, and the longer I go the less I think about it. I’ve got another trip coming up next weekend, and I’m thinking I’ll just take a pass on the booze even if I’m the only one (besides my pregnant wife). Feels good man.
yeah i could see myself now: trying to have a couple sensible NA beers, next thing you know i'm on my fourth six pack just hoping to chug them fast enough so that the .3% alcohol in them will give me a buzzYou guys ever try non-alcoholic beers ?? They taste pretty good with some rice or potatoes.
yeah i could see myself now: trying to have a couple sensible NA beers, next thing you know i'm on my fourth six pack just hoping to chug them fast enough so that the .3% alcohol in them will give me a buzz
no, i don't think that's for me. drinkin was always about getting drunk for me. from my first drink when i was 12 or 13 years old, to my very last drink just a couple years ago, the goal was never to socialize or just get laid, it was to get fucked up first then do everything else after. of course when you get black out drunk, none of that matters, even if the plan goes accordingly, you won't fuckin remember shit lol
getting hammered was the main attraction for me. an NA beer just makes me scratch my head. like, if it doesn't get you fucked up, what's the point?
all of that said, i know a lot of people who benefit from NA beer. i've even considered trying them out one time for myself, just for shits.
any suggestions of good NA beers for anyone who wants onto try?
Not as well as I would like. Bad news is I have been consistently drinking. I drank 6 out of 7 days last week. Good news is that I have not been getting smashed and most of those nights were only 2 beers.Hey I just wanted to check in and see how you guys we're doing on your sober journeys?
hey man you're always welcome here if you need some support or just need somewhere to unload. that shit is a heavy burden and you don't have to go it alone.Not as well as I would like. Bad news is I have been consistently drinking. I drank 6 out of 7 days last week. Good news is that I have not been getting smashed and most of those nights were only 2 beers.
Thanks for checking, it really helps.
yes! dude thats awesome, keep it goin. that shit is hard to resist, takes a lot of strength and discipline to be able to resist. I honestly feel its things that like this that can test and build character. most people dont realize how difficult it is to quit drinking for a month until they try. they are usually like, "one month shiieeet no probelm dog", then 2 and half weeks in they dont think they are going to make it lol. but all the jokes aside, any amount of time you spend away from something that is lessening your quality of life is a victory.Off since sunday, longest in probably 5 years. Trying to get a few days off the sauce to stay focused.
Made a lighthearted quip about 'ray tracing', 'reflections' and not wanting to reflect = drinking, hoooo boy did I flip a switch with that.
Chuckling to myself about getting that hankering for a small libation. Not today, senor tequila.
Thanks! I went to the local store out of habit, went straight past the beer and got me some fish fingers and chicken. Eating the fish fingers right now, gonna bake the chicken later.good luck to you! check back in and let us know how youre doing once in a while
Be wary of that, it's a bait for addicted people. It contains small portion of the alcohol, so it makes cravings that much more. It could for someone who just love beer, but for those who loves alcohol, stay the fuck away.You guys ever try non-alcoholic beers ?? They taste pretty good with some rice or potatoes.
It really really is. Thought about getting one of those instead but it's a real borderline drug. You know that something is missing but you love the taste, you'll return to the real stuff.Be wary of that, it's a bait for addicted people. It contains small portion of the alcohol, so it makes cravings that much more. It could for someone who just love beer, but for those who loves alcohol, stay the fuck away.
And not only to the beer, that's the issue.It really really is. Thought about getting one of those instead but it's a real borderline drug. You know that something is missing but you love the taste, you'll return to the real stuff.
'Tried' it several times, weak willed. Turned back to 10+ beers a day and some sweet vodka on the weekends. Usually within two weeks.And not only to the beer, that's the issue.
Yeah, it's shit that you are waiting for that buzz and not one is coming, so instead of stopping you are driving to the store, etc...'Tried' it several times, weak willed. Turned back to 10+ beers a day and some sweet vodka on the weekends. Usually within two weeks.
i tend to agree, but if it works for them, then it works. not everyone has the same style.Be wary of that, it's a bait for addicted people. It contains small portion of the alcohol, so it makes cravings that much more. It could for someone who just love beer, but for those who loves alcohol, stay the fuck away.
