The Freedom Thread (Continued) - Enjoying the positives of an alcohol free life *Title edited by MNHQ*

[BunniesBunniesBunnies]

Hello all,

This is a thread for people who have decided that life is much better without alcohol!🤩 These threads were started by @Drybird, and they have changed the lives of many people.

Some posters on these threads have been sober for a long time, and some are only just starting. We are a very friendly and inclusive bunch and we are always excited when someone new joins the thread. The only thing we ask is that our posters have given up alcohol completely. Talk of moderation can be triggering for some people, so this thread is not the right place for that (there are other moderation threads🙂).

I hope to see many familiar names on this thread, and some new ones too! We always welcome anyone to share their feelings, ask questions or simply “check in”🙂

I’d also like to thank @Breathmiller for hosting the last thread (and to ask for your forgiveness for shamelessly stealing your thread title😳) - Thank you @Breathmiller 💐

Thanks all!

Bunnies

@Newmum29 good on you for posting and jumping back on. Have a super sober Sunday.

This thread is so helpful this morning.I'm in a hotel after a weekend away with a friend.I stayed sober!Day 38.Long term drinking partners in crime so this is a massive achievement for me.Went to a cocktail bar,,out for dinner and spent yesterday in a cosy pub.Last night my friend drank red wine in our room.I had mocktails,AF beer and water and I honestly didn't want to drink.If I can do this I am starting to see I can do Christmas.Not sure what has clicked in my brain but reading your posts and AF books is helping.Also walking through the city on Friday night at 11pm...it was like the zombie apocalypse with hoards of drunk, staggering ,shouting people.Quite intimidating .I wouldn't have noticed if I was drunk as I would have been one of them.Being sober is a real eye opener.Friend was lovely and supportive bit the conversation definitely became a little repetitive and over emotional once she had had a couple of pints and half a bottle of red wine which I'm guessing is what I'm like when I drink.Found myself detaching from the conversation.Has made me think about how I seem to my kids when I'm drinking and how they might feel in my company.

Amazing work @Chrispackhamspoodle - that sounds like it would have been really challenging to be in the company of one person drinking all day (not to mention a bit tedious)! Well done, massive achievement.

School fair yesterday for us, lots of people drinking (mummies on the Prosecco again), and I'm so glad not to be one of them. Really pleased my children aren't watching that anymore.

Yesterday I went to a wedding and didn’t drink. I drove, so couldn’t have changed my mind if I wanted to because car was in the pay and display and no other way to get home! It wasn’t too hard. I did feel a little envious of people having drinks, but if I’d been drinking it would have been stressful as I’d have wanted more than what they had. I’d have been waiting for my glass to be topped up, desperate for someone else to finish their drink and propose another round.
This morning I feel very very pleased I didn’t drink last night. I’d be feeling it if I had!

Thank you @indiesearcher I was so worried beore I went and now so pleased to be sat here waiting for the train home without worrying I'll puke in the train toilet or feeling the need to buy half of M&S foodhall to make it through the journey. Cnt wait to see my kids.@PinnyPencher3 I totally agree with the anxiety of watching glasses for the next drink.Relief to focus on the conversation rather than the amount kept in my glass.

Ohhh well done @Chrispackhamspoodle. Your entire post is very relatable for me as well.

Set my alarm early this morning and went for a run, feeling good now🙂

@Newmum29 welcome back💪

Wow, the posts on here are so inspirational, whatever stage we are at on our alcohol-free journeys.

I had several false starts, but what finally did it for me was my disastrous behaviour at a wedding, so kudos to those who can get through such an event unscathed.

My last drink was back in October 2019, so I survived a booze-free Christmas and winter holiday before covid struck. For that, I am so grateful, as I can't begin to imagine how lockdowns+anxiety+alcohol would have played out.

I'm with you on the checklists, ticking off an alcohol-free day first thing sets you up with the right state of mind. And when I am around people who are drinking alcohol, I admit I am smiling inside; it is a smug feeling, I know, but I my choices are right for me; regaining control is the best.

Well done chrispackhamspoodle amd pennypincher
Such a good feeling when you manage a time that you might have made different choices.

@pantherinapantsuit 'flipping to party mode' is me down to a T. And then the death the next day...next week! Next month sometimes for recovery!

@Newmum29 welcome back , so good you came back, and hope your okay 😊

@Chrispackhamspoodle everything you said 🙏

Reading this thread and it just made me so sad that alcohol is the route of so many horrible examples of behaviour. No real judgment as I know I’ve done lots of things I’m ashamed of when drunk but just sad and more determined to stay alcohol free - www.mumsnet.com/Talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/4419000-To-ask-the-worst-behaviour-at-Christmas-you-ve-witnessed-by-an-adult?pg=4

Also, quite the random one, but has anyone else found their boobs don't get lumpy anymore?

