The giving up/cutting down alcohol support thread!

Wanna_Bee_Free

Still here but a bit disappointed in myself. Finally had AFD today but didn't make any over the weekend so didn't make the target of 3 AFDs last week I was going for. Ho hum.

As to what else to drink, I tried Lime and soda down the pub last week which has the advantage of being cheaper than some soft drinks and I quite enjoyed.

Tomorrow is another day an' all.

Pippilongstocking

Congrats WBF on today....dont give self hard time x

Yeah - very unsettled at the moment, usual routine disrupted - ie by now I would think life is dandy as my head would be swimming in the 4 or 5 glasses of wine I would have normally have had by now.

Can't seem to settle to anything except constructively tidying the house, when I have such tight deadlines at the moment I just should have my head down. Makes no sense at all.

Fre in case you wonder - takes like juice, very expensive juice - pah.

Use to drink lime and soda or just soda water - maybe thats the way forward.

Ohh why do I procrastinate so - those who are around - hello - hope you are good tonight.

Liked the thoughts Bismark - it might rain tomorrow indeed - today I had an umbrella - ta guys. Not llooking forward to pals coming (well I am honestly looking forward to seeing them of course, but not to the drinking) the house will be loaded with alcohol - I haven't bought any yet but do need to get some on Thurs - generally over a weekend get together I am shocked how much we get through, got a meeting on Friday so thats an excuse for not drinking on Thurs (why am I looking for excuses - um I know they won't really understand) Fri is son's party and may feign having to take home some kids have to drive and so not drink. Sorry I sound like a baby, I know I don't do well with any alcohol in the house - I find I can stop myself having some if there's none here. But, will try and be hostess with mostest and keep everyone else sorted - argh. (sorry for whining I will find this really really tough, but knowing me if I jsut drink for a few days it will be a lot harder to stop/cut down again)

Coffee - caffine, all good - back to work. Night guys x

raidz

Its tough to kick the habbit, but it can be done.

Bismarck

fayjmck wrote: »

Congrats WBF on today....dont give self hard time x

Yeah - very unsettled at the moment, usual routine disrupted - ie by now I would think life is dandy as my head would be swimming in the 4 or 5 glasses of wine I would have normally have had by now.

Can't seem to settle to anything except constructively tidying the house, when I have such tight deadlines at the moment I just should have my head down. Makes no sense at all.

Fre in case you wonder - takes like juice, very expensive juice - pah.

Use to drink lime and soda or just soda water - maybe thats the way forward.

Ohh why do I procrastinate so - those who are around - hello - hope you are good tonight.

Liked the thoughts Bismark - it might rain tomorrow indeed - today I had an umbrella - ta guys. Not llooking forward to pals coming (well I am honestly looking forward to seeing them of course, but not to the drinking) the house will be loaded with alcohol - I haven't bought any yet but do need to get some on Thurs - generally over a weekend get together I am shocked how much we get through, got a meeting on Friday so thats an excuse for not drinking on Thurs (why am I looking for excuses - um I know they won't really understand) Fri is son's party and may feign having to take home some kids have to drive and so not drink. Sorry I sound like a baby, I know I don't do well with any alcohol in the house - I find I can stop myself having some if there's none here. But, will try and be hostess with mostest and keep everyone else sorted - argh. (sorry for whining I will find this really really tough, but knowing me if I jsut drink for a few days it will be a lot harder to stop/cut down again)

Coffee - caffine, all good - back to work. Night guys x

I'm useless with it in the house...would be OK now I suppose but in the early days...no.

I'm afraid you may need to "come out" and say you've stopped...others react in certain ways but you will gain more respect from the friends who really care.

If you just treat as something you have to do, it helps in a way. You're just redefining you. And it's for the better really. good luck!

Different_Corner

fayjmck wrote: »

Ohh why do I procrastinate so - those who are around - hello - hope you are good tonight.

Liked the thoughts Bismark - it might rain tomorrow indeed - today I had an umbrella - ta guys. Not llooking forward to pals coming (well I am honestly looking forward to seeing them of course, but not to the drinking) the house will be loaded with alcohol - I haven't bought any yet but do need to get some on Thurs - generally over a weekend get together I am shocked how much we get through, got a meeting on Friday so thats an excuse for not drinking on Thurs (why am I looking for excuses - um I know they won't really understand)

Fay
I know exactly where you are, I'm in the same position this week. I have my SIL visiting this week. She likes a glass of wine in the evening. Now I don't know if shes adapting to what she thinks is our lifestyle - a few drinks after dinner etc, or if she does this anyway. But I have been joining her, and really put some away this week. I don't need an excuse after all.

