The Brave Babes Battle Bus - On Their Way To............... Amarillo?

[Mouseface]

.............. sorry, ran out of ideas tonight!

Hello, tis me, Mouse and I have a very abusive relationship with alcohol, vodka in particular.

Welcome to the Battle Bus, full of totally Brave Babes all on their own personal journey to sobriety. Some are there, some are still on their way and some aren't quite ready yet but stay on the Bus for a good old natter

Wherever you are in your quest to get back control of your drinking, we've all been there too so you're not alone, not by a long shot.

Come take a seat and say hello.

If you'd like to know the history behind this amazing journey, you can follow the links back HERE

See you soon x

proud interesting comment re your friend's problem. I could say I don't have a problem with alcohol as I never, ever get drunk while out - not that I go out very often. Indeed I will often be the driver and have soft drinks. A couple of weeks ago I met an old friend in Glasgow for dinner. i was staying over in a hotel, no DH, no DCS, no driving so could have got hammered. Two glasses of wine and a lovely evening no problem. I don't black out, don't make myself sick, don't fall over. So I don't have a problem right?

Wrong! I crave alcohol every evening and consume probably about 40 to 50 units a week.

There are lots of different kinds of drinkers on this bus. I'm sure the rest will be along soon to introduce themselves.

You are at the start of a journey.

So right now, at this starting point you simply cannot see a life without drinking. It's too far of a jump (and why organisations such as AA say take it one day at a time).

What I personally would suggest is giving yourself two weeks off drinking.

That's what I did and it was a complete revelation. I was where you are (though with very different drinking patterns) a while back - I can't possibly give up drinking! But now, can't believe I'm saying this, I could. I could live - happily - without drinking.

Because all the times I thought were drinking times, were just 'treat' times and pleasurable times that don't require a drink - dinner out (or in), movies, family get togethers....

ann there are various options and you will have to find what works for you. Some sainted Babes like JWN, venus and bproud stop completely and find this works for them. They ride in the bus holding hands with the strugglers.
Other controlled Babes like faire regulate their drinking. She rides on Roger, the Regulated Roofrack for passengers who can see where they are going.
The rest of us alternate between the Bus and the Sidecar of Shame, depending on how things are going.

Dementedma - the difference being you are being open and honest about your specific drink patterns and dare I say dysfunctions, you are no deluded. My friend is in utter denial - so because she doesn't drink at home (which she frowns upon), she thinks it's ok to shovel 20 units into her (very thin) body once a month and throw up for the next two days. AND minimise her behaviour - well she doesn't remember I guess but there is an awful lot of enabling/pandering going on from her dh who protects her from knowing the truth.

Yes I would align myself with Fairenuff in terms of my 'drink management'.

Morning, I'm back again. I have to say that I am by no means 'sainted', in fact quite the opposite, it is because I can't trust myself to have even a single drink - because I know that won't be enough for me, that I have to have none at all.

I am actually very of the roof rack riders but I am doing what is best for me, which is what this bus is all about.

Hi ma, not the best here. Bottle of white fri and sat night. Been in the sidecar over the weekend.

I am wearily trudging back up the bus stairs today as I will NOT be drinking.

If I can abstain Sunday through to Thursday, I will be happy as it'll be an accomplishment in itself.

Thoroughly fed up with this weather. Apart from taking monster puppy out (he is not in my good book as he wakes us up EVERY day at 0600), we are stuck indoors and going stir crazy.

Have a good day all x

Good morning ladies, hope you don't mind if I hop on the bus with you on this wet and windy morning!

After realising that I am on the slippery slope of turning into my mother I am now on day 3 of not drinking. I drink almost everyday, not huge quantities but mostly in secret. It's hard to be honest about it really as I haven't told a soul about my drinking, not even DH is aware.

I have tried many times before to give up the booze but without success. Really hoping that this time I will succeed, hopefully posting here is the first step towards that goal.

Morning Buddy welcome aboard. Day 3 is great, well done!

What is your story and why are you drinking in secret?

AnnOnimous although it's true to say that anyone has a problem with drinking if they think they have a problem with drinking, your drinking doesn't actually sound severe to me. One blip, one binge. Why youngsters nowadays are doing this every week, aren't they? Is there a bit more going on? A bit of drinking at home? A bit of hidden drinking? We all do it.

