12/6/2023 0 Comments Im in dangerYou’ve got as far as day four without drinking you can get a little further.īut these initial impulses, these negative feelings that get you to day 4 with no alcohol, are not enough to sustain you. All these feelings are valid, and all of them can get you started on your journey of changing your drinking. Maybe you’re upset with yourself and angry with alcohol.Īll of these negative feelings are powerful motivations for change. Maybe you’ve been struggling for a while, wanting to stop but not being able to. Perhaps you’ve recognised the negative impact drinking is having on your feelings, your family, your friendships. Tired of hangovers, making yourself unwell, maybe even scared for your health. Like many people starting this journey of change, you’re probably sick of drinking. And especially if you’ve got feelings of embarrassment and shame related to your last drinking episode, you are going to want to forget the worst parts of what happened. And the further you get from an event, the less you tend to remember. Your brain, like everyone’s, is good at simplifying your memories. As you slowly get further away from the pain of your last hangover, you may find your motivation to keep going begins to wane. But you’re right to notice that something else is going on. You’ve been focused on the negatives of drinking, but what are the positives of not drinking?Īll this is good. These are all typical benefits of the mini-break you’ve given your mind by not soaking it in booze. There’s certainly something refreshing about feeling clear-headed, and maybe you are feeling more energetic and positive. So you might find that day 4 without alcohol begins to feel a little calmer. All these activities contribute to your physical wellbeing at this moment.Īlthough many people drink to relax, alcohol actually induces a stress response in your body. If you’re not as focused on alcohol, you may be eating better, drinking water, moving more, and perhaps sleeping more deeply. All the alcohol will have left your system by now, and your body will begin to bounce back. However, by day 4 without alcohol, most people will have got beyond any initial withdrawal symptoms. If you’re physically dependent on alcohol, it can be dangerous to stop drinking suddenly, and it’s safer to cut down slowly over time. But if these get worse, or you experience more severe symptoms such as seizures, hallucinations, confusion or poor coordination, you must seek medical help urgently. Fortunately, shakes, sweating, headaches and nausea are at the milder end of the spectrum of withdrawal symptoms and will generally pass within a few days. It can feel scary to confront this reality, but withdrawal symptoms indicate that you’ve become physically dependent on alcohol. They are actually alcohol withdrawal symptoms. The shakes you experience when you stop drinking are not part of a normal hangover. Let’s take a step back to consider what’s going on, and how you can build your motivation for continuing change. Is it ever just one though? If you’ve been in this danger zone before, and want to avoid a repeating pattern of drinking, it’s good to take some time to reflect. It may be that you’ve been in this position before, weighing up the pros and cons of pushing on against the option of just one drink. Rather than counting days not drinking, focus on your achievements and the benefits of change.īut as you’ve noticed, feeling so good comes with a risk that you forget why you started in the first place. Ultimately, it’s feeling good that motivates you to keep going. As we explain at the beginning of our course, How to Stop Drinking, rather than keeping track of days, it’s good to focus on your achievements and the benefits of change. When you really think about it, we only count days when we don’t expect something to last forever. In Club Soda, we don’t think that counting days alcohol-free is a necessary part of quitting drinking. Day 4 with no alcohol may feel like a tiny step forward compared to where you want to be in the longer term, but if you’ve been struggling to get beyond day one, it’s a major achievement. First of all, congratulations on your commitment to changing your drinking.
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