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When I started my sobriety journey, removing alcohol from my life caused me to feel physically and emotionally worse at the beginning. From speaking with others, this is a very common side-effect of alcohol-withdrawal. I wanted from the very moment I committed to becoming alcohol-free, to give myself the best opportunity of success. I, therefore, started looking into things that I can do to help make myself feel better and my body to recover from alcohol abuse as quickly and effectively as possible. One question that kept coming into my mind was, should I take supplements when I stop drinking?

*Disclaimer Alert* Please understand, I am not a medical expert or nutritionist, I also have no endorsements or affiliations with any supplement brands or companies. I merely wish to provide you with my own research into this subject matter, in the hope that it gives you some new information to consider for assistance with your sobriety journey.

Symptoms of Alcohol Withdrawal

If you are starting out on your road to recovery, then I first wanted to go through some of the symptoms I experienced when I removed alcohol from my daily life. I thought that when I stopped drinking, I would instantly feel better, but I was very wrong with this thinking. I actually felt worse before I started to feel better. If you are feeling the same, then do not despair. This is, unfortunately, a normal part of the recovery process. Here is just some of the symptoms I had (in no particular order)

• Mood Swings – From the first day of stopping drinking, I wanted to drink again. I had conditioned myself over the course of years that alcohol was the answer. It was my ‘go to’ to relax, enjoy social occasions and to use if I was stressed. I went from feeling majorly positive to feelings of anger and resentment within very quick time periods. This (for me) eventually did level out as my dependency on alcohol started to decrease over the course of days and weeks.
• Shaking – One of the key motivators that caused me to start my sobriety journey was seeing my hands shake from alcohol consumption. ‘The shakes’ did continue for a number of days but a noticeable improvement had taken place within a week.
• Insomnia – I didn’t realise how much alcohol caused me to sleep. Once I had removed it, I did struggle to sleep for a number of nights. This has a huge knock on impact to overall mood and ability to think clearly. However, I used exercise during the day to help sleep come at night, as well as going to bed when I was struggling to keep my eyes open to assist with this.
• Cravings – ‘Just 1 drink won’t hurt, will it?’ ‘I haven’t drunk for a week so surely I can control it.’ These thoughts crept in quite quickly. Boredom was the main motivator for the old voices to come back into my head and cravings to occur. I threw myself into work and my family life to help occupy my brain and keep me focused on recovery and not cravings.

Recommended Article – Sober Curious – Are you sober curious? What is the sober curious movement?

As you can see, committing to sobriety was a major step in my life and although I didn’t have that utopia moment from the start, the feelings of relief, control and freedom came later when I realised that I was nailing sobriety.

With the above symptoms and overall feeling rubbish from the damage I had done to my body and the dependency created to alcohol, I started to research if particular supplements could help with the journey. Some particular supplements I found to be a great help and others, not so much. So, I wanted to go through some of my favourites.

Supplements Recommended to me or Researched:

• GABA – Studies are ongoing into the benefits of GABA supplement, but people have reported that this has made a noticeable difference with lowering anxiety and helping to boost feelings of relaxation.
• B-Vitamins – Known for helping to lay the foundations of a healthy body. People report that B-vitamins have a positive direct impact on energy levels, along with aiding well-being and promoting cell health and metabolism.
• Melatonin – The natural hormone, melatonin plays a vital role in your sleep-wake cycle. As mentioned above, I struggled with sleep when starting my alcohol-free life. If you are experiencing the same, then you should look into the benefits of melatonin supplements with providing insomnia relief.
• Calcium – The verdict is still out on the benefits of calcium supplements, however, it is held that calcium contributes toward normal energy metabolism. If you are noticing that your energy levels are suffering with sobriety, then you should look into calcium supplements yourself.
• Zinc – Considered by some as an essential mineral for mental health, Zinc has been reported to help with anxiety and may help with addiction withdrawal.

The key thing to remember is that what works for some, doesn’t work for all. If you are interested in the potential benefit of taking supplements to aid the recovery process, then I would urge you to look further in to this. If you have tried supplements yourself and not noticed any positive impact, then that’s fine as well. The key to sobriety success is to explore, research and evaluate to find out what works for you.

I know that for me, a critical part to my sobriety was keeping an open mind. Listening to others with an unbiased view and then taking that advice and doing my own research. I would love to hear from you in the comments on your opinions of supplements with alcohol recovery. Have you tried supplements but not noticed any positive benefits? Or, are there certain supplements that you swear by? Please let me know as you may also be able to give guidance and advice to others who are now starting out on their road to recovery.

I hope you find this blog on symptoms of alcohol withdrawal and potential supplements that may aid recovery for you useful. Please also check out my YouTube Channel where I upload videos on a range of topics on sobriety and my journey so far.

 

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