Hop on up it's Dry January thread #2

[MyGhastIsFlabbered]

Shiny new thread to carry us onward through January

I went to the supermarket last night to do my weeks shop and bought a bottle of wine thinking I might have a glass. Of course I drank it all. I enjoyed it as I drank it but my sleep was terrible and this morning I am headachy and agitated. I don't plan to repeat that experience any time soon. I have felt so good all through January and I now feel crap. I am so cross with myself.

@ApolloandDaphne

I went to the supermarket last night to do my weeks shop and bought a bottle of wine thinking I might have a glass. Of course I drank it all. I enjoyed it as I drank it but my sleep was terrible and this morning I am headachy and agitated. I don't plan to repeat that experience any time soon. I have felt so good all through January and I now feel crap. I am so cross with myself.

Don't be cross with yourself! I'd feel exactly the same though which is why I'm nervous about drinking.

You did what you needed to do at the time.

@ApolloandDaphne you have described my past mindset to a T.

I can never just have one glass from a bottle of wine. The only way I can moderate is to acknowledge that and either commit to not drinking any alcohol on a given day or drinking some, probably most of a bottle. I've been known to pour away the last third/quarter of a bottle to stop myself drinking it later.

Knowing I'll have disturbed sleep (think waking suddenly at 3am) and a probable headache never seems to compute at that point.

Don't beat yourself up - think about what you want to take from this.

Well done all my fellow DJers! Also well done if you slipped and clambered back on the wagon, it's difficult enough without the additional pressures we have at the moment. I'm in no rush to drink again, although I'm sure I will eventually. Going to just keep going day by day whilst I'm feeling strong. Still sleeping well, feeling energetic and being a better mum so plenty of reasons to keep it up for now. Was wondering about joining the lone poster who has started a dry Feb thread, but not sure I want to commit, I wouldn't want to be a bad influence on them if I give in during Feb.

@PeacheyPeach meant to say earlier that I am finally starting to see a bit of movement weight wise - not a lot but I'm aiming for gradual (and lasting weight loss).

Now I'm feeling stronger about not drinking the next step is to get serious about calorie counting.

Hi all - thanks to @PeacheyPeach for flagging this thread up )

I had over a year ‘s sobriety until last Dec 10th I went out for a work Xmas dinner and decided to drink ‘just one night only ‘

Well, never stopped all through Xmas and jan (had the excuse of my bday last week) and have been feeling more and more low , anxious , bad tempered , ugly , bad relating with kids and dp and colleagues and just really rubbish

So I’m doing a dry February (aiming for for ever)

Day two now and just went for a run to get rid of my twitchiness. I love sobriety and can’t wait to get back into the swing again x

Hi @Emmie2021 and welcome

Hey everyone checking in for day 32. Still going! Feel okay at the moment and vaguely sad about breaking my DJ on Saturday night which is my pre-planned end date. Planning Saturday and Sunday with roast and then back on it on Monday. Strangely think I may be looking forward to Monday more than Saturday... I have no idea how this happened. Sure it won't last.

Hi there, may I join? I've lurked a little on this thread. Decided to do Dry January belatedly on Jan 5th, following a phone call from my doctor with blood test results. Liver was 'ok', but cholesterol sky high, and am already on meds for high BP. I'm tired of stressing about my drinking, and dreading doctor's appointments.
I'm on day 29, and aim to keep going for the foreseeable. I've made very half hearted attempts to moderate before, but this time I've thrown myself in fully - down-loaded the Try Dry app, currently reading or have read lots of quit lit, and dipping in and out of Annie Grace's 30 day challenge.
I now realise that accountability is really important, so I'd really like to use this thread to do this.Very unsure as to what my ultimate goal is, but right now I'm really enjoying sobriety.

😁 hi there xxx the more the merrier 😍
@kittythehare I' always dread going for doc appts were they ask me how much I drink. Sometimes I tell them the truth and feel ashamed and then other times I've totally plucked out a small number of units to make me look good! The last time I went for a smear my bloodpressure was up and the nurse said after I told her a made up unit amount that I needed to cut down (dread to think what she would have done if I had given her the true amount!!) So I'm looking forward to being able to say hand on heart the real amount be it none or a small amount.

