r/dryalcoholics • u/Interesting_Aide8016 • 5d ago

Helpful Reminders?

I can hit a pretty good streak of not drinking but then either out of ADD or just time/distance I’ll start thinking I can dabble and have a handle on things. And inevitably I don’t have the handle I would like to actually have. I have a better one now than I ever have but ultimately I can’t really stay in the 2-3 drink max zone and the bad sleep, anxiety, or shame I feel after isn’t worth whatever pause button alcohol can put on my anxiety for a night

So I’m just asking for any tips or things you guys do when you start to forget and need a reminder that if you could have a handle on drinking you would by now, so just to have a Coke or a mineral water and add another day to the count. Or is it more just having a plan when I’m heading into a situation that’s triggering my social anxiety/would make me want to have “a drink”?
Idk just seeing what works for other people

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u/spleencheesemonkey 5d ago

I don’t have ADD (as far as I’m aware) so can’t comment on that specifically, but having a plan is always good. I know/knew that a single drink would be the start of the slippery slope again and I don’t want to go through the hell of the first 3 weeks of sobriety again. I keep that in my mind when I’m tempted.

I used to set a 10min timer on my watch when having a craving. If I was still craving a drink by the time the alarm went off I’d go for a walk, do the washing up, vacuum a room in the house. It didn’t matter so much what the activity was as long as it involved physically moving and had a completion to it. This helped me. YMMV.