The continuing support thread for living alcohol free, every day. Everyone welcome.

[Blackberryblossom]

Hello, and welcome to the alcohol-free support thread. The original thread was started about three years ago by drybird.

We’re a broad community who have all chosen to live alcohol free for good. Whatever your reasons, whatever you’re going through, someone here will have been there too. People here will have done that first sober holiday, first sober Christmas/birthday/work do/wedding/funeral, first AF night out with the drinking friends, first (and 2nd and 3rd…) AF Friday night/Sunday lunch, first day 31/day 101, first lapse. Don’t be shy about posting, we love all the successes of whatever shape and size and we have all been there too when things go wrong.

If you’re looking to moderate your drinking rather than quit altogether then maybe have a look at the long-running and very active moderation/abstaining thread that’s always near the top on the alcohol support board? Lots of support there too.

Brew yourself a and come on in!

Well evening all.
I truly surprised to find my old drinking buddy had given up the booze.
I invited her for lunch and I reminded her I don't drink anymore and she said me too.
Some of you may remember she lost her husband just before Christmas. He had been a heavy drinker. I worried she would crash and burn. To be honest I avoided her to protect my sobriety. It wasn't have a glass, it was have a bottle.
I shall be meeting her with a gift of that lovely orange Tanqueray.

@WendyWagon that's so nice that you can share a lunch and continue your friendship without the alcohol now. The world works in mysterious ways!

Day 3 for me today. I've reached for a ginger beer (this is witching hour for me!). Planning to busy myself playing Luigi's Mansion shortly with my son who's been badgering me all day to play 🤣 that's tonight's plan for the danger zone!

Planning the gym first thing tomorrow so will keep that at the forefront of my thoughts...

How is everybody else doing?

@WendyWagon that's great that your friend is AF too. For you and her.

@whichdayisit ginger beer and Luigi's mansion sounds great 😃

I'm banned from the gym for a couple of weeks because I just got a new tattoo today as my "alternative rebellion" instead of alcohol. And I love it. Yay!

how good to find an already good friend is also sober @WendyWagon

@whichdayisit well done on a sober saturday night.

i'm approaching the end of day 8 on early grey tea and feeling pleased.

love to all.

@Itsrainingten hooray for a new tattoo too! what did you get?

I got a flowers to cover up a crappy tribal style "tramp stamp" that I've hated for about 20 years! It's much bigger so it sort of goes diagonally across my back now rather than just above my bum crack like the previous one 😂

@ponzusoup well done on day 8!

@Itsrainingten hope it heals up ok for you.

I'm hoping I fall asleep more easily today after the gym session today - I struggled last night a bit, felt a very interrupted sleep! How long does that take to go back to normal if your used to drinking yourself into a wine stupor

@whichdayisit It took me ages, which is why I'm such a fan of bedtime rituals such as scented baths and oil warmers in bedrooms. I also recommend sleep headphones and experimenting until you find something that helps you to sleep. I couldn't get away with sleep stories, but love an app called Rain Rain (free on App Store or the Android version). It plays lots of different rain sounds, and you can mix your own too. I still use it, and find that it makes me feel really cozy when it sounds like there's a storm outside. I used hypnosis at first, too. There are lots of tracks available. I liked Craig Beck.

I used the same scented bath oil as I warmed in the bedroom, and played the same hypnosis track or rain noise every night, in the hope that the familiarity would become associated with sleep. Sleep might have come eventually anyway, so I can't swear it worked, but at least it was better than going to bed and just lying there sleepless for hours.

Morning campers. Just dropping a note to be remembered 🤣🤞 I don’t come on mn very much at the moment. Even less being Easter holidays. But still here. Still sober and would like to be notified when you move over to a new thread!

Can totally relate to the parent/mother issues. After 2.5 years of weekly therapy I ‘finished’ about a month ago. I’m STILL sober and still surviving. I may yet go back, like sobriety I’m not sure you’re ever cured but perhaps better able to cope…

3rd round of covid a couple of weeks ago and have my own shirt potatoes lump to be checked Monday. Thanks @REP22 for that term I SHALL be using it 🤣

so fabulous to see all the new faces, I send you strength and solidarity. It’s really does get better. And then you realise how much worse it was waking with a fuzzy head and a less than clear recollection of the previous days events….

I hope everyone else is keeping on keeping on.

Good morning! It is 6 weeks for me tomorrow. First dinner out yesterday with family I would have drunk with everyone was drunk apart from me. I didn't miss it. The only crazing I had was getting ready, so i got myself a different drink to have which seemed to work.

