7 Days Without Alcohol ~ The Highs & Lows
When I was reading all the blogs on how to quit alcohol, I saw a pattern emerging from all of them. Alcohol has become a culture and it is ingrained into societies regardless of geographical boundaries.
I am from India and over the last decade, we too have glamorized alcohol use. Got a promotion, get a drink; got a new job, get a drink; bought a new car, let’s get a drink; you get the idea.
I was not a regular drinker but whenever I drank, I used to drink heavily. It would start with 2–3 pleasurable drinks and the remaining drinks were to ensure that I got drunk. It was becoming pathetic day by day. And with the pandemic, it got worse.
Life hit every one of us hard in 2020. We lost loved ones, friends; many of us lost our jobs and whatnot. Life somehow seemed meaningless. In the last three months of 2020, I started binge drinking almost every alternate day.
And it was a downward spiral. The day would somehow pass, and when the evening arrives my body would demand alcohol. Else, the anxiety and depression would set in.
But somehow, there’s always light in the dark; at least I believed as much. And to be honest, I was disgusted at my behavior. I would wake up with a hangover, waste the entire day scrolling through social media. My thought process was clouded and I barely got any work done.
So that needed to stop. My wife was very supportive both when I was drinking as well as when I told her my decision to quit. Like every other person who takes such a journey, I decided to take it on the 1st day of 2021. However, that didn’t happen.
I prepared myself mentally and got my favorite scotch for the NYE. I thought of having that one last drink before I start on my quit journey. But on the morning of 31st, I got a phone call from my best friend. His father died early morning that day.
I went to attend the funeral and that was it. That was the moment when something powerful struck my mind and said to me that this is it. It must be today. When I got back home that evening, I flushed the entire bottle of scotch in the sink and let it go.
I finally started on the journey of sobriety a day earlier than scheduled. It has been six days since then and it’s a journey full of mixed emotions. It’s still very early on my quit, but I have seen some pretty huge differences, both negative and positive. I would like to share the same with you.
If you embark on the same path, our experiences might be similar or not at all. So here are the few changes I have noticed in my life as a non-drinker in the past few days.
Euphoria:
Yes, this one’s going to be the same for all the new quitters, especially in the first couple of days. Maybe it is due to the feeling of power that I got; being able to quit such a bad habit. But in the first three days, I would wake up and grin at my wife like a fool.
I would sing on top of my voice, and every moment seemed like a fairy tale. And that’s when the negative side of the same good feeling strikes.
On my 5th and 6th day sober, my positive energy was completely drained. I felt like this is the end of the world and that I am just a speck of useless dust in its final moments.
I was irritable and angry for no reason whatsoever and that in turn affected my mood. I almost gave in to the whisperings in my ear and had that one drink to soothe my nerves, but I didn’t.
Clarity:
This one is another feeling that like it or not will be there constantly once you quit drinking. I am saying ‘like it or not’ because once you have the clarity you see both positives and negatives.
With alcohol, there’s a fog in your brain that will drown the negatives and amplify the positives, even though it is just a pseudo effect. But once sober, I was seeing things for what they were.
I was happy for all the good things I still had in my life. I was grateful for my supportive friends and family. But at the same time, I was clear about all the adverse effects alcohol had in my life that it made me depressed.
Better Sleep:
This might differ from person to person depending on the amount of alcohol consumed before deciding to quit. My sleep started to improve from day 3 and I have been sleeping better for the past couple of days.
I guess this only keeps getting better and better. I have also seen that I do not need the alarm clock to wake up anymore. Neither do I feel fatigued after I wake up.
Though I have to say that, I had a nightmare or two in the last couple of days as well. But I did not wake up, and it was just like a scary dream. While under the influence though, I would wake up at such dreams and had a hard time going back to sleep.
Hangover Free Mornings:
During my drinking days, sometimes I just had one drink before going to bed. The next morning, I thought I woke up ok, I had no hangover. But I was wrong.
For better or for worse, I only got the true feeling of a hangover-free morning after deciding to go AF. Some mornings were bad; I had a sense of nothingness to wake up to. Other times I was elated at the prospect of a productive and joyful day. Whatever the feeling, I am starting to wake up as 100 % me. No hangovers, no fuzziness; just pure me waking up from the sleep mechanism.
Increased Metabolism, Lost Weight:
On day 2 of my quit, I was hungry at the right moments of the day. I had a big breakfast, a decent lunch, some evening snacks with tea, and fulfilling dinner. I did not have the feeling of bloating that comes with food after alcohol.
I am seeing that with the timely eating, my digestion has increased and I have lost a few kilos in these 7 days. My waistline has reduced visibly by at least an inch.
I have also started to hit the gym again, so by the first month; I guess I will be in better shape.
Now, not everything was sunshine and daisies this entire time. I also had negatives and lows. Though the negative effects were less compared to the positive aspects, I do have to note them down.
Mood Swings:
These are nasty. One moment I am Dr. Banner and the next I am The Hulk who just keeps smashing. The mood swings have been terrible on the first 5 days and are slowly getting lower by each passing hour.
As I sit writing this article, I feel I am much more composed than I was on the initial days.
FOMO:
The culture of alcohol is so deeply imbibed that time and again I feel this pang that I am missing out on so many things.
The other day a few of my friends invited me to a party. I had to decline the invite and told them the reason. Their response was, “What for? It’s just a drink. You need not get drunk. We will have just a couple of drinks and have fun.”
Even though I politely said no, I was feeling like hell the entire day. I felt like I am missing out on all the good things in life now that I have decided to quit drinking alcohol.
But, what can I say? The benefits far outweigh the disadvantages. So I have decided to keep going. Yes, I will feel bad for a few days, but I know in time I will get better.
I am writing this because, honestly, I had to let this out. If anything in this article helps you out, even if it makes an iota of difference in your quit journey; I will be happy.
If the thought of quitting has flashed even for a Nanosecond in your brain; then honor that thought. Try at least once, try for the first time. The second time and more will pile up soon. This is the 5th time that I have decided to quit and 7 days is the longest I have ever quit since I started having alcohol.
If you don’t think alcohol is a problem for you, then you, my friend are one strong-willed person.
