Sometimes I wish...
 

I could bottle the feeling that I feel as soon as my eyes open in the morning after drinking.

the terrible taste
the throbbing head
the red/scratchy eyes
the regret
the disgust
the disappointment
the sadness
the pains

and I wish I could take a big ol' swig of that about 4pm everyday that I think about drinking. I wish I could just have a quick reminder about how I'll feel the NEXT morning if I don't make the right decision.

I think that would be real helpful for me.
just sharing...

The Easy Way to Stop Drinking Allen Carr

Best money I ever spent! Now STOP......get the book, read and digest it.....then stop poisoning yourself!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have filed in my memory banks the all too clear memory of my last relapse 11 months ago. The shame, self hatred - again, the horrible sickness for days... Even tho it's been almost a year this memory is still fresh 'cause I keep it fresh. I think about it every day, just comparing my feelings then to my feelings now. How awful I felt then, how trapped in a cycle of misery, and how free I am today.:) No more misery for me!!

I've rewired my brain as a non drinker and no longer want to drink, for any reason. But I keep the memory of that last time fresh in my mind and recall it often as a reminder of what would happen if I were to drink.

just bought it.
THANKS>

I have a vivid memory of me wetting myself while standing in a Nashville hotel hallway. And another time recently I wet myself while riding in my friend's car. When the urge to pick up that first beer hits (often) I think about those "great times." It helps me to not pick up that first one (sometimes, but better than nothing at all). Hope I didn't offend anyone with writing this, but it's all the truth.

Hang in there Big Tex

BigTex, if you ever find the recipe for that, can you send it my way??? :c031:

Hi BigTex, you could try writing down exactly how you are feeling the next time you wake up with that awful hangover and then keep that piece of paper in your pocket to refer to, couldn't hurt.

I once had a brief stint with a counselor last year. One helpful thing I took away was this:

When you can, take the moment to look yourself in the mirror and say outloud - "When I drink my life becomes unmanageable."

Saying that outloud and looking in your own eyes can also activate those thoughts of playing it through. It helped me, and now days I simply think that to myself at various intervals in the day. It's like a mantra.

Yes, when I drink my life becomes unmanageable. Therefore, I do not drink.

Hope that little tidbit helps someone. ;)

Yeah, that would help me too. I haven't had a hangover in 550+ days. It would be nice if you could flip a switch and FEEL the physical and emotional pain. Not just remember it.

We've all pissed ourselves either literally or figuratively!

I completely agree...this book gave me some amazing tools to start rewiring my brain:-)

Oh yes. If I read that list over and over, I can begin to feel like I've been drinking all night.

That's a good way of thinking.

Along those same lines, people usually make decisions based on positive self-gratification - what the immediate short-term consequences are instead of the longer-term affects.

For example, I decide to drink since it will loosen me up, allow me to temporarily escape from reality, and break down the walls of inhibition so I may say or do things I normally wouldn't do / say when sober.

Instead, the thought process should be something along these lines: What if I don't take that drink? Well, you remove each of those items from your list and instead, you smile to yourself and remind yourself the next day that you've done well.

thanks for this, have been doing this myself, certainly helps

I think about how towards the end of my "drinking days" every time I would pick up the bottle and begin drinking I would be come very suicidal and how much I wished that last bottle truly would be the "last" and how easy it would be to just leave this place... And than I think about how insane I was and how strong the urge I really have to live is, and all the goals I want to accomplish in this life that I could never overcome while drinking.. and than I begin to think about how many people I can help out through my own recovery. ;)

I like this thread. Very good idea, BigTex!!!

I would add to that list:

- the dry cotton mouth feeling
- the nighttime panic attacks
- body temperature all off (cold and hot, body chills)
- nausea, vomiting, dry heaving
- the dread when you realize that the sun is rising, morning is here, and you haven't gotten any real sleep and feel like pure h*ll and you have to face another day....

I know that even at times when I thought about the last drink I'd always come up with some stupid reason why the next time would be different.

"Yes, last time I vomited, fell off the roof and set fire to the lawn, but this time I'm wearing a Davey Crockett cap so this time will be different!"

VERY VERY useful post for me today.....
Tonight I get together with some long time wonderful friends. Friends that stay through thick and thin, who add such richness to my life. Tonight, which is the eve of my 37th birthday, they will have me over for appetizers, dinner, and birthday cake. Guess what has always been a part of these occasions? Yes, drinking. I've celebrated my birthday with this family for 19 years. Tonight will be different for me. This year will be the first sober birthday I've had since my teen years. Thanks for reminding me what DOESN'T have to be...

i also bought that book awhile back. at the time i read it it didnt help me. but i think its because i really didnt want to quit. i have reread it at times and it has a lot of useful information

It seems to me when you cross that line with alcohol....it's all over but the shouting. The things we do, the people we hurt , the self abuse, become a way of life. It's totally insane.
I wonder if we knew which drink would put as over that line if we would still take it? I do know that since I've found my way out.....I pray to never go back! Whatever it takes I never want to go through that humiliation again.

I agree with the posters above. Write it down, say it to yourself or just remember your worst moment! Best Wishes to You