The Brave Babes Battle Bus - New Year, New Start, The Journey So Far.........

[Mouseface]

Hello, I'm Mouse

Welcome. There are all kinds of lovely Babes on board this Bus, drinkers, non-drinkers, part-time drinkers and those who have no idea what they are when it comes to drinking. Some are newer posters and some have been here forever for a little while.

Come and say hi, there are no rules, no 'must haves', just plenty of open and honest support.

You can talk about whatever you like. Your life, your love or even your laundry. We've seen it all!

The important thing is that you can post if you want to, or not if you don't. There are posters in AA and posters who are using medication to beat The Booze and of course posters who are just trying to cut their drinking down with the support of The Bus and the people around them.

See where we've been so far by following this ---> LINK TO PREVIOUS THREADS HERE

Morning all and welcome racing . Another vote here for the GP. If you can, be really honest about your fears of not being able to sleep without either pills or alcohol.

Hey, MsGee good to hear from you again, hope you're feeling better now x

Morning everyone hope we are all ready to battle the dragons.

I concur with the rest of the girls racing, trip to the GP may be a good idea. Sleeping pills + booze is a worry. Especially if it's becoming a need. Hope you can get an appointment quickly.

Silver, yes I am doing some lengthy study on naltrexone and another Balcufen for serious withdrawal. Presumably you haven't been prescribed them?

Will be interested to see how you get on.

Have a good half term hope to be able to pop in and out.

Duckety, if you need me, just call me, I will always help if I can. x

morning all!! hope you all feel boingy!

THE SNOW IS MELTING!!! im sick of being bloody cold!

welcome racing, i echo what the others are saying, go the docs, be honest though, he/she cant help if you dont tell all!

where is mouse?

Hi all thanks for the advice. Am seeing gp this week about the pills but won't be mentioning the drink as I do not believe this would help and I am not comfortable having that on my medical records for all the purpose it would serve.

I guess I came on here because I drink to have the luxury of that one little window in the day where I just don't THINK,or at least am not engaging with all the shit that goes around my head the rest of the time. Nothing else works so instantly effectively and i have tried the lot from psychotherapy to trancendental meditation. Anyway I guess this is maybe quite a common reson for drinking and am interested in how others deal with the craving.

Hiya,

Faire I am feeling SO much better (although DH is ill now ...). I am feeling really motivated and as though I can tackle the mountain of work that I need to do to catch up. And if I have to work every night I won't drink will I??

Pleased to see the snow melt here too jesus. DD was so excited to see the grass this morning.

And guess what - DD has eaten vegetables!!! Enough to fill in her star chart. Hurrah. I suspect she thinks she is done now the chart is completed but its a huge step. And big steps forward on poogate too but as its lunchtime I won't share .

ma how are you doing?

I hope saf is keeping dry on holiday (am thinking of the weather).

Right - work to do

Hello all,

hope you don't mind but another thread has prompted me to come and join this one,Jesus suggested it so here I am.

I think I do have an issue with alcohol now that has crept up upon me in the last 18 months and it is now bothering me to the point of I don't enjoy it,it's just a habit.I recently quit smoking and actually it was relatively easy once I realised it was not the smoking I enjoyed it was the actual act that was a stress release for me.I am kind of hoping this may be the same.I do have an addictive personality anyway,about everything.I get a sniff of something and that's it.

Anyway it was what Jesus said,that actually well dressed,well spoken,intelligent women can also have drink problems not just the typical stereotype we see peddled about.

So here I am,hoping I can join in and you can all point me in the right direction.

Phew,I did it,I actually did it,said it out loud to peole,even if you are all in cyber space.

Hello Quiet and welcome . Jesus is right, we are all well mannered, intelligent women. Our neighbours don't know the half of it but here, well we can tell each other everything. Because we all know what it's like.

Some of us are drinking almost daily, some not at all. Some want to stop, some want to cut down. Just make yourself comfortable and join in with our chit chat whenever you like .

racing I know it's hard to be completely up front with the gp about your drinking but, honestly they will have heard it all before. Alcohol affects medication, you know. Be brave. If you can't say it, write it down and give the gp a note saying something like, I am relying on alchol every day. I can't manage without it. It is a problem. I need help.

MsGee Go you!

