Anyone gone teetotal after heavy drinking..if so how did you do it and for how long have you kept it up ??

[no1andno2]

Anyone ? I need some help and fast..........

Ever since I had children so the last 5 years.. with 18 months off for dc2.

Although I have always drunk more than the goverment guidelines since I began work about 13 years ago... although not anywhere near a bottle a night.

My GP has also referred me for counselling, and he was really helpful and not at all judgemental about the drinking issue. He said he was very impressed that I was sorting it out at this stage, and that he saw far too many people 10 years down the line from me when the damage had been done.

Hi there all, no1andno2 glad to hear that you are doing really well. I used to post on a thread in General Health which was abandoned a few months ago and am grateful to have found somewhere new to post. Recognise a few of you!!

I did the Alan Carr book a while back and it worked for a few months didnt really have any withdrawal symptons - like a lot of you I am a whole bottle a night girl (white wine) - tried the whole 2 glasses thing but as I am often alone in the evenings (except dcs)I just tend to go for the whole bottle. I think my problem stems from boredom/loneliness and dealing with a somewhat volatile relationshihp with my dcs father.

I am 47 soon and I really really hate the way I look - put on a stone since Christmas after losing last year whilst stopping drinking. I look old tired and very boring. I am not being down on myself I really do look like a bit of a bag lady and I dont want to anymore and I know that the main thing I need to do is not cut down or just drink at weekends etc etc I need to stop altogether at least for a while I and would like to post here as I really felt supported by the previous thread I joined it helps that we can come on here and admit how much we drink and even though we know its bad for us our families etc no one will judge us. Anyway I have rambled enough so I am hoping that tonight will be night one for me - wish me luck - I usually find from past attempts that its the first 3 nights that are the worst

good luck lulu41. Im with you. I have 3 stone to lose and I am puffy and pasty. I hate the way I look.

I need to get on to sensible eating now too. Im just so tired all the time I wish I had some energy.

I really need a break from work and all that it brings into my life its so stressful.

Post later. I am here for you on your first night.

I don't know if this will help some of you or not - when I was drinking too much and needed to cut down, I had to find an alternative that worked. For me, that was shloer and Waitrose's blueberry juice.

As I frequently had spritzers of both colour wines, I would mix these alternatives with fizzy water as well to reduce the cloying sweetness - I found that it gave me a more "sophisticated" drink that looked right and that was enough to fool my brain into not worrying about missing the wine.

It helped me anyway.

I have been drinking large wine glasses of slimline tonic wth ice and lemon.

Lovely

where are you all ? Hope you are ok tonight ?

xx

OP (and anyone else who cares) - I am an 11 stone man who used to drink double what you drank and who stopped without medical help or tapering off. If you are at all unsure, do contact your GP - but normally, when a GP says "don't go cold turkey, it's dangerous," they are talking to someone who is more in the bottle of spirits a day league.

I haven't had a drink for some time, I feel fantastic about it and I don't miss it.

I have done this one day at a time with the help of AA.

When drinking I never thought I'd say this sort of thing, but AA is brilliant and I actually enjoy attending. Men are in the majority, but there are plenty of women and plenty of 30 somethings and even 20 somethings.

Give yourself a shot at a happy life without drink and give it a go.

PS poster who talked about "DTs, whatever that is" - DTs is NOT just "the shakes", which lots of us get. DTs is shakes with accompanying hallucinations. Very unpleasant, apparently.

Where was I last night, n1&2?

Eating Venetzia pizza.

And drinking 2 glasses of Shiraz.

Not The Rules. Not a whole bottle either tho (small positive point). And feeling fine this morning despite ongoing DP drama and a very poor nights sleep. Not going to beat myself up. Am going back to abstinence tonight tho...

hey thumbwitch. i had heard that but for now I can live with it. Its all part of the process to getting better for me and Im tackling obe step at a time.

CB thats ok. Im not sleeping well at all and things not too good with DH either.

He is such a selfish bastard. Becasue I was watching mistresses in bed last night he he announced it to be a load of toss and stropped off to the spare room. If I did that for top gear , dads army and all the crap he watched we would never share a room because I honestly never get to watch what I want. But then previously I would have had my bottle of white whine for company and wouldnt have cared...........

not time to read thread right now but will return - i used to be a very heavy drinker and have now not drunk for about 7 years
i would advise cutting down gradually and also seeking some professional help if you feel you have a problem

Oh I am so like lulu41 (except I am already 47, so old enough to know better!). I have read Alan Carr's book a few years ago (and it helped for a while). I also tried hypnotherapy (which worked for a while), and last year I had 3 months when I got much fitter, lost a stone and a half and drastically cut my drinking. I have regained half a stone, and I know I want to be healthier again.

