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Relationships

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

DRY 9!!!!!

999 replies

CheesyNachos · 11/10/2015 20:39

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?

OP posts:
Seabiscotti · 15/12/2015 00:30

Can't sleep Sad.

Seabiscotti · 15/12/2015 09:34

Had about three hours sleep in total last night. I could do with delaying Christmas a week. I have so much to do and today will be wasted.Sad

Marryoneorbecomeone · 15/12/2015 10:57

Oh no! What's doing that to your sleep?

I started Prozac yesterday, and felt exhausted in the day and had a racing pulse at night. Woke at 5 and couldn't get back to sleep. Ugh.

Seabiscotti · 15/12/2015 12:18

I just couldn't relax marry. GP did an urgent hospital referral yesterday. I thought I wasn't worried, but maybe subconsciously I am.

Can you take your meds at night instead?

donajimena · 15/12/2015 13:45

Did you get through marry?
sea I am using OTC sleeping pills atm might that help?

Seabiscotti · 15/12/2015 14:01

I didn't know you could get ocp sleeping pills dona. Do they leave you feeling groggy in the morning?

donajimena · 15/12/2015 15:24

Yes they can do so what I do is take them at 8.30. They take about 90 mins to work despite saying on the packet take 20 mins before! They do work quite well
I do feel a bit sluggish in the morning but far far better than a hangover! It goes away quite quickly too the sluggish feeling.
I'm using nightcalm (other brands are available Wink )

Lucy2610 · 15/12/2015 17:14

Flowers & Brew to all! Sorry keep falling off of bloody thread despite me registered as watching. Grrr.
Agree with Teapot don't let a lapse become a relapse and then a collapse! It is a notoriously difficult time of year both for being awash with booze and stress triggers so be kind to yourselves if you resort to old habits. Plus if you're a Steve Coogan fan this might cheer you up Grin

gladistopped · 15/12/2015 17:23

I resorted to old habits Lucy last night :( Am so tired of all this. At the moment, if wine is in the house I drink it. Strangely never hit the spirits at all...even though they are there. Not fair to ask OH to abstain as he has no issue with alcohol but does like the occasional drink.

I feel so low and sad and the weather (gloom) is not helping me at all

donajimena · 15/12/2015 18:20

I'm not going to try and bolster you up glad because I am really struggling tonight. I won't drink because that would mean getting dressed.
I'm not craving a drink as such its just boredom. I am feeling a bit low and whilst I am not stressing about Christmas because its all done I just don't feel Christmassy at all.
I don't even have a tree up yet. I cba Sad
Keep going glad even if you have to set a new dday for sobriety. I know this is supposed to be the dry thread but even with the slips and falls each and every one of us has made huge strides in examining our relationships with alcohol.
I've got to do this because the alternative is not an option.

Seabiscotti · 15/12/2015 18:33

Thanks dona. If I can't sleep tonight, I will pick some up tomorrow.

Flowers glad

donajimena · 15/12/2015 19:41

glad I've just reread my last post and it sounds a bitConfused what I mean about bolstering up was that I'd feel a bit of a hypocrite as while I am not drinking tonight I am miserable about it! Sad Flowers

TeapotDictator · 15/12/2015 20:19

glad sorry to hear you're feeling so low. I felt upset when I read your post, why can't you ask your other half to not have wine in the house? If being sober makes so much difference to your happiness and well-being, and if (as you say) he has no issue with alcohol, then why can't he just forego wine in the house??? It's not like you're saying he can't drink it at all. You ARE worth it, your sobriety and your happiness is worth fighting for and if it means having no bloody wine in the house then why can't you ask for that? Sorry to sound so curmudgeonly about it but sometimes we need to ask things of others in order to keep our sobriety and therefore our sanity.

Even now, I will not let wine sit in the house. I don't mind it being here while the other person is drinking (my mum turned up a few days ago with 3 bottles of sauv blanc; previously my wine of choice) but the second she's out the door I pour whatever is left down the sink. What is the point of it sitting there posing a risk to me, no matter how small? It sounds to me as though you don't want to come across as being "out of control" to the extent that you can't even control yourself if it's in the house, but it says nothing about you other than if you're anything like me, knowing it's there and with certain other unrelated stressors in my life, just acts as a niggling thought. Your fuck it button only needs to be very slightly triggered and before you know it that wine glass is in your hand. It's not worth it!

Lucy2610 · 15/12/2015 21:05

Glad Flowers go easy on yourself lovely & I second what teapot said. If wine is a trigger don't have it in the house right now as it's just putting temptation in your way. I'm not bah-humbug by any stretch of the imagination but the ever mounting pressure to drink from advertising and supermarkets stacked high is really beginning to make me dislike the Xmas season immensely Angry. It just makes it so f*cking hard for those of us who struggle around booze at the best of times without the added stress of it all and then having to fight people and their drink offers off with a bloody stick and breathe Sending you a very unMN hug {{}}

donajimena · 15/12/2015 22:36

I made it out 'the other side' glad you CAN do this you really can.
I almost went to the offie but I was completely pyjamarised.
As teapot/Lucy said don't have it in the house. My OH keeps brandy and jd in the house. I hate both. I went looking for it Blush. I would have drunk it too if he'd left any around.

