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Original poster

The Brave Babes Battle Bus - Joins The Foreign Legion In Their Quest For Sobriety.

999 replies

Mouseface · 03/10/2011 10:24

Hello, I'm Mouse Smile and I have a very abusive relationship with alcohol.

I can't just have one glass of anything, I have to drink until I pass out or run out. Whichever comes first.

This Bus is a place of solace and safety, where drinkers, non-drinkers and those who aren't quite sure can come and post or just sit and 'be'.

No-one will judge you, no-one will think any the less of you because we all have the same thing in common.

Alcohol.

And for those who want to read the journey's so far and the original thread by JWN, the lady who very bravely started these journeys for us, HERE they are. Smile

(PS - the title is just for you notevenamousie)

OP posts:
loopylou6 · 05/10/2011 14:18

A prescription? Thanks for the replies BTW.

jesuswhatnext · 05/10/2011 14:18

loopy - you need to get over feeling ashamed - that wont help!

miflaw - hello handsome! Grin

notevenamousie · 05/10/2011 14:19

x post with half the world - ask your dr, but I agree that it's either stopping or detoxing. If you are going to stop, is there another adult at home?

jesuswhatnext · 05/10/2011 14:26

cidre - i remember feeling absolutly dreadful for about a week! - that awful feeling of guilt and paranoia, my heart used to race when i thought about the things i had done, i felt agitated, restless and just plain desperate - stick with us and i promise you will lose those feelings!

loopylou6 · 05/10/2011 14:27

Hey Mousey :) I've tried stopping before but always find reasons to put it off. I never drink in the day, its a habit once it hits 6pm to sit down and start my evening and 'relax' with a drink.

I have two dc 12 and 7 and a DH who also drinks with me.

We never get so pissed to the point of passing out or falling over (which is worrying considering how much we drink) but I know that its wrong and I know it has to stop.

MIFLAW · 05/10/2011 14:36

Yes, a prescription. In other words, either your doctor says it is safe for you to stop outright says it is not.

If it is not then, by definition, you and your doctor agree that you are drinking a huge amount of alcohol. It is therefore reasonable for him/her to prescribe you something to offset the physical effects of coming off alcohol. I think diazepam is one, but I might have made that up.

What you MUSTN'T allow to happen is for your doctor to say, "no, don't stop, it's dangerous. Just cut down a bit at a time" - because you have demonstrated that you can't do that. All that will then happen is that you will not stop because "the doctor said so"; you will be unable to cut down; and you will be even worse off than you are now.

dementedma · 05/10/2011 14:44

mouse bloody well done on day 14!
bafana bloody well done on the running. it's amazing how it builds up isn't it, and two 5minutes is good going. i got out last night and did 40 minutes in total, but before you pass out, most of that was walkingGrin with short runs of a few minutes in between. think the longest I can do now is 10 minutes, down from 35!!!
You can lose it just as quickly as gain it. keep at it.

swallowedAfly · 05/10/2011 14:45

sorry rushing round so no time to catch up but i wanted to share my good news - csa called and we are finally, after 4.5 years of nothing, going to get some child support from ds's biological 'father'! there is £1400 arrears from when i made this claim and i will apparently have it by the end of the month Shock i'm off to google bedroom furniture for ds - he can finally have new matching furniture instead of the hand me down jumble sale tat he has now Smile

sorry if this is really inappropriately placed.

jesuswhatnext · 05/10/2011 14:49

bloody good news saf!! dds waste of space owes about £125,000 at last count! Shock dont think i will hold my breath! Grin

venusandmars · 05/10/2011 15:00

saf fantastic Smile. And wonderful that your immediate way of celebrating is by googling bedroom furniture.

loopylou well done for jumping on board. From what you have posted, it sound like you're drinking only in the evening, not in the day time? So you're not having to have a drink first thing in the morning to deal with the physical shakes etc? Do you ever have a night without alcohol? Have you had, in the recent past 2 whole days without alcohol? If you have done that, then what were the consequences?

I'm asking because we can sometimes get very worried about the physical consequences of going cold turkey, whilst at the same time igonoring the fact that we may have done that without any problem on frequent occasions.

bejiggery · 05/10/2011 15:07

Good luck cidre and loopy looks like us newbies are in some very wise company and have no doubt the support of others who have been, or are going through the same thing will be very helpful.

Original poster
Mouseface · 05/10/2011 15:46

Saf - great news!!!! Smile

Loopy - yep, that's a lot, no point in thinking otherwise, same as I used to have of an evening, every evening and sometimes more.

I did just stop without any medical intervention but agree that just to be sure, you should speak to your GP.

It's great to see the newbies sticking together! You'll be oldies before you know it! Grin

Cidre - are you okay now? Have you found a meeting yet? Smile

Jiggery - what are your plans for this evening? Do you have alcohol in the house?

In fact, Cidre, Loopy and Jiggery....... do any of you have booze in the house right now? What are you going to do when drink o'clock hits?

