The Brave Babes Battle Bus - Battling The Wicked Wine Witch, One Day At A Time!

[Mouseface]

Hello, I'm mouse, one of the Babes who have been on this lovely, rickety bus called Gerald for some time now!

There's no judgy pants worn on this bus, nor hoking of bosoms!! It's filled with every day life, love and laundry. As simple as that. The rest falls in between.

We're a welcoming, supporting thread, filled with a mine of information from many years of experience, from those who have consumed alcohol day in, day out...hidden the 'habit', the lie, disguised our drinking with many an excuse. So perfected over the years or new to the guilt of drinking more than you think you should.....

Anyway, old or new, lurker or not, come and say hello to us if you feel the need. We'd love to meet you if we haven't already :)

Thank you for reading this, find a seat, hide green opal fruits if you find any, they're like gold dust around here! Aren't they ma!!

See you soon, I hope.

Mouse x

And, if you'd like to see where we all began, sit with a cup of tea/coffee and have a peek at this - the beginning

And our latest thread that will take you back to many others enjoy your read!

Demented - my ideal scenario would be to stop the Sunday - Thursday drinking immediately and then enjoy a few glasses on a Friday and Saturday night.

I'm really not sure if my problem is with alcohol or is just the fact that I panic if I don't have wine in the house so, by buying it I'm perpetuating the issue, and not giving myself chance to see if I can cope without it.

Does that make sense??

During the day I have no desire to drink but I know that, without my evening bottle, I will have problems sleeping.

I tend to open a bottle at 9pm and finish it in time for bed at 11pm.
I know for a fact that it makes me very sluggish first thing in the morning, it takes me a good couple of hours, and several coffees to really "get going".

Yes, you will have trouble sleeping without it initially, but that will get better. Sounds like you have a plan but you need to be prepared for the non alcohol days. Something else to drink, sweets to eat ( you will crave the sugar hit) something to occupy your hands. Plan it like a military campaign. Lots of help on here.

Elba, how are you doing lovely? You sounded really down, don't beat yourself up, you're trying to address your drinking and that's a major step forward! However, most of us need more than willpower to change our habits as alcohol tends to overrule willpower most of the time. Are you working today? Have you set yourself a limit for tonight?

Nobody, hope you're ok, please come back when you can.

Hi Dame and welcome. Well done for wanting to address your relationship with alcohol, that's a major first step. If you can't avoid drinking today, why don't you try to drink less? Half a bottle and then put the cork in?

I drank last night and have felt like shit today - I swear to god it's like fucking Groundhog Day here! I know it's going to make me feel bad but it's like I have to drink to confirm that, again and again.

Pop, everything you said in your post yesterday rang true, this describes me perfectly:

after that first drink I just cannot not have another

Sorry for self pitying rant this morning, amd sorry I'm not really managing to support anyone else at the moment.

Thanks margie yes was/am pretty down, don't think the fact I've not really seen daylight since Thursday helps much. Bastard shift work! Plan was to sleep a couple hours this morning then have the afternoon to do stuff, but I drank all morning instead. Am off now, back on days Tuesday. Not set target for tonight but should, just putting off drinking for as long as possible. Don't actually feel like it yet anyway, but trying to ignore the part of me that thinks fuck it I've screwed up anyway and my weekly units will be way way over last week so why not just have whatever I want.

Sorry not had time to read back but welcome newcomers/returners. You will get lots of support here, it's really helped me and I often think of this bus when I'm struggling and it sorts me right out.

elba you're doing great delaying your first drink, just try and aim for 10 units like last week - you know you can do it.

I've been doing quite well the last few days, and I've began to think my problem is with drinking to relieve stress, not drinking in general. I'm allowing myself one bottle of silver bay wine tonight, it's quite a low percentage (8%) and am going to mix it with lemonade, see if I can enjoy a few drinks without getting out of control.

Hi Babes, just checking in. On day 5 of AF Lent, doing well so far ( not been too busy/ stressed, which are definitely my worst triggers)
Dame your post sounded just like me, until last May I drank nearly/ a full bottle every night ( in the end I bought boxes of wine - cheaper) and I can't remember my last AF night before then. I' m a similar age to you and am very " respectable" to the outside world. I was also a late evening drinker, didn't bother me until after 8, then I would clock watch. I would promise myself that tonight would be different, but it never was, I would feel so anxious, and if the wine had run out would trot to the off licence in all weathers.
I' m not much good at advice, but one thing I will tell you DON'T GIVE UP POSTING ON THIS BUS!!! I first posted on here in 2010 ( under a different name), but felt such failure and so sorry for myself that I stopped posting & reading. Cue another 5 years of drinking before I dared to come back, so please keep posting ( all of you) this bus & these babes have saved me!
Sorry for the ramble!

Really weird, I've drank a bottle and half of wine (not a lot for me, well before I went cold turkey anyway) and I feel awful. I'm not drunk,but feel like I need to be sick (normally I have to be very drunk for that to happen), and I'm getting a stomach ache. Does anyone have any advice?

Darling made stop drinking booze have some water and rest. Probably stress , booze , maybe a stomach upset? You need to call it a day sweetheart. You are doing so well. Tomorrow is another day.

Shout out to sweet how are you love?

