I've scared myself and am not sure what to do.

[Shinylights]

I drank two bottles of wine, by myself, in my pj's, in front of the telly, one night last week. When I got up the next day I was horrified at how much I'd drank and haven't drank since, but I've scared myself.

I'm in my 40s, married with 3 kids. We are under a lot of external pressure and after going through a phase of continually bursting into tears/shouting etc, I saw my GP and she put me in citalopram. I felt more in control I suppose, and calmer, but it affected my sleep and I also feel like I can't relax properly, so got into the habit of a big glass if wine when the children go to bed. The glass has turned into the bottle, and then opening a second bottle, and that takes me to last week.

My husband keeps odd hours and wasn't aware how much I was drinking. I told him everything and he was shocked but supportive. I've got rid of all the wine in the house and haven't drank since but I need a plan I think.

AA seems very "all or nothing" and I also am too frightened to come off the antidepressants. I come from a long line of drinkers, and my dad is a functional alcoholic. I haven't discussed this with anyone other than my DH.

Please help!

[venusandmars]

And I am never, ever likely to be addicted to running

[HopeClearwater]

I know AA seems scary and 'all or nothing' but they don't see it like that in AA. It really is 'one day at a time' in there. That's all you need to deal with, OP - today. Not having a drink today. Never mind the rest of your life, because it's not here yet.
I love don't ignore the evidence venusandmars

[Shinylights]

Thanks tons for all your replies. It's Monday, and it's been 4 days since I drank and I feel ok. Better, maybe. Certainly I slept better last night but I'm very tired all the same. I've stocked up on B vitamins and am drinking lots of fluids.
Monday was always a heavy night - DH and I order pizza and I'd invariably have wine with it. Tonight I had orange juice!
I'm not patting myself on the back yet but I do feel like I've had a bit of a mind shift.
I still haven't worked out if I drank because of the citalopram, and if I wasn't on it then I wouldn't have developed the habit, or what. It's all jumbled up in my head.

[Shinylights]

And I too, will never be addicted to running! I know this with absolute confidence!

[whoop]

Hi shiny, just wanted to say well done for facing up to something you are not happy with in your life, must have taken a lot of courage.

Don't worry about everything being jumbled up in your head. Without wanting to sound to hippyish, have you ever heard of mindfulness or a website called headspace? They do a free ten day guided meditation trial. It might help? ( am not linked to them or anything, have come across it on here before and reading your posts made me think it might be something else that might help.)

Sends like you have had a really fab 4 days even though you are feeling tired.

[Shinylights]

Thankyou I'll have a look at that website!

It's Friday so that's 8 days since I last had a drink.
I'm ok. I've had to rethink my habits and have made some changes to my evening routine which has helped. I've also said I'm going to give up for October, for Macmillan (they're doing a campaign at the moment) and will donate some of what I spent on wine, to them. It's also easier to say that's why I'm not drinking at this point, and feels achievable and not "endless" somehow.
My skin is better, and I feel better in the mornings too, more than I thought I would. My sleep is still a bit weird but I wake more refreshed.
So all to the good I think. I'm not patting myself on the back yet, but a week ago I didn't think I'd be able to write this.

[CogitoErgoSometimes]

I'm glad you're making progress. Lost a good friend to alcohol related liver-failure a few years ago and she was only a 'bottle of wine a night' girl rather than the traditional image of the hardened alcoholic. So it's easy to be damaged without knowing.

I always suggest to people that realise they have been drinking too regularly/heavily to commit to just one week off the booze. A week isn't 'forever' but it's a decent break that allows you to find other things to drink with the pizza and ... very important.... see how dependent you are. If you've given up for 8 days I think you can be satisfied you're not dependent - good news. Which means your wine-drinking was a bad habit which is a slightly less scary thing to acknowledge. Entrenched bad habits take about six weeks to begin changing so maybe you could make that your next goal? Good luck

[Shinylights]

Thankyou! Tell me again the bit about not being dependent? I mean, is that the sort of benchmark - that you can give it up for a week without physical ill effects?

[BafanaThesober]

There is a difference between being physically and emotionally dependent on alcohol.
I have never been physically dependent. However I was totally emotionally dependent, and used it consistently as a coping mechanism. I drank emotionally not realising that it made every situation worse.
I now have many other ways of coping. And don't have any desire to drink.
Bottles of wine no longer call to me from the fridge!!! And when I have a bad day, or a good day or an ok day - I have other things to do to occupy the time that I filled in with booze.

I also stopped for weeks, therefore telling myself that I was ok and not dependent. However - I still hated myself in the morning after drinking,
I love not having to wake up

[BafanaThesober]

*sorry, pressed post
Love not having to wake up in the morning, and worry about what I did the day before.
I also love the fact that I live in the moment, and not constantly think about when I can have a glass of wine!