All totally out of the AF routine at the moment, and agree with what Bis says, maybe I should have 'come out'. I was looking forward to her coming and the children love her to bits, but the drinking dilemma...hmmmm. It will be admitting a weakness, and I'm okay admitting it to myself, not sure I'm ready to admit it to others yet. Especially others that don't see me day to day.


After this weekend I'm going all out to stop drinking, I'm not sure about Christmas, but that is another thing, as many have said take each day as it comes.

I have to say I did find it relatively easy to stop once I'd got 'used to it', but it's even easier in reverse.

This thread is making me come to terms with stuff, and I am very grateful for the wise words.

eselt

Hi all- I think the 'coming out 'thing is a difficult one- when I admitted to people I had a drink problem there was no shock or surprise, everyone already knew, and it opened the floodgates for people to say how worried they had been about me and how they had felt pretty helpless in knowing how to help me. What I also found was that other people who I thought were just happy heavy drinking wanted to talk to me and try and gauge their drinking against mine to try and work out for themselves whether they had a problem or not- based on whether they were 'worse' than me or not. It doesn't help much as everyone has their own stories and reasons and everyone needs to find what motivates them if they want to make a change. At the end of the day you have to be selfish (just like you are when drinking really) and decide whats best for you, how you are going to tackle this, and sod everyone elses thoughts and feelings- if you have visitors or awkward situations it isn't as hard as you think to just say, 'no thanks, I don't drink', its a big deal to you but often other people don't give it a second thought.

Hope everyone is OK today- take care

WifeofDJFLP

Hi

I've read some of the posts on this thread with interest. Myself and my partner slipped into the bottle of wine a night habit some 3 years ago or so, that came after the "bottle of wine and 4 cans of Stella" habit that we stopped to conceive our youngest child.

Recently, after a health scare (Partner spent 2 days in hospital) we decided to give up the booze and what a difference in our lives and the lives of our children.

We had kidded ourselves on (both children of alcoholics) that our drinking didn't affect our lives in any negative way. But as I sit today in my clean and tidy house, washed and dressed and raring to go already, with money in the bank two days before payday, I am relived we saw the light when we did.

We still share a bottle of wine on a Friday night but curiously neither of us seem to enjoy it, aside from the first lovely mouthful, nor the sluggishness that follows the next day but at the same time we're kind of clinging to it as some sort of sacred ritual- a ritual that has to go I think.

I'm not saying it's been easy and in the early days I spent all day thinking about wine and engineering scenarios in my head that would allow us to drink (dead relative, lottery win (even though we don't play!!), witnessing a crime/accident etc etc) but I feel quite evangelical now as does my partner.

I suppose I wanted to post in case there was anyone reading who, like me thought they were fine and handling their habit OK- I challenge you to stop for 3 months and see if you don't like the alcohol free you better!

Lots of Love to all

WifeofDJFLP
xxx

jo1972

Day 2 for me today

winebox

Bismarck wrote: »

Today's thought was one of duty....I now know I have a duty to keep myself alive as long as possible...my kids would miss me if I wasn't here.....I need to choose to live for the others in my life.

I kind of knew this already but sometimes we forget how important we all are in the scheme of things.

Thanks for this Bis - another one to print off! - I must really focus on this, DD has already lost her Dad (not to alcohol), do I really want to make her an orphan? It sounds very melodramatic but....if I hold that thought every time I pour a glass I can see me soon going off it.

It's often a chance phrase that works isn't it? When I used to smoke & was always wishing I didn't I was reading something about cancer & the split-second moment a normal cell becomes cancerous, & the writer (who I think had lung cancer) was pondering which specific drag on a cigarette had been the trigger that started it. Every time I had a puff after that I would think....is this the one? Have I just done it? I didn't stop straight away but there's no dobt that single sentence was the biggest factor. Nearly 4 years now & don't give it a thought.

That's why all the posts on here are so good & so helpful.....what works for one person does nothing for someone else, we all have our own reasons / motivation to stop, Just need to make them conquer the "reasons" to carry on.

Thanks to siannie too for post yesterday.....my OH gets very twitchy whenever I say no to a drink (I do sometimes!!!!!:rotfl: ) - even when I was on The One Antibiotic That You MUST NOT drink with he was trying to persuade me that one wouldn't hurt! (I didn't; had been warned by several people of consequences). I posted this once before, months ago, he lost his wife to cirrhosis so why the pressure?? (he, by the way, drinks a fair amount & daily, but doesn't binge or get rolling drunk like, er, moi)

Fay you too note Bis's comment when you're feeling "worthless" - you're on your own with that opinion (easy to say, I know, I get that way too sometimes, but I think anger management is more of an issue for me....)

All too much for a sunny Wednesday morning...must go & defrost car & take DD out for a change!

winebox

jo1972 wrote: »

Day 2 for me today

:T :T :T :T :T :T :T :T :T :T :T :T

wondered where you'd got to!:D