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Mumsnet has not checked the qualifications of anyone posting here. If you need help urgently or expert advice, please see our domestic violence webguide and/or relationships webguide. Many Mumsnetters experiencing domestic abuse have found this thread helpful: Listen up, everybody

Original poster

DRY 7!!!

999 replies

mollyonthemove · 03/04/2015 20:10

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

OP posts:
EmMcK · 21/04/2015 05:08

A little thing to celebrate - I just emptied the household recycling and it didn't sound like a bottle bank which it normally does.

Tortoiseonthehalfshell · 21/04/2015 05:15

I'm just popping in so that I'm on the new thread. Hi guys! Em, are you in Australia as well?

EmMcK · 21/04/2015 05:35

Hi Tortoise, I am in NZ. I hope you are in the non stormy part of Australia!

CornChips · 21/04/2015 08:04

Hi everyone. :)

Welcome Bam Em and everyone. :)

Feeling blah blah and bloody blah today. Lucy I am sad I cannot come to your workshop.... DH has to go to Sweden lucky fucker for work so I am stuck with DS, house, everything. [self pity alert]

EmMcK · 21/04/2015 08:09

Big deep sober breathing here. DS6 is being a little brat - I am surprised his head didn't start spinning at one point. Restorative drinks of my soda water are being taken, keep telling myself that it is better than the masses of wine it would normally be. All three children now in bed though so I can hit the chocolate

EmMcK · 21/04/2015 08:11

Although CornChips, your name has got me thinking chocolate might not be what I am needing........

CornChips · 21/04/2015 08:23

Corn chips and spicy guac does it for me. :)

Lucy2610 · 21/04/2015 09:32

Morning (or evening Em and tortoise!)
Corn not to worry - it it goes well there will be another Grin Treat time to ease the self-pity? Cake
Hmm - MN could do with a chocolate emoticon Wink although now I'm thinking of cornchips and guacamole

LastGleaming · 21/04/2015 09:34

Waves hello to EmcK, needsomewillpower and BamBam! Hope I haven't missed anyone.

That made me smile BamBam as although wine was my drink of choice, if I'd ran out I would have drank anything through a sweaty sock providing it was alcoholic.

Horrah to taking out the non clinking recycling bin Em. It was a major source of shame for me and I still take the greatest pleasure every week seeing no empty drink bottles in mine and knowing the recycling team aren't secretly judging. Dare say they have more concerns but I always worried about that Grin

All good here despite being ill at the weekend. Weird but it was strangely nice being sick but knowing a hangover wasn't involved - and I bounced back far quicker from it than I would ever have done in the past. Had another drinking dream last night but different from all the others in that I turned it down with the words 'No I don't do that anymore'. Good old sub conscious is catching up :)

Hope your sciatica is feeling better molly. Never had it myself (touch wood) but I have seen family in extreme pain because of it. Looks very nasty.

Good luck for your house move too Lucy. Sooo stressful but will be worth it. I will now have a large garden to potter about in. Never had one before so envisioning lots of green fingered planting and possibly growing veg but more than likely lots of moaning about the length of the grass and how I've to mow it yet again :)

Enjoy the sunshine today everyone and have a good un x

mortil2 · 21/04/2015 09:40

Good morning everyone!
Haven't been back for a little while, I was last here after my AA EX sponsor 'forgot' to remain anonymous outside of the meetings. However, I am now 101 days sober and feeling great. Lucy agree with the need for a chocolate emoticon. Though I think its little too early for corn chips and guacamole...

Sigma33 · 21/04/2015 11:02

hi everyone - I need to stop drinking. Was on a bottle a day, now more usually 2. have had c*p family situation, then lost my job because of the time and energy the situation took. So I have been making my situation worse by getting pi*ed, then failing to take DD to brownies etc :( so being a bad mum as well... but the drinking habits have been building up for the past 20 years.

Trying for an AF day today...

Lucy2610 · 21/04/2015 11:17

Last the move is a bit away yet but I HATE change so find it all very unsettling. Ooh bigger garden - how lovely :)
mortil welcome back and congrats on 101 days Grin
sigma welcome to you too! What have you got planned for the witching hour to help you get through? If you start to feel really rough - hand shaking etc you might need medical support if you've been drinking 2 bottles a day for a while. We're here to support where we can :)

BamBam21 · 21/04/2015 11:43

Hi everyone.Smile

I'm another one who is enjoying taking the bin out and not hearing the chink of shame! Only day 3 for me, but feeling a bit better and fresher already. DS2 has his home visit today ahead of starting nursery tomorrow (sob!) and it feels nice not to be checking my breath in a paranoid way, and double checking there are no bottles to be seen. God, that sounds awful, doesn't it. Sad

Well done on 101 days mortil! You must have been so cheesed off with your useless sponsor.

mortil2 · 21/04/2015 11:55

BamBam Good luck with your visit today. and well done for not drinking today!
Sigma33 Best of luck. Its hard but so worth it! I agree with Lucy please seek some medical help if you start feeling unwell. In the past I have tried to do it on my own and ended up haven fits etc. Really scary. Look after yourself

Lucy2610 · 21/04/2015 12:06

Oh my goodness mortil so glad to hear you are okay! Used to nurse alcoholics and manage the alcoholic fitting. Not pleasant for all involved :(

CornChips · 21/04/2015 12:12

Lucy i am curious about the withdrawals etc... in the past I have tried to taper down over a period of 3 days....... which meant drinking a light beer every two hours or something like that (details are hazy as it was a few years ago now). Do you recommend tapering if people have been drinking heavily? Only problm for me is that it then gave me 'permission' to drink, so to speak and I never really achieved it as once I had one drink, I was having all the drinks.

