mrsmurph

I had a piece of tiramisu for dessert after lunch. I thought I'd treat myself to a decadent dessert to celebrate 7 days sober. First bite YUUUUUUUUMMMMMMM, oh my god, so so wonderful. I started wolfing, I had never had such a delicious piece of cake in my life. A sense of calm and peace spread over my whole body. Bliss.
I stopped. I put down the fork. I remembered- TIRAMISU IS SOAKED IN ALCOHOL!!!!

I'm so mad, and I have a headache now.

There's always tomorrow I guess. Does this mean I start over?

Peter

I have some strict rules for myself where alcohol is concerned, but accidental ingestion I do not count as a relapse.

Afraid2Succeed

i never eat tiramisu because of that alcohol taste. everything else aboot it is good.

Doug

If I ate it, and I didn't know there was alcohol in it, honestly, I wouldn't count it.

If I ate it, realized there was alcohol in it, and kept eating it, then I would count it.

An honest self exam of the situation and my motives, usually gives me the answer.

mrsmurph

I can't believe that tiny amount had such a strong and immediate effect on me. Does that reaction continue after you've been sober for a while?

Rowan

I don't know, because I've been sober for a while.

Hang in there, Murph.

Cathy31

Focus on your 7 days and be vigilant. You're doing great, keep going!
Cathy31
x

Mama~D

Aw sweetie I'm sure you didn't purposely tear up that dessert because of the alcohol!! Don't worry about it just don't go grab a martini now cuz you think you blew it. My mouthwash has alcohol, my hairspray has alcohol, the cake in which had vanilla extract I ate had alcohol. It's ok. You not a stupidhead. Trust me. This is my 7th day too and I've been tearing up some sweets girlfreind tee hee.

Fluttering

LLighten up on you..I did the same thing in early recovery...
It taught me to be more aware.

"We have ceased fighting anything or anyone, including alcohol"
It does get easier....it has for me becasue i renew my commitment on a regular basis to remain willing and teachable

Today I am much more vigilant...and more aware.

Emimily

i had tiramisu on my birthday (9/4), and i didn't even think about it. i didn't know it had alcohol in it... but i split the very giant piece i was given into like, 6 or 7 smaller slices with my buddies, who are all from AA. hahaha, i just relaized that we were a bunch of recovering kiddies eating, essentially, rum cake with no idea in our pea brains.

i think you're ok. i use listerine... my friend likens that to relapse, but i'm not chasing a buzz, i'm just killing germs.

GrouchoTheCat

I didn't know that tiramisu had alcohol in it!

Suppose I won't eat it now that I do know.

Hey, it was accidental, you didn't mean to injest alcohol.

mike_mass

I wouldn't worry about it. But...if you go back for seconds )-:

Jfanagle

I am a proponent of everyone deciding their own sobriety. After all don't you set your own sobriety date? There are no rules. To misquote Forest Gump's Mom, "Sober is as sober does."

Intent is a huge part of imbibing alcohol in my book. I don't worry about alcohol in minute and even small amounts in food. As Mike Mass indicated, if you eat 25 helpings and I suspect it would take that much to really have any effect, then your INTENT is to get at the booze. If that is your intent you should go ahead and get it the old fashioned way, DRINK IT. I seriously think one would get sick from the food before you ever really felt the alcohol. Honesty is the cornerstone of any good program. If you know your honest intention that is all that matters.

Sobriety is as much or more a state of mind as it is a physical state. The AA police rarely visit the dessert cart.

Jon


You are doing great.

earthmama

Last winter I was happily munching on some fudge that a mom had brought to my son's gymnastics class and as I ate my second piece, she announced "isn't that great? It has Bailey's in it!". Argh! I stopped eating right then.

The next morning, I kid you not, I woke up and wanted a drink by 9am. This was after over a year of sobriety, during a calm time in my life. I was totally perplexed. I called my sponsor, talked to some friends, and got through it. That night at a meeting I was sharing about it and had an "a-ha" moment - maybe the alcohol in the fudge set off a physical craving. Maybe, maybe not....but something to think about anyhow.

mrsmurph - I wouldn't restart my sobriety date if it wasn't intentional. But like someone else said, if you went back for second...thirds...fourths...well, that's another story

Seven days of sobriety is worth celebrating - congratulations to you! Keep coming back - we are glad you're here

DoingWell

Wow, what kind of Italian am I not to know Teramasu has alcohol?? I have it every year for my birthday, this past April I had a big piece after a birthday dinner with my family and I really don't recall any cravings afterwards.

Yikes.. some things are better left alone.. I'm going to pretend I didn't read this for next April as I'm not giving up my one indulgence per year!!! It was hard enough giving up caffeine!

Kellye C

I'd count it as a lesson learned. Be more vigilant in the future, don't beat yourself up over it and don't use it as an excuse to throw away 7 days sober. I've had this happen to me in the past and the second that I detect alcohol I start spitting and rinsing out my mouth. If I'm in doubt I don't touch it but it has happened.

How about switching to Italian Cream Cake instead of Tiramisu. Yummmmm!!!

Hugs,
Kellye C.

karrotop

HI all...not to worry...If the tiramisu came from a commercial bakery,it probably had artificial flavoring in it...not real alcohol.We sell a good tiramisu,and there's no alcohol in it.....Now,if it was homemade.....THAT"S another story! KT

Tazman53

Well hon you have got some excellent replies that I totally concur with. I started to eat a chocolate candy and the second I bit into it rum exploded into my mouth, luckily I was alone so I was able to spit it out into a trash can.

I maintain my sobriety date because I was not seeking alcohol, I wanted a piece of candy!

Accidents are accidents.

Now if I ordered a beer/drink at a bar and drank even a drop of it, then I would change my sobriety date. If I did that then I would have made a decision to drink and would be a liar if I did not reset the date of my last drink aka my sobriety date.

In order to get sober I had to be honest, in order to remain sober I have to remain honest.

To me a slip is just a nice way of saying "I decided I wanted a drink and did everything I needed to do to get it and drink it and then realized I was making a mistake so I stopped at that one."

For me to keep that memory fresh in my mind to keep it from happening again is to be honest and do the following:

1. Reset my sobriety date.
2. Go to a meeting and pick up a 24 hour chip.
3. Share at the meeting what happened that led to me having a drink to help others avoid the same mistake I made.
4. Reset my sobriety date here at SR.
5. Share at SR what happened that led to me having a drink to help others avoid the same mistake I made.

Honesty helps me as well as others. In AA I have learned that honestly sharing your ESH helps others in thier recovery and that the best way for an alcoholic to stay sober is to help other alcoholics get and stay sober.

Mama~D

Doingwell-I'm Italian too and I knew it had alcohol in it but my question is do we ask the ingredients in everything we eat when we go out. I'm kinda mixed on that. I mean I feel as long as I don't order a drink or carch myself purposely ordering something just because of the alcohol than I'm fine right? I know I probably sound like a complete tard right now but I don't see it as a relapse. ;o)

Kellye C

I don't ask the ingredients in everything but here are some rules I have.

If they can set it on fire, I don't need to eat it.
If it comes with a special sauce I ask if it has alcohol. For example I love bread pudding with warm sauce but the majority of people put rum in the sauce. I ask and if they say yes then I have the bread pudding with no sauce.
If there is anything in the name that suggest booze (such as Jack Daniels steak) I avoid it.

I don't stress and freak out. If something slips by me and I get the taste in my mouth then it's gotta go. I cannot swallow it if I realize there is alcohol in it and if I gross people out by spitting it out so be it. Better than grossing them out by being sloppy drunk LOL!

Take care,
Kellye