The Giving Up/ Cutting Down alcohol support thread - number 13

pollyanna24

Hi, I've just stumbled onto this thread after putting in "Giving up Alcohol."

Whilst I wouldn't go as far to say I am a alcoholic, I definitely have a dependency on alcohol. I was always a drinker, but it got worse when my ex left leaving me with two very small children. I found it was the only thing getting me through the day when they were especially exasperating!

Now I think I've gotten into the habit of drinking every day and it's something to do to curb the boredom while I'm slumped in front of the telly every evening when the kids go to bed. And if we have "movie night," it helps me get through whatever boring movie they've chosen.

I definitely want to cut down on drinking, but once I open a bottle, I really seem to have a problem not to finish the bottle. One or two glasses just does not register with me.

I'm not sure if I'm in the right place headwise to give up, but if I keep making excuses, I guess I never will be.

I want to give up for all the obvious reasons, money (am completely broke), health, weight and am a little sick of feeling hungover pretty much every day (which in itself definitely signifies a problem!).

Don't want to go public with it like go to the doctor or anything as I am a single mum and I don't want to give their dad any ammo against me.

Phew, that helped writing that down.

Honey_Bear

Lovely to see you, Chardonnay! I was wondering where you'd got to. Sending healing vibes your way.


Welcome Pollyanna! I don't know how much of the thread you've read but there is a sort of tradition here you may decide to go along with, although there's no compulsion to do so. If you want to decide how many days you aren't going to drink during the month and put that in red in your post, the lovely Shaggy keeps score and awards smileys when she gets the time and we've met milestones on the way to our individual targets. You don't have to set a target at all, but you might find yourself drowning in other people's numbers and wonder what's going on.


22/30 please, Shaggy.

maman

:hello:Pollyanna.


You've come to the right place whether it's giving up or cutting down you're after.


I'd suggest you start with one alcohol free day (what about Monday?) and start from there. Once you've got one day under your belt you can build on it. I can't promise it will be easy but you'll feel good about yourself afterwards. Prepare for your first day by planning distractions, even if it means going to bed early!


My own goal is to be AF Monday to Friday then have a drink at weekends. That's what suits me but you may have other ideas.


Good Luck!:)

Chardonnay

Thanks for the good wishes Maman and Honey Bear! :wave:

Welcome Pollyanna! You've come to the right place - lots of support here. This thread has made a massive difference to my alcohol consumption and I'm sure it will for you too

aneres

pollyanna24 wrote: »

Hi, I've just stumbled onto this thread after putting in "Giving up Alcohol."

Whilst I wouldn't go as far to say I am a alcoholic, I definitely have a dependency on alcohol. I was always a drinker, but it got worse when my ex left leaving me with two very small children. I found it was the only thing getting me through the day when they were especially exasperating!

Now I think I've gotten into the habit of drinking every day and it's something to do to curb the boredom while I'm slumped in front of the telly every evening when the kids go to bed. And if we have "movie night," it helps me get through whatever boring movie they've chosen.

I definitely want to cut down on drinking, but once I open a bottle, I really seem to have a problem not to finish the bottle. One or two glasses just does not register with me.

I'm not sure if I'm in the right place headwise to give up, but if I keep making excuses, I guess I never will be.

I want to give up for all the obvious reasons, money (am completely broke), health, weight and am a little sick of feeling hungover pretty much every day (which in itself definitely signifies a problem!).

Don't want to go public with it like go to the doctor or anything as I am a single mum and I don't want to give their dad any ammo against me.

Phew, that helped writing that down.

Hi Pollyanna

With my drinking I got to the stage where I just wasn't enjoying it any more, I was drinking for the sake of it rather than the enjoyment. I certainly didn't enjoy the hangover/depression that went with it.

If you plan an alcohol free day be kind to yourself, get some nice treats in. You may find that your body craves sugar (lots of sugar in alcohol), get some sweets in or a bottle of pop. I also find I fancy a drink more if I'm hungry so make sure you eat well.

In the past if I'd been drinking nightly for a while I always found if I could past the third day of not drinking it seemed to get easier. I don't know what it was about the third day but that always seemed to be when I fancied one the most.

I also cannot just have the one I'm very much an all or nothing kind of person.

Hope you're feeling ok today.

aneres

Hope you're recovering well Chardonnay.

22/30 please Shaggy.

Honey_Bear

aneres wrote: »

In the past if I'd been drinking nightly for a while I always found if I could past the third day of not drinking it seemed to get easier. I don't know what it was about the third day but that always seemed to be when I fancied one the most.

So true! I pretty much always succumbed on the third night, and once the bottle was open ....

maman

Honey_Bear wrote: »

So true! I pretty much always succumbed on the third night, and once the bottle was open ....

I've heard it called the Mastermind principle (I've started so I'll finish). I wonder if that's a common trait for thread users.


Personally I'd prefer to drink at weekends knowing I can have what I want and have nothing during the week. My DH prefers a couple of small glasses every night. What this thread has done for me is that I now don't ever drink to excess probably because cutting down has cut my tolerance. I can go out for lunch, have one glass and not carry on when I get home. And I can go out for an AF evening and not open a bottle (and drink it all ) when I get home. All little victories.:D

debjay

pollyanna24 wrote: »

Hi, I've just stumbled onto this thread after putting in "Giving up Alcohol."

Whilst I wouldn't go as far to say I am a alcoholic, I definitely have a dependency on alcohol. I was always a drinker, but it got worse when my ex left leaving me with two very small children. I found it was the only thing getting me through the day when they were especially exasperating!

Now I think I've gotten into the habit of drinking every day and it's something to do to curb the boredom while I'm slumped in front of the telly every evening when the kids go to bed. And if we have "movie night," it helps me get through whatever boring movie they've chosen.

I definitely want to cut down on drinking, but once I open a bottle, I really seem to have a problem not to finish the bottle. One or two glasses just does not register with me.

I'm not sure if I'm in the right place headwise to give up, but if I keep making excuses, I guess I never will be.

I want to give up for all the obvious reasons, money (am completely broke), health, weight and am a little sick of feeling hungover pretty much every day (which in itself definitely signifies a problem!).

Don't want to go public with it like go to the doctor or anything as I am a single mum and I don't want to give their dad any ammo against me.

Phew, that helped writing that down.

Welcome. That seems similar to me last year. My 💡 moment was signing up for Dry January this year. Since then my tolerance to alcohol is lower so it doesn't take much to have an effect. I aim for SNC Sunday to Thursday and then drink Friday and Saturday. That seems to work for me.

14/19 for tonight please and 2nd smilie this month :j

satchmo1

15/20 AFDs, and have just had a hot chocolate to warm me up as I'm freezing.