The Brave Babes Battle Bus - Carry On Into Spring - BOING!!

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So, this is The Brave Babes Battle Bus.

All are welcome, regardless of your background, stage of sobriety, or anything else.

I'm Mouse and have been here since June 2010, and in control of my drinking since August 2nd 2010.

You will find unconditional support here. Always.

Whatever you feel about drinking (or not), we've been in your shoes. Some more than once.

So, come say hi, come grab a seat. There is always an open door and a warm welcome on this Bus.

hi! - having a really quiet evening all on my lonesome!, i dont mind tbh, i need a bit of thinking space every now and again!

prof!, really nice to meet you!, bloody well done on your 5 days, what an amazing start!, i know only too well what a fucking hard job it is at times! - as to when you will start feeling better, i can only go on my own experience, i definatly felt better after about 2 weeks, my mood lifted and i slept better, a proper restful sleep, not a booze induced coma! - i find that the longer i stay sober the easier it becomes, im very aware that drinking is not my main thought of the day, its becoming almost an aside - TODAY I WILL NOT BE DRINKING - its my first decision of the day, a quick, fleeting thought, then i just kind of get on with life, dont get me wrong, i still have the occasional almost overwhelming urge to drink and drink till im wasted, i do find the fight is becoming easier now though - i have my strategies in place, do the drill, call a friend, tell my dh, whatever i do though, by the time i have run the bath, or dialled the friends number etc the urge has passed and im back on an even keel!

as to health, i was shocked at first at how well i felt so quickly, if anything, that feeling has grown, i think i feel as well now as i ever could, mainly due to the fact that i have such peace in my head, the mental wellbeing i feel is only adding to the overall sense of phyisical wellbeing iyswim? - i cannot put a price on the feeling of calm and serenity i feel every single day (my friends think its hysterical that i feel 'serene' as im well known for being the exact opposite), my zest for life is increasing daily, i wish i could bottle all this positivity and send you some!

not drinking as not made life a bed of roses, i still have all the usual crap to deal with (quite a lot right now!), but not drinking has enabled me to be the best person i can be, i can try and make things right, and do it in the knowledge that im actually being effective, not wreaking havoc where ever i go - thats a very nice feeling!

bugger! x posted!, GO MA!!! YOU FANTASTIC BABE!!

Professor physically when I stopped from the daily drinking it was a week or so. I have had several lots of several day binges since and that's much quicker, not that I'm encouraging it.

ma you are a superstar!
Indie you too

I have GOT to have 8 hours in bed tonight, even if not sleeping, so am off, but am sober, and enjoying it, just for today. Love to all x

What is THE DRILL?

Hey Professor

I think that the drill is different for everyone, but mine is

HALT, am I hungry, angry, lonely or tired. Can I work out which one?
Make myself something nice and non alco to drink.
Eat something
Phone someone.

Run bath, get in bath. (from the bath I cannot get to the shop to buy supplies!) Lie in bath and read book, whilst ignoring children for 10 mins - just basically taking some time for me.

Cozy jammies, which once again mean, I cannot get to the shops.

Initially this started as a way to stop myself buying supplies, but now I find that the mundanity and the fact that I am focussing on me and not other people is very soothing and makes me feel more serene and chilled.

But you find what works for you, and then when you feel out of kilter you can do your own drill . Hope that helps

Prof - if you are drinking, pour the rest away, brush your teeth, twice, water, two paracetamol (or painkiller of your choice) and bed.

Or, if you are at wobble o'clock -

Run a bath, hot drink, teeth twice and bed, even if it's 8pm.

Night night Babes.

I've wobbled onto the road tonight, I fell hard out of the bus.

Life has taken a turn in a direction that I thought it never would.

Dramatic? Moi? Yes. But only for tonight.

Sometimes, I'm not so strong. These things are out of my control and it scares me.

Night BBs. Sleep well. xxxxx

Oh dear mouse that doesn't sound good :(

are you ok?

Professor

Of course it's possible to be an occasional drinker.

