DRY 7!!!

[mollyonthemove]

The new thread for the alcohol free and the wanna be free . come and join us

BadWool Start taking vitamin B complex, high strength vitamin C and multi-vits. Alcohol strips B vits so you'll be deficient. How much over 15 units? Are you drinking all day? Depending on how you answer those questions you can drop a unit or 2 a day every few days. It's not about will power it's about alternatives that you won't notice. You could try alternating alcohol with an alcohol free alternative - wine, beer or cider, there are plenty on the market. It may be safer to ask for help and get yourself medically detoxed :)

I'll be totally honest as there's no point not being - not sure of the units but I drink 1-2 bottles of wine a day, closer to 2 than 1. Occasionally other things but that's the usual. If I have anything stronger around I drink it so I try to avoid buying it. The lack of willpower is absolutely dreadful and I'm so ashamed of it. We bought some sherry at Christmas for my mum and I drank it in a day and had to sneak out to get another one for her. I'm overweight now for the first time in my life and I look puffy faced. I hate everything about it and despise myself around 3am every morning. I need to do something and I'm desperate to feel better. Vitamins, I'll do that. Thanks x

BadWool Depends on the ABV of the wine - it will be written on the bottle. If you're drinking 12% ABV wine then it's about 10 units so you're drinking between 10 and 20 a day - it could be much worse :) You could taper down to one bottle without too much difficulty if you made spritzers. It's not a lack of willpower - you are addicted to an addictive substance!! The 3am fears and puffy face are something I know well too - you can do this if you really are fed up with it

It's 11.5% wine - Tesco Cava, I'm very classy! One of the things about drinking a lot is that you start to feel nauseous quite a lot and I can no longer tolerate non-sparkly wine. I've moved to sweeter and sweeter drinks to counteract the nausea. I do realise the irony of what I'm saying ... I don't like the taste of alcohol but I'm still trying to drink as much of it as I can! I have tried really hard today, had half a bottle so far whereas I'd be at the end of one by now. One through the day, one in the evening. I just have to get through the evening now on the other half and at least that will be something. I've been having awful headaches lately, really unbearable ones and my mood swings are dreadful. My poor DD and DH. They have no idea how much I drink - I stash bottles everywhere, decant into Sprite bottles (the green plastic hides the off-white of the cava). They see me with the acceptable amount in the evening whilst I cook etc. They think I suffer a lot from migraines and that's why I go to lie down ... God I hate myself for this ...

But I don't want to dominate this thread, which is so positive, with my pathetic stories! It has just really helped to see that people CAN do it. But has anyone done it from a dependency as bad as mine?

badwool I'm back on the wagon after a lapse. This is trivia,but I noticed how puffy my face was and hated it. it only took 3/4 days off the booze for my face to return to normal and my fingers to stop being so fat.

Sorry,that was very,very trivial!!!!

badwool when I went to aa I met oodles of people with addiction way worse than yours and they'd got sober & stayed sober.

Aa also works for occasional drinkers,couple of big ones per evening drinkers and binge drinkers of all varieties.

This thread & the bus can absolutely help with booze dependency. Try not to feel ashamed because it doesn't help. I'm pretty certain that everyone here has had a problem with drink or is facing up to one,big,small or any other size.It can be done.

Badwool your dependency isn't that bad compared to the patients I used to nurse I promise! That said you are drinking 17 units a day so you'd need to taper a bit to be safe to stop. Well done for only drinking half the amount you usually do today!! If you drink sweet fizz then you could dilute it with soda water pretty well to taper further. If you are getting bad headaches and other symptoms I would really encourage you to go to your GP. Gugg mentioned AA - is this something you would consider? You are not bad or pathetic or broken - you are addicted to alcohol. Please try to talk to yourself more kindly as I found that kind of self-hatred a great reason to drink and you're trying to change that

Thank you. I wake up in the morning with such determination to stop and a great feeling of positivity about losing weight, not looking so awful and not feeling so awful and it usually slides during the day. It's like being an automaton - I 'find' myself in the shop buying something that I've been mentally telling myself not to! I'm going to try really hard today though. I desperately want to kick this and stop feeling so awful physically and emotionally.

