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

graemecarter

darwins_mum wrote: »

Morning all, another AFD yesterday. I sat out in the garden with friends last night, all of whom drank. I explained that I am now af, and was met once again with incomprehenisble silence. One of the friends said that in the last 6 months her alcohol consumption has increased from occassional use to daily. I told her that was the reason that I decided to stop.
As an aside, has anyone else noticed extreme tiredness after reducing/ quitting alcohol?
Have a great day y'all.

I noticed that. I believe it's because my body was finally able to listen to itself without alcohol drowning those messages out. I felt knackered!
I think also it's a very emotional time, and I felt raw, which is mentally tiring.

graemecarter

moo2moo wrote: »

The withdrawl symptoms of a heavy social drinker

My OH has been alcohol free for 20 days.

The first week was a breeze. Minimal cravings, major stomach upsets, cramps, diahorhea, next to no appetite and a little bit snappy with everyone.

Week 2 - the cravings kicked in. Everytime something happened that annoyed him he was looking for a drink to help him cope. Still suffering the diahorhea which became progressively worse. Headaches started along with minor shakes, feeling very cold and struggling to be civil to people. Alongside this came the enthusiasm for doing things which has been absent from his life for a very long time.

Week 3 - Still suffering the stomach upsets (although not as frequently), the tiredness and feeling cold although this has been joined by aching muscles and joints and random stomach cramps. The cravings are fewer but stronger and triggered by things happening which are out of his control. Daft things like the kids arguing over a tv programme. He has no patience whatsoever but is beginnning to think about long term things. Hes a much nicer person to be around. We've had one major wobble which saw him driving to the shop to buy a bottle which sat unopened in the kitchen overnight and was then stashed out of sight. Hes only just beginning to realise how much drinking has affected him and everyone around him.

The plusses outweigh the negatives. I'd love to say we're financially better off now that hes not spending £10-£25 a night on booze but thats not true. Hes spent far more than that on projects to occupy himself and stop him sitting on the sofa getting slowly more and more drunk.

Equally it would be nice to say that reducing his calorie intake by the 2000 plus calories found in his nightly vino has made a huge difference to his waistline but thats not true either. His body is very bloated and retaining huge amounts of water to the point he could easily pass as someone well into the final stages of pregnancy. Substituting his booze for coke (the drinking not the snorting kind) and fresh fruit juice isn't really helping but hes craving sugar and is still eating less than our 8 year old daughter thanks to a total lack of appetite.

Hopefully over the next few weeks his body will settle down to being alcohol free which should make life easier for him.

It would be at this point that I should point out that OH does not consider himself an alcoholic. In fact as far as hes concerned hes just a regular social drinker who has over done it a bit and has gradually crept from a couple of glasses of wine with dinner to two or three bottles and a couple of cans of beer or cider consumed at break neck speed in a very very short space of time prior to flaking out in a heap to wake up an hour or so later as an obscenely verbally abusive ranter none of which he remembers in the morning.

Its been hard on him but its made a huge difference to those around him with the most difference being noted at work where someone finally told him hes been like a zombie for months and its nice to finally see him happy. Thats made more difference than anything I could ever say or do.

Hes not alone in this. Its far more common than you think but admitting it to yourself is the second hardest thing you'll ever do. The hardest thing is actually doing something about it.

It's not easy.
I think the hardest thing is actually not getting complacent, and keeping it up.....

The sober me picked up that first drink, so that tells me that I am the problem, not alcohol. Alcohol was just a manisfestation of my condition (alcoholism). Unless I changed myself, I would never keep off the sauce for long.

I didn't have withdrawal symptoms like your OH, but I did pick up again, and kept on picking up again until I got help and admitted I am an alcoholic.

