The freedom thread ( continued ) Riding the rollercoaster of an alcohol free life! Alcohol support for those wanting to give up drinking.

[SavBbunny]

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🙂).
We are a supportive welcoming bunch. No question is ever to “ silly “ and their is generally someone around if you are struggling
So just come here to chat or vent or check in . Whatever you need as you ride the rollercoaster of an alcohol free life smile
Thank you to @fortheloveofgodwhy for hosting the last thread 💜
And here’s to the next 40 pages grin

Hi Sav sorry to hear about your brother and the family issues. So pleased to hear you’ve found somewhere to make your home - a project could be a distraction as well as a joy.

takw care all and stay cool (ish!)
😎

@Breathmiller
Sadly no kaftans however a few Hattie Jakes tents!
I do love a hat and garden in gloves! Luckily DH has a thing about Pen.
The faux gin is here so I am cracking it open. Went to get the tinnies.

Today is my 6 month anniversary of being alcohol free. I never imagined I'd get this far but now I could never imagine going back. Life is so different, whilst being the same.

Sorry to hear of your family troubles @SavBbunny I hope your brother is doing as well as he can be and that your new house brings you a welcome distraction.

Huge congrats @Crunchymum what an achievement! I remember well when you joined the thread because your earlier posts resonated with me so much. It really sounded like you had a lot on your plate but you’ve done so well, you really did stick with it and look at you now. Absolutely brilliant work and very inspiring to others on the thread (including me!), well done again and thanks for your many helpful and kind contributions to this thread too x

Wow @Crunchymum - congratulations!

Morning all.
@Crunchymum wow and well done. A milestone to be sure.

Clean Co faux rhubarb gin not really rhubarby. £20 so will probably not repeat. I also woke up with dogs breath.

List making today for the new house.
Have a good day my friends.

Yay!!!🎉🎊🥳 Well done crunchymum. 6 months is an amazing achievement. You should be very proud of yourself. How is your health? Do you have RA or another autoimmune condition? I seem to remember you saying you had a flare up when you stopped drinking. Have you seen changes?
Anyway, 6 months is great! Congrats!

It's mine and Mr Breathmiller's 20th anniversary today. ❤

Happy Sunday all. I have my big brother here from the US. First time in years and he has had a hard time of it. Just lovely to see him.

Congrats on the anniversary and enjoy spending time with your big bro @Breathmiller !

Thank you all. Really appreciate the support!!

@BunniesBunniesBunnies thank you in particular for your very kind and supportive comments. I was a right mardy cow when I joined these boards. Time really had made such a difference. I still have so much to work on and deal with but I feel capable and strong.

@Breathmiller happy anniversary. 20 years what a fabulous achievement.
And yes we'll remembered I do have an autoimmune arthritis (I have psoriatic arthritis) and I had a massive, very prolonged flare when I stopped drinking. I'm "well" now.... medication is doing the job and I'm and plodding along.

Thanks, having a lovely day.

Glad to hear your health is better crunchymum. * *

Oh my goodness- coming on here to vent. Just been to a friends for a barbecue- got in the car to come home - dh is driving (I don’t drive) and says “well that was very nice, but it’s not the same when you’re not drinking”

I think I did quite well not to shout “DO YA THINK?!”.

he’s now also complaining that he feels very bloated because he’s been drinking AF beer. FFS - welcome to my world.

but actually I’m really happy not to have been drinking. It still just feels a bit unfair…

Can I join you guys?
I'm so tired of drinking. Every weekend it's 'will moderate this weekend' and it just never happens. I'm starting to think it's all or nothing as years of trying to cut down never work.
I'm in the difficult situation that my partner does not feel the need to stop drinking, he drinks every weekend without fail, and will drink alone. I however, only drink if he's drinking (which is most of the time), but can forsee that me stopping drinking might cause me to resent his drinking even more if that makes sense. I understand that I need to focus on me only, but its going to be hard when our weekends revolve around having a drink together. When your on the same level (both drinking) it appears to be fun, but I just know it's going to be no fun watching a movie / playing scrabble ect with a drunk person when I'm sober. Any way apologies for the rambling, hopefully things will become clearer when I have a few drink free weeks behind me. 😀

Welcome @Lago1 . As you’ll have seen from my post just before yours, it’s not easy when your partner still drinks! But it is manageable. I like drinking AF options, so I don’t feel like I’m missing out usually, and you gain so much. You will watch TV and remember what happens right to the end, and I would put money on your scrabble score rocketing if you don’t dull your brain with booze.

Good luck - there’s a lot of “stuff” to navigate in the early days, so post here as much as you need to

Morning all. Welcome @Lago1

@Onewildandpreciouslife can you learn to drive with saved booze money? I see it as my freedom. Clearer brain without the booze to learn now.

