The giving up/cutting down alcohol support thread!

eselt

Hi everyone, I've been thinking about you all- hope you are doing OK.

Blossomcat, I'm really worried for you, I think its because you are hitting the spirits hard and that reminds me of my own downfall, and it sounds like you are drinking this at home (on your own?) and it sounds as if you really don't like it. I remember my progression through lager to cider, to strong cider, to wine, then to spirits- then as the spirits took hold I settled on vodka as I thought noone could smell it on me and therefore I could drink all day and keep it secret (oh what a bloody delusion that was- everyone knew what I was doing). I hit the spirits because they work quickly and you don't need to drink the volume and feel gassy and bloated like you do with beer etc and I didn't bother with wine after a while as I wasn't drinking for the enjoyment of the experience or part of a social occasion- I was drinking for the effect and the quicker the alcohol worked the better. I went from quarter bottles to half bottles, then full bottles (3 a day)- and I drank whatever was in the house, every last bit- then woke up and started again. Spirits are such nasty things to detox and withdraw from. You say you are drinking 3 1/2 litres of whisky a week, and have been for over a year- thats serious stuff blossomcat, please, please, please think about this seriously and muster up the courage to get some help before things spiral and you get really ill. Please let me know if there is anything I can do to support you whilst you grapple with all this.

Take care everyone and good luck this week

Poppies

Good morning everyone

My 2nd successful night wobbly free! I have a couple of questions that I hope someone may be able to help me with. The first is the pain I have internally; I am guessing this is my liver struggling to cope with 1-1.5 bottles of wine 4+ times a week. Has anyone else experienced this and does it take long following abstention for the pain to go? I appreciate your not doctors but general advice would be greatly appreciated. Finally I read somewhere that it takes a few weeks of feeling dreadful after giving up alcohol before you actually start to feel the benefit, again if anyone can offer advice I would appreciate it.

Blossomcat - really hope you are okay today, please do let us know how you are getting on.

Have a great day everyone.

Poppy x

Bismarck

eselt wrote: »

Hi everyone, I've been thinking about you all- hope you are doing OK.

Blossomcat, I'm really worried for you, I think its because you are hitting the spirits hard and that reminds me of my own downfall, and it sounds like you are drinking this at home (on your own?) and it sounds as if you really don't like it. I remember my progression through lager to cider, to strong cider, to wine, then to spirits- then as the spirits took hold I settled on vodka as I thought noone could smell it on me and therefore I could drink all day and keep it secret (oh what a bloody delusion that was- everyone knew what I was doing). I hit the spirits because they work quickly and you don't need to drink the volume and feel gassy and bloated like you do with beer etc and I didn't bother with wine after a while as I wasn't drinking for the enjoyment of the experience or part of a social occasion- I was drinking for the effect and the quicker the alcohol worked the better. I went from quarter bottles to half bottles, then full bottles (3 a day)- and I drank whatever was in the house, every last bit- then woke up and started again. Spirits are such nasty things to detox and withdraw from. You say you are drinking 3 1/2 litres of whisky a week, and have been for over a year- thats serious stuff blossomcat, please, please, please think about this seriously and muster up the courage to get some help before things spiral and you get really ill. Please let me know if there is anything I can do to support you whilst you grapple with all this.

Take care everyone and good luck this week

yet again, eselt, you speak from the heart and closer to my own past that I have to check I've not written it myself. skipped the lager and beer towards the end because it did nothing...

Bismarck

Poppies wrote: »

My 2nd successful night wobbly free! I have a couple of questions that I hope someone may be able to help me with. The first is the pain I have internally; I am guessing this is my liver struggling to cope with 1-1.5 bottles of wine 4+ times a week. Has anyone else experienced this and does it take long following abstention for the pain to go? I appreciate your not doctors but general advice would be greatly appreciated. Finally I read somewhere that it takes a few weeks of feeling dreadful after giving up alcohol before you actually start to feel the benefit, again if anyone can offer advice I would appreciate it.

Everyone's different - the aches went within a week and my skin started to improve within 2. All I did was drink tea and coffee and water and take it easy (and play guitar and study accountancy to keep my brain busy!)