StressedOutSue

13 AFDs for me, please, Shaggy.

Was AF again last night (Sat) because I'd had a bottle of wine (9 units) on Friday - but I'm pleased with myself for not giving in last night, and I feel fantastic today. Unlike Shaggy, I too am unable to just 'sip', but I've managed to stop myself from opening another bottle when one has been finished - I used to have one bottle and one third, which, although not making me completely drunk, gave me a pretty bad hangover the next day. So very, very slowly improving - and it is only one one night per week.

Lovely and sunny here today

Have a good day everybody

Miss_Piggy_2

StressedOutSue wrote: »

13 AFDs for me, please, Shaggy.

Was AF again last night (Sat) because I'd had a bottle of wine (9 units) on Friday - but I'm pleased with myself for not giving in last night, and I feel fantastic today. Unlike Shaggy, I too am unable to just 'sip', but I've managed to stop myself from opening another bottle when one has been finished - I used to have one bottle and one third, which, although not making me completely drunk, gave me a pretty bad hangover the next day. So very, very slowly improving - and it is only one one night per week.

Lovely and sunny here today

Have a good day everybody

Oh thats so like me SOS! I can usually do one bottle and a glass. Any more than that and its too much for me. Trouble is, that first bottle disappears very quickly!

Miss P
x

mackeroo

12 please Shaggy thanks
Went to see the film West is West last night and i was a bit disappointed with it, it made me wonder why they bothered to do a sequel as the storyline was poor and it wasnt as funny as the 1st one, i guess thats quite often the case with sequels.

Been spening most of of today in the garden doing bits and pieces, due to a glitch on the other boards i got loadsa vouchers for a gardening company and then ordered a pile of plants and trees which i got last week. i aint no Percy Thrower so its all a bit random and i dont read any of the labels about how/where things should be planted. It drives my DH mad, but you know what my garden always looks very colourful in the summer.

Have a nice day all....im determined to remain AF today, the fact thats its sunny is a challenge as i always like a can of cider when the sun is shining so im planning to keep busy

mackeroo

shaggydoo wrote: »

This thread is so great:D

I will second that Shaggy!

rachelww1

Not AF as night. Went to a friends house and had a few beers. But I didn't go too mad. In fact, after 4 bottles and a can (which is not normally a lot for me), I decided I'd had enough and came home. My DH stayed and was gobsmacked . I never normally leave a party first. Felt a bit rubbish this morning, but was fine by lunchtime. Planning on being AF tonight as I don't like hangovers.

Miss_Piggy_2

Evening everyone

Well what a lovely day its been. Hope everyones had the same sunshine we've had.

Mackeroo - sounds like my sort of gardening! My mum is a fantastic gardener and despairs of me sometimes:rotfl:However, by Summer my garden usually looks ok

Spent most of the morning having a bit of a spring clean so house is nice and sparkly. Then this afternoon we visited my Nan. Piglet loves his great nanny. Then it was off to a local park for rides on the miniature steam railway and ice-creams by the lake. Good fun had by all.

Not having my usual Sunday night cravings Quite pleased by that as thought I may have as its work tomorrow. So I've put a few pounds in my holiday savings pot instead.:T

Miss P
xx

mrsrainman

Miss_Piggy wrote: »

Evening everyone


Spent most of the morning having a bit of a spring clean so house is nice and sparkly. Then this afternoon we visited my Nan. Piglet loves his great nanny. Then it was off to a local park for rides on the miniature steam railway and ice-creams by the lake. Good fun had by all.


Miss P
xx

Sounds to me like you might have spent the afternoon at Coate Water??!! How fab!!!! Bet it was busy though.

MrsR xx

Miss_Piggy_2

mrsrainman wrote: »

Sounds to me like you might have spent the afternoon at Coate Water??!! How fab!!!! Bet it was busy though.

MrsR xx

Hello MrsR!:hello:

Yes, it was Coate Water!:) Quite busy but managed to get on miniature railway straight away. Was great fun - Piglet often asks to go over there on a Sunday:) We threw some bread at the ducks but think they'd been overfed today as they just looked disdainfully at us!!:rotfl:
Miss P
xx