Problem/Dependent Drinkers and Alcoholics (recovering or active) Support III

[ornamentalhaggis]

Time for a new thread already!

Welcome to the thread, the purpose of this is to give anyone who is having any trouble with their drinking, a safe place to come and post about it honestly and without judgement.

There are many of us that use the thread for support and encouragement: some in recovery, others just needing a place to share about their worries. It's been going on in one form of another for a while now and has helped many people.

Thank you to all of those who have kept it going thus far, and welcome to anyone who has decided the time has come to ask for help.

Everybody's welcome, no matter what stage your drinking is at.

Jump right in, the water's fine

kokeshi

I haven't posted for ages, but thought it was about time I said hello again.

Daisy, congratulations. Lovely, lovely news!

FlowerTop, thanks for asking after me. I don't post that much anymore but still look in most days. Anxiety is killer now I'm (mostly) sober and I was gong to CAT you to chat about it, but I didn't...

I haven't really been doing that well lately. I am mostly sober but a bender is always round the corner. Today hasn't been a sober day and I'm angry with myself but not strong enough to stop now.

Hi to all the newcomers.

Hey BM , I'm glad you are still around as it's always a worry when someone drops off the board for a bit.

Sorry you're not having a great day today.

Have you seen the doctor about the anxiety. I've been taking sertraline and found that really helpful where my anxiety and panic attacks are concerned.

Are you going to any meetings? or getting help with your drinking? You were doing so well for a while there; try not to get too despondent and keep in mind how good you felt about your realationship with your girls when you were staying sober. I'm not much help, I know, but I'm sure teasle or OH will be along later.

don't be a stranger

Hi Daisy. I think you have me confused with someone else - I have 1 DS.

The GP can't give me anything whilst I'm unstable so I'm waiting for a referal to a local alcohol service. Hopefully life will be more manageable then.

Hi folks, I have been laid up all day with what I think is food poisoning, but welcome back to monkeybutler and BrassicMonkey. It's great to see all you guys on the thread again.

It's so important to be able to share our experiences - good and bad - with each other, I never stop learning from others who've been in my position.

Expat, your shoes look ideal for walking, as long as you like them, who cares what others think? I have a pair of walking shoes kinda similar to that but without the holes and they're fantastic for gripping onto the scree when we're up the bens! Madrid sounds fantastic, you deserve a wee break.

Fio, you asked about other drinks? I know loads of people who go through diet coke and coffee phases when the give up booze. The caffeine in it causes the adrenal gland on the kidneys to produce adrenaline - and triggers and artifical stress response. Your anxiety levels go through the roof and then you're left feeling exhausted afterwards.

Many of said people have actually given up caffeine for this very reason, you want to make it easy on yourself when you're abstaining! Some alternatives are chamomile, fruit or herbal teas. I drink loads of squash or high juice, as I find fruit juices a bit too sweet for me.

Oh, I have LOTS of ideas of other things to drink, especially as am not having caffeine since found out I was pregnant because don't want to do anything that might put me at higher risk of another miscarriage.

I like Pomegreat pomegranate juice plus sparkling water and a twist of lime.

OJ plus sparkling water and a twist of lemon.

Pineapple banana juice.

SMOOTHIES!

I also found this stuff in Lakeland called 'Kool Ice' which is a vanilla drink powder you can mix with all sorts of things.

Filtered water. Put it in a jug in the fridge with slices of cucumber and lime.

If you don't like hot fruited teas - I don't - put them in a jug in the fridge.

I like those shoes, too, OH .

I have a terrific pair of Keen sandals that I've hiked up peaks in when it's hot in Colorado summer:

keen

sorry BM ...who is it that has two girls then?

expat, I didn't know that too much caffeine increases the risk of mc. I drink way too much diet coke these days, but strangely enough felt compelled to go out and buy some decaff tea the other day. I'll stop with the diet coke as of now.

Hey BM, hope you stay ok tonight x

Expat- like your ideas. Fio, i went through a stage of drinking all sorts of stuff when I first put down the drink, until I found things like Expat suggested- now I don't really drink much, except water- or like you I end up going to the loo all night!Fizzy drinks make me feel ill now- body now being a temple an' all that. I seem to be undergoing a sort of health regime backlash, after having abused my body for so long.
If i'm at a party I tend to go for sparkling water with a squeeze of lime. I hate 'soft' drinks- most of them are too sweet for me. There is a joke about all the recovering alcoholics drinking cranberry and sparkling mineral water at a party- hmm that would be me then...

