DRY 9!!!!!

[CheesyNachos]

The DRY 8 thread suddenly came to an end! 1000 messages before we knew it.

THis is the thread for those who are abstaining and who want to abstain from alcohol. :)

All are welcome.

Previous thread is here.

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/relationships/2432985-DRY-8?

Tomato juice? Might not be your thing but I like it because it is not sweet and I sip it slowly at about the same pace that normal people drink wine.

Sparkling water, good ginger beer or good lemonade?
Now I am out of restaurant ideas!

(I have tried virgin mojito and virgin bloody mary, but I find myself dwelling too much on what they lack, iyswim).

Sparkling mineral water works for me :)

Thanks Umpteen, not sure about tomato juice with a meal and I don't like ginger beer. I do like lemonade.

Soda and lime is a good one as is bitter lemon. I drank ginger beer on Friday. It was lovely to see it behind the bar. Much nicer than coke.
well I've ridden the storm! Phew!
I knew it would pass. Thanks for the encouragement x

I think I would quite like a St Clements. Trying to get clear in my head what I am going to order beforehand.

Is bitter lemon, lime and soda a combination?

I may pop to the supermarket tomorrow and get some of these in to try out beforehand.

Ooh no ! Separate. I tried st clements for the first time last week. Lovely!

Arg! Having a moment! Just got changed in to pjs, made some tea and the desire for wine is slowly receding. I knew tonight was gonna be tough, I even got my bro to pick some stuff up for me so I could avoid the shop where I normally buy wine.

Anybody have trouble sleeping when they first stopped? I haven't been able to get to sleep til nearly two for three nights in a row, so I only got four hours last night and I'm bloody knackered.

Loving the drinks ideas, thanks! And FOG, defo gonna remember that one.

Just a few more hours to go before I complete day four.

The urge does go jess I had a moment tonight too. Smug pride has now kicked in

Jessica sleep does get worse before it gets better so stick with it. You are doing great!! :) Try a hot bath as that raises body temp enough to then drop it and trigger sleepiness. See you on day four

Thanks lucy and donna, the moment is passing and the smugness is starting. I'm glad there's an end to the sleeplessness eventually, I'm just gonna have to stick it out. It's definitely telling that my body has been so reliant on alcohol.

I think it's going better than normal because I have people to chat to about it (albeit online), and I normally try a 'health kick' where I quit alcohol and e-cig, start eating better and exercising and that's just too much to change at one time.

I'm also loving the 'take each day as it comes' thing at the moment. I figure if I concentrate on just not drinking today then I can focus all my willpower on that.

Ha ha dona, St clements it is.

I had a moment too tonight! Dh opened a bottle of red to have with dinner and there was a small pang. But it passed.I don't even like red wine very much!

when I am out with a meal I tend to have sparkling water or appeltiser if they have it. At the pub I like J20 orange and passionfruit juice with lemonade..... that is a bit of a funny one as I would never have thought I had a sweet tooth. (I used to joke that I got all my sugar in wine. Hah flipping hah. )

Umpteen your mussels up thread ... mmmmm.......lovely.

I took my own advice and went to bed super early and am now up and bouncing off the walls like a toddler.

Oh Cheesy, I hope you didn't take too long to get back to sleep.

J2O with lemonade sounds nice. I have both in the house so will try later.

Thanks Sea. :) I MNetted for a few hours then went back to bed. Am sleepwalking through my day today and eating loads of carbs! (Like being hungover, but much better. )

Hope you are well and having a good day.

Thank you Cheesy, I am having a lazy day. I am cooking a roast later though, which I am very much looking forward to. Even more so if I didn't have to cook it

I'm having sleep problems too Jessicas, it's taking me ages to get to sleep and then I seem to be waking up a couple of times too. Hope it improves soon...

I'm currently sipping a ginger beer here - not something I would have contemplated before really but it makes a nice change.

Bitter and Jessica, it took a few weeks for sleep to get better for me.

weeks??! Cripes!

Evening all. Bitter yes I hate to depress you (really, I do!!) but it took me a few weeks too.

My top tips from that time were

• don't be afraid to go to bed as early as possible, to try to get as much sleep as possible
• download a sleep hypnosis app (Andrew Johnson does a good one for stopping drinking - it says to listen every night for the first three weeks and I did)
• remember that you might be tired but you're NOT HUNGOVER. You haven't said or done anything you regret and you are looking after yourself.
• just go crazy for all things 'self-care'. Baths, nice music, lots of reading about giving up the booze, etc etc.

IT is worth it..!!

Oh I had forgotten about the sleep hypnosis things. Thanks for the reminder Teapot. I used to use Tara Brach alot. Time to use again I think.

I have had a useless day achieving nothing. Well, I did manage to eat spagetti carbonara, 2croissants, a packet of maltesers, buttermilk fried chicken and about a million slices of home-cooked gammon with cheesy potatos. I have also annoyed people on facebook by posting cute kitty pics. I have wiki-ed most of the presenters on radio 4 in an attempt to avoid work. I have read three stories to DS and played a game of junior monopoly. I have NOT finished a work assignment.

I'd better get some sleep tonight or tomorrow will be just as pointless.

Oh... I have NOT drunk any alcohol. :) (And I did drool over a rather luscious pic of Ewan McGregor on Lucy's blog. )

Night night everyone. :)

Blimey, Cheesy, that list reminds me of The Very Hungry Caterpillar!

I hope you sleep better tonight.

I can't sleep because I need to wee all the time.