Day 2 of sobriety. I picked up my white chip this morning. It felt good to stand in front of a group of other people and say, “I will not drink today.”
I enjoyed the morning with my grand baby, Amelia. We played outside collecting pecans, swinging, working in the garden and walking the dog. Then we hung Christmas lights around the house and Christmas stockings in front of the fireplace. Finally we ran over to Pier One where I asked her to help me pick out some decorations for the house.
I drank heavily when my children were little and had very little interest in decorating for the holidays. In fact, I was a real “Bah, Humbug” around holiday time. But now with a grand child I want to be fully engaged in my life. So I decided to go all out and decorate BIG this Christmas. I even bought candles for the menorah my husband’s mother gave us.
We lit five Hanukkah candles and said the blessing. “Baruch ata Ado-nai, Elo-heinu Melech ha’olam, Asher kid’shanu b’mitzvosav v’tzivanu l’hadlik ner shel Chanukah.” I know tradition requires we wait until sunset and that this is the 6th day of Hanukkah but we wanted Amelia to understand her rich spiritual heritage. She sang along with us. We will light all six candles this evening.
While we were fixing lunch, I “took tired.”
I could hardly hold my head up. We ate a quick meal of dal and non-gluten toast after which I laid down and went right to sleep. Jimmy played with Amelia. When I woke up, I remembered that every time I quit drinking, which I have done repeatedly, I do feel incredibly tired the first few days. I also suffer from insomnia. I was just reading online that both of these conditions accompany alcohol withdrawal. Makes perfect sense to me.
The National Institute of Health sites these as the effects of alcohol.
Drinking too much – on a single occasion or over time – can take a serious toll on your health. Here’s how alcohol can affect your body:
Brain:
Alcohol interferes with the brain’s communication pathways, and can affect the way the brain looks and works. These disruptions can change mood and behavior, and make it harder to think clearly and move with coordination.Heart:
Drinking a lot over a long time or too much on a single occasion can damage the heart, causing problems including:
- Cardiomyopathy – Stretching and drooping of heart muscle
- Arrhythmias – Irregular heart beat
- Stroke
- High blood pressure
Research also shows that drinking moderates amount of alcohol may protect healthy adults from developing coronary heart disease.
Liver:
Heavy drinking takes a toll on the liver, and can lead to a variety of problems and liver inflammations including:
- Steatosis, or fatty liver
- Alcoholic hepatitis
- Fibrosis
- Cirrhosis
Pancreas:
Alcohol causes the pancreas to produce toxic substances that can eventually lead to pancreatitis, a dangerous inflammation and swelling of the blood vessels in the pancreas that prevents proper digestion.Cancer:
Drinking too much alcohol can increase your risk of developing certain cancers, including cancers of the:
- Mouth
- Esophagus
- Throat
- Liver
- Breast
Immune System:
Drinking too much can weaken your immune system, making your body a much easier target for disease. Chronic drinkers are more liable to contract diseases like pneumonia and tuberculosis than people who do not drink too much. Drinking a lot on a single occasion slows your body’s ability to ward off infections – even up to 24 hours after getting drunk.
Writing into the Light 