The Brave Babes Carry On The Charabanc Trip - Leaving The Booze Behind!

[Mouseface]

Hello and welcome!

This is thread number eight!

The Brave Babes are all at different stages of quitting the booze. Some have stopped, some are thinking about it and some are just cutting down.

They are full of support and wisdom for those of you wishing to climb aboard the Bus or Charabanc!!

The Babes aren't an exclusive club, they never judge and they don't charge for advice either!

So, come meet them. I'm Mouse, by the way, and I've been sober since August 2nd 2010, something I would never have even considered without the support of these threads.

Here are the first seven threads, if you want a bit of history.

JWN's original thread

Thread two

Thread three

Thread four

Thread five

Thread six

Thread seven

Welcome Kat

Well I did enjoy my bottle last night and am on course to not drink today and it hasnt really occupied my mind so thats a step forward.

Also my friend is coming on tuesday evening and I saw her yesterday and asked if she minded if we didnt drink when she comes. She was fine with that so I was quite pleased with myself.

I too am hoping to lose a few pounds its not just the alcohol but all the mindless snacking that occurs after drinking !

Hi all
gettingeasier well done for sorting that out with your friend I expect it will be easier for you on Tuesday evening now that you have mentioned it in advance. Sure you'll have a lovely evening anyway.

Trying to distract myself today - did have rather too much this week so missing it now but internettage is taking up my time and think I will have a nice warm bath soon.

Hi everyone, haven't posted for a week or so but have been lurking, have my first counselling session tomorrow for depression and am dreading it, have not had a drink for over a week mainly due to the fact that I want the a/d to kick in!

desire

Well done for not drinking and giving the ADs a chance.

I had a small glass of white (I say small because it used to be a good 300ml glass) on Friday night. Just the one. DH and PIL had the rest.

I felt utterly in control. I enjoyed every mouthful and didn't want more.

If we could all get to that stage it would be wonderful, to know that you would only ever drink one glass, two at most.

However, I am under no illusions here and that I could, if I wanted to, consume a bottle or three in one sitting.

So. I have nothing in the house, no wine, no vodka, no spirits. If it's there, I'll want it so it is bought Ad-Hoc.

Keep going Brave Babes.

desire - once the ADs kick in, you will feel a wave of relief, of calm.

Hello all,

I've had a lovely family day - lunch with dm and df, long chat with my dsis and then helping dd1 (22) with job applications.

Silver do not feel bad about last night, I was just glad that some people were on here to support you, and I was very glad that you posted your final post before you went off to bed - thanks for that. This whole journey is a roller-coaster and hopefully this is a safe place to post our most awful thoughts as well as those which are cheerful and uplifting.

aGlass - hope you are still lurking around, Come and post whenever you feel able. Whatever you tell us, I think you'll find some support.

Kat2504 welcome, and how exciting to be planning a baby. I am pretty old so those days have passed me by, but we love babies on here. 'We' already have twins, and a pregnancy (any more?).

venus - here, have a Mouse hug (((((>)))))

Hope you are ok.

Thanks Mouse, energy levels have been very low this week so even the thought of drinking and having to go to work the next day left me with no desire to drink. How are you coping on them?

Thanks - the mousehug was much appreciated.

Despite my df's protestations, he cannot look after dm indefinitely, at the intensity that it is now (and it will get more difficult), yet they so much want to be independent and are reluctant to accept help. My dm does worry though about df, and what would happen if he were ill.

I know that over the next years more of my time will be devoted to them and somehow I need to let them know that I WANT to do this. Yet at the same time I can anticipate the frustration I will feel at being the closest family member (my dsis lives in London).

Day 13 I think.... not coping, surviving. I feel V odd on them but I'm getting there!

Keep posting and be honest, every step of the way, no matter what and we can all help each other. xx

No drink tonight - very irritable but that's to be expected. Venus, Mouse and JWN - thankyou, and all the babes for being there - it really does make a difference - to all of us I think.

Sweet dreams chicks and Mouse I hope you get a good nights sleep

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Silver - you are lovely. Thank you so very much! The irritable bit will pass. It goes away in a day or two.

Just stay strong.

I used to nail 90 units + a week. So, if I can do it, you can do it and you have all of us to hold you whilst you do. xxxx

Hey mouse look at how fucking much we use to drink...

