DRY 10!!!!

[CheesyNachos]

Welcome! This is the thread for those of us who want to abstain from alcohol. We are all at different stages of our journey, and many of us have some hiccups along the way, but we are committed to an exciting, fulfilling, joyful life alcohol-free.

Previous thread is here.

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/relationships/2485290-DRY-9?pg=1

Everyone is welcome!

Can I join you all please.

I have been concerned about my drinking for some time, I binge drink at weekends and then spend it feeling shite and hungover.
I have also started drinking during the week and need to stop.
I'm telling people I will be doing dry January so no explanations needed really.
My dad was an alcoholic and died at 54. My brother is an alcoholic and no longer has contact with his children.
I do not want to keep drinking and not being able to remember what I did or said the night before. I cannot say no to the next drink and I have such gaps in my memory it scares me. I regularly can't remember getting home or conversations I've had.
Today I have flu so feel absolutely awful so no drinking anyway, plus I'm hungover from last night!

Hope you're doing okay Spinach? Hang on in there!
Welcome Racmactac :) Hope you recover from flu quickly

Waves! ..... Joining in as hit an all time low

I haven't posted in here for probably a year.

Happy New Year everyone.

I haven't had a drink since 28th January 2015! I'm amazed.

There has been a few times when I really wanted one, yesterday afternoon for example, but somehow it passed me by.

My aim is to get to one year anniversary, fingers crossed.

Wishing you all a happy 2016

Happy New Year everyone and welcome to the new folk posting. Hang in there, so pleased that it's January because as someone said earlier, this feels much more like sober season than December ever will.

I survived last night, and spent today feeling a bit TSP-like at Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park with my girls. Always amuses me that pre-sobriety I lived in this odd bubble where I thought everyone else was Just Like Me and so am constantly surprised to see hordes of people out and about early on NYD morning. We got there at about 10.30am and it just felt SO GOOD to be a functional part of society (well, vaguely ) rather than spending the whole of NYD groaning in bed and willing the 1st of the year to end ASAP. I also just felt so bloody grateful to have my children and to be able to have the kind of childish fun that is possible with them. "Who needs booze?" I thought as I looked at them (and the other) children screaming with joy as they went down a huge inflatable slide over and over again. Kids don't need booze to have fun and feel relaxed and being sober certainly doesn't hold them back.

X-post Pete and ItsTen - welcome to you Pete, you're in the right place.

Fantastic stuff ItsTen - hmmmm sounds like you need to treat yourself to something pretty major for your impending soberversary

Hi everyone. Hi Positive Hi Racmactac hi everyone. Congrats Santa!

I am telling people that my NY resolution is to give up alcohol for an entire year. My stop start and extended attempts have mostly passed unnoticed. Thought this might be a good sort of 'coming out' without coming out. Actually I got lots of gushing admiration which was a bit unexpected.

PositivePete welcome! :)
ItsTen bloody awesome & seconding Teapot BIG sober treat time
Agreed Teapot DD's bday today & there were 4 DC's here today blowing on those hooter things. I thought to myself grinning wildly - thank f*ck I don't have a hangover!
Cheesy Go on girl! I suspect they all think you are some sort of superhuman - which we all are for bloody surviving December. Now it is our month to feel good

Hi. Can I join you guys? Have drunk most days for the last 20 odd years and it came to a head on xmas eve. Told OH didn't want to drink anymore and he laughed saying I just need to cut down and have one instead of half a dozen cans. We went shopping Tuesday but I resisted buying lager (drink of choice). And haven't touched a drop since. Last night was hard though. But with only red wine in the house I managed to stay soberand had a horlicks instead. So im 1 week in already but can see I may need some support as I go.

Welcome PositivePete and Dun. Lovely to hear from you again Santa and your positive NYD story Teapot although I think Winter Wonderland is quite hard to take even without a hangover

It does feel as if the tide is turning in terms of attitudes towards alcohol - or maybe it's just because I'm sober now I'm noticing all the articles etc. If it means non-drinkers aren't regarded as such weirdos it will be a v. good thing. I always feel as if it's like walking around with 'alcoholic' plastered on my forehead…..

Hope everyone has a lovely calm evening .I am planning on sending the DCs to bed REALLY early tonight

Welcome dunfortoday and well done on your success this last week! :)

Hi racmatac I too come from a family of drinkers and a big motivator for me is that my children won't be exposed to alcohol in the way I was. I was also having awful blackouts too, while sections of the evening just missing and yet is appear "normal" to everyone else.
Hope the flu goes and you're soon feeling better.

itstenfromsanta can you share a bit more about what a year of sobriety has been like? What's changed? And intimately is it worth it?!
Well done on almost a year! Are you an AA'er? Will you get a chip?

I'm only one month in, and there were two bottles of red in the house today, and I was SO tempted but I poured them both away. I sat and thought for ages about what a waste of money, someone else could enjoy them etc, but then I thought about what my sobriety is worth, and it's more than two bottles of red, so down the sink they went. And the rest of the drinks cupboard whilst I was at it. DH doesn't drink at home and was at the pub so I had to ring him to warn him that I hadn't gone on a bender if he found the bottles!

