RE 512: Side Effects of Sobriety

Recovery Elevator

Episode 512 – Side Effects of Sobriety

Today we have Tammy. She is 61 years old from San Diego, CA. She took her last drink on September 6^th, 2021.

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[04:26] Thoughts from Paul:

Paul recently came across a post from someone who recently quit drinking, and they included a list of things they no longer suffer from. Or this could be said that these are the possible side effects of sobriety.

Paul shares the extensive list ranging from the loss of anxiety and depression to improvements to their body – both functions and appearance.

Life is hard in the first place, and you layer on just a couple of the ailments listed, then you’re living life in hard mode. That list really drives the point home that alcohol is taking way more than it is giving.

Paul is a big fan of pen to paper, pro and con sheets, all that jazz. He suggests writing down for yourself what you’ve experienced when you take some time off booze and imagines it’s going to look similar to the list he just shared.

[08:30] Paul introduces Tammy:

Tammy is 61 years old and lives near San Diego. She is married and together they have six adult children. She worked in advertising before having children and after they were older, she became a real estate agent. For fun, Tammy started writing a book about her alcohol-free journey, and also enjoys researching her ancestry.

Tammy says her drinking began as typical binge drinking on the weekends in high school and then escalated a bit in college. After graduating she began to work in advertising where drinking during the day was normal. Tammy’s drinking cut back after she started having her children. She says she didn’t drink very often while raising her daughters.

After turning 40, Tammy began allowing herself a glass of wine at the end of the day. It was used as a reward for making it through the day with three young children. After the financial crisis, Tammy and her husband had to sell their dream house. There was a lot of strain on their marriage as well and they eventually divorced. Finding herself alone raising three daughters, Tammy would start drinking more.

After she began dating her current husband, Tammy says her drinking slowed down. He was sober but didn’t mind that she drank. After a while they got engaged and moved in together. Tammy says things were going great and then COVID lockdown found the family coming and going a lot, and it was a party all the time. She was exhausted all the time and even though she knew it was due to her drinking she wasn’t ready to quit. Over the summer after their wedding, she had some failed moderation attempts and there were a lot of birthday parties. After the last party around Labor Day, Tammy had a moment of clarity where she knew she had to quit.

After Tammy had quit, she started reading books and listening to podcasts. She wasn’t interested in AA although she does see it’s value and it helped her husband. The scientific information blew her away, Tammy says. She slept a lot in the first month of sobriety. After that, she began to notice her general health was improving. The value of hearing people’s stories on podcasts has helped Tammy a lot. By writing her book, she wants to help lift people up and show them the way.

Tammy’s parting piece of guidance: get quiet and just listen to yourself and believe in yourself.

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