ex and would be ex-gamblers support thread

Buffythedebtslayer

Hey Fabulous George, good to see you and see that you are staying strong.

Hugs, the sun will shine soon and all this winter crap will go!

xxx

TMoose

Buffythedebtslayer wrote: »

Hey Fabulous George, good to see you and see that you are staying strong.

Hugs, the sun will shine soon and all this winter crap will go!

xxx

All this and more... If you feel the need George, just pop on here, and read this thread - it should take you long enough that by the time you're finished, that urge will have gone!

I'm also a big sufferer during winter - fortunately this year, I've been so busy with work/life that gambling has taken a back seat. Plus I've found that pottering around the flat has helped when I've got the urge. I may only tidy one thing before the urge goes, but it's one less thing to tidy later! Long hot baths/showers are also recommended, as are the usual distractions of books, computer games and TV - we've got addictive personalities, so maybe it's just a case of channelling that energy into something good. Let's use our powers for GOOD

Keep it up guys - this is 10months and 1 day for me...

Moose

regret70

Hi

I have only this week admitted to myself i have a problem. i am 25 yr old female and have been gambling for about 18 months. before then i had only ever bought a lottery ticket and never even entertained the idea of casinos etc. although with all the advertising on TV now im suprised not more people have fallen into the trap.
Anyway I am determined to turn my life around and get the life back that i had before this stupidness.

george don't give up, and dont fall for the 'free' things on the casinos. there are no such things as free. they just want you to fall into the trap and spend all your money.

I have taken up baking to occupy my time and joined a gym (£10 a month!) i go every night and have a new routine so there is no time for gambling in my life anymore. i do get tempted but i have to distract myself until the urge passes.

good luck all, i will pop on to this board as much as i can beacuse its really helpful to speak to people in the same boat. I am also starting a blog about gambling in a bid to put people off.

cantcope

Welcome to the thread regret. I too took up baking to take my mind off gambling when i first stopped, although i put on loads of weight. Over 3 years on and my life is so full i have no time for baking or more importantly gambling. Keep up the good work.

George. scary times. maybe time to put a block on the computer. xx you know that you wouldnt stop at the "free bet". please post over the weekend to let us know how you're going. I'm off to an extra meeting tonight. I dont feel like i need it but i have no other plans so i thought why not?

Have a great bet free weekend everyone x

Twirly

I agree that this is a great idea. I personally don't have an issue with gambling, but I can see how easy it is to fall into it and I really think that these betting sites should have restrictions on what they can accept. I know that George you mentioned you can only make 30 transactions in one day, but that's too much. How can the companies claim to encourage responsible gambling with a so called restriction like that in place, it's awful. Just like banks who give credit cards to students, these companies only care about profit and don't take any notice of the destruction they leave behind them. Rant over, great idea though, I think it would really help people :-)

riquelme

hi everyone, some bad news here. It looks like my marriage is over after a long talk last night, looks like we have run our course, we've had some great times together but the truth is that when she told me she wanted to split on xmas eve, well i think we lost something that day that cant come back, was gutted she decided to tell me on that day and it ruined my xmas.

The hard bit will be missing my children, they mean everything to me, im hoping its not going to be messy and we can respect each other and the kids needs too.

the practicalities are that im going hang around until we sort the house out, not sure if that means selling and splitting and both finding new houses. or whether she stays with the kids and buys me out and i find a new pad. Only trouble with that is i still owe approx 17k on a DMP and may struggle getting a mortgage (any advice?) anyway, thats the plan. its going to be tough because i worship the little people in my life and cant bear the thought of being away from them

good news is, and george i hope you and others can take strength from this, i still dont feel like gambling. my motivation rightly or wrongly was to stay with my partner and keep the family together, now the motivation is that i know that 1st bet however small will lead to total devastation and it doesnt bear thinking about.

keep strong everyone

GeorgeUK

Damn Riq, i was hoping you two would be able to pull through this. Is there any chance she may reconsider or try marriage guidance?

Can't offer any advice regarding the mortgage/DMP situation. Good to hear you're not tempted with the gambling - still got my fingers crossed for the longshot though. :grouphug:

cantcope

Hi Riq,

Sorry to hear your news but am really pleaseed you dont want to gamble. You are right, it will lead to total devastation.

Do you really need a mortgage? can you rent somewhere for now? Maybe citizens advice may be able to help you with that question.
I can't advise on your marriage but If you can continue to show your wife that you are not gambling and want that better life you have a future with your children.

Keep strong everyone xx

riquelme

thanks for your thoughts and comments but i think its all over. we may regret giving it more of a go and exploring counselling, although we dont feel comfortable with that option. we are both focussing on making it as pain less for our children as possible. lets hope its as amicable as can be.

weird feeling yesterday walking past bookies, i had this feeling of 'lets have a bet' and it lasted longer than usual which concerned me but i suddenly thought ' i will probably lose anyway'

ive had a few of those thoughts recently but no further temptation - staying strong and getting debts down and hopefully a painless few months going through this. the tough part will be leaving and telling the kids.

today, i will not gamble. stay strong amigos

xgingerx

Hi Guys, just reading this thread from time to time spurs me on not to be tempted, its been a while now and not missed my addiction to online poker, often get the thought to sign up but have self exculded from most now so this has helped me, going on holiday to Dominican in August so this is spurring me on not to waste money on gambling and put the money i used to gamble to the holiday fund, also pay it straight off the holiday so i cant be tempted
Thanks all and hope your all doing well !!