gladistopped · 15/12/2015 22:42

dona don't worry I did not read anything hurtful in what you said :)

Dry here but hating it. Is this what life is meant to be? Not drinking, but hating how I feel about it?
I dunno, I just feel so down at the moment about everything . Sorry lovel;y friends if I am being a drag :(

donajimena · 15/12/2015 23:01

I'm finding my mood and thoughts about drinking are all over the shop!
I've just told my friend how much my life has changed for the better which is totally at odds with my earlier posts but I meant every word of it.
I'm no sober expert but are we not meant to feel like this from time to time?
I doubt its 'oh I don't drink any more zippidy doo dah' I do get days where I feel like that but its quickly followed by 'fuck pass the wine' today was such a day.
It's nearly over too and tomorrow I will feel fanfuckingtastic.
Can you plan something for tomorrow evening to distract you?

gladistopped · 15/12/2015 23:05

I don't ask OH to not have it in the house because that would out me as an alcoholic . He sort of knows I have "problems" with moderation and alcohol and my family history etc , but I am not quite ready to share how bad they are . It is not his fault at all. He is very supportive so please don't blame him

donajimena · 15/12/2015 23:14

Oh I see. I understand completely. I have told my OH the truth.
I told him I don't have any wine in the house because if I fancy 'a glass' it will turn into the whole bottle as I can't moderate my drink. All said in a breezy tone without mentioning any dependency or mentioning the A word. Would that or similar work?
A few weeks ago he offered me a glass of wine and I said I wouldn't as I would want more than one so he said its ok I'll drink the rest. I pointed out I would be running to Nisa like Usain Bolt if I had one.
So he knows but he doesn't know iyswim x

gladistopped · 15/12/2015 23:15

Erm yes I think he knows but chooses not to IYSWIM

gladistopped · 15/12/2015 23:16

And I can always drive to shop and get some wine for me in secret :(

donajimena · 16/12/2015 07:14

Oh bless you glad it can be a terrible struggle. Keep posting. I find some nights I can only get through by writing on here.
Even if noone answers I need to get it out.

CheesyNachos · 16/12/2015 07:20

Morning. Thanks to everyone finding it hard right now. (Me too).

Am reading but not posting here much.

Listened to the Alan Carr hypno cd last night.... that was really useful.

OP posts:
TeapotDictator · 16/12/2015 07:53

glad it sounds as though you are really white-knuckling it at the moment.

Nobody is "blaming" your OH though, I'm not sure where you get that from..? It sounds as though you don't feel able to be honest with him. I don't think however that asking not to have wine in the house marks you out as being an alcoholic. Even before stopping drinking I would ask my H not to buy wine because I just didn't want to drink it and knew I would if it was in the house. I don't think my H ever considered me to be an alcoholic because of that...

From what you've written in the past, it has sounded before as though you feel as though you are either "on" or "off" being AF... you do a few months and then it all goes a bit haywire. I know you've also lost huge amounts of weight recently, and it reminds me of how I feel when I'm on a diet, or doing a new "thing", a new "programme"... I keep going for a certain amount of time and can see huge successes, I then riff off those successes and feel good about myself and it's all snowballing into a fantabulous NEW ME until... something happens, life happens, and it all goes horribly wrong.

I've recently joined the dots regarding my eating too and decided I never want to diet ever again, I'm sick of this feeling of either being "on" or "off", of either losing weight or gaining weight but there being no equilibrium. I've realised I have 'trigger foods' in exactly the same way I feel about alcohol (as though having just one drink opens the floodgates to inner dialogue; should I or shouldn't I, the pure torture..) and since stopping sugar and flour completely I have felt peace in the same way I feel about cutting out the booze.

Sorry to digress to talking about myself but I wonder whether you too need to get off this "on" / "off" rollercoaster and properly attack the feelings inside that are causing you to want to numb out with booze (if that is what is happening with you). We can all go on temporary 'personal improvement campaigns' but I think there needs to be a proper acceptance that the alcohol needs to go permanently in order to succeed in being AF over the long term. It also needs to be done on its own, not linked to any other diet or self-improvement tactic, to get rid of any feelings of deprivation.

As the saying goes, 'nothing changes if nothing changes'. You can do this, but it seems to me as though something has to change. Whether that's not having wine in the house, or attending meetings (I know you say you won't go locally but how about phoning the AA helpline and seeing if there are online meetings... just talking it through with someone would help), or immersing yourself more in reading about being AF. Be kind to yourself, I think a shift in mindset will improve things enormously for you and you can achieve that.

Preces · 16/12/2015 11:51

Jumping on to the bus...

Briefly, I've known I have a problem with alcohol for YEARS. This week I'm in the process of stopping. I didn't drink last night - and didn't want to, which was new.

I've told my husband I believe I am an alcoholic (have told him this several times but he can't/won't accept it) - I just cannot do the moderation thing. That doesn't work for me, and pretending otherwise is making me ill and frightened and miserable. I've also told him many many of the things that have happened that I kept from him, which have one by one contributed to me realising I do very much have a problem.

Anyway, it will very much be "one day at a time" although I'm not sure AA is for me. I'm more in tune with the ideas of Rational Recovery - but am approaching this as open-mindedly (if that's a word) as I can.

Plenty of backstory for another time but just wanted to hop on and say "hello".