Dry 6

[sydneysideup]

This is the thread for the alcohol free. Happy and hopeful, continuing from Dry 5 here: www.mumsnet.com/Talk/relationships/a2137624-DRY-5?msgid=50943574
Whether it's been an hour, a day, a week or a year, join us here.

Hi rb,

That's what I did last year - gave up for January and then just kept going. Made it till mid August but then fell off the wagon on a very stressful business trip, and drank sporadically after that.

I did have a couple of boozy nights out before Christmas and drank more or less what I wanted, when I wanted over the Christmas/New Year period, but now I'm back on the wagon as of Midnight on New Year's Eve. All the wine I had left got poured down the sink and that was that.

Good luck and here's wishing everyone a happy, healthy and dry 2015!

Hi everyone, welcome rb. :)

So sorry about the family and friends who are suffering so badly right now.

My DH is doing Dry January, and I am really pleased. I thought I did not mind him drinkig around me, but surprised myself with how happy/relieved I felt that he decided to do Dry January, so there is more to my thoughts than I thought.

Hope everyone is fine.

Welcome rb.

That is a truly terrifying thought Lucy. Things are much the same but I'll take that as a good thing it's not worse. One positive thing to come out of it is it's making us all examine our drinking habits. Even dm who is a bottle or so of wine a night defiant 'I deserve it, doesnt do any harm' sorta person says she is going to keep it to just weekends now. I was quite (but pleased) at that.

Good luck for your dh Corn and well done Nina, fantastic achievement!!

Welcome rb from me too. Great news corn and Nina :) Waves to fontella
eggshells didn't mean to terrify you! Unfortunately that is the truth that the alcohol and drinks industry don't want you to know or see. Not getting any worse is a good sign and like other chronic diseases it can be managed and stabilised. Glad that it is getting everyone thinking.

muminboots. I'm with you I'm so pleased to not be in that place any longer too - those days when drink ruled my life!

thanks Lucy

I read the Dry January thread yesterday too, and it made me very glad to have already stopped. Before stopping completely the thought of stopping for a month would have been horrendous to me, and like some of the posters on that thread I would have thought that the next four weeks would mean no fun, no 'normal life', and I would have been desperate for it to end. Stopping completely takes that pressure off - and stops the association that you can only have a life if you are drinking.

On that note, I've just had a phone call from a very old friend who is doing Dry January and joked that he wanted to invite me over for lunch next weekend because knowing that I don't drink now they'd like to fit it in over January!

Listening to lots of Bubble Hours at the moment for some reason, enjoying them a lot.

Ah ha - we shall become the sought-after people du hour now that lots of people are doing Dry Jan, Teapot!

I was hoping my DH would do it. Sadly not. But he is making an effort to be helpful and so on. So got to be happy with that. I do really worry about his health - not just drinking but eating too.

That's ok Lucy as that's the stark reality of it. Have been reading some medical journals on alcohol and liver damage and it doesn't just end with the hospital eh, will effect life seriously after. Stuff that's good for me to know though, makes me more determined from a personal perspective.

I agree Teapot, I think its torture doing a month only thing, I would be counting down the days impatiently.

eggshells yes - life is never the same afterwards, much like any chronic condition really. Knowing what I know keeps me on the straight and narrow that's for sure
Teapot that's a backhanded compliment by your friends right?
Haggis sorry you couldn't persuade DH to join us for a short while.
Did drop in on the Dry January thread and suggest the 'I'm not drinking app' but don't want to say too much more lest I get all evangelical

Sorry to hear your news broken

My DF was also a publican - it made it easy for him to drink unnoticed. Towards the end he was admitted to hospital regularly and knew his liver was packing up, but he couldn't stay in hospital as he had no alcohol so he would get just well enough to be able to get out and then he would leave again.

When I was clearing his flat after he died I found loads of immodium and had this flash of realisation that this could/would be my destiny if I didn't stop drinking.

A friend has an alcoholic DF in another health authority and she says when he is admitted they give him small amounts of alcohol in his drip to prevent him from wanting to leave!

I also read the Dry January thread and did wonder if it might be a sneaky way of introducing people to the fact I am not drinking? I can then say I liked it so much I decided to carry on?

littleleftie good idea re Dry January! And adding alcohol to drip - gawd I've never heard of that being done and never seen it done where I worked. We had to lock the hand sanitizer gel away to stop patients necking them though!!

littleleftie sorry to hear about your DF too - another common theme on here it would seem. Mine died 3 years ago and it was alcohol related.

Lucy - not sure re. the compliment! I haven't seen them since I stopped (5 months sober now) and I think they were joking... although I think it was more about them wanting to be able to socialise with someone in January without it being tempting for them.

I feel the same about the DryJ thread; nervous to say anything on there in case I'm too happy clappy!

Sorry to hear that Lucy It certainly wasn't a shock when my Dad died. He drank from the minute he got up until the minute he went to bed. I am the product of a NPD mother and alcoholic father. Bizarrely I think I am pretty mentally/emotionally balanced Except for all the drinking of course!!

That's really funny well, not really about the hand sanitizer.

Bugger me littleleftie SNAP in the parenting dept - not so DM is also NPD! And like you am pretty well balanced apart from the small issue of alcoholism
I know what you mean about the hand sanitizer and when it first started happening we couldn't work out what was going on. Apparently if you mix it with a cup of tea it's palatable (not that I'm recommending that to anyone of course!!)
Teapot it is hard to keep my mouth shut over there so I think I'm going to have to stay away for my own sanity :)

What a coincidence! I have to say, DF wasn't alcoholic before he met DM, and neither was I so I do like to blame her sometimes. I am NC with her for my own protection so she doesn't really affect me now, apart from the legacy of having an NPD mother - No self esteem, no childhood, poor boundaries (I wasn't allowed any).