That's the cycle of addiction BadWool we were all trapped in that place too and it can be bloody hard to escape. I know and understand :) Time to learn new tricks and tools to counter that automatic buying and drinking - time to do stuff consciously and enlisting more support helps whether here or via AA. Stay here we'll help the best we can and even one days success can be hugely motivational

Yes, thank you. I'm cooking now ... the half bottle is more of a quarter now but if I can achieve not opening another one this evening I will see that as a step in the right direction. Thank you for your thoughts and have a lovely evening x

Good luck and hope tonight goes well badwool. Do you have a drug and alcohol advisory group near where you live? I know there's one in my town although I've never used it I have been there with a friend, does counselling, support, complimentary therapies and that. Just an idea. I know I've done the secretive, furtive drinking in the past but it feels like a totally different person now looking back. I think you're doing great taking the first step to tackling the problem

Badwool, the point I hope, of this thread is to help people who are struggling, scared, think they can't do it... so don't apologise!! I tried three or four times before I managed to last more than a few months - it is hard and it is scary but you are obviously in a place where you want to get sober. Just take easy and keep reading - Lucy always has the fabbest advice! stay focussed and think of the great life ahead x

Thanks all. I've tried and failed so many times that I am cautious about even considering the thought of stopping. At this moment I'd be happy to cut down and get more in control as I feel things are spiralling and definitely getting worse. If I can stop that then that's the first move to stopping altogether. Already after only having one bottle of wine yesterday I feel better today. The last few days were absolutely dreadful as I'd been drinking spirits as well and my stomach and head were in such a mess. I love the thought of being free from this altogether but that's too big a thought so I'm just focussing now on getting more control and bringing my drinking down to a safe level to stop.

Badwool Congrats on your achievement yesterday! If you've been drinking spirits on top of your wine then, as you say, your drinking is getting worse. I don't know how much you know about alcohol dependence but it is a progressive disease where psychological addiction tips over to physical addiction. The problem with us boozers is we think we've got it under control until we haven't. Cutting down is a great step but if you struggle to maintain it I would seek help from Drug and Alcohol services as last suggested :)

The spirits is a very occasional thing and it makes me feel so utterly lousy that I'm not hugely worried it will become regular. I mean I even feel lousy when drinking them, my mood dips immediately and there is absolutely no point whatsoever. I have never had it under control so no illusions with regard to that but I can't stop without reducing. I know that reducing will only be a means to an end because I can't stay reduced because as long as I'm drinking anything there is always the rist I'll drink too much. I did contact someone at AA but I haven't taken the next step of trying to find someone in my area. It is all very difficult to do behind my husband's back as he's at home all week at the moment.

I equate it a bit with stopping smoking. It is only possible to not smoke at all, it's completely impossible to have an odd social cigarette. I managed to do that and now I'm so unbelievably glad to be free from that addiction that I can see how it could be with drinking but I think drinking is a much bigger thing for me, much more difficult as it is tied up with so much of my life so I know I've got a big struggle on my hands.

You seem to have good insight and self-awareness BadWool :) Can you not ask your husband to help you? It was a huge part of my life also, and I'm an ex smoker too so I get the analogy. It can be done and I can promise you that life is infinitely better without it once you get through the difficult early stages. You can search online for nearest meeting to your postcode on the AA website :)

Still puffing my two a day :(

Lucy - I do have a sense of where the nearest meetings would be but they are all at times that are particularly difficult for me to get away to. At the moment I couldn't talk to my husband about it.

Molly - if I could have stuck to two a day I'd have been quite happy, I could never manage that. All or nothing for me.

molly I'm like BadWool all or nothing and if I could do two a day I would :)
BadWool Fair enough. There are online AA meetings :) I'm going to shut up now and leave you in peace.
I'm currently mainlining honey roasted jumbo peanuts - it's not chocolate but isn't low calorie either!!

Yep all or nothing too. Judging by how hard I'm finding it to get off the lozenges, slowly slowly getting there, there's no way I'd be able to stick to two :)

I see your guest post from Nov is DOTD lucy

Ooh is it? Thanks Last :)
Badwool I hope you're doing okay today :) I told myself to pipe down earlier as I am very aware that I can get a bit evangelical about it all. That's what happens when you get to 600 days (tomorrow!)

Had my injection thingy today and 'resting' as per orders. Omg I'm sooo boorred

8 hours in and I have watched several tv shows, had a nap, read a bit of my book, painted my nails, watched a movie and stuffed my face. Busting to get up and do something worthwhile. The funny thing is I remember days when drinking when I didn't have the dc with me, I would drink, have a nap, drink some more and repeat. It would have felt like a perfect day on the sofa doing nothing with a glass in my hand. What an absolute waste!

Hope everyone's doing well today and having a much more productive day that I am . Woo-hoo Mexican wave tomorrow Lucy. Amazing!

I don't mind the evangelical. I'm just enjoying being honest and seeing other people succeed as it gives me hope. I did all right yesterday. Stuck to one bottle of wine but did 'top up' with a miniature whisky on the way home. Today nothing so far. I know it's very early but, trust me, by this time usually I'd have had about at least a quarter of a bottle of wine. I'm telling myself that I don't even feel like drinking, I feel quite nauseous, and lasting as long as I can without. It's some kind of strategy.