CornChips · 21/04/2015 12:13

Mortil I remember that story about your sponsor, it as pretty horrifying.

mortil2 · 21/04/2015 15:16

CornChips I am afraid I have been around my alcohol problem for a while now. I have had long periods of being sober but unfortunately also times when I have relapsed and it very quickly got out of hand. Slowly reducing the intake of alcohol over a period of time is in theory a good way. However, as you say yourself, once you start it is often VERY difficult to not just keep drinking the whole lot.
I have not always had a problem with drinking but over the last 3 years it became huge. I won't go into all the details now but I have scrambled my way through it and it obviously hasn't all been bad. I have had an inpatient detox a couple of years ago after I had failed to be able to control reducing it myself at home. I had a fit about 2 years before I realised I had a real problem. No one knows whether this was drink related at the time and I was referred to a neurologist. It does appear that I had some underlying cause but it definitely kicked off whenever I was withdrawing in the last few years. I am still on medication but have not had a fit for 20 months now. This last time I relapsed I reduced slowly at home. My DS helped me but it was well tough. Some GP's will help you with medication at home, but in my case they didn't want to.
Are you able to speak to your doctor? I know this is a big step and one I had a real problem with.
Lucy Interesting about your previous job. Its not nice for anyone

CornChips · 21/04/2015 16:04

Thanks mortil. That is really interesting, thanks for sharing. I have been dry a while now, but was utterly scared that I would have major problems withdrawing when I finally went there (and I have slipped several times this past year too it has to be said). I am interested very much in your experience... I never approached my GP for assistance- too afraid to. I was also in the grips of depression and one of the ways that manifested was being terrified that if I admitted to having a problem to anyone 'official' that they would get SS to take away my DS. I am interested in what others on this thread (or lurkers) have experienced to.... has anyone asked for help from their GP? Did it help?

God I hate alcohol. Look at the utter devastation and misery it causes, it is so worthless.

I am very tired and stressed today, so am a bit triggery. Have a deadline for work which is just a bastarding one really.

How is everyone doing?

Lucy2610 · 21/04/2015 16:20

Corn mortil has ably answered the question for you :) If you can taper then all well and good but it is not always possible. If you're drinking over 15 units a day (so a bottle and a half of wine) then you should seek medical help with detoxing is the UK recommendations. I never approached my GP and even when I went to them about depression issues they never asked about my drinking Shock. I understand your reluctance but in my experience (I work with families that are referred to SS) all effort is made to support families with drug and alcohol problems. Removing children is a long and drawn out process that is absolutely the last resort and if you are working on your addiction they would work along side you. Long gone are the days of the kiddi-snatchers.
mortil hope you've got a new sponsor who you trust :)

bobblypop · 21/04/2015 17:10

hello all, can I join you? I was on the thread last year for a while, managed to stop drinking from April until end of August, then just sort of started again - who knows why, and yes it has been a slippery slope since, with me now drinking far too much far too often Sad
Today is day 1. Although I have spent most of it feeling very grim with a terrible hangover after consuming vast amounts of whiskey last night SadBlush
I drink mostly in the house , and I know i use it to escape from stress and hide from lots of other stuff so in time I will need to sort lots of things out.
For now I am going to take it one day at a time. I'm going to get in lots of nice things to drink, and some nibbles (the diet will have to wait!)
I will be doing lots of very early bed times, and spending more time in the garden pottering to distract myself.
Im hoping that posting here will help me again as it certainly got me quite a long way last year.
Looking forward to chatting with you all Smile

Lucy2610 · 21/04/2015 17:33

Welcome bobblypop! I wasn't about until later last year so don't think we 'met' before :) If you did April to August last year then you'll know exactly what you're doing so hope to get you know as time goes on. Raising my cup of tea to day 1 for you Brew

mortil2 · 21/04/2015 17:42

bobblypop good luck. the first few days are always hard

LastGleaming · 21/04/2015 22:00

Massive congrats on your 101 days mortil. Did that thing with the sponsor ever resolve itself?

Hi ya bobbly. Think I've missed you too as I was on the first threads before only coming back again recently. I did exactly the same and stopped for six months last year before thinking I could handle it, well you know the rest. I'm looking at it as my trial run and know now not to trust the voices that say I can moderate after a period of abstinence has passed. Sounds like you're well prepared. Yep, sod the diet for the time being :)

Hope you're feeling a bit better this evening Corn. I never asked for help, maybe should have done but tbh didn't want my medical record marred with something like that if it wasn't absolutely necessary. I somehow worry it might be used against me in the future? Ridiculous I dare say but it's the way I feel.

Good afternoon here. Bit more packing, bit more moving, quick run squeezed in. Thought I would maybe fancy an AF beer in the sun after being busy all day, took a few sips and decided wasn't in the mood after all. Compared to some of the lovely AF alternatives I could be drinking it didn't taste nice.

LastGleaming · 21/04/2015 22:05

Actually reading that back Corn, it's more likely shame that held me back from seeking help. Ashamed of letting it get to the situation where it hold of me and made me feel like a thoroughly weak person.