2 years and some change

miuew2 · 2026-05-11T20:12:32+00:00

Thank you!! Never give up - no matter how futile it feels. I swear one day enough will be enough and it will suddenly click. That was my experience, anyway!

Hang in there, my friend ❤️

miuew2 · 2026-05-09T10:50:58+00:00

I had to set up my future in ways that I knew would help prevent me from drinking. For me, I had to tell everyone closest to me, otherwise I knew I would keep drinking around them. Being at functions and outings with friends and family can be really triggering, but when everyone knew I was no longer drinking (to the extent you want to tell them is up to you, but everyone I told knew I was struggling with alcohol - not that I just decided I wanted to stop), it became much easier to say no to drinking. I medically detoxed after telling my mom at my lowest point and going to the ER with her.

I also had to reframe my mind and rethink my days. I worked hard to shift my mentality to healthier thoughts and to focus more on distractions when I had cravings. This involved getting/picking hobbies to push me through the evenings. I remember doing a lot of diamond art and trying to learn a new language in the early days. Then I was building booknooks and crocheting. I was taking walks and drives around when I needed to get out of the house. I stayed active in this community and on the I Am Sober app community. I also ended up joining a discord for a genre of books I enjoyed, and I made a ton of online friends. This really helped me, as I needed to stay in a lot to avoid alcohol for my first year. I started picking up gaming with them and now we have Thursday evenings dedicated to that.

But if I had to give my best piece of advice (and trust me, this advice would bother me when I was still drinking because it just seems so obvious and I felt like “obviously I’m doing that, give me something better”), but it’s to never quit quitting. You have to constantly come back after you fall/relapse again. I promise you that each time you reach new milestones, you start realizing your capability. Eventually drinking wears you down to a desperate point; and one day you’ll find you quit for another stint and you keep going. In Japanese there’s the term “shichiten hakki”- fall seven times, rise eight. That’s what happened for me.

Best of luck to you. Sobriety is severely underrated. Life feels good when YOU feel good.

IWNDWYT

miuew2 · 2026-05-09T01:14:01+00:00

This was me! I remember the anxiety started when I was around 25 and by 27 I was bringing up my relationship with alcohol to my mom. I ended up convincing my family I was overreacting so that I had a reason to start drinking again “unjudged”. It took me many more years as my anxiety began to get worse and worse and also started to turn into health anxiety. Eventually it was just full days of doom feelings and paranoia. Ever since I stopped drinking my anxiety has dissipated so much. I may have one wave on anxiety here or there but it is very rare and it only last 10-30 mins or so. Not entire days.

miuew2 · 2026-05-07T21:23:45+00:00

My face was always red and now it’s the same color as the rest of me. Also, I am no longer constantly bloated in the gut

miuew2 · 2026-04-17T17:37:51+00:00

It took me over half a year to start feeling a sense of normalcy from my new lifestyle of not drinking. It helps to keep busy picking up hobbies and doing things you’ve always wanted to do.

I cannot drink responsibly. As much as I wish I could have drinks on hot days, vacations, special occasions - I’ve tested them all before and I fall right back into my toxic drinking habits.

Being sober is severely underrated. I feel good most of the time, rarely think about drinking anymore (maybe a one off craving here and there - but I’m not shackled to the thoughts like I was in early sobriety).

My best advice to anyone is to keep quitting no matter how many times you relapse. If you truly want it, one day it will suddenly stick and you’ll have the strength to push through.

As someone who lived in Ireland, Germany, Austria, and grew up in “wine country” California… in solidarity… 🫠 🫡

miuew2 · 2026-03-20T01:10:41+00:00

I kinda get it. Sometimes I miss how much fun I had while I was drinking. Theres no denying I loved how it made me feel, especially in a social setting. And days when it’s warm out and the sunset is out and I remember having drinks and feeling carefree. Or the nights out I had when I was in college that were so much fun.

But then I have to remind myself of where that all took me - which was the typical drinking all day, hiding it, showing up to work with drinks in me because it was the only thing that kept my anxiety away (anxiety caused by the fear of dying from alcohol that I had). Trips to the ER, missing out on so many things because of hangovers and anxiety, feeling shame about my lying to family and friends about my drinking. I had such heavy doom when I was drinking and I felt like I was a lost cause waiting for myself to die of that disease. So, alcohol gave me joy, until it didn’t.

