kelly79

Day 8 for me. Today I go back to work.

Reeny

You can do it, bounced! Absolutely! And I'll chime in too and ditto what you said, sober1ck. This is such a great group of people!

dallas123

2 weeks now and this weekend I made it through (a) dinner with friends who like a drink (b) big formal social event and (c) road trip solo in hotel room with bar right by the receiption. it wasn't so much the drink that was hard to avoid the trick was the habit/ritual. each of those places i had a ritual to maximize how much i could drink. but once you say the first "no" the ritual kind of gets lost and things go better.

fatherof2ds

Nice one Dallas. Those are the tricky times, where the AV can kick in (for me at least).

Lunetta

Hi friends, end of day 21 for me. I'm going to keep counting the days until I feel like its not helping. It's good to be 21 days away from my last drink. Goodnight from California!

Melacole

Nice work on day 21, Lunetta! Just got through my second weekend. Had my first session at treatment. Had a lot of excitement leading up to it, then got some anxiety, but I made it through. I was a hot mess...all over the place with my thoughts and responses, but I guess a couple of decades of heavy drinking could definitely provide some discussion points and plenty to sort through. The agency I found does alcohol/drug treatment, acupuncture/naturopathy, and mental health, so kind of an all encompassing approach. So far, so good. Still haven't gotten up the courage to step into an AA meeting yet, but that is my assignment (only word I could think of) for this week.

AV has been a little strong this weekend, at least I assume that is what it is. I have absolutely no doubts that I am an alcoholic and that I can never go back to drinking and I know this is what I need and want....and yet the thoughts creep in. Maybe, just maybe? One isn't going to kill me, right? No one ever has to know.... But as I have experienced time and time again, it will never be just one and eventually in some way, shape or form it will end badly.

Anyway, I am here constantly reading and seeing how everyone is doing. Good to see you all, my January pals.

PeacefulRain

Day 5 done! I'm catching the cold my wee one has. Blah! I'm hoping the Benadryl kicks in soon so i can breathe again! Tomorrow is the one week anniversary of my last hangover EVER! Oh the irony I'll probably be waking up tomorrow feeling like crap anyway.

bounced

Thanks Reeny. Just a bit of a self pity party, I will be ok in a couple of days.

I have some work that I am a bit behind on and I am feeling a bit like I have wasted the first 3 weeks of January -- but then I remember that this sobriety thing takes up a lot of time and effort and I will be able to work much better in February without being hungover all the time so there is plenty of time to catch up. This is the most important thing at the moment.

Congratulations Lunetta and Rubycanoe too plus everyone else here. I agree about counting the days for the time being -- as soon as I regularly start losing track of which day I am on, then it won't be serving me any longer and I can forget about it.

Serenityforme

Hi everyone - can i join the gang please...day 8 for me..Im still finding my feet using this site...so many of us appear to have this classic ritual of abstaining for days, weeks even months BUT when we cave in get totally bladdered (as we say in the UK)...and yes, I become this total nasty, self destructive maniac..they say a cat has 9 lives..well, this cat must have used them up over and over again during my 30 odd years of romancing the demon booze..My relationship with vodka - discovered two or three years ago - so handy to put in you handbag and glug in the car!!, supermarket toilet, inbetween jobs..etc..etc..- has been the most frightening and destructive relationship I have ever known..I love my husband and my job and life is ok..why do I entertain this f..... urge to drink into oblivion?? not to mention hurt those around me?? I had councelling for 6 weeks and was told I need to learn to connect with how I actually feel, learn to express my emotions in a safe way...yunno, I always come over as the happy, bouncy person not wanting to upset anyone or tell them what I really feel - frightened of rejection I guess or not being accepted! Anyway, yesterday was really tough but after reading SR posts for a week I used all the tools these guys have provided and realised I was bored, angry with some things at work - so wanted to just ESCAPE into my selfish boozed up world..it was like a realisation to think..hey you, your just bored and fed up..get some knitting needles or do some crafts or reading...thanks to you all here..it is difficult..really difficult..anyway, must get ready for work now..Oh, its helping that I purposly dont take money with me when I,m working and leave my card with my hubby..not strong enough yet to trust myself...so easy to pop into any store and buy booze in this country..Im using the one day at a time approach as recommended by some..it is helping..many many thanks and have wishing you all a happy, sober day my friends x

Dee74

Hope everyone is doing ok - after battling feeling unwell for over a week I'm giving in and taking a short rest and recreation break from SR.