I have done a huge makeover of myself in the past 4 years, and ditching the booze feels like the final part of the jigsaw.

Lucy my prev.job was acute medicine and we had the same with the hand gel and sterets!

Day 3 today and feel bleak. Tired anxious - like I'm walking on a tightrope - I don't want to do anything or see anyone - all the reasons I had for stopping seem like scotch mist, and when I sleep I dream of alcohol and fags. I did get some work done today though, in time that I would normally be drinking in. And I needed to go to the shop earlier and thought that I couldn't - then realised that of course I could - am sober! I am so used to being grounded after 6pm it never occurred to me that I could leave the house! That's rather nice innit!

teapot I feel the same on Dry Jan I can't imagine how revolting I would be if I had to 'give up' for a month and put life on hold as it were - whereas I feel a lot more control now 4 months AF, like this is my life and yes it is actually ok being sober and I'm not missing out on anything :)

Little. Sorry to hear about you DF

Interesting that many on here and that I've read elsewhere in sobriety had difficult childhood and parents as did I

littleleftie NC with psycho DM here either for the same reasons. She certainly drove us all to drink at times! .... And same here on the huge makeover. Amazing what not having her in my life has allowed to blossom :)
knackered sterets too!? What they sucked all the ETOH out of them? Hang on in there as day 3 is the nexus of feeling crap. It does get better and hunker down until it passes.
nina I agree it's liberating isn't it?
Taking DC's to British Museum for DD's bday treat tomorrow so will be back on Monday doing a dance as it's the last day of the Xmas hols!

Biggles here . changed my name to reflect my love for the Street of Coronation

Sorry to hear about all the people who have such awful situations with family unwell through drinking. My cousins wife died really suddenly a few years back and although I' d not really put two and two together, it was drink related. She was never without a drink or a cigarette - I saw them very rarely,in fact the last time was 1983 when they took me to see David Bowie at Milton Keynes. I was 19 and very happy as the booze was flowing beyond my teenage dreams!

Mother was talking about her at Xmas day - that the Christmas she spent there once was awful as all the wife did was drink and no one got any food till about 6. I have noticed that food is now really important and know without a doubt when dh is pissed as he doesn't want to eat or maintains he's already eaten.

He is taking his anti D's and seems OK although has annoyed me tonight as has been drinking (is still drinking) and talking utter bollocks which means I have had to come upstairs to watch TV . He has cut down a lot to be fair but every now and then has what I think is too much. Maybe I'm being unfair but I am so impatient with drinkers now

I have also looked at the dry January thread and find myself tutting and being all cross which is ridiculous and unkind as I was that person struggling not too long ago.

Dd at her friends for the night which means calm and peace for a while!

I hope everyone is well. Back to work Monday. actually looking forward to it!!!

Hi everyone.

I am also so sorry to hear of the terrible situations with family and drinking. . And the situations with NPD family members. My estranged uncle died two years ago because of alcohol. He went into complete organ failure, it was apparently totally out of the blue.

The Dry January thread has really interested me, because people are being so open and honest about their problem drinking. There are alot of drinking profiles that are the same as mine. I want to say 'It's so much better this way, really really believe me!!!'.Any Dry january lurkers... welcome. :)

Deirdre, hope your DH's meds soon kick in.

I am up late working, and procrastinating madly. I tend to become a bit paralysed when I have deadlines, and DH was meant to take over DC-duty today so I could work, and was bloody useless at it. 'But he does not want to go to the soft play, I asked him...' Um, DS is 4. And has spent the day crawling into my lap asking to have 'Let it go' played non-stop on you tube. TAKE HIM SOMEWHERE ANYWHERE, JUST PLEASE LEAVE ME ALONe!!!!!

and breathe.

I might listen to Bubble Hour to keep me company.

night night all. :)

So sad how many lives have been touched by alcoholism and lives cut far too short. A friend does bank nursing and sometimes works on the liver ward, she said exactly the same thing about the hand sanitizer there Lucy

Where is this bubble hour I keep hearing about?

Hope you're feeling better today knackered

I've quite enjoyed lurking on the Dry January thread, just being nosey . Someone else mentioned on it how different it is to a usual 'how much do you drink thread' on here and it seems to be true. A lot more people being totally honest and I recognise myself in some.

I'm exactly the same with food when drinking Deidre and it is so important.

I've always been a skinny Minny and struggle to put weight on (genetic just) and when I drink any thoughts of food go out the window. Was quite pleased to find that I've put on five pounds over Christmas. I think purely from actually eating for a change rather than drinking the calories. Have really been trying to make an effort the past week to up my veggie intake and drinking the odd smoothie concoction too.

Was hoping to get back to running this week but took a bad tumble yesterday, Add dd's stunt scooter, a steep hill and me. Was all going so well until I tried to find the brake. Hip bore the brunt of the fall and I feel about 90 today, aching all over. I'm an idiot.

I just realised how horrible I sounded saying I get impatient with drinkers. it came out a bit wrong I meant I get pissed off with drinkers who find it funny when people don't drink or do that 'haha, get me trying to stop no way lolz' that is all over fb lately.

I know a couple who think not drinking is some kind of weird character defect - I have been quoted the Frank Sinatra (?) thing 'I feel sorry for people who don't drink - imagine knowing that waking up up is the best you're going to feel all day' - possibly a misquote but something along those lines.

Sorry if I came across a bit offensive last night - I was really fed up with dh and angry.