DRY JANUARY 2021! This way please... all welcome

[HPLikecraft]

It’s that time of year again... the late Christmas present to our livers!

You may be thinking of doing Dry January to:

*detox a little after seasonal overindulgence, or
*help you cut down a bit generally, or
*help you start to get out of a harmful alcohol habit, or
*just be a bit healthier for a month...

It’s good for all of those things!

I find the MN DJ threads excellent for support, encouragement, sharing info,‘we’re in this together’ camaraderie, suggestions for grown up drinks, aversion techniques and just fun.

This is my fourth year of DJ and I swear it has made all the difference to me; it was so hard first time, but having succeeded I did dry June and October after that, and do so every year. It has broken my habit, banished the craving and reset my relationship with booze.

I won’t be finding DJ too difficult this year, but some will. Hopefully this thread will help.

Come climb aboard the wagon! 🙂☕️🧃

Woke up to a banging headache, worse than yesterday's. Hope this goes quickly, almost as bad as a hangover.

Day 4 went well. Spent the evening with a nice glasses of water and a book. Surprised I didn't end up snacking but I think my body recognised dehydration rather than mistaking it for hunger or wine cravings.

Today is the day I start adding some exercise.

Better sleep although took a while to settle... Very vivid dreams about being at a rule breaking party at a castle ha ha! Pleased with self to have got to day 5... Longest in a year...

@Hepzibar hang in there the headaches do go and it will be worth it, I find if I drink a pint of water before bed it helps doesn't completely get rid but it does help :)

@AldiIsla congrats good luck on the exercise

Well done everyone, the first week is really hard but you should start to feel the benefits soon.
Don't underestimate sugar! There is so much sugar in wine, and when we stop our bodies can really miss the sugar hit, which can result in headaches. (I'm not suggesting eating loads of cake/chocs ) but I find that something sweet can really help with cravings (that can be caused by lack of sugar) and headaches when we first stop drinking.

So, I'm still having unsettled sleep and feel a bit flat - I always do when I first quit. Took me a couple of weeks last time to start sleeping properly, but I'm determined to stick to this.
Thanks for the lovely supportive thread OP.
to all.

V late night in the end, & woken up v heavy & groggy - but quite content that I know it's just tiredness and not hangover. I've got my running gear on. Need to get the body moving, fresh air, clear my head, & burn-off some of the anxiety and excess weight.

Yes, thank you very much OP for the wonderful thread.

Wow. Another terrible nights sleep. Lay in bed for at least 2 hours before sleeping. Mind racing. (I'm on the path for an AdHD diagnosis and suspect I've been using wine to calm me down.). Then more night sweats that kept me away and made the bed yucky. So I got up at 5am and lay on the sofa with the telly on

I may have been too smug too early about improved sleep - had a terrible night! But like AldiIsla am starting some exercise so have just been out for a walk before work. It's beautiful here so I enjoyed it, just need to keep that motivation going for wet mornings!

Hope everyone has a reasonable day (I'd say good, but y'know.....)

Ohhh vivid dreams. I dreamed I stole a horse, and rode it everywhere, and it had other horsey friends. Very random.

Still on the Dry Jan wagon, even though all the mums on the what's app group are making jokes about necking wine and gin. Staying focused by remembering no alcohol in my system decreases stress/anxiety, drinking makes it worse! Also, I'm already sleeping much better, so will need the extra quality rest with DS being at home.

Hi, I'm on Day 4 as we finished off the champagne on NYD. Woke up this morning with shivers and runny nose. I have been nowhere to catch a cold. Could this be a symptom of detoxing?

Morning, vivid dreams here too, seemed to spend a lot of it smoking fags outside pubs with friends. Neither of which I've really done for years!
I would recommend the 'Calm' app for anyone struggling to get to sleep, I'm a dreadful sleeper and have really found it helps me drift off then when I wake in the night I put on another story. Spent too many nights listening to a tale about walking the Camino de Santiago. I was sceptical about how listening to a story would help but I find concentrating on the story stops my mind from racing and overthinking everything.
Hope everyone has a good day, thank you op for the thread, it is really helping me.

