The Brave Babes Battle Bus - Carry On Past The Park Bench!

[HammerMouseOfHorrors]

Hello

I'm Mouse and one of the Brave Babes on the Battle Bus.

The bus is never full and you'll find a real mix of people on board, all with the same goal.

To take control of their drinking. Whether that's to stop completely or cut right down.

Everyone is welcome to get on the bus at any point. You will receive a warm welcome and plenty of support.

Some come meet the others.........

The journey so far.

JWN's original thread

Thread two

Thread three

Thread four

Thread five

Thread six

Thread seven

Thread eight

Thread nine

Thread ten

And it was worth every minute MsGeepers that's a great post. I might print it out!

terrified, you are very welcome here. i am relatively new and wasn't going to post tonight as i am drinking wine - I know! - and embarrassed about lapse after being peed off with DH for drinking last night!
I knew tonight would be a trigger - DH working night, DDs not here and DS1 in bed so the rare luxury of me time has always involved wine. it's a treat right?
You will not be judged here, i have found that and it is a relief to be open about my drinking and my fears.
Take a seat - you don't have to talk to anyone unless you want to.
BTW, the bus appears to be called Gerald. Don't know why

thanks Christi [hgrin]

xx

snuggle away. Just nudge me if I snore.

MsGee - Mouse - can i fit in the middle - in need of snuggles tonight - Mum in hospital and I have to be the grown-up

ssssoooooooooo cosy and warm

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzgruntzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzsnufflezzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzsnorezzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzgruntzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzsnuffflezzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzbig snore.....................xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Silver - sending you mum huge well wishes and hoping for a restful night for you lovely lady xx

Budge up you two.

Snort.

Snuggle.

Sniff. Sniff. (sorry, bit if a sniffle)

zzzzzzzzzzzz

Night night MsGeepers mwah and night night Silver mwah mwah.

You know where I am if you need me sweetheart. I'll have my phone on all night. xx

MsGeepers - see you in the morning I hope? xx

Oh my goodness what a lovely lovely bunch you all are - thank you so much for your kind (and practical) words, really, it's made me feel better , I've been feeling pretty low.

I know I should go back to GP just to reassure myself if anything, but I want to not be drinking when I go so at least I can feel I'm doing something positive.

I don't think I'm ready to get on the bus (Gerald!) just yet but can I please book my seat?

My D-day is after the Halloween weekend but will be trying to cut down in the meantime. (Halloween is a weekend away with long-time friends who are very big drinkers so I thought I would be setting myself up for failure to attempt to quit before then. After that I have a good few quiet months on the calendar to get myself into a new routine. Had an e-mail about weekend from one of my friends today asking how many wine BOXES did I think we should take, says it all really).

Am off to bed now, but feeling like everything isn't as desperate as I thought, I can do something about this.

Thanks all of you, really - you are an inspirational and supportive bunch of bus travellers!

xxx

(p.s. Dichotomy, my rambled post was confusing . I mean't to say that I was currently reading the Allen Carr book that Ex Drinker had recommended (which I bought after reading earlier posts on this thread))

Dichotomy Yes! It's amazing! I can not recommend it highly enough! I have my life back now and am joyfully free of drink, and haven't touched a drop since I finished the book on the 16th August. I can honestly say I have been tempted a couple of times, but not really tempted. The book is here
I've been harping on about it such a lot, I thought you must all be sick of hearing about it. Check out some of the reviews on amazon.

Good luck

terrified Poor you, it sounds like you're having a really rough time.

I know I mentioned it earlier, but I thought I'd give you a bit of info. A good friend of mine is training to be a hypnotherapist with the QUEST institute, and she has done a lot of work on phobias. The sort of health anxiety/phobia you describe sounds like exactly the sort of thing she is being trained to treat, and has already had significant success treating people suffering from similar things. I don't suppose you're in London? If yes, I could recommend a therapist for you, but if not then why not have a look at the quest web site and try to find someone.

Don't be too hard on yourself. You hold the key, it's just a bit tricky rmembering how to work it sometimes!.

Very quiet round of applause.

wasindie
you are our poet laureate! Who needs carol ann duffy? Or ARE YOU CAROL ANN DUFFY?!

daddywillbehomesoon - You have had lots of fantastic practical and emotional support today, and I know that you are drawing strength from it. I just wanted to send you a quick message as well and to share something of my experience.

I ended my marriage over 2 years ago after many years of emotional abuse, infidelity and alcoholism (his not mine). It took me a full year to tell him to leave though from when I first woke up to what was going on, and started to speak to friends about stuff that I had worked really hard at keeping secret.

In some ways I regret having wasted a year of my life - my friends knew that trying to save the marriage was a lost cause, and I think deep down I did as well. But like you I was consumed with anxiety and guilt about the children. Taking my time, trying everything I could to make things work meant that when I did make the decision, it was the easiest, and quickest one I have ever made, and I didn't look back for a second - If I had ended things when everything first came to light I would have always wondered if there was anything else I could have done.

I am not suggesting that you should stay in this horrible situation for another year - and I should also stress that I never felt physically threatened, but if you come to a point, as I did, when you know that you actually have no choice, that all possibilities have been tried, then the decision, and your plans for the future will be so much clearer.

To be tackling your drinking at this time is a brilliant first move. I didn't even acknowledge that my drinking was out of control and I felt like I was wading through mud for months, everything felt like such an effort. Being sober (mostly) will help you see things much more clearly, help you to attribute the crap behaviour clearly where it belongs, knowing that you have not contributed to it in any way, and hopefuly give you the confidence that you need to take back some control in your life.

I am thinking of you and feel sure that when you need to you will make the right decision for yourself and your children.

Hi christi how are you tonight? It sounds like things are tough for, you but you still seem to be much more positive than a week or so ago.

Terrified I agree with wasindie. I appreciate that you have this big weekend coming up and it may not seem like the best time to be tackling your drinking, but it doesn't have to be all or nothing.

You could try controling your drinking even a little over the next week or so, maybe even set yourself the aim of having slightly less on the big weekend (or not), and then feel in a far stronger position to really tackle it afterwards.

Just using this thread and the support here to taljk about what is going on with you, to start to think about strategies, will give you a head start.
Worth thinking about?

OK peeps I really need to head to bed. I am up at stupid O'Clock tomorrow and it is bloody freezing up here which makes dragging myself out of my pit horribly difficult,
but at least I won't have a hangover [hgrin]
xx

Morning everyone:) Hope everyone had a peaceful night . .

Hey guys, morning.

DH not in a good way, he's very weird. Seems he has singlehandedly cut his antidepressant dose from 2 pills every day to one pill every 2 or 3 days. He's all over the place, very low, frustrated. He can't concentrate and is massively forgetful and disoriented. Am putting him on enforced rest in bed with no email or phone today, watching movies amd taking it really easy. Am so worried about him.

By the way i had two glasses of red last night

hippychick thank you for your message

terrified as said above you can try to control your drinking over the weekend, remember it's the first couple of drinks that are pleasant but almost everything after is just trying to chase that elusive lift. It's very obvious if you are sober watching this.

daddysending you lots of love