Thanks @PeacheyPeach. a huge motivating factor for me is losing my fear of doctors' appointments. Alongside the ability to hear/read reports about the dangers of alcohol without feeling like I want to pass out with dread about the damage I'm doing to my health.

I've been thinking today about the wine witch, or whatever I'm going to call that sneaky addict's voice in my mind. it's quite helpful for me to try being aware of it - now all I need to do is become more effective about kicking its butt out the door.

@kittythehare yes that pesky inner dialogue about having a drink gets boring doesn't it. What I've found that's helped me is taking myself off for a nice soak in the bath and a read of a book around the time I would usually be starting a bottle. So by the time I'm out and slathered myself in nice creams etc that feeling has passed. What has helped others on here is having a lovely AF drink in a nice glass so it's still feeling like a treat 😍

Thanks @PeacheyPeach yes, generally I'm doing pretty well. It's for some reason when I think about the future that I get a wobble. Which is ridiculous as clearly the well worn mantra is 'one day at a time'.

Hi @KittytheHare yes don’t worry about tomorrow ! Just concentrate on looking after yourself today

I find self - care really helps me - face massage , baths as well, clean sheets , drinking fizzy water in lovely glass etc

Thanks @Emmie2021, some nice ideas there. Also saving a fortune by not buying wine so deserve some treats I reckon!

Hi all. Had one very weak g&t and then went back on the tea - couldn't be arsed with anything else!

I drank a bottle of red on Saturday night. Silly. I’ve now signed myself up for a physical challenge that I need to train for, so I won’t want to risk my hard work again!

I’m too old for drinking now; I need to take better care of myself.

I've just found a Facebook group called Nontoxicated! - The Alcohol Free Drinks Club
The group's members are reviewing the current alcohol free drinks on the market and where to buy them. Have a look 👀 😁

Hi all,

I caved and drank on Saturday. It was hard as I'd been in the kitchen for 3 hours baking with kids and preparing food (which involved recipes containing red wine and spirits, I was making a fancy grown-up dinner). Having hit 4 weeks and knowing I wasn't going to drink on school nights I thought, why not.

Bit disappointed I didn't go the whole way but still feel pretty proud of myself. Have definitely learned a lot which I hope to carry through.

I did feel utterly horrendous on Sunday morning though. I drank 12 units across 6 hours. In the past it probably wouldn't have had quite the effect but I definitely felt like I'd been poisoned on Sunday. And I was disappointed that even though I thought about moderating, I still feel the urge to pack it away once it's open.

So … I'm in a bit of a nomansland now. I feel like I want to make a plan and maybe allow myself a certain amount of units once a week? But not really sure what to do and sick of thinking about it. I don't get cravings as badly and would like the wine witch to remain silent!

I've given myself a kick up the arse and I'm determined to lose some weight this month. So I'm skipping breakfast for a week to see if it makes a difference, if it does I will carry on with that throughout Feb. Thought dd1 was returning to uni on Feb 13th so had planned a lovely bottle of red with dh on Valentine's Day but now she's decided she wants to go on the 14th so one of us will have to drive her

Hello all. Had a horrendous couple of days but really not tempted to drink to get through them. I realised that my problems won't go away if I drink - I'll just have to face them hungover with wine guilt/beer fear thrown in too.

With PPs about the doctor - I'm dying for an excuse to tell my GP I've been sober for a month now. I'm nowhere near ready to think about moderating - I'd end up back where I was before, so aiming for 100 sober days then will review again. I might drink again, I might not...at the moment I genuinely don't know.

I realised that my problems won't go away if I drink - I'll just have to face them hungover with wine guilt/beer fear thrown in too
This is so true. Hope you are feeling better today

It is true. Am impressed you told your GO knew the truth Flabbered- I went for half the honest answer at the dentist and the dental nurse staggered in shock!

Hope you feel better.

I have eaten cake for breakfast but like the idea Frodont.

The last time I told the truth at a medical checkup about 7 years ago the doctor was just awful - I'd already disclosed stress and anxiety, she clearly didn't believe me when to told her I took regular exercise and she was judgemental and had nothing constructive to say about seeking help for alcohol dependency. I cried as soon as I left the clinic but I did get some counselling help and realised I needed to get my alcohol intake under control.

I don't know why GPs can't at least signpost resources for support. It's not exactly a stretch.

How is everyone this evening?

That’s awful Teelizzy - neither professional or kind.