Start of day 5 and I got up early and did a yoga workout - nice not to be lethargic first thing and not have a furry mouth (lovely).

I think upthread there was a conversation about non alcoholic versions of drinks versus cordials. I tried a few of the non alcoholic gins over the break - a Seedlip one, and an Aldi ginger and rhubarb one. I did feel sucker punched by marketing. There are better (and cheaper) cordials out there, like the Belvoir ones.

@labobo I've heard you can get cold type symptoms with detox...I felt very shivery 2 days in...

Joining the thread late but started New Year’s Day. Been lurking and it looks really supportive!

Have a history of alcohol abuse in the family and could see the warning signs with my lockdown drinking - need to reset my relationship with alcohol! So far feeling really positive, hoping to be able to drink more mindfully come Feb. I don’t want to quit completely - I love wine in terms of tasting, have been to vineyards all over the world etc, I just want to be able to appreciate a glass and then leave it without the temptation for just a little more...

Anybody got any book recommendations? I don’t have children yet and find some of the mummy drinker books a little alienating/unrelatable.

Thank you @nuitdesetoiles

Good morning! Day 5

I think there's definitely something in theory of cold symptoms, I've woken up the last two days with blocked sinus (very narrow and prone on a regular day) and sneezing/feeling generally crappy.
I've started back on my vitamins and plan to try to get out for a walk as many times as possible. This freezing weather should clear my head.

Didn’t sleep very well last night and dreamed that I was in a bar drinking a pint of sparkling rosé! . Very relieved to wake up and find that this wasn’t real!

Went to Tesco yesterday and stocked up on lots of healthy food, as I need to stop mainlining chocolate . I’m planning to eat some salmon every day for the rest of DJ - apparently Victoria Beckham does this for her skin .

@Salacia - my favourite non-yummy mummy quit lit is “Quit Like a Woman” by Holly Whitaker, and “Dry” by Augusten Burroughs. Both are brutally, laugh out loud funny.

I’ve been listening to the audiobook of Bryony Gordon’s “Glorious Rock Bottom” on my daily walks. I consider myself to be broad-minded, but sheesh, it’s making me wince! TMI!!

Have a good day everyone, this thread is such a support. x

I’ve listened to Bryony Gordon’s and agree! It’s very engaging though and I enjoyed it (if that’s the right word for that sort of book!). Thanks for the recommendations - will add them to my pile.

Also getting the vivid dreams, had some very disturbing ones last night

Hi everyone, I've been following this thread and thought I'd join for some accountability!

I stopped drinking on 2 January, after a very heavy festive season. Trying to reach a healthier, more sustainable relationship with alcohol in light of a family history of alcohol dependency.

So far, it's going ok other than frequent thoughts of a nice cold glass of white wine (or three) in the evening! I know I can do this, I just need to persevere.

Good afternoon all, hope you’re feeling good today. I’m sorry some of you are having poor sleep. This should pass.

I also have mysterious cold symptoms, despite living like a blooming hermit

Glad you’re finding the percentages useful. We’re about (at 1.30 pm) 14% of the way through now. The numbers are getting encouraging. It’s great and rewarding to see what you’ve already achieved as well as looking ahead at your goal.

Well done, everyone. Stay strong.

The % is actually proper motivating when I'm in bed and see ive succeeded.

I'm fine op, thanks for asking! Although, Iremortgaged my house and got sandwiches and cake from Gail's today. I 'only' had a smallish sandwich and a cake and omg I'm so full. But other than that, I'm fine.

I am allergic to something too. (I'm allergic to a few things, so this is normal)! I think it was the Christmas Tree triggered this. Considering a fake one for next year . I'm on antihistamines and nasal spray, so I slept like a baby last night! Even the allegedly non drowsy stuff knocks me out. I've taken one this morning, so I can't have one tonight, which hopefully means I will have a normal sleep tonight.

Anyway, none of this has anything to do with alcohol...unless I'm allergic to sobriety .

Just out of interest, does anyone wear an iwatch and/or sleep track through a Fitbit, or similar?