Brave babes are still here: sping / summer / autumn / winter There is always someone around

[venusandmars]

This topic had being going for years and years and years. Maybe almost as long as some people have been struggling with drinking.

We are still here. Supporting, encouraging, helping. Never judging, never minimising our problems.

If you want to catch up, our last thread is HERE

And if you want to follow everything from the start, the very first thread from 9 years ago is RIGHT HERE

You can join in anytime. Everyone is welcome. Whether you are trying to cut down, abstain completely , or are simply acknowledging that you might have a problem... Post what you want.

Hi lads, I’m still feeling proper shite, absolutely no craving for a drink though which is obviously good! Thought I was better yesterday but seem to have regressed today.

Same here Blearyeyes20

No cravings, but God it's been a shit week.

I am poorly (cough and cold but I have a fucked up immune system so its hit my quite hard) but I just feel so fed up and bored.

I've managed 25 days but to do it I've had ti become a recluse who goes to bed at the same time as my young children.

There feels like there has been no fun or joy in the last few weeks?

I don't want this to be life now???

Lads Lads Lads!!!

Day 27 AF for me. I feel like I am dying but cannot blame the lack of alcohol. I have had an infected wisdom tooth removed and am in absolute bloody agony. Am taking metronidazole (allergic to penicillin) which has made me feel dreadful.

So, am going to spend the weekend curled up on the sofa. I was supposed to see one of my favourite actresses at the theatre today and spent a fortune on the ticket but there's no way I can go out. Aside from anything else I am terrified that I might pick up a viral infection from the crowd and that would make life even worse.

Crafty Yes - my drinking is SO linked to me drinking my emotions.

Marlu I am the same - I get really anxious if I don't get enough alone time. It wrecks my mental health.

Hitthewall You can do this. It's just a habit.

Bleary Get well soon

crunchymum wrote:
just feel so fed up and bored...There feels like there has been no fun or joy in the last few weeks

Ditto crunchy I share your feelings.

Small win to report, yesterday I took a bottle of wine from the fridge, used some to cook leeks (for DH not me) and returned the wine to the fridge without pouring any more.

Wondering how can it be so simple one evening and hard the next???

Today will be my day 24. Gratified to have come this far but underwhelmed with the alleged "benefits".

If I could raise the vest of virtue, and open a door in my abdomen for a peek in the mirror at my 'recovering' liver , that could work

@TurnStone

Well done. Although an open bottle of wine (albeit only the wine I drink which is actually a red) would be a huge danger for me.

I've been ok with the Baileys which we have open - and I do like / drink Baileys - but "my" wine would be a massive trigger for me

I did manage to not drink the mini bottle I poured in my bolognese earlier, but then I buy cheap, shite cooking wine so have never felt the need to drink it

Another Saturday looming. Why are my cravings so dictated by it being fecking Saturday????

TurnStone just know that your liver loves you.

It is saying "thank you, thank you, thank you". It's saying "I've been working like fuck for years and now you've given me a rest - amazing" But it's also begging for a wee bit of recovery time, a holiday in the sunshine, a dance in the rain - just so it can go on protecting you from all the normal day to day things that a liver does...

Awwww venus bet you never thought ... "hmmm I'm going to grow up to be The Voice of the Liver ... " ROFL

crunchy thanks for the fellowship.

Having a routine blood test incl liver function next week, we shall see what it reveals 《frankly terrified but not quite so badly as a month ago》

@venusandmars I owe you. Massively.

2020 and Bleary Get Well Soon

There feels like there has been no fun or joy in the last few weeks

for all who feel like this. It could be that wine made things more exciting - the risk of getting caught by those we love, the danger of seriously damaging our health, the possibility of falling, the relief of waking without an awful hangover, the excitement of knowing there's another bottle waiting to be opened if you need it, the challenge of trying to remember the conversation you had last night and wondering whether you made a fool of yourself, the anxiety about whether I've really sobered up enough to drive. For me, it really was life on the edge. The edge of disaster.

And excitement and worry are pretty similar physiologically. So on reflection I can see that there was more anxiety than pleasure.

Or it could just be that it's dull, grey January, and whatever I did, drinking or not drinking, I would feel depressed and flat and bored.

Hello! Just catching up with the thread. Work has been so busy and there has been a horrible "thing" going on concerning the work bully and the rest of them. I've just been going to work, home, sleep, repeat. January is such a miserable month and I'll be glad to see the back of it!
to everyone to cheer us all up. Roll on Spring!

So, I was doing well and made it 6 days without a drink. Day 7 (last night) I was invited out, I tried to get out of it but couldn’t. I told myself I wouldn’t have much and I actually didn’t! I had 4 drinks (bottled beer) over 5 hours, got a headache and went home to bed. Yet I’ve woken up feeling like crap! I’m still in bed, I feel sick, dizzy and full of anxiety and have basically written the day off.
I would usually drink MUCH more than I did, so see a bit cheated tbh.

