DRY 7!!!

[mollyonthemove]

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

Hey rainbow86 and welcome :) Sounds like you've a lot on your plate As for coping with cravings I used the 15 minute rule to help me in the early days. Plus trying to change my routine as much as possible so that I was doing different things at trigger time and having a nice selection of alcohol free drinks to hand instead. Oh and chocolate . This is a lovely thread and I'm sure some of the others will be along. It's been a bit quiet of late what with the nice weather :)

Hi everybody - sorry have been off for a bit. Welcome new people! rainbow - it can be hard in the first few days or weeks but just trying to find something else to do while that craving passes (and it will!) really can work. I had started running a few months before I stopped so made myself go out for a little while and run around the park. All I wanted after that was a bloody great pint of water . stay with it x

Hello all, hope everyone is keeping well and welcome to the new people. In the middle of packing/cleaning/moving hell atm. Good weather I hear you say? Unfortunately hasn't reached Irish skies :(

Oh rainbow that sounds really tough . No way is it a comparison of what you are going through but I do get it a little bit, drinking to cope. I def hit the drink harder once my first was born. He struggled developmentally at the start, eventually dx with a chromosome disorder, and I spent years up and down to paeds, assessments, doctors. Then there was the weekly appts to pt, ot, slt etc and the exercises you're meant to do at home too. It's majorly stressful and feels endless. Hmm as for cravings - what worked for me was sugar. Lots and lots of sugar, hence the extra stone I've put on

I've been struggling myself the last week. It's the association with moving. I've never moved house without copious amounts of wine and cigarettes involved. Once I get in I think I'll be fine and it will nice to make a fresh start in a new place where I have never drank or smoked with no fear of red wine spillages on walls or cream carpets but right at this moment my inner child is none too happy and feels deprived.

I, too, started really drinking as a result of a referral to CAHMS, Not going to go into any more details :( but life really got pretty shitty as a result.

Now so pleased I am AF. Honestly life is SO much better now.

Good morning all. I would be nice and clear headed this morning if ds2 hadn't been a sod all night and then got up at 5.15am.

YouMeddling I chucked the wine, and have restarted a low carb diet, so I have an extra reason to stay dry.

Rainbow that sounds so hard.

Okay, I think I need to be here. I can't control alcohol, I hear the bottle calling, it is 7.19pm and I have had a bottle of wine. Thats not good, i know that rationally, but I am so so scared of giving up having a drink with friends, a beer with my husband etc. Except for them it is A drink or A beer, me I fret that it will run out.

Morning ladies and welcome EmMcK :)
Last found myself eating emotionally yesterday as we are also gearing up for a move. As you say it's the feeling deprived and wanting to squash down the associated emotions that go with a stressful life event! Hang in there
Glad I'm sorry that your escalating drinking was CAMHS triggered. My job means I work closely with them and I know it can be very stressful.
Sorelip well done for binning the wine!
Em your experience sounds like mine was. I stopped over 18 months ago and yes it was hard in the early days but wouldn't go back to it now. The sense of freedom is so liberating. Hang in there and we'll support you as best we can :)

Rainbow 6 AF days out of 8 is good going, so don't feel like a failure. Maybe see if you can break your record of AF days by pushing through days 3 and 4, to get to 5,6,7...? In the early days I coped by not having an alcohol in the house, not walking down the wine aisle in the supermarket, avoiding popping out to the local shop in the evening, basically making it as hard as possible for the craving to translate into actually having a drink. Its much, much easier now (have been AF on and off for around 2 years, and probably 95% AF for the last year) so even though I still haven't cracked it 100% I'm a million miles from where I was (and my health and ability to cope with stress has definitely improved as my reliance on alcohol has decreased!)
sorelip great job binning the wine, how's the low carbing going?
Welcome Em - give it time and you'll find that you can actually enjoy those evenings with friends, as you won't be anxious about who's getting more than their fair share of the booze and how many more bottles you can get in before its time to go!

I guess its been about 10 days now since I last stopped drinking - have had a couple of those 0.5% czech lagers than sainsburys do but actually even that gives me a fuzzy feeling in the morning, so I don't think I'll be buying any more. When I first stopped drinking I was disappointed that I didn't really notice the effects (as didn't really get hangovers anyway) but over easter when I had wine a few days in a row I noticed my skin got worse, eyes were gritty and dry, didn't wake up feeling as energised, craved more junk food... in a way these things made me feel bizarrely good as it helped me really see the benefits of stopping! Plus I really noticed the difference a couple of bottles of wine made to the food shopping budget!

Hope everyone is set for a lovely AF weekend, its sunnier here than I was expecting so will get out for some fresh air in a bit

rainbow your situation sounds very hard sorelip good job on chucking the wine!
Em I recently managed to go away with friends on what would have been a very boozy weekend in the past and I had a terrific time - I did take AF wine with me and just had that Lucy all is ok now but they were not very helpful in our case.