I would suggest some St Johns Wort and plenty of vitamins and lots of water and fresh air, if you don't want to see a doctor - though I suggest you do for anything internal that's troubling you.

well done for another night under your belt...it's another step towards your better future....take care.

jo1972

Excellent advice Bismarck

beachbeth

eselt wrote: »

You ask why alcohol is such a demon- well its not like heroin where you have to furtively seek it out, afford it and sneak away in private to take it- its in your face, at the supermarket, in the local shop, at the local garage shop, at events, concerts, days out, weddings, birthdays,in soap operas, TV adverts, sports event sponsership, your house..... its everywhere!!! And not only is it everywhere its cheap, takes the edge off your anxiety and stress and (at the beginning anyway) can lighten your mood and help you be more confident. You are allowed to do it without any real restriction from the age of 18 and a great deal of your life is spent being exposed to alcohol. Imagine if you were a recovering heroin addict and everywhere you looked people were happily and openly taking the stuff, if it was buy a hit get a hit free at the supermarket, if people turned up at your house for a BBQ with a load of syringes....it just wouldn't happen, so although the battle with alcohol is no easier than any other drug, it is so much harder to avoid when you are trying to deal with cutting down or stopping.

This is what Allen Carr says in his book. Alcohol is so "normal" and is everywhere you look. There are no warnings on the bottles or cans to tell you that you are on a slippery slope and that you could reach the bottom just as easily as the next person. Because it is considered normal and ordinary we are fooled into thinking of it as a harmless pastime, which it isn't.

Morning everyone! Im hoping to stay off the alcohol today. Am going to re-read sections of AC's book to help (I had a glass of wine with my dinner last night followed by a couple or 4 Malibus!:o )

changing_ways

jo1972 wrote: »

I think we need a roll call on this thread, there's too many lurking. There are a few of us that would like to feel safety in numbers, so fess up if you're lurking!!!

I'll fess up as I found this thread a couple of weeks back and read it all on a payg dial up connection :eek:. It is really inspiring, and made me realise what I have been trying to avoid facing up to which is that I am drinking too much too, and the amount is steadily increasing.
I started off binge drinking at uni, then met OH who didn't binge drink but drank a little every day. Sadly we combined these two habits and have gradually got to the point where we were drinking about a bottle of wine each a day. My father died of cirrhosis of the liver (and made the family's lives hell for years before that) so I really should have known better, but I have never had a healthy relationship with alcohol.
So inspired by this thread, I decided to do something about it and have reduced to 20 units a week (approx half a bottle of wine on 4 or 5 days plus 2 or 3 alcohol free days). This is with OH support. So far it is going OK - on third week now, though we have attempted to cut back before and slid back (often on day 1 :mad:). Not this time though.

Sorry about the long post, but jo1972's post made me feel kind of guilty that I was getting so much from this thread and not putting anything in:o.

Bismarck

changing_ways wrote: »

Sorry about the long post, but jo1972's post made me feel kind of guilty that I was getting so much from this thread and not putting anything in:o.

As far as I'm concerned, people can take what they want...input is entirely optional...people will come and go and stop or not stop....my own take is that I'd like to be able to offer anyone advice/support if they need it...I can relate to a lot of things that are said and I believe that this helps in understanding the process and our own behaviours....on the one hand it's one of the hardest things to do but ultimately, changing yourself to being the real you, however you define that, is one of the most satisfying things you can do.

I'm by no means the finished article...I just try and make every day better.

As for long posts, I find they help me co-ordinate my thinking and reinforce my resolve...make your post as long as you want!

Poppies

Bismark - thank you so much for your reply. x

Bismarck

You're welcome! I believe that some good can come out of even the darkest moments. There is always hope and tomorrow...the choice is yours...on the radio yesterday there was a reference to the bit where everything seems to go wrong at the same time and there's a domino effect going downwards...it also works in reverse...when you start making the small essential changes you start winning the small battles and the great feeling from those victories pulls you through the next ones and further along your path of "recovery".

I was thinking this yesterday afternoon...some situations aren't actually solved, they're managed - each of us has to learn to do what's right for us and what works for us.