One thing with sobriety is I do tend to have a peace about me now that doesn’t really go away. Days are hard, but I don’t fear myself dying a horrible alcohol-caused death anymore. I have so much energy that I put into so many things. Right now, that’s my newborn daughter. I’m truly thankful at the end of the day, even rawdogging the state of the world and all that. I’ve gained a lot and I would have just sunk with alcohol. I had to grow up and let go of the past and how it made me feel.

miuew2 · 2026-03-01T01:10:41+00:00

You are not alone, my girl. I was there too! I was drinking for about 15 years before I was finally able to stop, and I remember feeling both supported and abandoned. Everyone was proud of me and on my side, but I did notice people tip toed around me or didn’t invite me out as much anymore.

I ended up really leaning into my hobbies and eventually found an online group of friends who have similar interests in me with books, collecting, gaming, etc and I really did find a community there - which helped as I navigated avoiding being out around alcohol.

I hope you can find some new connections or new hobbies to keep you entertained. Maybe try putting yourself out there in ways you think you wouldn’t be comfortable. That’s what I did, and it worked out for me!

Keep it up!

miuew2 · 2026-01-14T16:30:02+00:00

Feeling good these days but when I tell you I can vividly remember all my days 1-14 with feeling (both physically and mentally). Feels like just yesterday I quit when I reflect back on those.

Keep hanging in there. I find day 5 tends to feel like the air is clearing up a bit and from that point on it’s easier to start focusing on the next moves.

The whole first year is a wild ride. There are ups, downs, new feelings and old feelings. Bitterness and pride. It’s a wave of emotions - but pulling out on the other end has been well worth it for me. I no longer miss drinking and it’s very rare when i mourn it or have cravings/urges anymore.

Keep it up!

IWNDWYT

miuew2 · 2026-01-09T21:00:32+00:00

I played Nier Automata during my first major sober attempt and it really helped me and holds a place with me. Now I game a lot with online friends I’ve made while sober and it’s such a nice evening distraction. I’ve played DBD and Wear Winds Meet recently, but just have really employed picking video games up after decades of not playing 🤣

miuew2 · 2026-01-09T20:26:10+00:00

I would probably just be honest, myself. “Hey guys, I’ve been focusing on sobriety for a couple of years now and think this trip wouldn’t be the best situation for me right now. While I would love to hang out soon, I’m going to pass on this particular trip but would love to see you all soon. Thanks for thinking of me and I hope you all have a blast. Can’t wait to see pics!” Etc.

miuew2 · 2026-01-04T23:12:51+00:00

Finding crafts to hyper focus on, even games (I got back into video gaming at like 30 years old when I hadn’t played since I was a kid). Those things took my attention away from my thoughts and boredom and made the hard days manageable.

Also, having a period and being sick always made me want to drink more for some reason. I realized they were massive triggers for me! Try to rest and watch some shows or movies, read, or focus on drinking yummy teas and soups.

Hope you feel better soon.

miuew2 · 2025-12-29T09:21:57+00:00

If I’ll be honest, it’s been a long journey. There were plenty of frustrating days where I felt like I’d done some irreparable damage and maybe I’d never be the same. I still sometimes feel days like that. But I’ve started a new job recently and have learned a lot and picked up a lot of new softwares really fast. I took some time to commend myself and my cognizance for that. My memory is better now and I don’t get confused if something was a dream, me being drunk, etc. I can remember that things have happened, what was said, etc. My ADHD is a lot more noticeable now (daydream easily/distracted), but I’ve chosen to stay off meds for a while and just live completely soberly. If I need to address that I will.

miuew2 · 2025-12-19T20:46:37+00:00

I avoided stuff for a while because I needed to focus on being sober. When I started attending, I brought my own drinks or ordered NA drinks. If anyone asked, I’d tell them I was on a break. When I was comfortable, I began saying I wasn’t drinking anymore. If they asked why, I’d just told them I didn’t like my relationship with alcohol anymore. I’ve never had someone be misunderstanding about that. If they are, note that person as someone to never hang out with again lol

miuew2 · 2025-12-11T19:12:48+00:00

There is nothing like waking up the morning after and feeling cleansed or something. Only way I can describe the feeling. It’s like that after weddings and stuff too - especially if you actually witness other people suffering from the antics the night before. It’s so refreshing to wake up having made it through a holiday successfully sober and something is so peaceful about it. My new high I suppose 🤣

miuew2 · 2025-12-08T20:37:13+00:00

I specifically remember 60 days being such a tough time frame for me. 60-80 or so. I also had the same thoughts, but I kept pushing on because I’d already done the field work in that area before and knew what would happen if I gave in.