Hello Buddy! Welcome to the bus.

Have you tried some vitamin B pills btw? Apparently alcohol suppresses ingestion of vitamin B. I am a zealot for these things now.

There is something so seedy about the secrecy surrounding my drinking that I hate. It makes me feel guilty and ashamed afterwards and I always vow to stop, but rarely do. My mum openly drank in front of me every evening and I hated it so I think I'm trying to protect DS by doing it alone. I remember her being too drunk to be able to sign my homework diary when I was a teenager and I desperately don't want DS to grow up seeing me drunk. It's also a lot easier to kid yourself that you've got the drinking under control when there's no one watching you!

My secret drinking started when DS was younger, I had PND and used to just swig a bit of wine from an open bottle at around 5pm to take the edge off the day before DH came home. I'm no longer depressed, DS is much older and I work most days but I get home earlier than DH and still find myself relying on that sneaky glass or so when I'm alone in the early evening. Then when DS is in bed I'll sometimes have another glass or two in front of DH, usually alone, to continue the numbing process!

But I'm determined to have a really good go at stopping for good this time. It's just a shame that I appear to have swapped boozing for eating crap instead, ate a huge bar to chocolate last night instead of the usual vino!

Hi Hopefully, I need to get some vit B. Had a routine blood test recently and it came back with high numbers of something or other - dr said it's a sign of too much alcohol. Yet another sign that I need to give up!

Good morning Babes. Foul weather again here. I keep telling myself we need the rain but I'm getting a bit fed up with lashing rain and high winds now.

Joey I can't access your profile to see your dog pic?

Soma! I wonder where you'd got to.

Slightly hungover this morning so not feeling very articulate. Had a bottle ish last night I think - didn't count glasses. My good intentions have definitely dissolved in the rain, haven't they.

Morning, tis me, Mouse

I have an Ark out back for anyone who needs rescuing! The weather here is nothing short of biblical, I'm waiting for fire and brimstone to start falling once the monsoon passes! YUK.

I'm all huddled up with a cup of tea whilst DH makes bacon and eggs

Ann - love you name, and welcome to the Bus.

Buddy - I can second the vitamin B recommendation. I take the full spectrum of vit B, and I have done for years now. You can get hold of lots of variations put together, so B6, B12 and maybe magnesium in one tablet, or you can go for something with more in. I take THIS SORT OF TABLET, which covers all bases!

Milk thistle is good to, can help to repair and damage to the liver and the way that it functions. Mind you, not drinking to access does this too, and saves you money.

Ma - I love your description of Roger . Sorry you were woken so early.

I'm on day 7 of no and I an honestly say that I feel so much brighter, no head fug in the mornings. I guess that with the amount of meds I'm on, drinking would be a pretty stupid thing to do.

As the weather is so bad, we're doing some more DIY to the house, trying to get it sorted in time for Nemo's Baptism.

He had a restless night again and I ended up snuggling with him at silly o'clock this morning. I have a nice bruise to my eye brow thanks to him lashing out in his sleep!

My pain is as bad as ever today but I did lie on one side all night so that didn't help .

Anyway, I'm going to stop moaning and think about those much worse off than me.

It's true that there are no two alcoholics who are the same. Inevitably, one compares one's own habit/addiction with other people's habit/addiction.

One person might not drink at home but goes out once a month and gets so hammered they end up in hospital or a police cell. Another person might drink a bottle of wine a night but never pass out. To me, both those people have the same problem - it's their behaviour around their addiction that is different.

I can go out and not drink. I never drink at weddings, ever since getting wasted at a wedding years ago and making a git of myself. If I do go out and drink, I will get hammered. My problem is drinking at home - that is a real issue for me.

be careful with Vitamin B3, listed as Nicotinic acid. it gave me SEVERE skin flushing - turned bright red and ended up in hospital. Took it happening a couple of times before I figured out it was the multi-vits that were causing the problem.

Morning one and all.