But not normally for people who hve drunk every day for a decade.

My guess is that, if you were going to become an occasional drinker, you'd have done it long ago.

Sorry if that's not what you want to hear.

Happy to dicuss further tomorrow.

S

Demented

At the risk of reopening old wounds your post tonight has strengthened my own sobriety again, but for very different reasons. You have reminded me that, one day at a time, the old foe can always be beaten if we do the right things and lean on our fellows.

You are doing brilliantly - well done.

Indie - that's my understanding of true projecting - I will feel like x later because of y. You don't know. So plan instead. If I feel like a drink later... what? I will eat chocolate, pick up the phone, get an early night? Text me if you like and I'll ring.

Mouse how are you lovely? Come and tell it how it is. It's tempting to use euphemisms but can you say what happened and how you are? You have it so tough sweetie and we are here for you.

I have a dr's appointment I am a bit worried about this morning then a busy day's work but then I am going to have a quiet evening because I really need it, and so does DD.

I dreamed I'd had a drink again - what a relief to wake up and know I didn't, I am sober today and able to face my day, just for today I will not be drinking.

Morning all,

Sorry about drifting off the bus so early, last night. I went to bed at 8.45! I think it was the emotions of the previous day getting to me.

Mouse my sweet darling, sending you lots of love and cuddles.

Ma and Indie you girls are inspirational.

Indie my drinking over the last years, was exactly the same as yours. I have always felt that I was the only one to have gone on doing it for so long. Your post made me want to jump into the airwaves and kiss you . I'm finding it really hard every day at the moment, every bloody blinking day....

Hello Prof welcome.

I have to get to college now, so hi to everyone that I haven't mentioned by name, speak later.
Much love
xxx

Morning all, ma fantastically well done about getting tonic water (I doubt you'd have done that a few weeks ago). I remember very clearly in my early days being totally unable to resist buying a bottle of wine, and I rushed into the house, without even getting my coat off, got on here and wailed "HELP, help....." while the bottle of wine was sweetly calling my name from the kitchen. I was going to say I don't know what I'd have done without this thread, but unfortunately I know exactly what I WOULD have done - the same as I always did, justify, rationalise, make up some excuse, and I'd have been off the bus, and maybe never returned. It's a very close call sometimes.

morning babes!

just a quick one as i really need to get to work! - thurso, you are doing fantastically and isindi, you are a mega brave babe right now!, it really will get better! hang on in there, even if it is just by the skin of your teeth!

mouse - always at the end of the phone if you want to yap!

take care all you girls!!

L XXXXXXXXXX

mouse what happened when you wandered out into the road (or did you run into the road without looking)? I could go on for pages on that metaphor, but I'll leave it there and just say that there's a warm safe place on here for you, there's fizzy juice / bacon butties / alka seltzer, or whatever your favourite hangover cure is. It's a sobering reminder that for most of us the danger isn't far away, and I know that it could be me lying in the gutter.

professor I think 'THE DRILL' has emerged as a combination of our most useful short-term tricks to deal with a craving for a drink. It includes actions that will stop you going out to buy drink (like getting into your PJs) and actions that will stop you enjoying a drink - like brusjing your teeth (booze tastes really horrible once you have toothpaste in your mouth). On the physical stuff, any of us who drank frequently will have metabolisms that have been dealing with getting rid of a poison every day - not much spare capacity left over to deal with everything else. So the first few days without booze can feel pretty crap as our liver deals with the other bodily toxins. It is also likely that you are depleted in all the B vitamins (alcohol prevents them being absorbed properly) so taking a multi-vitamin that contains losts of the different B vitamins. I posted on it before here, I think.

Also, (and if any of you are squeamish about bodily functions look away now) a lab doctor told me once that they only had to take the top off a faeces sample to know whether someone drank heavily, and true enough, there is a smell of semi-processed alcohol (I think that the liver cannot manage to process all of it, sometimes). So it is not surprising that your guts are taking sometime to settle down to normal functioning again. But like all the rest, it will happen.

