Pink Cloud Syndrome

Recovery
#1

I am now 55 days into my recovery and, after ups and downs to begin with, have been on a steady up lately, feeling great, and having good things happening in my life almost on a daily basis. The best feeling I can describe it as is euphoric with no cravings. I met with my new AA sponsor this week, who is great, and told him how I was feeling and how things were going, and he said I was having Pink Cloud Syndrome. He said to watch out because it is common in early recovery and can lead to overconfidence and disappointment when it passes and resultant relapse, which has happened to me before and scares me.

Has anybody experienced this before and what have you done to avoid relapse if and when the cloud clears? My euphoria is now quickly turning to fear and anxiety, which is one of my triggers.

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#2

Oh sure… I totally had that happen to me. My sponsor told me pretty much the same thing. What I found is make sure the scales are even.. keep a level head and don’t get too caught up in the good or the bad. Just keep in the moment. It will all level out soon enough. Keep talking to your sponsor and going to meetings! That cloud carry’s with it infectious traits and someone may need some!

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#3

Definitely, your sponsor gave you very honest good advice. It will all level out soon, if you can transition into step work as that pink cloud starts to disappear, that’s where I’ve seen people have better success. It’s a timing thing. Brother…. Ride that cloud while it’s still there​:joy: I miss it at times still, it happens to give you a raft of what healthy sobriety can be but when it’s gone the work needs to be done to have a healthy sobriety. You are totally worthy of sobriety, keep it up :+1:

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#4

My pink cloud dissolved about two weeks ago, & I struggled for a few days. But I rode it out, and decided I could create another pink cloud myself. :slight_smile: these last couple days, I feel a lot more stable & positive!

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#5

Good to know. Still on mine. Hopefully, I can do the same. Thank you.

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#6

Thank you Brian. Am glad my sponsor gave me the heads up and is out in front of me on it and having me really work the steps.

#7

In the meantime friend, ride that pink cloud like you own it, enjoy every minute :+1:

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#8

In the beginning, we want to feel good. We hear that everybody else is feeling great and we want to join the club. If you're life was anything like mine, I had wreaked a lot of havoc in my life while I was out there qualifying. There wasn't much good going on in my life at all in the beginning and so I tried to pretend that everything was great. But deep down inside I was a wreck.

I had a lot of work to do In order to experience the real joy that comes eventually to those who take the steps.

Your sponsor is right. We can convince ourselves that life is just so wonderfully beautiful before we actually put forth the work. One day the reality of our new life sets in and it just doesn't feel that good (yet) and so we want to drink again because that's the only way we know how to not feel what we're feeling.

Take it one day at a time and get into those steps. The pink cloud syndrome will pass and the promises will start to come true in your life.

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