I've stopped drinking now, poured the rest of the wine back into the bottle and just watching a bit of telly now xx

Hope your ok made

6 pints and most of a bottle of wine today, not good. And I'm still going. I guess I knew that I would drink this morning though, as all night was trying to decide, and even driving home this morning I hadn't made a proper decision to not drink so just reverted to default mode. Few hours sleep and I was ready to go again but as I'd screwed up this morning I've carried on tonight. Feels like an almost conscious decision to do this though, as in I didn't commit to not doing it so it was a done deal.

Bloody hate night shifts, especially in winter. I guess as 'learning' from this I need to work out a way for them to have less of an impact.

m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=zHhrx-cjxMA

Hope that worked

She has such a beautiful voice! Welcome new babes. elba it's a fresh start today you can go back to setting your daily units which seemed to work for you. I'm now AF one day at a time until the weekend if anyone wants to join me.

made well done!!

Morning pop star I will join you in being AF until the weekend when I go to Paris with DH
I so want to enjoy my trip and remember it all unlike Barcelona a few years ago
Morning to everyone else [smile ]

sober, pop joining you in being af until the weekend (at least)....ODaaT.

Hope everyone is ok this Monday morning and if not, here's some tea and chocolates

I swear to god it's like fucking Groundhog Day here!

Sorry Margie but that did make me

I can feel the frustration coming through in your post. Yep. Been there, done that. It's annoying to say the least. So, how can you break that cycle?

For me, not having any alcohol in the house and making the decision in the morning that, come what may, this was going to be an AF day, did help.

Just one day to break the pattern. Maybe today could be that day for you. It's just one day. It won't make you feel amazing, it won't make anything in life easier but also it won't be that hard to do if you commit to it. One day.

It's the start of everything. If you know you can do one day you can do it again and again, whenever you want to. But it has to start with just one day.

You'll get there, my lovely, keep trying

Elba I really do feel for you, you sound so tired and almost beaten. But you're not beaten because you've got us on your side. An army of babes to fight the wine witch! Can you get your gp to help you with sleep? I think if you tell them that you're so very tired but alcohol is the only thing that knocks you out, they will be very sympathetic and helpful.

I get the feeling that you can't see the wood for the trees at the moment and if you could only get your sleep pattern sorted, the rest would be a bit easier for you. Right now it's seems too much to face. Keep posting, we're here for you x

Dame welcome to the bus. One of our regular posters often buys those small bottles of wine, something like that might help you? If you feel twitchy without having any in the house, could you put the bottle away in a garage or shed 'just in case' but try to get through the evening without it?

It's all about experimenting and finding out what works for you. Alternatively could you pour the first glass down the sink so you only drink 3/4 of a bottle?

sober I love that song, amazing voice. Paris you say? Ooh la la!

Yes PARIS
I must keep telling myself that even though they have lots of lovely wine there really is no need to try to drink the country dry

Fabulous wise words faire thanks for keeping the bus on track. Talking of which how are you ma?

Well, here I am having fallen at the first hurdle.

Last night I had planned to have my first alcohol free night in years when my DH walked in with a bottle of Prosecco for my Valentines gift.

Needless to say I couldn't resist the temptation so the bottle was opened and drank (only by me, DH is teetotal). I loved it but today I feel like an utter failure.

I had joined this bus because I know that I need to sort my drinking out. I have received some lovely messages of support but I feel that I've failed before I even got started!!!

I know that I need to put yesterday behind me and try again - I just want to get the first alcohol free night under my belt so that I have something to build on.

Watch this space - I WILL DO IT, it's just a matter of time.

And thanks again to everyone who has welcomed me onboard - I just need to secure my seatbelt and enjoy the ride.

dame lets all do today together. Might be worth having yourself a plan - no booze in house, nice soft drink alternative, few jobs to do? Taking it one hour at a time sometimes helpful. Might also be time to pass around the opal fruits eh babes?

Hi dame make today that first day! Yesterday is gone, don't dwell on it. We're here, we will battle it together.

If I wasn't on a juice diet this week I'd be shovelling those opal fruits in like there's no tomorrow

dame today is a new day, for you and me both. Maybe post on here later if you're tempted? And please don't feel like a failure; recognising and addressing the issue is the start of taking control of it.

Feeling sick, shaky and anxious today thanks to yesterday's blip. After nearly two weeks of not feeling like this, I'm determined to get back in control. Working long days tomorrow and weds so sticking to no more than 8 units. Annoyed at myself though, it's like I watched and allowed myself to be deliberately self destructive.

faire sleep is a never ending issue but switching from day to night shifts all the time doesn't really allow me to stick to a pattern for very long. I'm like a child resisting sleep when I'm tired; I probably could sleep most of the time but I don't even try. Thank you for your lovely post, I really appreciate the support here. Just trying not to be so negative all the time!

Have a big event Friday which I know will involve lots of booze, free bar, wine on table etc. Hotel is booked and have a spa day planned with friends beforehand but need to work out a strategy to not get totally wasted. I know I will drink, and I will drink over my limits. My only aim is to not make an idiot of myself. I've got so much going on in my head at the moment that too much alcohol and I would be in real danger of saying something I shouldn't or getting emotional with people I need to keep a bit of a guard up with. Any tips?? I know the sensible thing would be to not drink at all, but realistically that's not going to happen!

claret is juice diet literally just juice and nothing else?!