The giving up/cutting down alcohol support thread! Part 3

115K

Happy Birthday Lurkio.:bdaycake::dance:I hope you have a great day.

I feel so much better today not having a hangover and feeling open eyed. It probably won't stop me having a few drinks today though.:rolleyes: I am going to get a much better score this month though. I can feel it in my bones.

maz123 wrote: »

Hope everyone has a good day, and come on Andy (Wimbledon)

:T I hope he does well today.

AvaNother

Happy Birthday Lurkio. Hope you have a fab day. Is it going to be easy/ok not to drink on your b/day?

I'm hoping that today will be my first AFD for July, so I'm feeling nervously excited - and thank you all for being so encouraging.

Lotus-eater

AvaNother wrote: »

Happy Birthday Lurkio. Hope you have a fab day. Is it going to be easy/ok not to drink on your b/day?

I'm hoping that today will be my first AFD for July, so I'm feeling nervously excited - and thank you all for being so encouraging.

It's a new month, I'm going to be trying very hard in July as well.

Morning everyone :wave:

cattybags

Hi,
Can I join in please? I really want to be AF because I spend a horrendous amount on alcohol (200+ a month out of not a very high wage) and I drink too much.
I was drinking a bottle (sometimes a bottle and a half of 13% red wine a night then I started cutting back the alcohol content (rather than the quantity) and for the past couple of weeks I've had a bottle of 9% a night.
The reason I'm doing it that way is because I am sooooo scared I'll get withdrawal symptoms. I am intending to try to cut quantity now, but it's so difficult not to just finish the bottle.
I managed to stop smoking over 5 years ago, which was really nice and moneysaving, but gradually this has crept up on me, and its so expensive.
So, while I might not have AF days quite yet, I do want to cut back to the point at which I will have no alcohol.
Or do you think I'll be ok and not get withdrawal symptoms if I just stop and have AF days? It's waking up at 3 in the morning with my heart pounding and getting anxious that really bothers me
The silly thing is, I didn't even drink AT ALL until I was 33. Stupid eh?!!!

Lotus-eater

I'm very new here, but they all seem really nice, so welcome.
I would think it would be very good for you just stopping and having a few AF days, withdrawal symptoms or not.

graemecarter

cattybags wrote: »

Hi,
Can I join in please? I really want to be AF because I spend a horrendous amount on alcohol (200+ a month out of not a very high wage) and I drink too much.
I was drinking a bottle (sometimes a bottle and a half of 13% red wine a night then I started cutting back the alcohol content (rather than the quantity) and for the past couple of weeks I've had a bottle of 9% a night.
The reason I'm doing it that way is because I am sooooo scared I'll get withdrawal symptoms. I am intending to try to cut quantity now, but it's so difficult not to just finish the bottle.
I managed to stop smoking over 5 years ago, which was really nice and moneysaving, but gradually this has crept up on me, and its so expensive.
So, while I might not have AF days quite yet, I do want to cut back to the point at which I will have no alcohol.
Or do you think I'll be ok and not get withdrawal symptoms if I just stop and have AF days? It's waking up at 3 in the morning with my heart pounding and getting anxious that really bothers me
The silly thing is, I didn't even drink AT ALL until I was 33. Stupid eh?!!!

First thing is well done. You have admitted your drinking is out of control, and that is difficult for most people. Seeking help is the first hurdle crossed.
You may get withdrawal symptoms, but most of the time these are mental not physical. If you read this thread, the reason people will go AF and then pick up after a period of sobriety is all mental.
I know for me that cutting down did not work - I was utterly miserable if I controlled my drinking. Thus I had to stop altogether.
I used to wake in the morning with a tight, knotted stomach, and this was fear. Alcohol used to remove this fear temporarily, but then it would come back in spades.
You are feeling lots of fear, and alcohol stops working after a while and then compounds these fears. This is because life is difficult, (problems are not just all caused by alcohol) . I drank to escape life. Now, I live a happy life and don't NEED to drink alcohol to escape.
F.E.A.R. > Fook Everything And Run
F.E.A.R. > Face Everything And Recover

I lived in the first, now I try to live in the 2nd

Good luck - if this thread doesn't work, try other things. CBT, AA, Rehab, etc

mollypolly

Morning all...
A shiny sparkly new month so good luck with all your targets.
Its fab that everyone is doing so well.

Cattybag....as Lotus eater says...maybe it would be worth trying to stop.....just one day at a time...baby steps.....I didn't get many withdrawal symptoms....apart from mad dreams:D....Maybe set yourself a very low target and start slowly.....then who knows how many days you will do.Do you want to give up completely or just cut down?
Whatever you decide...Good luck.

Have a lovely day everyone
Love Mollypollyxxxx

mollypolly

Thanks GC....you posted whilst I was writing.....and you say things so much more eloquently than me:o
Everything you say is how I feel.
Thanks again
Mollypollyxxxx

Wanna_Bee_Free

Welcome Cattybags, I was drinking about the same as you, a bottle of wine or more on a daily basis for several years and didn't have any physical withdrawal systems when I had my first AFD and I didn't cut down quantity first. I mainly drank white wine not red. I found the first few AFDs my main 'symptom' was a kind of restless, listless pacing feeling of being unable to settle to anything at the time I would usually drink wine. I only get that feeling occasionally now, but initially it was there every day I didn't drink. I went to the cinema ( ignoring the bar) and tried to keep busy with lots of things. Others here are into gardening in the evening while it's so nice and light.

The changes I have so far over the last few months are better skin and sleeping much better. I often wake up at 3 or 4 in the morning if I drink too much. I am still drinking too much some days but I believe the other days I am having alcohol free are really making a difference overall.

Hope this wittering helps and good luck whether you decide to continue cutting down the quantity of wine first or go straight for an AFD. As Graeme said, it's important to find what works for you, we're all different.

Right, off to get away from the computer for a bit and do something useful, have a good day everyone.

AvaNother

Hi Cattybags - we're at the same stage - new to the forum and slightly apprehensive.
When I've cut out/down in the past (as someone/somewhere has said: its easy to give up smoking, I've done it hundreds of times!) I've felt really proud of myself, but unfortunately the little monster in my head gets hold again and then I'm back to drinking lots every day.
The one thing I've found a problem is the sugar craving. I hadn't realised that it was lack of wine that was causing it - but I was eating up to 5 packs of fruit pastilles a day - I just thought I was treating myself 'cos I wasn't drinking. Then I got toothache ...

Anyway, I need to find something else to do when the sugar craving comes - cleaning my teeth maybe as has been previously suggested on here, or chewing gum - just to get some sort of flavour.

Are peeps still taking the Kudzu? It hasn't been mentioned for a while and am wondering whether to get some.