Ann, I am a very unsaintly abstainer too. Are you taking any medication apart little self medication? The only reason I ask I do know quite a few women who take over the counter drugs that have experienced blackouts or brownouts, remembering some of the evening. Aspirin blocks Alcohol dehydrogenase, the enzyme that breaks down alcohol, so tolerance is impaired, any Antihistamine will effect a drinker and then the more powerful drugs like Ambien or Codeine.
Apart from that if they were the big glasses I am thinking about, you could have had a bottle and then some quite easily. Did you eat before?

Problem drinking is all relative really, but this has obviously scared you. Perhaps it has showed that you just have a very low tolerance, to get to the unglamorous heights that I and many other did, takes practice, then reverse tolerance sets in.

Buddy, it's your ALT's and GGT's that are high. Enzymes that are having to work overtime to help your liver break the alcohol down. Miraculously your liver will re-generate if you cut down. It's like pickling a cucumber into a gherkin.

Just a tip whilst I am on the chemistry tangent, please do not take Tylenol, paracetamol for a hangover. It can be very damaging to your liver. Ibuprofen and vitamin C.

Stay safe everyone x

Hey guys, been lurking more than posting. Thank you for the strength :)

I am a different person to who I was a few weeks ago. 9 April was the last night I had way too much. I have had 2 nights since then when I have had a whole bottle of wine and a couple of nights where I have had a glass or two.

The first week was the hardest, without a doubt and now the tea time craving has all but gone, although I sometimes get a wee desire to run to the shop once the little one is in bed.

I know I am still a problem drinker, just need to watch it doesn't get out of hand...

Happy Sunday everyone.

It's great to 'meet' you all, I'm surprised at how good it feels to be honest and have some support!

So what do you do when the craving kicks in, how do you resist? I need a strategy to stop myself reaching for the bottle!

Ma - ouchy! B3 (Nicotinic) huh? Not nice for you at all Ma

Buddy - KEEP BUSY!

If you can keep your mind and hands busy, you'll fins it easier to get through the cravings. We all have them at different times of the day too. You need to think HALT - are you Hungry? Angry? Lonley? Or Tired?

If you can figure those four out. and still feel the same, get you PJs on, brush your teeth twice and get in bed. Well, assuming it's an okay time for bed!

Try to plan each day away from alcohol. If you are truly serious about stopping, you will find a way to avoid the booze aisle in Tesco, the local pub that opens at 8am for 'breakfasts', the girls' night in......

Just for a little while, you need to be selfish and protect yourself from triggers.

Find out what yours is. Do you 'need' a drink after a long day? After a row with someone? If you are just to exhausted to go out and would rather stay at home drinking?

Oh and of course there's always the DON'T BUY IT IN THE FIRST PLACE!

If you are living with a DP/H, tell them what your plan is. They might not stop or even think that you have a problem, so be prepared to 'go it alone' for a while.

The very fact that you are on here, this wonderful Bus, tells us all that YOU think you have a problem controlling the amount you drink.

Stick around, you'll soon get to grips with what works for you. And if you fall of the Bus, just get right back on

Argh posted a big reply and lost it.

The gist is my binge on Friday frightened me, it frightened ithers and led to an ambulance trip.

Regardless of how much of a one off it was, there is an underlying trend of me drinking more than I used too and using it to destress the second I come in from work.

That needs to stop.

I am not on any medication that might excuse my behaviour, I have to accept that, inexplicable and out of character as it was, it was my fault and the solution is mine to find.

I am going to try to fill my evenings with things from now on, not wine.

Hi buddy - welcome to Gerald the ARC

I think that we all have our own triggers that start the cravings. For me it was low blood sugar late afternoon, which in turn made me anxious & irritable. I was then desperate to get DCs in bed early just so I could get that 1st glass of white down my neck.

I have consciously changed my routine so I eat much earlier (often with the kids) & somehow, once I am full I no longer want a drink.

I was not one for going out & getting plastered, I'd rather sit at home - me in one room, DH in another & spend the evening in an unproductive, numbed stupor. I'd sleep badly, wake up full of self loathing, dehydrated & full of penitance. Never lasted past 4pm tho .

No more.. & most importantly it is all down to this bus & its Brave Babes.

Think about what the triggers are for your cravings & start making small changes