Beautiful day here - off to do some gardening now and cuddle a chicken

Good morning, well it is for me on the other side of the world. Thank you for welcoming me. So, I woke up at 3am feeling rubbish and guilty and ick yet again having thrown back way too much. Today is the day - I am not buying any wine. I want to have a clear head and a clear conscience and not to be thinking from the moment I wake up about when I can have a drink. I have three lovely DC and a lovely DH and a good job, I want to be able to think clearly about all those things. Plus, DH is away for a week for work so I want to be able to relish having broccoli and sardines for each meal and splay alone all over the bed

Em you can do it there are loads of people on here who have managed to stop drinking and you can too, if you want. It can be hard but it is SO worthwhile
How are you feeling now?

The children were all going to a birthday party today for an hour so I went for a nice run and thought about how I just don't to be ruled by how crap I feel when I drink like that.
It is 5pm, traditional first pour time. I am going for distraction - have a soda water and am getting the children to help me make sushi, which basically means that I will have an evening of cleaning rice off every surface in the kitchen. I am a bit nervous about making it to bed time.

Did you succeed Em? I'd love to know how to make sushi! :)

I feel like I am in my own version of Big Brother: "7.52pm EmMcK pointlessly sorts Thomas train track pieces into piles in attempt to keep hands busy and mind off wine" Have succeeded, but not in a relaxed fashion. I think that this might be my first AFD in about 3 months. Today I bought a copy of Mrs D Is Going Without. I am planning on more pointless organising and then going to bed with that and a block of chocolate.
The children loved making the sushi - normally I do it alone (and have a few wines) but they were well into it and had a blast. Children are way more enjoyable when you are sober.
I am quite jealous of you all going into spring - we have just turned autumnal here which is beautiful but the days are suddenly so so short.

Hoorah!! It is a slog in the early days but stick with it - it gets easier. Plus week-ends are always the hardest :) I went to bed straight after the kids in the beginning and Mrs D is fab, as is her book and your strategies sound perfect. Enjoy your chocolate and the amazeballs Lotta

Hello can I join in?

Course you can needsomewillpower :) Grab yourself a cuppa Welcome :)

marking place ladies - I dropped off the thread but have been lurking and am needing inspiration for AF as I'm finding it tough after a stressful few months I'm really feeling the call and cravings for alcohol again

I find this thread SUCH a help :)

Hi hope you've all had a good Sunday I have spent today, along with my sister, at my uncle and aunts house, attempting to find out a bit more about my dad (some of you know the massive emotional shit my mother has put us through about my dad who died when I was two) It was interesting and a little emotional but good to be with my sister as we rarely see each other.

Had a bit of a pissed off moment yesterday when I realised a 'friend' had has a big birthday meal on drinks on Friday and hadn',t even mentioned it to me. I guess this is being sober. You get left out for whatever reason. Ah well, I'm OK now but it did jury. Also have had the most hideous sciatica over the past few days. Bloody hell what is that all about???? I had no idea how debilitating it is. oucheee.

Hope everyone is doing well. xx

did hurt not did jury!

Ouch Molly, that is not a kind thing to have happen to you at all.
Second AFD, and I think I might have a doppleganger - I started Mrs D is Going Without and she IS me. I cannot believe it. She really is. It is like she is inside my mind.
It was lovely last night waking up at 3am and just rolling over and going back to sleep, not lying there feeling like shit and guilty.
I need to stock up on nice teas and drinks though - I feel the need to reach out for a drink and water just ain't cutting it.

Hi, can I join please?

I am on day 2 of being dry, along with DP. We both drink far too much vodka, and I have been getting increasingly worried about the health risks, and just want to be better in every way for our two boys. I tend not to get actually falling over drunk, but definitely drinking far more than I ever should have (DP and I could easily put away a litre between us in an evening). I actually put off posting as everyone seems to drink wine, and vodka seems almost worse for some reason, but I guess booze is booze.

We did Dry January, and I actually really enjoyed it, but it made me realise that I am definitely an all or nothing person, and just can't moderate with booze. I was quite scared when I had my first drink in February, as I was convinced that would put me right back to the start, and I was right. So, I need this to be the beginning of the new me (and DP).

Off for my driving lesson now, and it feels lovely to be clear headed and not worrying in case I still have booze in my system.

molly ouch indeed - hope it's starting to improve otherwise you need to get yourself to the Dr's
em Mrs D is great, isn't she? :)
BamBam welcome! As you say booze is booze and we don't discriminate according to your poison of choice If you did Dry Jan you've had a good practice run for this time round so you'll know how to manage those first 30 days. DP and I stopped together too and we are both at 19 months now so it can be done and it did help having him on board although things were a fair bit scratchy in the beginning as we were both detoxing!

Thank you Lucy

DP and I really enjoyed Dry January once we were into it but the first wee while was difficult, and I know it will probably be the same this time. I am struggling tonight though - the kids are both driving me demented and I just want a stiff drink. Things will get better though.