I'll catch up with you guys when I get back - stay strong

D

Dorris

Hope your feeling better soon Dee take care x

Bounced, stay strong you will get through these bad couple of days mine started Friday and only today do I feel a little better more postive and back on track. Like you I feel as though I have wasted the last 3 wks sat round feeling sorry for myself (I work from home and have not been keeping on top of things) so I thank you for pointing out the fact we need this time to adjust and we will have many sober months in order to catch up.

Welcome Serenityforme and well done on getting through your first week.

I am feeling a little better today, glad to see the last four days of hell are behind me. This morning I jumped straight into the shower, done my hair and make up and painted my nails lol I feel better but I'm not going anywhere, more snow, another day the schools are closed and I really need to get on with some revision for an exam I have in 3 wks for which I have not even learnt the topic due to missing pretty much the last 3 months of college due to drinking.

As much as I can't be bothered with college I must not give up, it's only another 4/5 months to get through and then I can graduate and it will all be worth the struggle.

Hope you all have a good day xxx

Reeny

Welcome, serenityforme! I could so have written your post! On again off again sobriety... Secret vodkas - no smell (unlike gin), right? Tip out half a small bottle of orange juice, top it up with vodka, and voila! You can sip away at a mild-looking oj for an hour or so and who would ever know? Mercifully, those days are behind me. Stay strong, sf. We're all in this together.

DaveyT

Hello everyone, joining the class of January. I stopped drinking yesterday, my 4th attempt at quiting. Each time I seem to last a little longer with the longest period being 2 months. Hopefully this will be the most successful yet.

Already feeling the early effects which seem to go like clockwork for me. First it's almost mania, everything is great, music especially sounds fantastic and I want to dance around the house. Then comes the insomnia, anxiety, panic attacks and all of that. Usually it's severe for days 2-4 then comes and goes getting milder each time. It nearly disappeared last time after about 2 weeks.

So just have to hold out and it's nice to know I can talk to so many other people trying to deal with it.

Good luck to everyone, I'm sure we can all make it a good year for one another

Dorris

Hi Reeny, how are you getting on ?

Welcome Davey, I'm back again after 4 failed attempts the best I got was 46 days and I caved in because I was invited to a halloween party, I have not seen those people since but it sent me on a huge binge up until New Year Day I regret that day I decided to drink and I long to get past that amount of days only so I can let go of the feeling I have about my last failed attempt.

Wishing you lots of luck x

Reeny

Hi Dee. Hope you feel much better very soon. It will be great to have you back when you're well. You'll be missed!

Reeny

Hi Dorris. Thank you for asking - things are going well this week. You've shown such courage so far - this is your time! Past failures are past. You can do this!

Welcome, DaveyT. This is a great group and you'll find lots of support here.

Fdm

Another great nights' sleep. If I can hammer home to myself all of the benefits of sobriety, I'll be fine, LOL.

Better sleep, easier awakening, better focus and concentration, weight loss, money saved, etc, etc.

These are the things that I must remember each day. As I said before, I have a big year in front of me, with my first grandchild coming in the Spring and possibility for promotion to Chief officer.

bounced

Hey Dorris, great to hear you are doing better after a tough few days.

This is becoming like a family here for me with lots of people I feel I can rely on when I am going through the mill. Thank God for all you guys and girls at SR!!


Welcome Serenityforme, there is so much of what you have written that I can relate to. I just don't fully understand how we can allow ourselves to carry on like this. I see loads of people who have a lot more reason to drink than me and my life is good really (no, actually it's great most of the time).

I went to alcohol counselling a while ago - just 6 sessions and most of it revolved around self esteem issues. Now I have a different counsellor and we are doing a lot of CBT to undo some "unhelpful" thinking patterns which are residual from childhood. I don't think this is just a question of "not drinking", we have to deal with our inner demons and then alcohol will become irrelevant. Congratulations on your day 8. Awesome achievement. Enjoy the snowy weather in Blighty!

bounced

Hey Fdm,

Chief officer sounds like something you just cannot let yourself down over, buddy. We all rely on dudes like you and I take my hat off to you. We are here for you, ok?

bounced

Serenityforme

Wow, I can so identify with the mania thing...on a really good day when Im happy I feel so blessed and loved and thankful - almost like drug enduced happiness - I get high..then on a bad day I over analize, the stinking thinking starts and ...boof...let the relapse commence. well done and thankyou for your comments..another inspiring post!