Cutting Down Alcohol Thread

Wanna_Bee_Free

Hi Shaggy,

Please could I have a target of 10 in September.
Won’t be around the first third of the month.
Well doneeveryone!

maman

Baileysonice wrote: »

Hey folks hope everyone is well. Back in time for September as I promised after a month away. looks like everything is being managed though so i will leave you too it.

thanks baileys

Good to see you back Baileys.:D


I watched the Adrian Chiles programme too. I must admit to feeling good about the fact that those of us on here have faced up to the decision, that he's only just come to, years ago!:T The problem he's facing of social drinking being the norm for so many people's lifestyles resonated with me. Plus I can see the depression issues/self medication just add to it for some. While the idea of giving up or having AF days was raised I felt that a bit more advice of how to go about it might have been helpful. Just having a doctor telling him he was arrogant/in denial when he pointed out that different countries have different recommended units wasn't very useful IMO. Maybe it's just me looking for solutions rather than repeating what we already know as I suppose that soda group and the other support group did touch on some ideas. certainly worth watching I thought.


Thanks for signing me up for September. Smiley day for me today.:D


14/10 AFDs please Shaggy and 2/4 for the SNC.

graemecarter

Keep going everyone.

I very occasionally login and read the last page or two.
Nice to see people continuing with their endeavors. :T

I celebrated 11 years of continuous sobriety yesterday. However, I have only been sober since 6.45am this morning, as I feel that my sobriety is a daily thing. All I need to do is not drink one day at a time. And then days lead to weeks, which lead to months, and to years.
All done a day at a time.

Honey_Bear

*sigh*


Sorry, Shaggy, I forgot - 30 for September please.

Honey_Bear

Final thoughts on the Adrian Chiles documentary. He's an intelligent man and an excellent journalist, so he's used to researching a subject and creating original content for public consumption. Journalists are supposed to be objective about their work, but it really shows when one isn't!

He's been drinking since he was a teenager and apparently drinking in public since he was 16. It's a fair guess that his social life has always been built around alcohol. He has high blood pressure, he suffers from anxiety and depression, he's a bit overweight and he until recently hasn't yet made the connection that all of those illnesses are connected with excessive alcohol consumption, although he clearly recognises that his drinking is above average in volume.

My guess would be that the decided to make the programme so that he could get all of the tests done privately and talk to therapists about it on the licence payer's account, having realised he's got a problem. (The liver function blood test result was due back within two days, whereas it takes a week for most of us, and the liver scan didn't look as though it took place in an NHS facility, did it? No months long waiting lists for Adrian.)

His friends all drink, his father drank until a couple of years ago and all three older men he spoke to said that life is less interesting or boring without alcohol.

Are all three men saying that they're so dull, themselves, that they need to be off their faces to be joyously happy?

That's just sad (and it absolutely is not my experience, either).

My older brother is a heavy drinker with a bit of a weight problem. He had stroke about three years ago and he's going to be spending most of his time for the rest of his life in a wheelchair, wearing an eyepatch. No-one ever talks about living with those (self-inflicted) results of that kind of drinking which is far, far scarier for me than knocking off 10 or 15 years of dementia-ridden old age. It scares the living daylights out of me but it wasn't mentioned once.

Moderating works for some people really well, but it's also a great way to give himself permission to carry on drinking. I tried to moderate for years and always ended up going back to drinking way more than was healthy, and way way more than I could get away with behaviourally. I hope he finds it works for him because he's in no way ready to accept even three months boozeless, is he? He has at least grasped the fact that booze has a hold over him, and that's a huge step forward, even if he can't face three months without it which anyone with no issues over alcohol wouldn't think twice about.

Now that he's made the documentary and it's been broadcast other journalists will be very interested in watching him over the years. That genie is out of the bottle and can't be crammed back in.

And finally, there was Willie Nelson singing Blue Skies. I love Willie Nelson and I don't hear his voice anywhere near often enough in the public domain.

wintersunshine

Thought the Adrian Childes prog was great. But why was there no mention of the chemical addiction??? - at 100 plus units a week and no AFDs he would have been suffering from alcohol withdrawal symptoms whether he tried to cut down or stop- ditto many of the others interviewed.

The prog seemed to just treat it like it was a bad social habit rather than his bodily functions (his heart, blood and brain) being addicted and dependent on alcohol...

...people find it difficult to give up drinking because they sweat, they get palpitations, they can't sleep, they get dizzy if they don't drink - and they are the lucky ones - others get the DTs...they have an addiction, their body is dependent. They can't give up without withdrawal and it's avoiding the withdrawal symptoms that keeps them drinking...

Well that's imho...why was it not mentioned?

It's like a programme about quitting smoking not mentioning how !!!! you feel for 3 days- it takes about 72 hours to 6 days to get through alcohol withdrawal...

Adrian is puzzled as to why he can't quit because he hadn't worked out his body is addicted to a chemical and it now needs that alcohol chemical to function- it needs alcohol not to sweat, to make his heart beat regularly, to make him feel balanced, it needs alcohol to sleep. If he carries on this path - he'll need alcohol to stop him shaking...stop him fitting...

Good luck to him ... I'm guessing he's realised he's on a very slippery slope just in time.

And - Why on earth did Frank Skinner encourage him to keep on drinking?

cathybird

Honey_Bear wrote: »

My older brother is a heavy drinker with a bit of a weight problem. He had stroke about three years ago and he's going to be spending most of his time for the rest of his life in a wheelchair, wearing an eyepatch. No-one ever talks about living with those (self-inflicted) results of that kind of drinking which is far, far scarier for me than knocking off 10 or 15 years of dementia-ridden old age.

Indeed, or illnesses like pancreatitis - I was speaking to a doctor/alcohol expert a few years ago and he said everyone knows about the liver but don't necessarily realise that alcohol can destroy other organs and cause many different conditions, including (for instance) pancreatitis, which he said was absolutely horrible and incredibly painful.

Anyway, the program sounds interesting, I'll catch up with it on the weekend.

maman

Like you wintersunshine I thought they skated over certain things. I suppose they were trying to only show Adrian's type of social drinkers rather than 'typical' alcoholics.

Perhaps they should have alerted people to possible symptoms of trying to give up/cut down so they would know it was 'normal'.

I think Frank Skinner, a bit like Adrian's dad, was just being honest. I got the impression that if he could trust himself to 'just' drink what Adrian drinks he'd go back to it. He must still miss it after all these years. Whether it was responsible to broadcast that I'm not sure. No point in pretending it's easy though.

cathybird

Shaggy - or Baileys - can I please have a goal of 21 for September - many thanks.

Doshwaster

Evening all, I haven't been around for a few months but having watched the Aidrian Chiles documentary last night, it has got me thinking again about my drinking.

I could relate to a lot of Chiles' story - someone who would consider themselves a social drinker but not someone with a drinking problem. "Alcoholics" were always other people. I am just someone who liked a drink.

I've don't drink midweek very often (unless it's a "special" occasion of course - which are easy to justify) and hardly ever at home but there have been many times in my life when I regularly could do 80-100 units a week without much effort and I probably did around 50 units over the Bank Holiday weekend.

So, I feel like a soberish September is called for while I tale stock of a longer term answer. I really don't want to stop drinking totally but I need to learn to control it more.

Put me down for 25 AFDs for September, please.