Now, where is mouse and also venus. Hope you are

ok.

What happened there?

quiet - welcome you brave babe! its a big old step isnt it? onwards and upwards from now on though! btw, we are not just cyberspace babes, we are all real, lots of talk in RL, meet up etc (not obligatory buts its nice to know that we are REAL! )

msgee, that little lot should help with poogate!

Thanks faire am a bit of a nervous wreck today as I have deliberately got no alcohol in,well I have lots of spirits but never touch them as they make me sick,so I have no wine or beer,I can do nights without it as long as there is some in the house but right now I am going through some other problems that seem to be contributing to even more drinking so I thought I would try a night with nothing in,god help the poor children later on

right I need to go distract myself as it's half term and having only quit smoking 3 weeks ago and finding out it's the ranty children that seemed to push me into smoking in the first place I need to go and hide from them in a cupboard or failing that take the poor dog out

welcome Quiet - have to say that Jesus is particularly well dressed. I am not

Quiet we use lots of strategies to stop ourselves having that first drink.

Stock up on soft drinks that you like. I like lime & soda with ice. Elderflower is popular too. I also have lots of different teas - peppermint, orange mango & cinammon and my latest, spearmint, milk thistle and nettle .

Get some chocolate in as well because you may need to replace the sugar you're not getting in your drinks.

When you get a craving try to bear in mind that it will only last half an hour or so. Do something else to keep busy and distract yourself. Come and post here, there is usually someone around if you shout loud enough.

Some of things we do are - baking, jigsaw puzzles, going for a run/walk or some other exercise, cleaning, organising cupboard, long soak in a hot bath, phone a friend.

When it gets really tough, just take it one minute at a time if need be.

You can do this .

Quiet - also something that we have all found is that its easier to not have the first drink than any subsequent ones Might sound daft but it keeps me going some days.

Hello everybody

Faire, I knew you could do it :) You 'normal drinker', you! Well actually you're drinking a hell of a lot less than most so-called normal drinkers but you know what I mean :o

MsGee I think you have the boing already! I'm

Mouse you OK? Just busy and happy I hope!

Saf we're thinking of you and hoping for happy, bright and not too cold days for you, the boy and the dog!

Racingmind, welcome :) I've no experience of sleeping tablets but I could write the book about insomnia...it's torturous isn't it? All I can say is that I have never slept better than I have the last month or so, since I have stopped regular drinking. At first I found it hard to fall asleep, but if I don't drink then I sleep through almost every night. I never thought I would be able to do it, I really didn't. I also share your reluctance to discuss alcohol issues with a GP, although I also know that you/I should... And I sooo empathise with the wanting to stop thinking. Oh to have an off switch...

Ma, sounds like you're doing good. How did you sleep last night? Hope you're feeling good for being sober last night. Well done :)

Well I wasn't sober last night... I think I am feeling a bit like Saf did the other day - no boing, just feeling bleurrgh, and down and stressed and feeling like I may as well have a drink, for all the good not drinking is doing me. I don't think like that all of the time, so no need for the 'well drinking will only make it worse' lecture , I've no intention of drinking again for a while. But I just felt so wound up and overwhelmed by everything that is going on, and everything that we have to face, that I just couldn't face an evening by myself (DH has been away), with just the same old thoughts going round and round and round. Sorry, guys. I feel like I've let you down. At times I have felt almost evangelical about how much better I have felt since stopping the regular drinking. And whilst I would still obviously encourage everyone to stop (it can only do harm), last night for a couple of hours it helped. Of course I slept really badly last night and feel rough today so I really don't recommend it. I just wish I knew of something that could relax me so quickly and so effectively. I actually drank a bit less than I would do in a night (and it's only the second time I've drunk in six weeks) so it wasn't too bad, but it wasn't 'normal' drinking. I needed it, or felt like I did, and once I'd decided I was going to drink, I'd have killed anyone who tried to get in my way. Not normal at all :(

Sorry about the negative post. Most of you seem to be doing so well. I haven't wanted to post as all this just isn't helpful to anyone. But if I ignore it then I'm not being honest, with myself or any of you. Anyway, I hope everyone's having good days.

Oh, and welcome Quiet :)

You have my sympathies with the children driving you to drink. Good luck!!

