The giving up/cutting down alcohol support thread!

alisong_2

Hey, now I've started posting again I can't stop....just realised, a rather alarming pattern's emerging here! Eselt, I do think you're right in that some people are just pre-disposed to have a problem with alcohol. I think I knew I was in trouble pretty much from my first drink, it just seemed to have a different attraction for me compared to others.

I'm really glad that, for the moment at least, I'm sober and I don't ever want to go back where I was.

Thanks again for all the support, I'll try not to leave it so long before posting again!

Ed_Zep

You all absolutely can do this. I quit on January 1st this year and after 3 weeks I just didn't want alcohol anymore. I had previously drunk beer every day for 18 years.
I go to pubs, still but drink Coke or water. On Wednesdays, it's quiz night and we regularly win. These days we get a bottle of wine. I have now three in my fridge that are unopened.

Ok, that's all well and good. How did I do this? Well, after the cravings went, it was really about re-learning how to enjoy life without booze. Going to pubs, resisting the peer pressure and so on. It becomes easier. You'll find your friends getting envious of your new-found sobriety. They wish they were sober, too.

I have a great interest in alternative medicine, self-help, etc. I learned something called EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) a few years ago. This "tapping" technique is wonderful for getting rid of cravings and a lot of other things, too.
I urge you to look into it. It looks daft but so is drinking to excess, I suppose.

There is a lot of information on the web about it. Loads of videos on Youtube.

Wanna_Bee_Free

Well done Alisong and thanks for your encouraging post!

Fay, think you did very well to avoid the booze on the plane. Very strong willpower - yay!

WB, pleased things are going better, was thinking about white wine myself recently as it's the one that is most likely to set me on a binge session. Will see how things go next week after my (hopefully!) AFW.

Going ok so far, 2 AFDs so far this week. Friday is my crunch point, should make it at least to then ok. Have a good day everyone.

Lurkio

winebox wrote: »

.

Anyone going to the panto this year? - have just booked 3 seats....£60!!!!!!!!

Oh no I'm not!

Pippilongstocking

- lol - he's behind you.

115K

Well done to Alisong and Ed_Zep!!!!:T Hello everyone else and well done other AFD people.

I got drunk yesterday. I missed having any food for lunch or dinner as well and I woke up feeling like death about 4 this morning.:o

That is sad reading about that homeless guy. I know lots of homeless people do have drug and alcohol problems.

Alcoholism is classed as a physical disease but it is mostly treated as a psychological problem which I think leads to so many people falling off the wagon. I have many family members and both my parents have serious drinking problems and I don't know whether it is nature/nurture but I am the same way as them I think. My sister also drinks heavily but she doesn't suffer from depression like me.

I probably will drink today though, I seem to be stuck in a pattern of two days drinking then two days not drinking.

shopaholictiedtheknot

Hi all

Managed AFD on Monday but slip-slided yesterday:o am going to be AF today though, feeling very ropey once again - will I ever learn

Done most of my Christmas shopping now and going to get our tree on Saturday - having a real one this year, OH wants one - not very MSE I know!!

Eselt - horrid story about the poor lad!

Hi Alisong - great to hear another success story!!

Good luck today everyone :beer:

graemecarter

Alcoholism is a complicated disease. Be it nature or nurture, it doesn't really matter. What matters is not picking up that first drink.
To admit to yourself (like everyone has done on this thread) that you are an alcoholic is quite liberating. It makes you honest, and you need honesty to move away from drinking.

eselt

Hi all

Graeme, I think what you say is so true, and its because alcoholism is so complicated we need to throw everything at it, and keep throwing stuff at it until we find something that can help us change- I never thought when I was growing up that by my age my main ambition in life is to be a successful recovering alcoholic- my parents would have pretty disappointed if that had come up at my careers interview I can tell you!

Shoppy, real trees can be VERY MSE if you buy a live one and replant it in the garden and use it every year- initial outlay is a bit steep, but you can use them again and again, and mine looks so beautiful in the garden all year round I love it- mine only grows a couple of inches a year so it usually just needs a bit of tidying up before it comes back into the house.

Hope everyone is OK today, goodluck with the struggle.

Bismarck

Ed_Zep wrote: »

it was really about re-learning how to enjoy life without booze.

or simply coping with life without it....

the quote sums it up.

I almost skip down the booze aisle at supermarkets, I don't fear them any more...I almost pity the people with their baskets groaning with poison.

And I laugh at how the supermarkets are trying to kid you into buying it because it's cheap. CHEAP? You must be joking. It must be one of the most expensive habits you can have...how can something cost you so much in the long term?

I am me...and proud of it..I don't need a drink to make myself feel good.

It is now 18 months since I opened a bottle of any form of alcohol...at about midnight the celebrations could start.

But really, it's just another day...and little by little things are getting better...

take care everyone.