Purplone has 2 DDs.
Don't worry Daisy- you're pregnant, can now use it as an excuse for almost anything!

lack, it's just a new study out about it.

i just don't want to take ANY chances this time and hope for the best.

i am continuing my normal exercise routine and fish oils, which help my mood and depression immensely.

am on 20mg of fluoxetine at the moment - after my m/c it seems my PND returned - and finally called my GP, who has kindly referred me to consultant psychiatrist as well so that my depression can be better managed during pregnancy, assuming it continues and afterwards, as i've had PND twice now.

i tell DH, 'It's mocktail hour!' and break out the Pomegreat and sparkling water around 5PM!

another good one for summer is the 'slushy'.

get some lucozade. open the bottle and drink off a bit.

freeze it.

leave it out and it'll be all slushy and divine right aroudn the time you'd normally open a bottle of wine or crack open a beer or mix a cocktail.

another tip: grow mint!

you can add the leaves to just about anything to jazz it up, including chilled fruit teas.

even better if you bash the leaves with a pestle and mortar first.

aha...of course it is.

and lol teasle; pregnant brain + newish baby brain = mush for brains.

anyhoo, back to my creativeness. I'm making a sword and shield out of cardboard for DS for World Book Day tomorrow. I only came on the pooter to print off a lion rampant, and got sucked in.

I tell DH I'm "checking my e-mail", but I'm sure he knows I'm MNetting. I'm not that popular that it would take two hours to check my e-mail!

Talk to you all soon

expat, all these drink ideas is making me thirsty

LOL, teasle! Even more when you go to a party and somehow you find yourself with all the recovery people, sipping your mocktail and having conversations you actually remember in the morning!

Anyone around God can't believe I'm up again at this time. Had a bad day yesterday. DP told me in no uncertain terms that I have to take time off (was off most of yesterday) but have got so much to do. I feel like I'm grinding to a halt.

Hi Glowormish- you ok?

What's going on glowormish? Why do you need to take days off?

Acute pressure at work (own business). Feel like my head is going to explode sometimes. I feel a little better now as I'm working from home and just getting stuck into stuff to take my mind off things. Its just really hard not to take it all personally. I'm being suitably vague as am terrified someone will recognise me!I feel like I'm being completely paranoid. There was a guy sitting in a car outside the house yesterday for ages and I kept checking what he was doing (whether he was watching me) although if I told you everything that has happened to us over the last year you wouldn't be suprised at my reaction.
I cried at an e-mail an old friend sent me about nostalgia. Just felt so isolated. I'm in a new part of the country without support and I miss home. God I'm rambling, do I sound bats?

Not bats, but you sound a tad stressed!

glowormish, you sound like you're under a lot of pressure and don't have a lot of support. Can your DH help you with your business? If it helps to write it down on here, please do. Or if you need someone to vent at, you can contact me on k0keshi at hotmail dot com (that's a zero between the ks), that goes for anyone else who wants to contact me off-board. Or, I'm also on facebook, search on 'jo kokeshi' and I'll add anyone as a pal.

Not many folks visit this thread, I don;t think, unless their lives are affected by problem drinking in one way or another., so there won't be any judging going on. I know that feeling of paranoia, it's terrifying.

Where did you go PurpleOne? Did you get any joy at the GP? I really think Antabuse is a good option for you if you've don't have much support to discourage you from lifting a drink. You have to be monitored whilst being on, and I think they supervise you taking it, so that nothing is left to chance. It means that you'll have regular contact with the GP/cpn/alcohol service and won't feel so alone.

Our local alcohol services prescribes it as part of their outpatient treatment, and you get a keyworker for a one on one session as long as you go. Sometimes this is the foot on the ladder that we need.

Where do you get pomegranate juice expat? My granny used to buy us pomegranate when we were wee and we sat and picked the seeds out with a pin. Happy days at my granny's: soup you could dance on, 'golden toast' (plain bread) and pomegranates!

'Pomegreat' is sold in big supermarkets, and health food shops too round my way- quite easy to get. (I know I'm not expat, but i buy it too).

Thanks OH and teasle. OH might well e-mail you but got to get my head straight first if that makes sense.
My DH is the business and he works silly hours and is probably under more stress than me! We alternate on being stressed and unable to cope!

Thanks teasle! I'll have a look for it. I detest those 'kid-on' wine drinks like shloer or any unfermented grape juice, what's the point?! I never drank it for the taste!

No worries glowwormish, don't put any pressure on yourself. Just if you need an outlet.

OH, I think purple posted something further down about the possible side effects of antabuse. Do you know much about this? I'm more interested in the effect it might have on panic/anxiety attacks (if any) than it reacting with anti-perspirant or perfume.

I might ask my GP about it. I don't know why it hasn't been suggested to me while I wait for me referral. I can understand why I can't be prescribed any mood altering/stabalising meds, but antabuse doesn't fall into that category does it?

Going back to when I first got sober last year, I was most successful when I thought of alcohol as 'out of the question'. I can't seem to get back in that frame of mind now, but antabuse would give me it synthetically, I think.

Any thoughts?