The Brave Babes Battle Bus - Still On A Sober Holiday, Waiting For The Summer!

[Mouseface]

Hello, tis me, Mouse

I'm one of the Brave Babes on the Battle Bus, it's HUGE and never gets full, the doors are always open, 24/7, every single day.

We're a mixture of people who have been drinking for most of our lives and in one way or another, abuse(d) alcohol.

Some of us have stopped drinking every day completely and are taking it One Day At A Time.

Some are trying to control their drinking with medication, willpower, AA, some of us aren't quite sure what we want or where we're trying to get, but we're here, we're all in the same boat Bus, and there's a seat for ANYONE who wants one.

You can find the previous threads HERE and where this Bus first started it's journey, thanks to a wonderful lady, who'd hit rock bottom face first (and she'd admit that to us herself), seeking help and advice from a bunch of 'strangers' on an internet forum........

Come have a peek, take a seat, we don't bite or judge. We listen and will try to help, best we can.

Saf. Couch to 5k is really good. It worked for me so can work for anyone.
Indie - good to see you and bloody well done.
Anyone seen silver recently.

I find the opposite with my sleeping. If I drink I usually wake in the night, sweating, thirsty and unable to get back to sleep well.

When I don't drink I have more energy to get on with things and get out for exercise so I am more naturally tired at the end of the day. And I wake really refreshed and energised and ready for another full day of activity and productiveness.

Usually.

Welcome to utterly nice to have you aboard.

Isinde it's good to hear from you again, good luck with your strategies toniight. Don't forget we will be around too. How are those lovely girls of yours?

Mouse Sometimes I think things can only get better for you and then something comes along like this terrible tragedy. I echo those who say your friend is lucky to have you but I do hope you get some down time soon. Sending love and strength x

Juggling good to hear from you again too, it's been a while

Hi to everyone else.

Have been out to supermarket and pilates this evening so just going to have some late dinner and watch a bit of tv with the family.

Could be Kot, try to get a few more days under your belt and see if it improves

saf Doctor 1 said it was (or rather implied, he didn't actually say it) CFS. Doctor 2 said low vitamin D levels (but I've looked into that and its unlikely - although I'm now taking supplements)

Doctor 1 then mentioned depression, but I think he actually got confused and just saw that I'd been prescribed mirtaz & forgot what he originally said...

I'm pretty sure I don't have depression - anxiety is more my thing but that has been (mostly) under control. The only thing I can think of is I wasn't sleeping - even though I was exhausted. Although that was only more recently... I really don't know. The mirt did help with sleep, I felt brilliant.

I have walked the dog as well today - thats the great thing about dogs is you have to get out the house and exercise! How's your puppy?

mouse i hope your day went okay for you and your friend today xxx

isinde good to hear from you!

Reading and thinking of you all. Hope rural is ok lurking out there

Mad busy day again today. School run, then off to park with DD to feed ducks, home to pack picnic and down to park by school for her to eat lunch prior to nursery. 5 mile run for me while she was at school; home for shower and tea prep then picked up my DC + 1 and then 2 more kids arrived for playdate. Tea served, house trashed, kids left, mine bathed and bedded.

Then I set about reconstructing my house which I have literally just finished. In the process I discovered a very large bolt in a toy pet carrier so am now wondering which piece of furniture is going to collapse overnight

Am just about to have my tea which is the kids' leftovers. Tues nights was always a trigger night for me. House full of kids for tea and then the huge clear up with a glass or 3 of wine. I hand kids over on a weds morning and always feel maudlin on a tues night as I get their bags ready. No booze in the house so no chance tonight

I would also second that I sleep better when I don't drink but I always take 25mg of phenergan and that is more effective without alcohol. But without that pill I don't sleep at all. Or rather I fall asleep and wake after an hour and am then awake all night

sAf - hope the running goes well. I am a runner (of sorts). Been running for about 15 years now so if you have any questions you can always try me. I am not fast. All the gear and no idea kind of thing . Except I have had just about every injury known to womankind over the years and am well versed in the theory of everything. I do talk a good run. The execution on the other hand