Well tea or something like a soda, juice (that at least gives you the sugar rush), no nothing where your brain expect buzz... And I was not being just critical, I am saying that if you are beer addict, it could work, if you are buzz alcohol addict, then you are going to store for booze, guaranteed. My experience, when I tried to stop.i tend to agree, but if it works for them, then it works. not everyone has the same style.
so, in the interest of being constructive (and not just critical, bc thats not what this topic is about), what do you think is a good alternative for someone who is considering NA beer?
or perhaps coffee? especially if you take it black. no sugar, you can even go half caffeinated or decaf, its hot, can help you feel comfortable and relatively it is safe. i like the tea idea too, soda could definitely work for some as well, but better off with diet or something with less sugar, calories and caffeine. good stuff man, thanks for the feedback M1chl !Well tea or something like a soda, juice (that at least gives you the sugar rush), no nothing where your brain expect buzz... And I was not being just critical, I am saying that if you are beer addict, it could work, if you are buzz alcohol addict, then you are going to store for booze, guaranteed. My experience, when I tried to stop.
Coffe with coffeine, could be good solution, yes and also it does not have to be. Let me explain. Some people like coffee as a "good drink" basically same as they though about alcohol, this people crave good things and for them, it's completely fine. However for people with sensitivity for caffeine, when they get elevate blood pressure and basically get some sort of mild feeling in head like they have hangover. So it warries and person has to be honest with him/herself...or perhaps coffee? especially if you take it black. no sugar, you can even go half caffeinated or decaf, its hot, can help you feel comfortable and relatively it is safe. i like the tea idea too, soda could definitely work for some as well, but better off with diet or something with less sugar, calories and caffeine. god stuff man, thanks for the feedback M1chl !
So how you guys doing it on the weekend? I brew a lot of chamomile tea, it works nice. Having some chill with my GF and really do not need any Alcohol, however I was schooled, as you know. So I wanted to ask how are you doing?
Well don't worry about that, if you bounced back this quckly is non issue : )Sounds really comfy, have you tried ginger tea, thats my thing!
Had a small relapse for the first time in months, not with something i usually do but a two day binge, first day with weed and second with alcohol, but back in the gym first thing tomorrow morning, so i guess im doing good and back on track all things considered!
So how you guys doing it on the weekend? I brew a lot of chamomile tea, it works nice. Having some chill with my GF and really do not need any Alcohol, however I was schooled, as you know. So I wanted to ask how are you doing?
The weekend of your post I indulged a bit, was at a wedding and had a ton of white wine throughout the day, was fun. Returned to sobriety the following monday, didn't drink until last saturday when I went to visit friends in Cologne, again, had a bunch of beers through saturday and sunday.So how you guys doing it on the weekend?
thats awesome, glad to hear your doin well!Welp my current situation precludes me from stress drinking or eating today - there's no booze in the house and we're quarantined, and food tastes like nothing - so it looks like we'll make it through election week without any sort of cheating or relapse. I'll take that as a blessing in disguise.
im happy for you dude! ive thought about doing this a little bit myself. thanks for sharing that really inspiring for meHey all, checking in.
I put myself on a minimal internet challenge for around the past month. Basically no forums, Facebook, Discord, YouTube, or streaming shows. I allowed Email, banking, some online church services, Facebook Messenger, some recovery broadcasts and a challenge thread on another forum. Also played no games. A couple days ago I did break and install a cheapy Star Trek game on my phone. Before installing it I knew it was a waste of my time. Ten minutes later I uninstalled it.
Don't miss checking all the notifications and comments on the various forums and videos that much. It's a lifestyle which has less and less place in my life as I get ever closer to forty. Having a girlfriend in my life now changes things as well. Can't hold on to living like a twenty year old single guy. Now I have to evaluate what I let back into my internet life. One thing is for sure, I can't go back to the old way of internet.