The giving up/cutting down alcohol support thread!

mollypolly

beachbeth wrote: »

It was just my take on Allen's reason for not drinking substitutes. Don't let my theory put you off!!! (feel guilty now). Its a pity Allen can't answer himself! If you can drink NA beer and it doesn't make you crave the real stuff then go ahead. I think for some people though it would just remind them of what they're missing.

Please dont feel guilty. Its good to hear peoples opinions and theories.It just gives a different perspective on things.
The NA beer doesnt seem to give me any cravings for the real thing.The only things It reminds me I am missing are the bad ones like arguements with DH (I always turn nasty and argumentative with alcohol), hangovers and losing days due to feeling carp.
I really appreciate waking up 'un-hungovered' and I can still look and feel better than I have for years.

Welcome aboard learning_to_drive.

Hope you are all doing good.
Love Mollypollyxxxx

jo1972

mollypolly wrote: »

OOOO My DIAMOND anniversary.(Must mention this to DH;) )

Just a quickie, congrats Molly!!

Did he buy you something nice, like a diamond encrusted can of NA beer ?

xx

beachbeth

If NA beer just reminds you of the horrible things about alcohol then I would say its ok to drink it. Im glad my comments haven't drove you to hitting the bottle, Mollypolly!!!

I had a few Malibu's last night because I haven't been feeling very well this week. Its typical because I haven't had a drink since last Friday and because Im poorly I can't feel the benefit of not drinking! Last night I got so angry because I feel ill and tired despite not drinking and having early nights too that I thought "what the heck" and had a few. Well I feel worse this morning now because I feel sick and have a headache!

Well its good that it wasn't an enjoyable experience because Im starting to wonder what I actually liked about drinking!

Glad you are joining in, learning_to_drive!

jo1972

Morning all

Welcome learning_to_drive :wave:

Feeling really positive today, had a really good meeting with my keyworker last night, he painted such a lovely picture, being sober. I told him that now I've been 'told' to drink 4 cans a night, I don't actually want it, all the excitement has been taken away and now I just feel like I'm doing something wrong. He said that he wondered if I'd feel like this as we discussed the rebellious side of my drinking last week and the sneaking around. He said who is the being rebellious in aid of? It's not like a teenager rebelling against their parents cos they wanna upset them and actually achieving something from the rebellion, nobody knows I'm drinking so I'm actually rebelling against myself! It's so obvious isn't it, it really makes you feel so stupid when you look at it from an outside point of view. Just goes to show you how powerful addiction is and how the brain works to justify what you're doing.

I told him some of my 'reasons' which I'm still not gonna post here and he helped me find a way to address these. He said to take my time and do it when I'm ready. He said the fog will lift soon and my mood will soon start to improve. The alcohol depression will lift as my alcohol intake decreases and this in itself is addictive, he told me to look forward to being completely free of the addiction.

We discussed relapse, he said we need to be prepared for this before I've even quit so that it's not such a scary thought. He is putting in place a contingency plan that I can look at should I feel a relapse is going to happen and I need to train myself to go to the contingency plan before picking up a drink.

I've got to write down everything that will help me now and in the future, all the carp stuff that I have gone through when drinking, from thoughts to things I've missed out on, arguments etc. etc. Plus all the positive bits about quitting, even the silly things (one of my positive bits about being sober is not having ringing in my ears when I go to bed!).

I had to sign a form to say that I agreed to the reduction therapy and will keep to the plan if I want to be referred for ongoing counselling.

So last night I had to drop to 3 cans, it actually wasn't too bad. I was a bit anxious during the first can knowing I only had 2 left and was clock watching and trying to spread it out a bit. Because of this the beer went warm and didn't taste as nice and I found I ended up not drinking it as quick because of this. By the time I went to bed at 10.40pm I still had around half a can left and didn't really want it.

I can't wait to be abstinent

Hope everyone's having a nice day.

xx

TNG

jo1972 wrote: »

We discussed relapse, he said we need to be prepared for this before I've even quit so that it's not such a scary thought. He is putting in place a contingency plan that I can look at should I feel a relapse is going to happen and I need to train myself to go to the contingency plan before picking up a drink.

hi jo :wave:

That's actually quite a key point IMO. Prepare for 'slips' and 'relapses' and you'll be able to handle them better IF they happen. If they don't, they don't


Hope everyone's well today. I'm a bit nervous/apprehensive about the weekend, but I AM going to try to stay off the pop..... wish me luck

barshamhillbilly

Morning All
Welcome Learning_to_drive :hello:

Jo - Sounds like an interesting evening - you are making me feel guilty now

TNG - 'Feel the fear and do it anyway' as the saying goes.
Good luck for the weekend.

Keep up the good work Mollypolly. :A

OK so far for me - much more positive now, especially after reading a couple of books including AC's.

BHB's thought of the day :

[FONT=georgia, bookman old style, palatino linotype, book antiqua, palatino, trebuchet ms, helvetica, garamond, sans-serif, arial, verdana, avante garde, century gothic, comic sans ms, times, times new roman, serif]The first thing in the human personality that dissolves in alcohol is dignity. ~Author Unknown[/FONT]

Have a great day everyone

BHB

jo1972

barshamhillbilly wrote: »

Jo - Sounds like an interesting evening - you are making me feel guilty now

Why do you feel guilty you're doing great

barshamhillbilly

jo1972 wrote: »

Why do you feel guilty you're doing great

Cause I canceled mine

Have just got some Becks 0% to try. It might not be exactly 'AC' but must be better than not drinking.

BHB

jo1972

Andy, you do whatever feels right for you and the service you were getting there didn't feel right....stick with us instead

barshamhillbilly

Just as long as you don't nag too much


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