View Single Post
Old 10-14-2009, 11:36 AM
  # 10 (permalink)  
Learn2Live
To thine own self be true.
 
Join Date: May 2009
Location: U.S.A.
Posts: 5,924
Hi LBW,

Thank you so much for sharing your story and what you are going thru right now. It helps me to get my own drinking into perspective because I also am a binge drinker whose history is very similar to yours. I would like to point out a few things for you in response to your last post. I hope something I say here is helpful to you in some small way.

There's no need to make me feel more guilty.
Please try to understand that no one can MAKE you feel anything. I'm not arguing with you or Flutter here; what I am saying is that YOU have the power within you to decide how you are going to feel. I know this may sound ridiculous but it is true and I have had to learn this for myself. It takes work to get to the point where you accept this power and learn how to take the power over your feelings back from those you have given that power away to.

It's been 4 days since this happened and I have never in my life felt so ashamed, so disgusted with myself.
Sweetheart, please try to find the power within yourself to forgive yourself, ask forgiveness from your Higher Power, and release these negative and stressful feelings. I'm no expert but I am willing to bet that the continued effects of your stress is more dangerous to your unborn baby than one night of binge-drinking. The stress hormones that are being released into your bloodstream are harmful to the human body when maintained over long periods. Please do something to relax your body such as take a bubble bath or do some yoga, or go for a walk. Anything to release the stress and calm yourself.

I have never asked for help from anyone regarding my drinking. I have always tried to deal with it by myself.
Me, too. Until now. You and I are going thru the same thing in this department. Have you ever heard of Alcoholics Anonymous? That is my goal; to soon be able to get myself to attend Alcoholics Anonymous and reach out for help. Perhaps if you also gave it a try, that would benefit you and the baby.

Now I hurt an innocent baby. You don't think I hate myself. There's no way to make me feel lower than I do right now.
LBW, I think the alcohol is out of your bloodstream by now, right? So, what is done is done and there is nothing you can do about it. Breathe deep. In 12-Steps like A.A., you learn a concept called "Living in the Present Moment." Thru doing the stress-relieving things and PHYSICALLY talking your feelings out with others, you can help yourself back to the Present Moment. Every time you start thinking about what you may have done to the baby by drinking, and feeling the hatred and guilt, bring your focus back to today, right now, and breathe deep.

I clearly fell off the wagon in the biggest way possible... I did so because my head wasn't right. I don't know what is wrong with me. I hate myself.
Please let go of the hate. There is NOTHING wrong with you. You probably have the disease called Alcoholism. Please learn as much as you can about this disease. That is a good first step.

You don't think I know what my mother and grandmother think of me?? You don't think I know clear well why they have every single reason to be scared.
A way of thinking about this that may be helpful to you is this: When I am worried about what other people think and feel, I remind myself that the FUNCTION of our social circle is to regulate the behavior of the members of that social circle. It is easy to get caught up in the emotion and drama that is generated within our social circles. With this understanding of social relationships, you can step out of the emotion and drama and disappointment and fear, and everything else that might get thrown at you. You will be able to SEE that what they are throwing at you is simply a means of trying to regulate your behavior related to drinking while pregnant. It is a healthy thing for them to do. And it would be the healthy thing for you to accept this calmly and ask them for their help in abstaining from drinking while you are pregnant.

I don't know if I can handle confronting anyone else about this right now. Just talking about it on this message board is hard enough...judge me and hate me... and every week I would have to see someone who despised me. I couldn't handle that... I imagine I would just get more and more depressed.
I cannot offer medical advice and you already know whether or not you should tell your doctor at this point. I can suggest that you surround yourself with people who will NOT judge you, will NOT hate you, who will UNDERSTAND exactly how you feel, and who will NOT try to cause you to feel guilt. Alcoholics Anonymous or other 12-Step program.

Maybe this is what I deserve.
You do not DESERVE anything. You ESPECIALLY do not deserve to suffer and keep suffering this way. Take some positive steps in a healthy direction.

I believe you came here because instinctually you know what you need to do. Hopefully you can get some good, practical advice here on some next steps that you feel you are able to take.

Best wishes. Take care of yourself. It starts with you. And don't forget to eat your veggies!

Learn2Live is offline