Sober October Challenge

[KK1983]

Good afternoon 😊

As the title suggests, I have decided to give 'Sober October' my all and go alcohol free for 31 days. This challenge might be a walk in the park for some but this is going to be HUGE for me. In the past 12yrs, I can't even remember the last time I have even gone a week sober, let alone a month!

So, I am a daily drinker. I have 1-2 bottles per day, sometimes more over the weekend. I have a successful job and a beautiful life but my drinking is becoming more of an issue that I ever thought it would be. I think about it more than I want, plan days around it and spend far too much money on it. Alcoholism runs in my family so i'm aware of the signs which is why I need to get a grip asap. I want to be able to moderate.

If you saw me in the street you'd look at me and think I have my shit together. I have the house, the kids, the marriage, the job - the lot! Drinking became a friend when I had none and when I was lonely after my daughter was born and my husband worked nights. Now drinking feels part of my personality, people know me as someone who loves a drink, the life and soul and I used to love that but now, I'm bored of myself.

I have tried to go sober several times but I get to day 4 and give in after finding any tiny excuse to reward myself. Night 1 always feels a bit rough. I role around the bed for hours on end and get a little anxious but nothing too bad. Day 2 I feel hungover without the fun the night before. Day 3 I cry a lot and become quite irritated. Day 4 - I quit! Not this time though, I NEED to do this and I WILL do this.

To help me along the way I have started taking the following vitamins:

• Vitamin B Complex high strength
• Live friendly gut bacteria
• Vitamin B1 500mg x2
• Iron
• Biotin & Zinc
• Vitamin D & K2

Can any recommend anything else or have any tips to help me along the way?

Thank you for taking the time to read this,
Kate x

lol. If I answered that honestly I’d suck the joy out of this thread.

Let’s just say I’m doing my best to embrace it.

Sometimes that's the best we can do xxx

Afternoon gang,

Had a morning full of meetings and staff interviews. That's enough to make anyone reach for the bottle 🙄

@ImFineItsAllFine It's Sundays for me too.I love a good Sunday drinking session and it's when I miss drink that most. I think going forward I'm going to continue my Sunday drinks as I really enjoy it and I've missed it a lot but i'm not going back to midweek drinking, I don't miss it at all. I'm figuring if I allocate myself a day, I'll look forward to it and enjoy it more x

@Fiftyandme It's bright but constant showers here. Is it your birthday today? Oh a nice new cut and style sounds perfect! Who cares what he says/thinks - do it for you! Hope you've enjoyed the peace x

@KK1983 the good thing about drinking on a Sunday (for me) is that I am very unlikely to drink on a Monday so it sort of limits the possibility for a 'fuck it I drank yesterday so I'll drink tonight too'. That's the big issue I have with Wednesday / Thursday drinking because it opens the flood gates for the rest of the week. So basically - Sunday drinking is very sensible 😂

Hahaha Sensible Sunday's it is! 🍷

I'm off Tuesday and Wednesdays too so those days make me want to drink also but not as much as a Sunday. Bloody alcohol!

@Fiftyandme haha I'm always up for a whine fest! Complain away. I'm upset I'm now a prime number...what a complaint to have 🤦

And with that unintended play on words, turns out getting through my birthday weekend sober led to overconfidence as I've buckled and had a Monday wine which is pretty rare for me. It's still a lot less than normal but I know my (irrational) reasoning well enough to watch out for this slippery slope...

I’m having my first night without an alcohol substitute. Just Pepsi Max and I might have a brew in a bit.
The only reason for this is that I had zero energy left on my way home from work and couldn’t be arsed popping into a shop.
It’s not as depressing as I thought it would be, and definitely a lot cheaper than the alcohol free wine and Nozeco I’ve been relying on.

Morning gang,
how are we all? I’m off today and typically woke up with the birds, was hoping for a sleep in too. Chill day for me today, bit of life admin and need to catch up on MAFS - love it!

whatever you’re up to, have a good one x

How did you find it?

Morning.

I had some Baileys last night as it was my birthday, but found after a couple I just didn’t want any more: my stomach felt bloated and I felt slightly nauseous. The majority of the bottle sat for the rest of the night in front of me and I honestly didn’t want any. So that’s good.

Looks like it’s just me going up to Padley - my poor friend is ill. I’ve not seen one single person. Oh well.

Hi all
New to this forum
I am only on my 5th day AF. I found this group when away on holiday and inspired to take action having been concerned about my drinking for a while.
My minimum intake was 7units a day with the odd days being more like 10-12. This is a significant reduction to my pre pandemic drinking. No AF days for as long as I can remember.

Has anyone got a timeline of improvements I can expect? All of the sites I have seen talk about the acute physical withdrawal from larger amount rather than the 'softer' or mental or health changes someone such as myself may look out for?

Many thanks for this group and best wishes for all here x

I love Baileys! Well done for just having a couple.

It's a shame your friend can't join you but I hope you are able to enjoy the peace and the views. You should also take immense joy in the good work you are doing to make your 50's a wonderful healthy happy decade. xx

Welcome! I recall in the book Alcohol Explained he talks about the timeline of improvements when someone stops drinking.

For me personally I think my sleep started to improve loads after about 4 days AF. My heart rate dropped a bit too. I feel less overwhelmed and less anxious.

How are you feeling?

