The giving up/cutting down alcohol support thread!

yellowmonkey

barshamhillbilly wrote: »

Don't forget to BREATHE YM

Bogger does not say that in the instructions :D

Poppies

Good evening everyone

Well I have been good the last two nights but tonight I am struggling. Just got in from a long day (almost a 4 hour commute today due to the rain) I just want to relax with a glass of wine. I keep telling myself at least I have had two nights off, but I know that's just an excuse.

Roxie - congratulation on your pregnancy.

Good luck to everyone else trying to asbtain this evening.

Poppy x

Bismarck

OK everyone...just a bit of advance notice that I'll be away again on another camping trip (probably my last as working for someone else is looming!) from Saturday through until next Sunday.....ish.....I therefore won't be around but you can rest assured that I'll be giving the lemonade/coke some welly while I'm relaxing!

mollypolly

Have a good holiday Bismarck.

Love Mollypollyxxxx

eselt

Hi everyone, hope you are OK
Can't emphasise enough Bismarks suggestion about vitamins- I'm not a medical peson but Vit B (huge doses!!!) really does seem to help. When I was in hospital they gave me this by injection and I still have monthly injections- helps you get sharper, less anxious, more positive and fitter generally- it seems to give you some cognitive energy so you can think, reason and problem solve again. Also in hospital they found I had a potassium deficency which was affecting my heart, this was also caused by alcohol and I feel much better since taking some supplements.

Poppies-regarding your 'internal pain'- get this checked out!!!Just a thought though- when I used to try and give up drinking by about the 2nd/3rd day I would have stomach trouble-not nice to discuss I know but relevant!!!- trapped wind, constipation- agony, plus my skin would start detoxing-seems like my system was so used to the acidic alcohol it found it hard to function without it. Check out if your liver is enlarged with GP - a blood test will soon tell you if your liver is working too hard. There are hardly any symptoms with liver disease unitl it gets life threatening so its worth checking out.

Roxie- congrats!!!!

Yellowmonkey- I'm afraid to say my Wii is on ebay- my 13 yr old broke his wrist on a sports game, as well as his mates trashing the place with all the activity............

Bismark- I'm a guitarist too, but really like having a drink, lighting up a fag and then playing, its all part of having a jam with my mates- any tips on how to do this sober, like you, would be gratefully received.....

Jo- best of luck today- you are so positive and proactive I know you are going to beat this..........

Bismarck

eselt wrote: »

Yellowmonkey- I'm afraid to say my Wii is on ebay- my 13 yr old broke his wrist on a sports game, as well as his mates trashing the place with all the activity............

Bismark- I'm a guitarist too, but really like having a drink, lighting up a fag and then playing, its all part of having a jam with my mates- any tips on how to do this sober, like you, would be gratefully received.....

.

We've got a Wii...how did he break his wrist?

Playing live sober was never a problem because we were nearly always driving and in places where gear could easily walk!

Jamming used to be a bit more relaxed but I've been solo for ages, just playing and practising by myself, waiting to get a lot of other things sorted.

As I said in an earlier post, the stopping/controlling what you're doing is one thing....dealing with the aftermath is another thing entirely as I'm sure you're well aware!

Has a chance to jam with some guys a while ago but passed it up because I wasn't ready to face the demons yet..the time will come no doubt.

eselt

Hi Bismarck
Thanks for that- I totally agree with the 'aftermath' point- I had gone for the best part of 20 yrs with being half cut or !!!!ed when I'd been out and about and people find my sober self (quiet, self conscious, nervous) hard to deal with- its like they miss the drunk me, and find the sober me a bit boring. I've not been able to find a way to change that to tell you the truth. I have been gigging but find I am much more self concious and act like a bassist rather than a lead guitarist!!!

We were playing the baseball game (came free with the consul) on the wii and 13 yr old was swinging then hit hand on the coffee table- back to X360 and potato couch I'm afraid!!!

jo1972

Afternoon all,

YM, are you aching today :rotfl:

Poppy, how did you get on last night?

eselt, the trapped wind pain is one of the main reasons that I end up drinking again as in the past I've literally been doubled up in severe pain and I thought something was really wrong. But it was actually a bit of constipation and trapped wind as not drinking alcohol changes the digestive system so much. I end up at about day 4 saying 's0d this, if I have just one it'll stop the pain tomorrow when I get up' and then I end up drinking about 4 :eek:

Went to see the new counsellor yesterday, it was a nice lady, although a bit young (felt very old sitting in the chair!). She's a trained physcotherapist (sp?) and was very lovely, kept saying 'I'm sorry to hear that' and 'let me reflect that back to you'. But I think I'll get on with her, she definately picked up a few things that I'd said in the hour that I was there and made me realise that I was saying similar things for different circumstances over the past 10 years which gave a definate pattern of how I deal with stuff and why I drink. She kept saying 'you said a similar thing about when so-and-so happened. I've still not found the definate connection of why but I'm confident she will be able to help me discover what's going on. I'm going to be seeing her for 12 weeks, an hour a week. She's given me a dreaded thought/drink record to do, but I feel more confident in her being able to read it and know what's going on compared to my original counsellor a couple of years ago that just filed em I reckon :rotfl:

Later, when I get a chance, I will type up some info that she gave me on cravings, might be interesting to some. Old news to me as I've already read it before but it still opened my eyes to some things reading it again as it's down in black and white rather than somewhere in the back of my brain stored under 'denial'

Bismarck, enjoy your trip, we shall miss you

beachbeth

jo1972 wrote: »

Later, when I get a chance, I will type up some info that she gave me on cravings, might be interesting to some. Old news to me as I've already read it before but it still opened my eyes to some things reading it again as it's down in black and white rather than somewhere in the back of my brain stored under 'denial'

I would be interested to read this. It would be a great help!

Have a great trip, Bismarck!

jo1972

beachbeth wrote: »

I would be interested to read this. It would be a great help!

Have a great trip, Bismarck!

I'll have to type it up when I get home cos things have got manic here!