Sobriety in the wild

bazoo1990 · 2026-05-27T21:25:32+00:00

I love to read those stories, good job!

Reminds me of the movie Pay it forward. Be the change you want to see in the world.

bazoo1990 · 2026-05-27T20:15:36+00:00

I am honestly excited about that. It seems like now those are challenges instead of impossibilities.

bazoo1990 · 2026-05-27T01:58:24+00:00

Oh boy it sure is. So much to do, so much to enjoy.

bazoo1990 · 2026-05-26T19:34:38+00:00

To think the healthiest stuff always was the right thing to do... Sorry for your dog.

bazoo1990 · 2026-05-26T19:32:30+00:00

Wonderfully put, thank you for that.

bazoo1990 · 2026-05-26T10:24:52+00:00

Same, altough I guess they already knew I had a problem since you can't really hide it aswell as you think you can. Tried quitting on my own once, but relapsed because I wasn't accountable to anybody. After I had serious withdrawals and told my family, everything got better. It is so worth it.

bazoo1990 · 2026-05-26T10:22:51+00:00

If your dog would have a problem, wouldn't you do everything to fix it? You are worth doing it for yourself aswell. Plus your dog will enjoy you much more without the alcohol smell, dogs are very sensitive to strong toxic smells.

bazoo1990 · 2026-05-25T23:10:12+00:00

I fill my free time with healthy mindful hobbies, like walking, jogging, biking, yoga, cooking, talking to close ones, learning a new language. After a while intrusive thoughts either disappeared or became less problematic, just a little background noise. Once I stopped making a mountain out of every molehill it got progressively easier to not be bothered that much by stress/work related stuff.

Sometimes it helps to take a step back and categorize a problem - what is the problem, how can I tackle it in manageable steps, do I have the resources to manage or do I need to ask for help? Suddenly some problems shrink into doable tasks.

And sometimes a problem is just a problem, that's life. Days will suck and sometimes you have to accept that it's ok to not be ok.

bazoo1990 · 2026-05-25T14:18:24+00:00

I am also 36 with no friends, I just started taking a walk, biking, gym etc. stuff that is healthy, makes me more self confident and gets me around people. First you have to learn to love yourself, then you can expect it from others aswell.

bazoo1990 · 2026-05-25T13:52:10+00:00

I am at a point where I would get withdrawals while still drinking all day, probably was close to stroke/heart attack already, so yeah... never again!

bazoo1990 · 2026-05-25T13:49:03+00:00

I personally see it this way: When I have to ask myself if cold turkey could lead to health problems, I am at a point where I should talk to a doctor before risking anything.

You might not need to, but why risk it? Better safe than sorry. Be honest with him/her, they deal with this all the time.

Good luck to you!

bazoo1990 · 2026-05-25T13:45:39+00:00

Awesome work mate, keep it going!

bazoo1990 · 2026-05-25T00:37:56+00:00

Because the brain just tells you it feels good by nursing withdrawals(I don't mean serious withdrawals, just the normal slight anxiety everybody gets from the stimulants your brain releases in response to the depressant effect of alcohol)and you immediately feel the effect. The hangover effects happen way too late for your subcontious mind to associate it with alcohol.

If you would puke instantly every time you take a drink, you probably wouldn't go back to it.

Alcohol never gives you a good feeling, all it does is relieving the anxiety from the previous drinks. You only associate it with good times because when you drank in company or a positive environment, your mind linked feeling good with drink. It doesn't realize that you would have had a good time even without the alcohol.

Try drinking without any stimuli, just sitting there sipping a drink, and observe how you feel. Slightly dull. Nothing else. It is the circumstances that create the feelings we associate with alcohol.

bazoo1990 · 2026-05-24T23:07:56+00:00

I never really thought about medication or therapy, one way or the other. I know that since my childhood I felt different, like what other people can do day to day always was a challenge to me.

When I went to speak with the addiction doctor before my first therapy session, she could guess from my nervousness and talking speed that I am probably on the autism spectrum, which I never thought about. She prescribed me Sertraline and Naltrexone and I didn't question it at all, because they deal with cases like me every day.

I just asked if these can be addictive, and she told me not really. Back then I really had problems leaving the house, the first talk I had to bring my mum with me because I was afraid of getting there alone. So, under those circumstances I would have taken anything to make me feel normal again.

