The Brave Babes Battle Bus - Soaking Up The Warm Sunshine, Instead Of The Warm White Wine!

[Mouseface]

Hi, I'm Mouse :)

Welcome to The Brave Babes Battle Bus.

A place for pouring out your heart without being judged, mostly because a lot of us have been exactly where you are right now, or somewhere similar.

We've been around for a while, so there's not much that we've not seen..... or heard.... or been through ourselves.

Some of the Babes are newer to the Bus, some of the Babes have been here on dear old "Gerald" (The name this Bus was given by one of the Babes, I forget who now!I suspect IsinDe or Silver) for a little while longer!

EVERYONE is welcome here. Drinkers, those who are complete non drinkers, and those who are somewhere in the middle of all of the above. :)

Some Babes are in control of their drinking, some not so much. It's dreadfully hard some days, days when there is nothing going around your head except thinking that you MUST have a drink and you sit there trying to work out when, what time you can have that first mouthful of ice cold poison.

Whatever your goal here, or why you're here, we'll all help you along the way, YOUR WAY.

There will be one of us on here that can relate to your life story as if it were a mirror they were looking at, someone to hold your hand if you want it, catch you if you fall, which you may or may not. Positive thinking, just One Day At A Time.

No one Babe is better than any other, we've all been addicts. We've all suffered, yes some more than others but it's not a competition (and no-one gets turned away) but if you rack up shed loads of sober days, you will be a winner on the thread!!

So, if you want somewhere safe to sit and enjoy the warming summer sun, come find a seat, have a chat or just sit and listen to the rest of us yakking on!!

Nice to meet you :) all.

Also, here is the latest thread -

THE LATEST THREAD WE'VE SHARED OUR STORIES AND EXPERIENCES ON

And this is the very first thread -

AND THIS THREAD, THIS THREAD IS EXTREMELY SPECIAL BECAUSE THIS IS WHERE THE JOURNEY STARTED, AND HAS SINCE EVOLVED OVER THE LAST SIX YEARS

Hope to chat soon, Mousey x

Thanks for the welcome. I've had a drink problem since I was 21, so 20 years. It lost me my job and my reputation. I've clawed back some work, but I figure x2 bottles of wine on a night IN is a problem. Ironically I have to go to a pub tonight, so will have posh ginger beer or similar. Thanks again x

How many of you discuss your drinking in similar terms to here in RL? I don't at all. I'm not even sure I would, ever. Not that I'm ashamed exactly, more because I am not that different, outwardly at least, to a lot of the people I know. Also, as I now have a small child, I tend not to go out much (but instead drink wine like it's going out of fashion.) A friend of mine has jokingly said that a bottle of wine can't possibly be any smaller as you need at least that much so you can cope with bringing up the kids! However, I am starting to realise that I don't want my DS to see me drunk, or hungover (which is more likely) as I find it quite pathetic on my part.

Hello babes and welcome to the newbies

Sorry I haven't been posting.. I was planning on going AF until our holiday in August, but never even made it til the end of the week. after last weekends hostilities broke out between DHs family and mine, since then I've lapsed big time.

How is everybody? isinde that was a beautiful video you posted, I am going to try and find it on t'internet!

ma how are you doing my lovely purple thistle? Is your DD okay now? How is your dad settling in? And, what about YOU?

Are we still missing faire and khalisi and wry ?

Hi

I want to check in please, been on and off the thread for few years. Currently 13 days Af, recovering from knee surgery but feel really good for not drinking so I want to keep it going.

Had got into bad habit of drinking Sunday's so starting week feeling sick. DH likes a drink but can stop at 1 or 2. Have strong history of alcoholics in the family- my uncle currently very poorly and it's been the fright that I never want to end up down that path.

Happy Friday Eve!

Am going for dinner shortly and will be ordering the biggest bottle of fizzy water going!

Love fizzy water. Will be my drink of choice next time I'm out. Enjoy your meal!

I always feel like I have to drink when I go out, all my friends do and I feel like I should make the most of being out and to do that I have to drink. In fact I enjoy nights more when I'm sober. I don't know why I sabotage myself ?

