ex and would be ex-gamblers support thread

riquelme

thanks CC, so far so good. been busy all weekend with friends and the kids. work is mad busy so no problems in the week.

youve overcome worse nightmares CC, just a blip as you say.

x

cantcope

Hi Riq, glad to hear weekend went ok.
Bloody big blips these arent they! Oh well, nobody ever said it was easy but i know for a fact having a bet wont make it better.

cantcope

How's everyone doing?

Karrie2129

Hi.
Newbie to this thread. Looking forward to hopefully sharing and learning from everyone. I've had a gambling problem for maybe 7 years now. Thought it was under control (hadn't gambled in ages) then lost about 2500 in two months. Not only had to tell my husband, but our debt free/ baby plans now take a back seat.

I find that when I am home alone ( husband works nights) it has become a way to pass the time. Even thinking of joining the gym to keep me busy.

It's just not easy.....

cantcope

Hi Karrie,
welcome to the thread. No it's not easy but you can stop. If you ggamble online ask you husband to install K9. It's a child lock but you can choose to block gambling with a password to unblock. No point you doing it yourself as you'll know the password but hubby can choose one.
It will also show him you are serious about wanting to stop xx
I've had it for years even when i lived alone i got my dad to choose a password. It will take away the temptation when you are feeling lonely, bored, frustrated.....

You will never be in control of your gambling once you've crossed the line. If you are serious about wanting to stop for good this time then you'll put the block on x

feel free to come and vent, moan, talk whenever you like. x

Karrie2129

Thank you!

3 days gambling free. Closed all my accounts. Removed from all mailing lists. New budget planner done to clear debts as fast as possible.

fingers crossed.....

samorgo

Hi everyone!

It's been months since I was last on here but i have recently faltered and undone a lot of the hard work I had done

Whilst I have gone crazy over the last few days - thinking I could JUST have a little bit of fun on my fave site turned (once again) into a nightmare - it has reminded me that I can never gamble again. So tonight despite wanting to keep trying to win the money back (which so far has cost me in excess of £2000 ) I have self excluded myself from all those sites that I excluded myself from this time last year when I hit the major bump in the road. This time I have excluded myself for the full term (5 years) wherever I could and the block is on the new laptop that I had allowed myself to play on.

I'm gutted that I have lapsed and I am disguisted in myself for having allowed things to get to this again but it has taught me a few positive points:
* I can never gamble again - and I pledge never to gamble again.
* I hadn't gambled for over 6 months so I can do this.
* Whilst I gambled this time to try and ease my financial worries it's only when I updated my signature on this site that I realise just how far I have come in the past year - I'm still a long way from being debt free but I have paid off far more than I gave myself credit for and it's something I can feel really proud of.

The feelings aren't as bad as when things really fell apart last year and I'm proud that I have taken responsibility, learnt that I can't win it back and had the strength to stop trying.

I didn't realise how in denial I was (about many things) but my actions this week have shown me once again that I am an addict and I will have to fight this addiction for the rest of my life.

I hope I can be welcomed back into the fold as I really need your support - it's one day at a time once again because I know how hard it will be to resist the urge to try and win the money back but I feel that I have put the barriers in place that can help in a practical way and I need to remind myself that I have the strength to fight this emotionally.

Many thanks for your time x

samorgo

Well day 1 is almost over and I can't say it has been easy. The first things I thought about when I woke up was gambling, never gambling again and the money issues I have caused. However I got up and went to work - an overtime shift which made me feel better. After a busy day there I have come home and for once haven't had the urge to gamble. I am going to keep myself occupied and busy (plenty of cheap things to do that will make me feel better) and I'm looking forward to pay day next week knowing that I won't waste it all on gambling.

Take care everyone x

Gazza1964

samorgo wrote: »

Well day 1 is almost over and I can't say it has been easy. The first things I thought about when I woke up was gambling, never gambling again and the money issues I have caused. However I got up and went to work - an overtime shift which made me feel better. After a busy day there I have come home and for once haven't had the urge to gamble. I am going to keep myself occupied and busy (plenty of cheap things to do that will make me feel better) and I'm looking forward to pay day next week knowing that I won't waste it all on gambling.

Take care everyone x

Hi Samorgo and well done.

I am 21 days in and know I will never gamble again.

Reading your post from earlier was very familiar to me so good luck to you and keep looking forward.

Gazza

samorgo

Thanks Gazza.

I finally feel as though my life is on track...
I got up this morning and went for a run - something I haven't done in a long time. It was great to have time to think and one thing that came to me was that I always want the quick fix - I want to be fit within a few seesions, I want to lose half a stone in weight in a week; I want to pay off all my debt by Christmas... Then I realised that all the 'addictions' in my life (namely gambling and food) have one thing in common - I use them to change how I feel, thinking it will make me feel better in the short term and denying that it will make me miserable in the long term.

So from these observations I have decided that from now on I need to make choices in the present whilst considering their impact on my future. I need to make small positive steps knowing that they will lead to big things over time. I also need to accept that there are no quick fixes and sorting out both my weight and my debt will take time but I can do this - one day at a time!

I hope my positivity will inspire others and I look forward to be able to gain and give support to others as I know how horrible a life (or should that be existence!) gambling is...

Good luck everyone x