Morning everyone, welcome Professor

How are you MOuse, do you want to talk to us?

Just read your post from last night JWN and felt really relieved to know that the craving urge for a drink does get less and less over time. I have only managed a few days at a time and going a few weeks/months seems like a too big a deal to me but knowing that it gets better with time is very reassuring.

Indie plan your treat for later for having got through a busy day and long drive with a favourite chocolate bar or something like that.

Noteven glad to see your doing so well still.

Massive well done on the tonic water Ma - sounds like you passed a big wobble

How are you today Three

I am out for a lovely meal with new guy later but so that I don't have a half a bottle small drink before I go out I am meeting a friend for a swim first and then will have to take the dog out (otherwise I will have to clean up all the stuff she has chewed when I get home) so that I am not giving myself enough time. Could backfire and I will go out half dressed, no make up and wet hair

mouse and isindie - on customer service, I once chatted with a CEO of a fantastic hotel about this, and he said that bizzarely his policy was NOT to put the customer first, his policy was to put his staff first, on the basis that staff who were treated as the most valuable resource, who felt genuinely respected, and responsible, would automatically want to treat customers in the same way.

Often now, if I get bad service I feel sorry for the person who is giving it, because I think that they are probably having a really shit time themselves - they probably have impossible targets, feel insecure and unappreciated, and nobody is making them feel good at work that day.

Interesting theory.

mouse are you ok? Talk to us, we are here for you.
MIFLAW thanks
It's interesting that yesterday the thought i was letting myself down was not enough but the thought i was letting everyone else down was! I had already mentally shaken hands with the devil and exchanged my thirty pieces of silver for a bottle of booze, when a bus load of battle-hardened babes and blokes rose up around me yelling with one voice "Fuck the fuck off and when you get there, fuck off some more"
As these wraiths faded away I'm sure I felt a sharp smack across the back of my legs! < looks suspiciously at JWN>
Thanks all

Morning.

Well, that'll teach me! venus - I ran off the bus, fell into the gutter and was swept up late last night by a road cleaner. Grim.

Thank you for all the kind words, you are all so bloomin' nice.

In the last few weeks, life has been hard here with things not going to plan, DH is suffering with work, builders, a badly installed bathroom which we now have to correct, lots of little things, insignificant day to day things are building up and stressing him/us out.

Things with Nemo are changing all the time, I think I've got it sussed and then, bam. Side-swiped.

We are both beyond exhausted and only just managing to rub along together at the moment.......

We're snappy and grumpy and struggling to smile. And that's not us, you know? I just feel deflated. Hormental too I guess. A bit weepy and fed up.

So, last night I decided to get out my old weapon of choice; vodka.

4 large vodkas and a glass of white wine.

Do I feel rough? Hell yes. Did drinking make anything better? Has anything changed? Nope.

And today I have to face it all feeling like deep fried dog shite.

Clever Mouse

Hi all Boing

Bloody well done Ma that's a great achievement.

Mouse are you ok? Come and talk to us. I'll be here most of the day cos I'm cleaning and tidying (looking forward to it - sad I know but there's nothing better than a clean house, makes me feel calm)but I always check on this thread a regular intervals

Isinde you must be bloody knackered. I found it so difficult getting up with the DC's in the night. I still have to do it but they go back to sleep quite quickly. No feeds in the night (well DD still cries for bottle but not every night. I know I feel more 'normal' now.

Zany take it easy but enjoy it too. He sounds lovely.

Hi to everyone else. Feel like I could write an essay today

Oh Mouse x-posted. You are going through so much at the moment, it's not surprising that things are getting you down. Clean off the dirt and grime from the road and get back on the bus.

awwww mouse I wish I could help you more, you have helped me so much in the past.
You know Drill No 2 - pick yourself up, dust yourself off, stop beating yourself up. Lots of water, TLC and snuggle in on the bus. We'll look after you.

x

Shall we do alist and an action plan? You can say what each issue is and we can set an action to resolve it together?

I'm a geek aren't I?