OP posts:
InstructionsToTheDouble · 05/10/2011 16:06

This reply has been deleted

Message deleted by Mumsnet for breaking our Talk Guidelines. Replies may also be deleted.

loopylou6 · 05/10/2011 16:15

Venus, Nope I dont drink at all in the day and have no physical symptoms other than feeling tired.

Mouseface, I dont have any alcohol in the house no, (none would survive the night anyway) but I have asked DH to bring home a cheap bottle of cider that way Im not just going cold turkey but Im also not drinking the strong stuff.

Im actually quite tempted to not bother with even the cider tonight tho...

notevenamousie · 05/10/2011 16:31

loopy what do you think would happen once you'd had the cider? Would you want more? Be satisfied? I thought I didn't have symptoms til I stopped. At 20 odd units a night I suspect you are having nights where you can't remember the end? And going to sleep once you've finished drinking, even if you don't call it passed out? Your profile says you're in Chester? Are you still? I'm not that far from you :)

sAf that's great news (though after jwn's comment I think not counting might be best for my sanity) and hooray for bedroom furniture :) I would say alcoholic thinking is the opposite of emotional sobriety. I heard someone describe themselves as "I'm addicted to I'M ALWAYS RIGHT and to IF YOU'D JUST DO WHAT I SAY". You might not have it though - you sound very wise and serene!

I have got through one of my biggest (though small and silly sounding) stumbling blocks with respect to my sobriety this week with DD being poorly. It's amazing stuff.

helpmenow · 05/10/2011 16:37

alcoholic thinking is also thinking that justifies your drinking.

Do you drink alone? -of course because DP is away all the time.
Do you drink and drive? No (but drink until 4 am, then do the school run, or count units)

Other examples- fearing giving up drinking because life will be boring, fearing that they'll lose all their friends if they stop, believing that Amy Winehouse died because she'd stopped drinking Sad.

Postponing giving up drinking.

Minimizing the effect drinking has.

Cultural reasons- they do in France, they don't in America and I reject that puritanism.
Random reasons- I'm not an alcoholic, I'm just thirsty Blush

MIFLAW · 05/10/2011 16:52

"Cultural reasons- they do in France, they don't in America and I reject that puritanism."

I was a monumental piss artist in France. Then I came back to Britain and was a monumental piss artist here too. (I went via Taiwan and was also a monumental piss artist there.)

The culture was different, but I wasn't.

loopylou6 · 05/10/2011 16:53

I think if I have the cider, I will get a bit tipsy ( coz Im not used to it ) and will probably want more yes, but the beauty of it is, theres not gonna be anymore in the house. Have PM'd you by the way :)

Helpmenow, I totally get what you're saying, alot of that rings true with me too.

cidre · 05/10/2011 17:27

Well, is no booze in house that I would drink anyway. Also, as wine o clock for me is early on, have passed it today. Also, have literally no desire today...long may that last...and have to go to out tonight.
Am starting to flag now, must admit, could do with bath and bed but just not poss today.
Have taken some vitamins, and drunk loads of water. Not hungry at all.
Think today's emotion has taken its toll.

Original poster
Mouseface · 05/10/2011 17:32

Loopy - good plan if you can stick to it...... as in have the one tonight and then not have anything else. At all. In fact if you do have it, load it with ice and make it last as long as possible.

That's what I did when I cut down. I stopped with the vodka and gin and started on the cider and beer. Thing is...... it soon became apparent to me that I wasn't getting that same high.

So, here I am, after well over a year of being on this Bus on day 14 of not drinking.

TODAY I WILL NOT BE DRINKING BUT GOING TO BED EARLY TO NURSE MY PMT, WITH A HOT CHOCOLATE AND A GOOD BOOK Smile

OP posts:
loopylou6 · 05/10/2011 17:32

You're doing great cidre, I think you should try to eat something tho, maybe a bit of chocolate for a sugar hit? x

loopylou6 · 05/10/2011 17:33

Dya reckon I'll lose alot of weight by cutting out the drink? I really hardly eat.

cidre · 05/10/2011 17:35

Thanks Loopy, you too! Got to go know, will try to check back later.
Thanks everyone for positive input.

helpmenow · 05/10/2011 17:43

alcoholic thinking can also continue into sobriety;

It wasn't that bad (it was)...I wasn't that bad (I was)... If I drank now it would be different (no it wouldn't be)

Onemorning · 05/10/2011 18:05

Hello all

Interview went well yesterday, but I'm feeling a bit upset today as they didn't call as they promised, so my head is telling me that they won't invite me for 2nd interview.

Went out with a friend from work last night and had one white wine spritzer. Rather less than I'd usually have drunk, and I didnt' really enjoy it which is a good thing.

I think I'm quite down, don't want to talk to anyone IRL, no drink o'clock though. I might spend some time tonight doing tidying up and sorting out, it seems to help me deal with my emotions.

((((hugs)))) and Brew to all who need them.