Bugger, am slightly drunk. And want to get MORE drunk. As if this will make my dinner nicer, the TV more interesting and everything generally 'more fun'
Christ that sounds ridiculous written down

I understand nancery I finished the half bottle from yesterday and was desperate for more but somehow managed to stop myself going to the shop for another bottle. I had a cup of tea and am going to bed. The pull of this stuff is so strong...

I am also in the sidecar and wondering which way to jump. I've either picked a really hard time to attempt to go sober, am setting myself up for a fall and should just let it go for a few weeks or, there will always be an excuse, alcohol makes tricky times harder not easier.

NoAprilFool you are right that booze makes tricky times harder, long term anyway, but you are also right in that there is always an excuse.

Morning all. I am giving up and going for HRT. After a night of sweats and flushes I am more exhausted than before I went to bed. A time lapse film of me last night would look like a contortionist having a series of convulsions.

ma I've been on hrt for 4 months and it's been brilliant - no more sleepless nights and getting up to change soaking pyjamas. You won't regret it, insomnia is a killer.

Day six here and new to the bus. Any survival tips? I'm on an assortment of so called liver soothers; milk thistle, lemon, dandelion..I really feel for my poor liver and the beating its take over the past twenty years
Trying to give it some love. Still a bit too scared to see gp for left. Will try a few more days AF before I make that appointment.

LFT

joey what kind though? There is a bewildering range of options and even the GP can't say what will or won't work. I don't know what is right for me. In the last year I either have a couple of months or horrendous periods and no hot flushes, or no periods and horrendous flushes. I don't know which is worse tbh. Last period was April.
Welcome "gromit* and well done on day 6

Hi demented, may also be in peri menopausal phase as I've been having increasingly frequent periods (and hot flushes/sweats)
Not sure if it's that or my liver fighting oestrogen issues due to overload. This is what has kickstarted my alcohol free

ma i'm lucky, my GP practice has one Doctor Who is a specialist in menopause. She didn't even bother testing my hormone levels, just said try the HRT and see if it works.

I started on patches, these are supposed to give the best results in that the hormones are directly absorbed. However many people have trouble getting them to stick, and also the irritated my skin. I switched to tablets although they don't seem to work as well.

Ps. My voice dictation corrected menopause to "mental powers"

my iPad dictation has made some funny corrections!

isinde Have sent you a PM

Saturday night is going to be tough. May I ask what your coping strategies are?

At the moment I don't have any srtajuanita but things like having a nice selection of cold, or hot drinks in (Waitrose do a rose lemonade which is lush), have some sweets for nibbles to replace the sugar in alcohol, keep your hands busy with knitting, jigsaws, colouring in...best one for me is go to bed as early as you can. That way the day is done and you have made it, even if its 8 o clock.
Good luck

ma my friend is on low dose HRT therapy and it has made a huge difference to her life - she sleeps, her depression seems better, her chronic fatigue has eased. Interestingly there was a bit on woman's hour this week about menopause / peri-menopause: a gynaecologist and a psych.... something.... maybe a psychotherapist, maybe a psychiatrist, maybe a psychologist, but basically one who thought that talking therapy and understanding what was happening and CBT was the answer, and the other who said yes, but some women just need hormones - simple as that. Listen on the radio 4 podcast.

juanita - for me coping strategies are all about planning. A very wise previous poster (the fierce MIFLAW ) used to say, if you have nothing to do, no distractions and your fridge is stocked with cold wine / beer, 'hoping' to control your need for a drink is as ineffective as hoping to control diarrhoea.

You need something more effective. No alcohol in the house. No money so you can't go out and buy some. Some lovely alternative things to eat and drink, but most of all something to utterly consume your mind - colouring in, read a book, get involved in a really outrageous mumsnet thread....

Thank you all, especially Venus. Great advice. I have back to back episodes of Breaking Bad, so good distraction!

Morning all.
Have some precious hours to myself today when dh and Ds go to the football. I could do the ironing and sand /paint the radiator,visit dad, or clean the house. Those are the worthy options.
Or, I could slump on the sofa with the Sunday paper, go for a walk, or........ideas please! Has to be low cost or free as very short of funds.