Got stung again last night. Wasp this time. Hand in ice for three hours.

DH bought excellent tonic on offer at Tesco. London Essence.

Not a busy week now as technically on garden leave. Hopefully an interview for a new job but TBA.
News of the house should cheer me up.

Welcome @Lago1! My partner does still drink but he drinks very much in moderation (damn him😂😂😂) and bar a few insensitive comments at the start he is been extremely mindful and respectful of my sobriety, always telling me how proud he is of me and never drinking the last AG beer in case I need it😂😂😂
However this didn’t happen spontaneously. We’ve had lots of chats about why this is important to me (reasons not always obvious to Mr Moderation!), what my triggers is and what he can do to help. By all accounts drunk me was a bloody liability so he much prefers sober me😂
Good communication is key!

@SavBbunny I passed first time about 18 years ago! And I’ve done lots of refresher sessions over the years - it’s the one thing my anxiety has beaten me on. I’ve made my peace with not driving

@Onewildandpreciouslife only you know what you can and want to do. I had hypnotherapy to calm me when I was a teenage driver. I wasn't a natural however I now drive allover and some big blighter cars too but I love my mini. Next fancy job I am having the electric countryman.

@BunniesBunniesBunnies my husband said worse than a liability. I am still feeling the shame of him having to help me up, get me home, calm me down!

@Onewildandpreciouslife but if you’ve made peace with not driving then I would say you have beaten your anxiety, not the other way around😊👍

Lots of people don’t drive for all sorts of reasons and it’s perfectly acceptable not to drive. If you’ve made peace with not driving I would say - good for you. If you do want to drive there may still be things you can try, but only if you want to of course.

Hello, just wanted to provide a little update. I'm sat enjoying an alcohol free g+t and it's lovely !! I've not had a drink for 10 days and I've been loving feeling so well and so free during the day! I have had the urge to have a glass of wine a couple of times but I just remind myself just how low and desperately awful I've felt after drinking / not sleeping / being up early with the kids and I decide I don't want it. I also remind myself how wonderful and free I feel during the day when I've not drank. So grateful for this thread. And I'm looking for alcohol free wine recommendations. I had some a few years ago when it wasn't common and it didn't taste like wine AT ALL. My usual faves are prosecco and Marlborough Sauv Blanc xx

Hi All!

Back from my mini break and certainly would love some support. Break did not go too good and I ended up stung in the neck by a wasp and still feel quite poorly from it!

Good to hear from you @hassletassle and well done on 10 days! Glad to hear you’re feeling the benefits- the good news is that they keep coming! Not sure if I can help on the AF wine front, as my poison of choice was always Chardonnay. I gave up trying to find an af substitute as all the white wines I tried had a distinctive aftertaste. However, I have found some af roses I like - Sainsburys and M&S own brand are good, but my favourite is the McGuigans when I can find it. Morrison’s seem to have the best supermarket range.

Hi @Crayonpenny - I’m sorry the mini break didn’t go well, particularly with a wasp sting - very nasty. Are you able to unpack what the issues were?

Day 150 for me today - a nice round number!

Also thumbs up to @hassletassle !!

@Onewildandpreciouslife That is a good idea, I'm going to jot it down on paper so I'm not carrying it round with me so to speak. A lot of the root cause was work, as I was off on the Friday I was super speed the other days getting a paper ready for my directors. I also have one staff member who is struggling and I'm finding that super stressful eg they don't turn up to meetings and it's apparent they have woken up / hungover.

Morning all.
@hassletassle the best wine I found is Asda sparkling Sav B (I loved sb Marlborough hence my user name). I also like Nozeco which on Amazon comes in rose too, who knew!
I didn't like real gin but nearly all the 0% gins are good bar the Lidl. London Essence is the favourite tonic so far.

@Crayonpenny I was stung by a wasp too on Sunday. Post spider bite I thought it was going to floor me.
One day at a time with this af life. I am not the straight road girly myself but everyday sober is a win for me. Can you look at it like that? I am proud of every weekend not spent necking 3-4 bottles of wine. Nobody's perfect (if you are, God bless you).

@SavBbunny it's horrible isn't it, the swelling has gone done a bit on my neck but it's still throbbing. I think I certainly am going to do the 1 day at a time approach, I feel any longer feels out of my control and it stresses me out. Crunch call today on the holiday and if we feel we should go.

I think I'm going to check in on here more often if that's ok. I won't over burden on things, I just have found this thread so helpful.

@Crayonpenny post away. I did daily (I am a diary writer so nowt to me).
I also read my first posts recently and I was a mess. @hangover @Drybird2020 abd@BunniesBunniesBunnies pulled me through.
Why are you considering not going on your holiday?