Hi all,
This is my first time here. I posted on chat yesterday about my drinking habits, and was directed over here as well by Jesuswhatnext.

The silly thing is that I thought this thread was for "problem drinkers" only, never realising that perhaps I was a problem drinker too!

I have always been a glass a night type girl, for the last 13 years or so. Didnt drink in pregnancy, and while always enjoying a drink on a night out, never allow myself to get messy drunk, in fact i hate drunkenness.

Which is why i find it hard to understand why in the last 6 to 12 months, my nightly glass has started to creep up to 2, sometimes even 2, and i cannot remember the last time i only had the one glass.

This is scaring me. I want to cut down. I want to aim to have 3 nights a week alcohol free, and then go back to only having the one glass the other 4 days a week. I want to get to the point where i can not drink for a whole week, or even month if i choose to. I want to get to the point that i can choose to have a drink, or not, if i want, and that i feel no NEED to have one, iykwim.

Hopefully i can get some help, support and advice from you ladies here who have more experience than me in this area. Those tips just upthread a bit about finding things to do to put off having a drink sound good and i will be starting with that tonight. Wish me luck.

well done on the weekend isindie great stuff.
psh and quiet you are very welcome. Laughing at the thought of us as well-dressed intelligent women - wait till silver and thurso get here. right pair of slobs they are.
I didn't sleep well last night as expected racing as I had had no alcohol, and then I slept in this morning
Sticking to the diet quite well - determined to show a loss at the weigh in on Friday. Pilates tonight.
silly you ok?
mouse come out, come out, wherever you are.......

Ma - how bleddy dare you - I'll have you know Thurso and I are very well known for our tasteful attire - welcome Posh and Quiet - take a seat -

Welcome Posh :)

I'm OK, Ma, thanks. Been better but been worse...:) Just feeling a bit overwhelmed at everything we have to do in the next few months or year (who knows, we don't even know whether we will get the visas). Who knew that moving to the other side of the world would be stressful . It's also combined with having less support than ever. We left the UK a couple of years ago (all our family and friends are there) and as we seem to have been on the brink of leaving where we are almost the whole time we've been here I haven't spent time developing real friendships here. So feeling a bit lost :( I just want to be living somewhere where I plan to live for the foreseeable future. Where I am now is the opposite of where I need to be. However, there are far, far worse things going on in the world. It will help when DH comes back so I can bend his ear about it all. Poor thing... Sounds like you're doing great with the diet etc. Still can't believe you have group weight-ins at work!! .

Hope everyone's doing OK

Hi SSSM what a lot you have to deal with at the moment by the sounds of it. How about making a list. I am a big fan of lists because then I don't keep going over and over in my head of all the things to be done. Also, getting a few things ticked off the list in the morning so that I have accomplished something by lunchtime instead of fretting about what I haven't done yet.

Ma well done, enjoy the pilates

Christi how are things with you. Is dh still away?

Hello Posh and welcome. I reckon you will do ok with us. Just take it one day at a time. Just don't drink for today .

Are we dressing for dinner these days then? Since Jesus has been out on the boards, recruiting bus passengers with promises of sophisticated dress sense and intelligent conversation?

i said you were well dressed and intelligent (or something very like it) i of course reserve the right to change my opinion! im looking at you isindi! what on earth have you got on today?

well, tonight i have to pack my dh off on a business trip for the rest of the week, i have lined up loads of things to do while he is away, they mostly include shopping and meeting friends! - 18 months ago i would have gone on a lonely bender, sat at home alone and drank myself daft, now im off sashying around the big city! love love love it!

I have changed for dinner :o

had to really as took dog out with ds on his bike and forgot that all the melted snow would mean very very muddy fields,I was caked,ds was caked,bike was caked and dog was caked.....had to come home,use a screwdriver to get at least a bit of the mud out the bike (wheels and peddles no longer turn),put dog in bath so now bathroom is caked and change mine and ds clothes.

and I like the thought of you lot being well heeled so don't crush my dreams as am currently trying to smarten my image,don't know why as not really got any friends here (as in proper friends) since moving so no one to go out and flounce about with looking all gorgeous

so this evening in an attempt to not climb the walls I will either sort my shoe collection and prance round bedroom or clean outside of kitchen cupboards,have cleaned piano keys this afternoon as distraction from children