I updated my Try Dry app yesterday - I started tracking in September because I cut down a fair bit then. I stopped tracking in the second half of September because I went off the rails a bit so I went back and tried to update it for the days I missed. It wont' be 100% accurate but it will be roughly correct. I drank 140 units in September, so about 35 a week, which was a significant reduction on August (which I didn't track). I am currently on 20 units for October so not AF (although I was never too bothered about being totally AF) but a really big improvement on September. Having that comparison helps me appreciate the good work I have done and not get down about a few drinks.

Well done for all your good work this month.

Morning.

Thats a great reduction @nowinetimeforme. It’s taken me from January to October to cut back to the level I have (I think I’ve had 3 units in October). And some stop starting same as you. But a general gradual and real reduction. I’m really not sure I could have mentally gone cold turkey (or nearly AF like this month). I’ve needed to read some groups, listen to podcasts and gently wean myself away, especially psychologically. Well done again!

@maybethisyearhello and welcome. I think my answer is a bit similar to my reply to @nowinetimeforme, I’ve gradually gotten to the stage where I’m disconnected from alcohol. I’m not sure I’ve got a time line and everyone seems different. I know I have less anxiety, way better sleep, clarity in my head, I’m just calmer. A lot of this way pretty immediately, some I’ve noticed gradually, everyone seems different, . Good luck and well done.

Happy Birthday @Fiftyandmeand well done just not fancying the Baileys. Sometimes a solo trip can be very therapeutic. Enjoy!

@nowinetimeforme
I feel fine. A big block to not reducing sooner was a fear that I wouldn't sleep but that has not been an issue.

I used to pace my drinks in the evenings to have one at 7pm, one at 9pm and one at 11pm. These were measured glasses as I would just guzzle otherwise. It was a real effort for me to keep to that level of drinking as I used to easily down a bottle of wine over weekday evenings and feel fine and function the next day. I would spend the whole evening watching the clock and pacing my meal, walk, tv watching to spread them out. It was ridiculous and I actually find it almost a relief not to have to play that game for the last few nights.

I went to a gig last night and had AF and been to see my local team play which normally would have been 2 pints so I'm glad to have got those under my belt. I have a meal out tomorrow too so I'll see how that feels.

And how was it? I don't find any joy in the AF drinks, I get the same feeling from them as I would a diet coke so I never bother. I can see the appeal though. x

That's soooo good - well done! Just think, in the past you'd have polished that off by now so something is definitely working here. Sorry you've alone but alone time and headspace can work wonders. You do deserve to be spoilt though on your special day x

Welcome 🙋🏻‍♀️

As you have prob read, I was a VERY heavy, daily drinker and I knew deep down something had to change. I don't know why but sober october stuck out for me and I decided enough was enough.

During October I have had 2 occasions of having a drink. 1 day was a glass of prosecco, the second was 3 glasses of wine on a day/night out. Whilst the narrative is to stay fully sober, I felt no guilt for the drinks and I enjoyed them. I choose to look at the sober days instead of the days drinking.

First few days I slept poor, felt a bit lost, emotional and at times angry that I done this to myself. A week in, I am sleeping heaving and well, I feel more present, I look less puffy but my stomach somehow went more bloated, I was constipated, more hungry and craving sugar.

Now, still sleeping well, I have lost weight, I do genuinely feel happier, I feel more grateful for the little things but I'd be lying if I told you I don't miss my evening wine cos I do. Some days I REALLY do.

Going forward I am going to plan my drinking and give myself the window to do so should I want to. I have a date day with my husband every Tue or Wed so i will drink on that day if I want. Sunday is family day so if I decided to drink that day, I'll allow it. I'm hoping this method with give me something to look forward to instead of fully restricting alcohol which will make me want it more.

Good luck and well done on just being here. We're a lovely bunch and you'll be fully supported here xxx

@maybethisyear come and join ☺️ I'd say we all potentially drink more than you but also not enough to be hit by the physical withdrawal side of it. It's the day four point that is a real killer (and which caught me out - again - yesterday) when you feel great and decide to treat yourself...if I can get to a week I usually start to find things a tiny bit easier. But the background noise can be very loud regarding wanting a drink. I come up with all sorts of weird and wonderful ways to try and justify to myself that I've earned it, so I haven't cracked ignoring those yet! But I really want to cut down long term (unlikely to be totally AF, just much more thoughtful drinking I suppose rather than guzzling).

Hi there.

I think it’s highly individual, tbh, but I’ve noticed a big improvement in my skin and . I’ve not noticed much else but having looked at what I’ve drunk this month compared to usual I’ve only halved what I usually drink (which was about 30 units/week)

@maybethisyear welcome! I don't have a timeline as such but I was drinking about 35-45 units a week (over 4-5 days). I found I felt much better in terms of mood, bloat and sleep at around the 2 week mark after stopping drinking for Sober October.

I haven't had any alcohol at all this month so far, which hasn't been too hard as I haven't had much going on socially, but we have 2 lots of visitors staying between now and the end of the month which is going to be more of a test! Next week it's PIL visiting, MIL's response on the phone when I said I was doing Sober October was "Gosh that sounds boring!"

Morning all. Thank you for the birthday wishes.

I did 4 miles in the gorge yesterday - it was really beautiful (though I’m told it’s not at its peak yet)

My girly was a very happy dog. We got back to the car just as the skies opened - so well times.

The drive was epic - I wish o lived closer to the Peak District.

I cared last night and had about 1/3 or a bottle of Prosecco - that brain of mine reasoned that I’d not had any bubbly for my 50th.

Back on it today.

Afternoon all.....

@Fiftyandme sounds like a lovely little day.

I can't believe we're 22 days into this, it's actually gone really fast.