I thought so hard about drinking and then remembered something I'd heard about relapse that stopped me:

relapse is like sex with a 500lb gorilla. It's not up to you when it finishes.

And I realised that if I started, I absolutely wouldn't stop, and that's when I poured it all away.

Morning all, well I woke up yesterday morning at 7.30 with the biggest cheesy grin on my face, got my walking gear on and met some beautiful friends and fulfilled a long held dream of being up the top of a local landmark first thing in the morning on New Year's Day......whereas I would usually be still in bed until at least midday and feel shit for the rest of it. It was the best NYD ever!!

Rac yep, I can never say no either and not only that I always want more, like have to have more. Also Yep, blackout central here too, exactly the same as you so you're in good company with Marry and I.
Positive..........please tell us more... I'm new too
Itsaten wow, well done you. Definitely a massive treat for you. Can't wait to hear more of your story. It will be an inspiration to all of us for sure X
Cheesy that's a good idea and one I might pinch for myself, however I will be telling the truth to my dearest friends and closest family who really love and know me. I more or less already have, as I knew they would totally and truly understand as they "get" me and most importantly they will completely support me 100% without judgement. I'm so bloody lucky and grateful for that.
Dunfor welcome and you too, please tell us more.
Well done to all of us for even just being on this thread and especially thank you Marry, Lucy and Teapot as us newbies appreciate you chatting with us, we so need role models right now.

No booze since early hours Monday 28th for me and I'm fine. Off to volunteer with a group of relatively new runners now, so have a good day all, I'll check in later to see how everyone is doing.

Marry relapse is like sex with a 500lb gorilla. It's not up to you when it finishes. That is just brilliant - I'm stealing that! There are some real gems of quotes in AA! As someone who is over 2 years sober (833 days to be precise) - I can tell you it absolutely is worth it. It has changed me for the better on both the outside and the inside and you can't put a price on that. Plus as a child of an alcoholic who grew up around daily drinking the biggest gift is to my DC's and knowing that things will be different for them. That is my biggest motivator and deterrent of ever drinking again :)

Well done to everyone for being here & onwards!

Day 1 done yesterday - still feeling positive, and DH has reluctantly agreed to a Dry January so that will help.

Lucy 833 days is fantastic! Please tell me what's changed for you? Your relationships and friendships? Did your weight change?
What do you do during the times you would have been drinking?

Ongoing disturbed nights with dd mean I don't quite find I'm feeling the benefit of not drinking. Although I've decided the positive spin is that this would be a lot harder hungover!

Marry Everything has changed! I'm £5k richer, 12lbs lighter, my anxiety and depression have gone (pretty much). I gave up with DH & our relationship has gone from strength to strength. Plus bedtimes are so much better . I'm studying a post grad & started blogging which has led to me setting up my own business in the time I used to drink. NONE of these things would have happened if I was still drinking - of that I am sure. This summer we are going to visit family in Australia for the first time and this trip is only possible because we've saved all the money we didn't spend on booze - which is £10K & counting between us!! That said it's not all unicorns & rainbows - I get to feel my feelings all the time which can be bloody exhausting but mindfulness & meditation have helped with that. You couldn't pay me to drink now. No more shame from blackouts. And no more hangovers!! OK sorry for the moment of TSP (that's Twatty Sober Polyanna) but you did ask

Well done Bitter & cauli Yep everything's harder with a hangover!

Waaahhhh!!! I never knew TSP was twatty sober Pollyanna!!!!! I thought it was "The Spare Prick" as in spare prick at a wedding!!!

12lb and 5k will do nicely thankyou! How inspiring! Did you do AA?

With the support of sober online communities mainly - blogs, Soberistas, here :) Volunteer at drug and alcohol treatment centre which has a 12 step focus so have been to a few AA meetings but never got a sponsor or done the steps. Know it works for many but went to my first meeting when I was 8 months AF and I dunno although I completely understand it's value & how critical it is for so many it's never really resonated for me & I'd already had all my needs met so to speak. I say whatever works for you (whether it's AA, SMART, here) it doesn't really matter as long as it supports healthy recovery :) That said if the tools I have stopped working - AA would be on my list. I would use every and all avenues rather than go back to drinking!

Lucy what a great experience you have to share, thanks for telling us it's so motivating. You sound dead proud of yourself and very, very happy and rightly deserved
Thanks for mentioning the mindfulness as I suffer with anxiety and periods of depression and discovered mindfulness meditation a while ago. It really helped me to deal with a serious family problem, when nothing else did. I honestly think what I learned through the mindfulness has now led me to find the strength to finally knock booze on the head. I can't recommend it enough.

Love twatty sober pollyanna and as for the 500 lb gorilla analogy, Marry, please keep em coming X

Thanks Hurricane & Marry :) Off for a week-end by the sea for my DD's bday so going offline till Monday pm! The place we are staying I've only visited before while still drinking and have memories of horrendous hangovers. This is the first time back there sober & I can't wait to wake up tomorrow morning without a hangover & going for a run along the beach Stay strong sober warriors!