Oh @Hitthewall you have made progress by a) not drinking as much as you usually would b) sticking to something that won't get you too wrecked c) going home when you could have easily powered through!

See it as a success, a small victory!

My inability to do any of the above is the reason I am a hermit!

So January is soon to end, what to do?

I want to remain dry..... I do..... I really do... (keep saying it, keep saying it!)

@Hitthewall I know the 'cheated' feeling very well.

It's not much fun ekeing out a few warm dregs of beer over a long evening. Could you have left earlier, maybe? I have done so when bored with company. If not dependent on somebody else for travel home, that is.

I sometimes look after my (imaginary) neighbour's (imaginary) guinea pigs, 'forget' whether I left them enough water and I need to rush off.

You are doing well overall , no-one pretends it's not difficult. Hope you feel better by now.

I wouldn't worry too much about leaving events a bit earlier/once friends start to irritate because they are drunk.

I have realised that when I was drinking, I would find it difficult to remember who was where, when. Who left at what points during the evening. Maybe that's just me but I tell myself everyone is the same and in the morning they will just think "Oh yeah, newme was there, we had a good chat about XYZ." and not think "I can't believe newme left at 10.30!!!"

Evening, lads!

Well done Hitthewall!

I think my liver still doesn’t trust that I won’t return to abusing it on a regular basis.

Quick update, so I'm still hanging on, I haven't had the courage to go to a meeting but I've been in touch with my substance abuse counsellor from years ago, and he has been a great support. I suppose he is more like a friend these days and its definitely helped. I have, however, started smoking again after a few years. Only a couple a day but I need to get on top of that again, though I know at this point it was better for me to pick up a cigarette than pick up a drink so I'm trying not to be too hard on myself. Easier said than done sometimes. Hope everybody is well.

Well done Katie and I’m glad you have support from your former counsellor. I think, within reason, anything to get you past the immediate craving for alcohol is legitimate.

Don’t think I’ve ever been that ill! Gross. Still coughing but starting to feel human again lads. Trouble is, I’m thinking of stuff as a reward for getting through that shite illness!

I’m going with a Big Mac for now!

Hope you are feeling better @Blearyeyes20

A big mac sounds fab

I'm just getting over laryngitis. Had last week off work and of course spent most of it poorly. Lost my voice Saturday but managed to drag myself in this week (I work Mon-Weds)

Been feeling a bit wobbly today. January is coming to an end and whilst I'd love to be able to go back to the occasional drink, that doesn't tend to work for me!!! I moderate quite well, for a while and then I graduallly increase and I end up drinking more than before. It can take months and months but if I go back to my "norm" I guarantee by June I'll be back to my worst.

So I just need to not drink 😳

Havent caught up with the thread but still here and still on track. Keep at it, lads, nearly done the ( first) month

Dry January done and dusted!!! Anyone else out there?

Yes! I did it!! Am carrying on into February as I quite enjoyed it really in a weird way.

I am pretty much over the infection now and telling myself I just have to get through February then spring will be on the way

Well done Ma and everyone else who was dry/moderate/reducing. We all deserve medals.

Well done ma and all other dry January peeps. You have done an amazing thing. You have given your body a break from processing the toxin that is alcohol. You have set yourself a challenge, and through gritted teeth you have achieved it (it isn't really a challenge if there is no struggle). You have pulled out all the stops not to revert to the familiar... And you have re-introduced me to Angostura bitters. 😊

However you decide to move on from here you did the best thing in the worst month.

Just checking in ... dry January done (a huge first dry spell for me). Y'all and this thread provided me with invaluable support and accountability without which I'd probably have given in at least twice.

Congrats to all other dryJanuarists here.

This is the weekend and I confess to having a couple of my favourites. Although, to my surprise, the drinks don't taste the same as they used to. I think I may have been so habituated that I wasn't really getting the true flavours
.

Waiting to find out what happens with my blood test results.

Hi all. Just checking in. Dry Jan done and I’m feeling good, or at least I would be if I could just stop eating! Am planning dry Feb too, but taking it day by day. What are all your plans? It is hard when the social crutch of Dry Jan comes to an end and the odd need to justify sobriety kicks in (for me at least). This year I’ve decided just not to get drawn into discussions and I’m just going to say that I enjoyed dry jan so am continuing it and seeing where it takes me. End of. Last year I remember being weirdly apologetic about it. So strange that social norms somehow make us feel on the back foot and apologise for not poisoning ourselves.

Hope you’re all well, lads.