@whichdayisit my sleep improving was one of the earlier sobriety gifts for me. Urg waking at 3 feeling horrid hasn't happened for 6 weeks. Getting to sleep was tricky for a couple of days, I listen to podcasts to focus my mind. But I am still so tired! I'm in bed by 9 most nights!

I have head head aches for about 10 weeks. Can't decide if it's connected to alcohol, getting used to a new glasses prescription, or the many bugs we've had going around the house.. .

Did anyone get extended headaches after stopping?

@Itsrainingten very exciting to hear about your tattoo- I'm pleased you are happy with it! X

Morning all.
Lovely to hear from you @Fortheloveofgodwhy and welcome @whichdayisit ! Congratulations on your 6 weeks @Womanshour. You’re doing brilliantly @ponzusoup .

Slightly odd morning for me as I’m off to run my first marathon at the age of 55. We can do hard things, ladies.

Wow @Onewildandpreciouslife good luck and enjoy! I am a ex runner trying to be a current runner again. This is amazing i hope it goes well!

@Onewildandpreciouslife wow and good luck. It’s our local half today, I noticed the signs on my way home and though jeez that is a steep uphill mile 2 😳 to get started on. Utter admiration for anyone who runs that far (a half) never mind a full AND hills …

Wow @Onewildandpreciouslife good luck on your marathon. How exciting. I'm very impressed

Morning all.
Wow@Onewildandpreciouslife .good luck. I was a medium distance runner. I miss it and my God it clears the mind. I never did a marathon, full thumbs up to you.
@ponzusoup 8 days is fantastic.

Just used the air fryer for the cooked breakfast. Much easier than bending down. I should of rebelled and bought one years ago.
Shuffling today but better four days on the trot.

Good luck with the marathon, @Onewildandpreciouslife . I can't imagine doing something like that. I could fancy a cooked breakfast, too, but I've been good and had overnight oats with chia and berries.

Greetings all. Hope you're doing OK. Election fever here. The dog barked early on this morning (he is NOT a barker in general) but I paid him scant heed. Just gone out to top up the bird feeders to find that someone has been into my garden and put up two poles with posters endorsing one of the candidates, cable-tied to my fences, INSIDE my garden, staked into my soil. The dog may be DHL'd to the council offices tomorrow after all... 😡

@Fortheloveofgodwhy you're welcome 😉- good luck with your lump, I hope all will be well. Mine are going down and the nausea is abating thankfully.

@Womanshour it probably is the glasses - vision issues give me the mother of bad headaches, hope you feel much better very soon.

@Onewildandpreciouslife that's brilliant about the running. I only run if something with MASSIVE teeth is chasing me, hehe...

Strength and love to all. xx

Oh, that would annoy me massively - do you support the candidate? That would be bad enough, but if someone put a photo of someone from a party I don't support in my garden I'd want to hunt them down!

Thanks SME, I do, as it happens. Had they asked me I probably would have said yes to putting one up (but not both). It's the coming into my garden that annoys me more than anything. But I'm not going to make a fuss about it. I pick my battles and this isn't one of them. I mentioned it to my mother though, and she was livid. She is not so discretionary in her battles, so I've not doubt words will be had at some point. That'll do me - I lock 'n' load mother and send her out into the community, poor s*ds, hehe 😉x

Afternoon all. slight sunday evening day 9 cravings going on here. off to buy nice soft drinks for distraction.

@REP22 very cheeky to trespass on your land! use all weapons at your disposal ! 😜

@Onewildandpreciouslife a marathon! amazing! i struggle to run for the bus

@Onewildandpreciouslife how was the marathon?

@ponzusoup keep swimming - good on you sticking to the softies!

I'm day 4 today and I've done probably three times as many useful things today as I would normally have tackled on a Sunday. Gymed this morning (it normally takes me till around 2pm to gather the motivation!). Because I did it earlier I had the whole of the rest of the day so went to visit my auntie who was through and got on top of all of the house admin which means I can have a shower, stick the pjs on and unwind tonight before the "back to school" run around tomorrow morning.

Don't actually feel tempted today. OH actually offered to get a bottle of wine for me for tonight because I'd been so busy all day and I told him I was sticking to abstinence! I don't think he can quite believe it which is spurring me on even more

Hope everybody's weekend went ok!

Thanks all. Finished in 5:15:34. I’d really wanted sub 5, but fully acknowledge that I still have a lot of work to do on self-acceptance 🤣🤣

Well done for completing it @Onewildandpreciouslife!! Amazing achievement.