Bloody hell, we ARE doing well

hi, had a lovley day here, loads of cooking - have now got 3 tins of cakes! , dont really know why i cooked so much but they sure look nice!

silver and desire, you are both doing really bloody well!, you should both do a little twirl! , the first steps on getting your lives back!!

kat, are you having an early night?

i am off to bed in a mo, just going to do my nails first, hope you and nemo have a better night mouse!

venus, my dm and df are both in their 70s, both are fine right now but i have to admit that i find it hard when they do some sort of 'old person' thing!, ive noticed that my dm has a strange idea about sell-by dates, and is very defensive if i mention it,she also is a nightmare on the road now and given that she drives an enormous 4x4 i find it terrifying! i think its the small things like that that make you realise that they wont be here for ever.

btw, i find incredible now that we used to drink so fucking much and think we were still functioning normally - who were we kidding?

anyway, see you tomorrow babes!!

take care and sleep well!

L XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Testing, testing.....!?

Phew!

I haven't been posting on here in ages, so no one will remember me, but I have been lurking (lots!).

Through bad spells and good spells, I've been checking in either for a moral boost or when I've felt like pitching up because no matter what a drunk I've been, I've known deep down that none of you would have judged me.

I've cut my drinking down - haven't stopped completely, I get to about day 5 and crack but I've gone from drinking 5 nights a week to 2, and see myself as a work in progress

Hope it's OK to hitch a lift on the bus?

needsto!! hop aboard! you are doing really well!, i think we are going to need a double-decker at this rate! , glad to see you!

im off to bed now, hope to see you tomorrow!

Early night in the boring sense I'm afraid, boyfriend has been away on a fishing trip!
Had some very healthy dinner and a nice cup of tea, a good chat on the phone too. So all in all a pleasant evening.

For those starting ADs, good luck, I took citalopram for almost a year in 2008/9 and it did work for me through a bad time. Doesn't solve problems but makes it possible to start to cope with them better. Didn't do much for me at first until they upped the dosage.

desire good luck with your counselling session. The first time I saw a psychiatric nurse for depression I was petrified. I wrote down everything I wanted to say in case I was too upset to talk. Must have made interesting reading although I wish I hadn't let them keep my "memoirs" on my medical file! Pretty much all medical health professionals I've seen were really nice people.

scrambles aboard and tries to secure a back seat spot

I'll be here tomorrow - probbaly right after my Zumba class (the one I've booked right after I've dropped the DC's off at school. Yikes!).

Night JWN x

I'm trapped in the seventh circle of hell with antidepressants.

I know that without alcohol they'd stand a good chance of working properly, but I seem intent on cancelling out the good they do by poisoning myself with alcohol.

Not even going to post a sad face emoticon - I punish myself enough!

Needsto, lovely to see you posting again. As you know from reading stuff, there are all sorts on here: from MIFLAW's 7 year sobriety, to those who are 'just looking'.

We have no particular doctrine here (I think) but we do recognise when people are fooling themselves about their dirnking - well we would, 'cos we've been there often enough ourselves .

And I hope you are right, that there is not much judgement on here. We all judge ourselves harshly anyway, we'd not be reading and posting here if we didn't.

Oh, and well done, well done, well done, on cutting down so much.

Cutting down has been the easy part - I'd love to stop, completely. I'm working towards that, as my final goal.

Still, baby steps and all that .

I'm terrified my children will grow up with memories that their mother is a drunk.

That scares me more than dying; which is ironic as if I were to carry on on in the same vein that I have been, I'm more likely to end up dead before they have the chance to label me as a 'drunk'.

Hi to kat yup, eventually we just have to deal with life, and all the shit and wonder that it brings. Medication, self-medication, alcohol etc. can bring some break, but eventually we do have to get out there and experience it.

desire I hope your session goes OK tomorrow. It might feel scary, but I really hope you get the right person and the right help. We are all here to support and encourage but sometimes you just have to do the brave and difficult thing and go and get some professional support. Do as others have suggested - write down the important things that you want to say, and remember that it is OK to feel upset, or to be upset, or to cry, or to want to run away. If you get the right help, it will make a difference.

good luck all.
I drank a bottle of wine tonight

Hi, Gingerwig. That's ok. How will your week be? Are we to continue meeting under moonlight?

Hi Cream, and thanks.
My week will be watery, coffeeish, not winey