I was suffering with so much breast pain before I quit, sporadic, lumpy sore boobs. Now perfectly normal.

@indiesearcher Yes! This is the first time I've seen anyone mention this. A big difference for me and just shows the damage done to our bodies (not that I cared when I was throwing it down my neck!)

Once I had stopped it took about 3 months to feel completely'better' (headaches/breast pain). Someone said that I'd been poisoning my body for years so it took time for the body to get rid of it.

That's the way I look at it now - why would I want to poison my body? I don't want to feel like I did ever again.

Checking in 🙌

Happy Monday everyone! Just checking in to say hello. Another weekend nailed but not without its trials for me. I had a night out (dinner "drinks" and dancing) with the school mums on Friday and I loved being able to drive there and back and didn't feel at all deprived. However yesterday when we were putting up the trees and decorations I was feeling wistful- I'd normally be having a baileys or a glass of fizz with a mince pie and feeling all warm and festive. My cup of tea didn't hit the spot at all, no matter how hard I tried to "play forward" the feeling. Of course this morning I'm fresh and bright and SO happy that I didn't give in. However it made me so sad and fretful yesterday. I think I need to get to the bottom of that sadness (I think I actually know what it is- relationship issues with DP and uncertainty/ melancholy about this maybe being our last Xmas together as a family unit and the fact that I'm about to take a match to the family life that my DC know.) It would have been so nice to blitz away those feelings but I didn't and I'm glad overall. I'm still sad today. I'm also due my period though and I KNOW I did the right thing, and am doing the right thing, in sitting with my melancholy and letting it have its moment. As soon as I get my next work meeting out the way today I'm going to (weather permitting) head out for a run to clear my head (and if it's pouring I'll throw some kettlebells about inside instead, while swearing furiously.)
Lots of love to everyone. Each day is another step xx

Hello everyone, stumbled across this thread today, could I join?

I think I've always had problems with alcohol throughout my life, and it got really bad after I had 2 massive bereavements quite close together. I eventually got it together when I fell pregnant and although I've been occasionally drunk/hungover since, I've been mostly really good at being responsible.

That was until the weekend, when I opened a bottle of prosecco doing Christmas cards, then when that was finished, I was watching TV with husband (who was also having a few drinks) and decided I wanted more, so opened and finished another. Then after that I had a couple of gins. I am absolutely sickened at myself for drinking that much. Of course, I eventually passed out and I had been sick on myself and the floor before that. I was very, very hungover yesterday and the hangover anxiety was awful, truly awful.

I've decided that's it for me. I would rather just stop drinking. Mainly because I feel like I've let my DD down. She was asleep and was none the wiser as she's only 4, but she deserves better than a mum who gets in that state and can't function the next day.

I've been reading through a few threads, and it's lovely to see others being so support and non-judgemental, I think that's one of the hardest parts is the fear of being judged.

Thanks for listening

Welcome @stonycove you've found the place! I think stories like yours are the final straw for a lot of us - you're in good company.

Welcome stoneycove

No judgment here, just support in droves.

There is a lot to let go of and some days will feel easier than others but honestly, there is so so much to gain.

Post as often or as little as you like and I can recommend reading back waaaay from the start when the wonderful Drybird began them.

These threads have been a lifebelt for many, I certainly don't think I could have done it without them.

So, welcome aboard. We're all here together.

Well done @CardinalCat and it sounds like you’re aware of the root cause of your feelings - your relationship, rather than the lack of booze. That must be really tough, but try to focus on the new amazing life you will be giving your DC, rather than the one you’re taking away from them. Waking away from a relationship is super hard, but there are so many threads on here showing that life can be so much more wonderful once you do (if you do - obviously I don’t know if you will, sorry if I misunderstood).

@stonycove a warm welcome to you. Your tale of a bottle that turned into two (and then some) sounds very familiar to me. It is so so so liberating to ditch the booze and never have a shame fuelled hangover again. Not a day goes by without me being grateful for that. Join us!🙂

@stonycove welcome to the thread, and welcome to a hangover free life 🙌

Thanks for your kind words @BunniesBunniesBunnies You're absolutely right and tbh I think I'm just wallowing a bit indulgently! I was all "pink cloud" last week and now I'm feeling a bit "muddy puddle"- not helped by PMT!!

And welcome to the thread @stonycove !
It's such a huge and important step to acknowledge that you want things to change and an even bigger step to commit it to writing here. You'll find lots of support here! I found it helpful to make a list of my 'Whys'. It really helped me to focus on what I wanted to happen in the future.

Wallow away @CardinalCat, wallowing is very much allowed on this thread🙂

Checking in 🙌

Checking in day 3. Hope everyone is well. Still haven't had chance to catch up on many of the recent previous posts but hope to have some time this week!