Hi brave babes, please can i board the bus yet again and have another go? I won't backdate whole story but i have written a promise to my DH and DD that I won't drink for a month, starting from yesterday. After that, I'll take it from there. I think that over the past few weeks, I've suddenly woken up to the fact that I'm killing myself; I've had an ache under my right rib, pins and needles in my fingers and toes and have begun to get these episodes of intense itching in the evening. After only 2 days AF, that's all nearly gone. I think It's time for me to stop faffing about with pros and cons of stopping drinking and face up to the fact that, if I don't stop soon, I am going to develop major health problems or die. I have 3 young children and I can't do that to them. I'm sick of hiding bottles around the house, sick of the blackouts and the self loathing. I know it sounds a bit schmaltzy but I found the Paralympics truly awe inspiring and it did make me think that, if they can overcome some of the difficulties they've had, I should be able to manage not to drink for a month. Anyway, sorry for waffley post, will catch up with you all (hopefully) tomorrow. Just to say again what a wonderful place this is. I've been lurking for months but knew that I could always come aboard again when the time was right.

hello upsy. I'm sure you will find good advice here. Do you feel guilty and self-loathing after drinking - and then drink the next day to numb those feelings?? Or is that just me...?

NoNo I've got Sominex which has the same ingredient as phenergan (don't know if its the same dose) but I still couldn't sleep till the early hours - and then felt dopey the next day. So I've tried to take it really early (9pm tonight) and see if that helps.

DD hysterical about 'scabies' - now treated with cream, but spots won't go for a few days (if it IS scabies, and I have doubts) Very upset about the kids at school teasing her (not surprisingly - it does look awful)

Funny, I really wanted a drink about 45 minutes ago, and now the craving has gone.

Welcome aboard upsy
Yeh, paralympics was awesome wasn't it ?

Things the paralympians said combined with this guy who had no legs who nevertheless managed to climb a mountain recently and said he hoped it would encourage people to "re-think their own possibles" - anyway, all of that, has inspired my new post Olympics name change today. As I said elsewhere I like the way it's a bit post-modern too - though possibly not as much as my old tangential oranges ?

Night babes,

Sober but I've had a fucker of a day. I'm going to come back and whine about it tomorrow if you don't mind.

sleep well guggs tomorrow is a new day to start afresh

upsy - welcome. As you probably already know, many of the babes are fighting this battle for themselves and to save the relationship with their children. I hope you can get the support you need to fight your battle

alias - my packet says each tablet contains 25mg of promethazine hydrochloride. The dose I was on to start off with was 50mg but I have weaned myself down to 25mg but do always take one at bedtime.

slides in and smiles sheepishly
How are you all?
I'm still sober and lurking, but cheer you all on whenever I think about the BBs which is a lot!
juggling have you heard of this guy? It's absolutely amazing- utterly humbling and a real revelation to anyone struggling with feelings of inadequacy or 'limits'

Welcome upsy
At the risk of sounding like a spammer, you should look at my link too.

NoNo the Sominex say 20mg. Had one two hours ago... and still here surfing the net - mind you I am crap at proper bedtimes.

Am now going to ask DH not to buy me any more wine (even tiny bottles!) for a few weeks. I want to have a nice break. When a lurker like Helpy comes on to tell us about being sober... I'm envious. Will do it. Now.

alias - phenergan doesn't knock me out and I still have to make an effort to go to sleep. But once I am asleep i stay asleep. That is always my problem. And if I get woken up I can get back off again.

Goodnight babesxx

Good morning. I've now done 2 nights without wine. Feeling proud of myself this morning. Had a few problems sleeping last night, and find I have to go to the loo a lot (presumably my body isn't dehydrated as it normally is) but managed about six hours, so feeling good.

love that clip helpyourself - have seen it before but was good to see it again. so easy to get bogged down in feeling sorry for ourselves and our little woes. the more i think about my health stuff the worse it seems.

i'm aware that the cfs will probably kick my arse again at some point and i doubt the bipolar is finished with me but i lived through it all enough times to know a) it passes and b) you have to appreciate and enjoy the good times when things are ok. i'm also hugely grateful to have stopped drinking because both conditions seem a hell of a lot better for it.

by this time of year in the past i'd have been getting scared, waiting for things to kick off because traditionally come late october, early november i start getting ill. this year i'm not saying oh i'm magically cured and i'll definitely be fine but maybe i'll be ok, maybe i'll have some problems but it won't be too bad and will be better for not drinking and being in a better headspace etc either way i'm not there yet and at the moment i'm alright. (warning in advance to the newer posters that you might see a different saf on here in a couple of months time the oldies have seen negative, tired, what's the point me enough times)

SO wednesday - hump day - halfway there day - pause and smell the flowers day

Morning

< gathers up all the returning babes and new lurking babes coming onto the bus and gives them all a big squeeeeeeeeeze >

It's so great to have so many people popping in at the moment.

< looks around hopefully for MsGee >

There are some very positive vibes on the bus this morning. Could this be the start of something good?

It's 'We won't wobble' Wednesday. Let's get through this one day together.

x