The Giving up/ Cutting down Alcohol support thread- number 10

lionheartedgirl

Hi everyone,

just popping out of lurkdom to say hello and congratulate everyone on how well they are doing :j it's such a hard journey with lots of horrible questions to face.

I read this thread most days and over the last year have also been on a bit of a mission to understand my drinking patterns a bit more.

When Tony Blair's book came out last year, and he talked about his drinking habits going from a GnT before dinner and then half a bottle of wine shared over dinner, to a couple of GnTs and a couple of bottles of wine a night to unwind after a stressful day, it really rang true as this was exactly what I was doing ( bit less wine though as I'm only diddy!)

My drinking wouldn't constitute a serious 'alcoholic' issue - which like many others I would associate with bottles of vodka under the sink etc. But the fact that I couldn't face a day without a little drink of something in the evening, well to me that suggested some dependency however small

I'm much more under control now - I don't buy bottles of wine as I can never stop at one glass, and I find that I don't even enjoy the wine sometimes but will still feel compelled to drink it. I only have wine if I am out with friends, and even then I prefer to only have it with food.

I have a bottle of gin in the cupboard as I am able to stay under control with this much more, but do you know what, I absolutely love tonic water on its own now, therefore often I will just have that instead.

My main way of coping has been to accept that often when I feel the urge to have a 'drink' I am just thirsty so I try to make sure there is always a bottle of posh cordial (lemongrass and ginger being a particular favourite!), sparkling water, and tonic water to hand. I always have it out of a beautiful glass, with ice/lime etc so it feels like an event or a treat or whatever you call it.

It works for me but I never would have begun to explore all this without the threads on here. October was my best month yet and I had 15 AF days including 2 on holiday! I track them but don't set targets.

Thanks for all the support this thread provides (even though you don't know how many people you are supporting!)

May2013

Well done on 15 AFD's in October lionheartedgirl :T.
Like you I also 'tart' up a soft drink to make it feel special and it works a treat!! Haven't heard of lemongrass and ginger cordial before, it sounds delicious.....need to hunt it down in the shops!!!

Good luck on maintaining the great progress your making... don't forget, you don't need to set a target to be part of this thread so feel free to drop in anytime

PriceySOS

:TThanks to everybody's various advice regarding avoiding drinking too much last night while hosting my daughter's 18th celebration at my house - I had 1 glass of champagne all night, which was a great compromise :T The girls enjoyed themselves - singing very loudly to S-Club-7 songs (they grew up with them!). The kitchen floor was a bit mucky, so I ended up cleaning that at 1:00 am after they had all gone off to a night club near where we live and my friends finally went home :eek:

Interesting to read about everybody's different panic experiences due to alcohol too.

Have a great day everybody. I'll have a couple of glasses of vino tonight, planned non-AFD, but WILL NOT go over the top - just cannot bear the thought of the panic attacks tomorrow

allym464

I have out work christmas party coming up in a couple of weeks and dont want to drink... but I also want to avoid the usual 'why arent you drinking?' 'go on just have one' which leads to more than one! Does anyone have any useful suggestions or shall I just use the ol 'just took some allergy tablets'!
I have had drinks with them before so they know I did drink!!

beckseven

7 afds for me please shaggy. ALLym464-if I was you i'd just try and disguise the fact you arent drinking-I became quite adept at this when I was in the early stages of my pregnancies and managed to go on a hen weekend without anyone noticing I wasn't drinking! Get to the bar when you first get there and get a drink that looks like a short-eg lime and soda, coke or lemonade or an af beer and keep that going all night-if there is wine at the table let them pour you a wine but dont drink it-just keep picking it up every so often!

shaggydoo

Morning :hello:

Nothing to add here. Had 2 glasses of white last night....

Have a good day

Shaggyx

bearacus

12 AF please shaggy x

Allym464- As becks said try to divert attention away from you not drinking because it s normally only when you state ' I'm not drinking' people become aware I have drank cranberry juice all night and people just thought it was my usual vodka and cranberry or apple and raspberry j2o in a wine glass can pass as a rose. HTH xx

Have a nice weekend everyone x
Bearacus x

gardenanna

Good morning everyone. I hope you all survived Saturday night. I've had an about-turn weekend so far. After promising myself a couple of drinks on my work's night out on Friday I ended up not drinking at all then last night which I'd planned to be AF I had 2 glasses of wine!
On Friday my workmates went to the pub straight from work - we finish at half 4 on a Friday! I wasn't working and had kids to see to so joined them at 7. When I got there one person was driving and on soft drinks, one had had a couple and gone on to non-alcoholic and the rest were well on their way to getting wazzed. I felt conspicuously sober so gravitated to the 2 non drinkers and had a great night - ending up with the 3 of us roaring with laughter at the rest, who really must have been suffering on Saturday. Then on Saturday I had a really busy day and when I finally got home with a couple of steaks it seemed ok to open a bottle of red. I had 2 small glasses - really enjoyed the first but I think the second was just "go on then" and I feel fine this morning. It's tonight I'm scared off. Having broken my run of AF days will I keep on drinking. That's what has always happened in the past and that's what I'd like to conquer.

Have a good Sunday folks. Just checking in with you guys is making such a difference - thank you.

allym464

Thanks Beckseven and Bearacus for this tips I am so far 4 days AFD!

fakeplastictwee

Morning everyone. Nothing to add, just checking in. *wave*

Went to the pub last night so wasn't AF, planning on getting back on the wagon today until next Saturday hopefully.