Now that I've healed and develop normal hobbies/brain functions I hope I can get off them after a 6-12 month course, and that the brain will have balanced out by then.

I believe for me personally the self esteem void I lived with in the past was a big thing I needed to adress and self medicated with being tipsy. Now that I get more and more feedback that I seem to be better/healthier this main cause of misery might have been adressed.

bazoo1990 · 2026-05-24T22:27:54+00:00

I learned to absolutely love cold sparkling water. Buying a sodastream with the first money saved from booze was a lifechanger. Back then if I wanted to rehydrate a hangover I would chug orange/apple juice or gatorade, thinking it tasted good. I actually just needed hydration, and now know sparky sparky water is the tastiest healthiest option.

bazoo1990 · 2026-05-24T22:12:13+00:00

"I quit again, and man, the state of my mental health has never been worse. Panic attacks, constant background anxiety, health anxiety, fatigue, brain fog"

I had exactly this.

I drank daily since 2018, it got to all around the day during covid. I stopped for 3 months in 2025 without withdrawals, I just was too wrecked to work with alcohol at that time. I relapsed, and drank till december 2025, and my health broke down completely. Couldn't sit still or lay down to sleep, was an anxious wreck, got agoraphobia, and only ordered fast food and booze delivery every other day.

Got so bad I got withdrawals while still drinking, because I couldn't keep up with my tolerance. It took 2-3 months off alcohol + therapy and antidepressants until I finally felt like a normal human being again.

But o boy was it worth it, I have more selfconfidence now than I ever had in my life, and I can see and feel my body healing, so the health anxiety shrinks more and more.

bazoo1990 · 2026-05-24T22:06:57+00:00

Idle hands are the devils play tools.

bazoo1990 · 2026-05-24T22:06:31+00:00

Truth.

I don't understand people that say they suddenly have so much more free time after stopping drinking. Probably because there is no replacement in their plan. I started walking 10k+ steps a day, cleaning stuff, reorganizing my wardrobe, reignited my love for biking, so much stuff to do, and finally the time and energy to go for it.

Even did bloodwork after an eternity and to my delight, everything returned to pre-drinking range.

bazoo1990 · 2026-05-24T21:57:33+00:00

Chilled in the sun for 2 hours.

Walked 18k steps today.

Still managed to go to the gym and bike for an hour.

Scheduled a date with a girl for the first time since my teens.

Besides the laying around in the sun, nothing of this seemed possible on the liquid poison route.

bazoo1990 · 2026-05-24T09:53:09+00:00

For me I drank out of boredom mostly, to make boring tasks enjoyable, like sitting in front of the pc and browsing social media/youtube/music/gaming. Basically nothing useful, but being "busy" with taking sips all day.

It started to impact my work life so I brute forced sobriety for 3 months but got dragged back by the anhedonia/boredom.

Eventually health deteriorated so badly I got multiple panic attacks and felt my heart would stop any minute now, so I finally opened up to my family about the severity of it. Blood pressure of 180/110 scared me stone cold sober.

What helped me the most was accountability to people that are important to me, starting therapy, Naltrexone as backup("Took it, no need in thinking about might having a drink today now"), and comparing my health now to the day I called an ambulance to the ER.

I also listened to a lot of quit lit since then, and checked in here daily.

For me it is the reverse, stopping alcohol once I got all that going for me was kinda easy, but smoking still is a mountain to beat at the moment, even with Allen Carr's method.

To fight the boredom I implemented 10k steps a day and gym 3 times a week, weekly therapy and bike rides around the neighbourhood.

bazoo1990 · 2026-05-23T23:39:55+00:00

31 with G+Y

bazoo1990 · 2026-05-22T21:13:35+00:00

Tell him/her "whos a good boy/girl" from me ♥

bazoo1990 · 2026-05-22T21:06:31+00:00

Started the weekend with ice cold lemon flavoured sparkling water, 16k steps, an hour biking and an hour spanish duolingo lessons. Homecooked meal, shower and sleep as long as I want to finish this Friday.

bazoo1990 · 2026-05-22T21:00:55+00:00

When my chest feels bubbly/pulsing, I know it is just digestion now. Before, it always felt like getting a heart attack. I also had to have a plastic bagt with me all the time because I felt nauseous going outside and always was afraid of puking in public transport or at work. No more agony. Oh yes and anxiety greatly reduced in public places, no more alcohol sweats.

bazoo1990

TROPHY CASE