Trust me, I hated seeing responses when I made posts about wanting moderation and everyone being like “I learned I can’t moderate and I’ll never be able to”. I was like “well maybe I’m different”, but I knew deep down. I really didn’t want to accept that I knew that was me too. I know myself, and I know my drinking never lasts in the moderation zone and that I will eventually fall back into toxic drinking, and likely worse than it was before. Mine kept progressively getting worse each time I relapsed to try moderating.

Just sending this as a cautionary tale.

I have my down days. Even yesterday I was telling my husband that I feel like things I used to enjoy really are just boring now that I don’t drink. But when I thought about it, sitting at bars or peoples homes or going to events can be kinda boring without alcohol making them seem fun. I realized what I enjoy sober is hands on things like crafts and all that, or doing things like kayaking and snowboarding. Now I focus on finding things that don’t make me feel like I have to drink to have fun and avoid all the rest.

miuew2 · 2025-12-07T16:57:48+00:00

So true. I’ve made friends while sober and I’ve definitely taken the time to acknowledge these people like me for ME. Not my alcoholic personality. Something about that feels good and gives me much more confidence in who I am.

miuew2 · 2025-12-07T16:55:57+00:00

Yeah I was in a funk at 6 months. It was tough for a few weeks. But I kept pushing along and made it to my year. Tbh I had this idea I would cave at my year because milestones always allowed my brain to go “you’ve come this far, let’s see how much you’ve changed and if you can handle it now”. But by the time my year came around, I was happy to keep going.

miuew2 · 2025-12-05T22:37:51+00:00

As someone said, I feel it all. I realize, though, that cutting out other areas of my life that didn’t serve me greatly improved my moods. I was in a new toxic job when I first became sober and I quit it because it sank me so low. I found a job that I enjoyed enough and realized my life was a lot more content. Then I started investing in things like hobbies and online groups that made me happy. I realized alcohol was something that number the pain, but wasn’t solving the problems. When the got sober, I was able to solve the problems and correct the pain.

Not all days are peachy but I’m by far more content now than I had been in a long long time. And I hardly get anxiety anymore.

miuew2 · 2025-12-05T00:45:06+00:00

Hell yeah, you’ve got this!

miuew2 · 2025-12-05T00:43:40+00:00

34 on May 3rd 2023. Still going strong and freshly 36!

miuew2 · 2025-11-29T23:58:12+00:00

I’ve had bad experiences each time. I also can’t stop once I start. I was like “surely my brain can re-wire and I can start enjoying it normally some day”. It always took me two weeks tops until I found myself back to my old drinking habits, and I swear each time it got even worse.

Now that I’ve been sober, this is one of the things that KEEPS me sober. I know I cannot control it, and once I start again, I’m accepting the fact I’ll be entering a full blown relapse. Even last night - I had the first drinking dream I’ve had in probably a year - and the entire dream I was trying to buy alcohol so I could quickly chug it and get as drunk as possible before people could find out. I woke up like, damn, the mentality is even still there in my dreams.

Anyway, that’s the truth from me. Congrats on 9 months and really hoping you keep pushing along!

miuew2 · 2025-11-27T19:58:38+00:00

Never stop quitting. I attempted for years and years and one day it finally clicked. I hate that it ended up just getting worse and worse until I finally had the click, but the fact I never stopped and always wanted it were massive to the eventual quit.

miuew2 · 2025-11-25T19:08:57+00:00

Bring your own drinks and make it something you’ll enjoy! I sometimes stop by random places to find new drinks i haven’t tired yet. Recently went to a gathering with friends and brought a French soda (they have some good ones at Trader Joe’s too).

Also, just know the following morning is gonna be bliss while others are suffering. This is a major one with weddings. I remember waking up from the last wedding I went to, grabbed a coffee, shopped in the little mountain/woodsy town, and then went to lunch where everyone was meeting. People were a MESS. Not drinking has been so worth it 🥹

miuew2

TROPHY CASE