So why on earth did I open a bottle of wine while I was making dinner last night? Half a bottle down by the time we ate, and the rest gone (all too quickly) when I was watching TV.

I do feel I let myself down. Thumbwitch said "stay away from anyone who is likely to undermine you and say things like "oh go on, it's only one, one won't hurt, you know you want to, everyone else does it..etc". The problem is, that person is me, inside my own head.

Anyway, it's new day. I have busy evening, today and tomorrow so that will help. I am glad there are others posting on here who are in the same situation. It really helps.

no1and no2 I brace myself when I read your posts as I could have written them myself, right down to the diet tonic and not caring about aspartame. Ny dh even harrumphed last night because I watched Mistresses.

I also am high up in a stressful but well paid profession and drinking numbs the stress issues I have that and with the ongoing relationship problems between me and dh.

I had another drink free evening last night. Bizarrely I slept well but woke with what felt like a mild hangover.

I quite often get this when I DON"T drink and always makes me glad I didn't as presumably if I had been drinking it would be worse.

ManIfeellikeawoman that is the best name for a man on mumsnet I have ever seen

I do what I can to bring cheer.

Good morning all - No1&2 glad you still doing so well couldnt log on last night - evenings all taken up with kids and of course last night Mistresses - loved it just as good as last series - might have to start a separate thread about it as think it warrants some serious discussion!!!

Beinghonest - I really do hate what I see in the mirror I used to be a bit of babe but think the last 4 years of me boozing and basically giving up on my appearance has really taken a toll on my looks - shallow huh!

Good luck all of you tonight of today even if any of you have a problem during the day.

I feel quite positive today after one night without my little friend just wondering how I will cope with Saturday night!!?

Hi everone.

I'm on day 5 and extremely proud of myself. I've been drinking about a bottle of wine a day for over a year.

My marriage is suffering because of it and I'm pretty sure I'm not as good a mother because of it

My plan is to cut out the drinking through the week completely and allow myself a glass at the weekend with dinner. I honestly don't know if I can do it. It has become second nature to pour that glass when I get home. I get in from work, prepare the kids tea, pour a glass and it's gone in 5 minutes. I have been know to take a glass of wine up to the bathroom whilst I bath them! How awful is that?!!

But for now, all that has stopped. I didn't have any withdrawels. Maybe a bit sweaty in bed, but that was all. Of course I craved a drink but didn't give in. Went to bed early the first two nights to stop me caving in.

I didn't ever think I would get to this stage with alcohol dispite family history more or less dictating that I would. But I feel an inner strength about all of this that I haven't felt before. So I really hope I can manage.

Love to all X

I think the old-fashioned word for some of us is DIPSO.

I too am pretty fed up with dh. He has taken the dcs out today and for the 2nd time in 8 months I am alone in the house and able to think some things through.

I was talking to my bro last night and it would seem that a lot of members of our family are dipsomaniacs (binge drinkers) and few of them have had the confidence or ability to stop. Where this leaves me I don't know. My old gp was very pragmatic and does not worry about govt guidlines and more about getting drunk.

I would prefer to avoid AA at all costs. I do badly in groups but am prepared to try other things.

Lots of people here seem to be doing very well. Good.

I am very impressed and inspired by all of you.

Feeling miserable today. Surprisingly hungover for half a bottle of wine, but also just low and fed up with everything. Given that alcohol is a depressant this is surely just another reason to stick to my guns and stop (at least during the week and at least until I can drink in moderation at the weekends). As someone said early, take it slowly and a little bit at a time.

Keep talking and hang on in there everyone...

Nice to see that this thread is active - we all fall by the wayside at times I have done so too many times to remember I think I can go back to just drinking 2 glasses and leave it that but as I drink alone most of the time its hard to leave it at that for me and before I know the whole bottle has goen !!!!

Good luck everyone today

Alice King, wine writer and recovering alcoholic
This makes sobering reading

www.highsobriety.co.uk

Bladebla

"I would prefer to avoid AA at all costs. I do badly in groups"

Why do you feel so strongly about AA if you haven't tried it?

Don't get me wrong - I can remember feeling exactly the same way. But what I can't remember is why I felt that. It seems preposterous to me now. Please remind me what it was like!

I have. Perhaps it was that particular group, but it wasn't good for me. I am not against AA. A lot of people swear by it and it has been a saving grace.

I have been in quite a lot of groups over the years, and frankly they have just been that. Groups. I don't want to join another one to deal with my psychological problems because I don't seem to get much out of them.

I am having more individual councelling and may try CBT although I am ambivilent about the CBT.