Bobbieka

I was thinking, we come from all over the world, all walks of life, but the one thing we all have in common (aside from our addictions) is ice cream. Except for Keets. We'll have to work on her.

KiKi0615

Thank you Lillian, Samantha, Casey, Ladybug & everyone else. I took a nap & woke up feeling a little better & my AV is much quieter now.

Like Ladybug said, I think I get bored sometimes. I really need to get involved in some new hobbies/activities ASAP!

I'm gonna start with exercise.

How is everyone else doing today???

horsestaple

Okay so Day 1.

Next time I get the urge to drink I will post here first.

CaseyW

Ugh. Tonight is prom night. Lord give me strength.

forabetterlife

Hi everyone. I'm exhausted from my 5k this morning -physically and emotionally. Wasn't expecting this. Sorry I have nothing in me type right now. Lots on my mind and I'm physically drained but sober. I just know I need to stay connected. Stay strong everyone .

Dee74

Don't let that exhaustion get to you FABL - HALT remember

D

KiKi0615

You can do it horsestable! Post a thousand times a day if you need to! I have several times this week & have also screamed at my AV!

Everyone keeps telling me the longer we go without a drink the easier it gets! Do you know what triggered you to drink yesterday?

An event? Boredom? Anger? Have you been able to pinpoint it?

KiKi0615

You're going to prom tonight Casey? ;-)

KiKi0615

(((FABL))) You sound tired! I think it's amazing that you ran a 5K! I have never been a runner but would like to train for a 5K.

Get some rest & do something nice for yourself! :-)

ItsJustMe89

Hi everyone!

I haven't checked in for a while and I was skimming some of the most recent posts and saw that you were wondering where everyone went. I'm sorry for not being more active in our class.

The good news is, I am still sober! I have 21 days today

I have just been working and focusing a lot on my diet, which is going awesome. Its a lot of work tho because I can only eat certain foods and have to weigh out the portions in ounces. I am used to a steady diet of convenience foods like ordering take out, buying freezer foods, and eating comfort food. So to go from that to having to prepare all my meals and remember to pack lunches is a big change. But its a good change. I am seeing the results on the scale and that keeps me motivated. And I would not be able to do this diet if I were drinking because alcohol is not approved on this phase of the diet, even for normal drinkers. So that is helping to keep my AV quiet.

But now that I have broke my drinking pattern I haven't been posting as much here or going to meetings as much. I guess since I am not drinking I feel like I am in the clear or something. Which I know is wrong. This is when the real work comes in. I've just been so tired. I guess its progress, not perfection. As my sponsor says.

KiKi0615

Hey itsjustme!!! Great to see you & congrats on 22 days & eating healthy. It sounds like you are doing great! Keep it up and try not to let your guard down too much.

Alcoholism is very patient! It got me again after several years of sobriety the first time & 2 months over the winter. We'd love to see you around here more! :-)

I added you to the list of people who have checked in in the last 3 days. Yay!!! Someone mentioned they thought many people had left our class so I counted just the people who had checked in over the past 3 days and made a list. Ha. It helped me stay sober today... ;-)

Pelagic
AppleKat
Fabela
Clearlyheaded
Bobbieka
surrender2win
Kayak
Samantha
Casey
KiKi
ChickChick
Ladybug
LillianGish
Keets
Missy7
Lein
Horsestable
Thirteenth
Forabetterlife
Immri
Purplrks
ManInTheArena
copperfield
Jemma
JustQuit2016
Beerbgone
Rah555
Gardengirl80
ItsJustMe89

Total: 29 :-)

Dee74

Thanks for doing that KiKi

Congrats on 3 weeks IJM

D

samantha14

Kiki - I'm glad your nap helped!!

Horsestaple - you can do this!! Day one is a great start!!

Itsjustme - congats on 21 days!!

Casey - prom night....lol!! I work in hotels and prom night is one of our most dreaded nights of the year so I hear you!! It's also my daughter's prom this year so I get to experience all sides of it!!

Fabela - how is Charlie??

Tonight is going fine for me - I am struggling with finding things to do with all this time I have in the evenings (when I would normally be passed out) Boredom is definitely something I need to pay attention too.....I am not really a TV watcher but maybe a trip to the library tomorrow.....

immri

Hi all, Sunday morning here. Off to walk the dog then I'll be back to read everything, I have nothing to do until this afternoon so I might hang out on SR all morning haha

Re the family drama, thanks to those who checked I was ok, I wasn't in the best place to talk about it the other day but what happened was police came to my house concerned for an immediate family member who doesn't live here any more, but must not have changes his records. I don't have much contact with him (due to my drinking, mainly) so I wasn't any help.
None of his friends or co workers had seen him for a week or so, and the police were talking like they knew something about his state of mind that I didn't. He drinks (not like me, he'd say, but I've seen it bad) and has had a lot of loss lately, so I immediately thought suicide. That was a scary wait. Police went to his house, Turns out he was fine, depressed and alone and just disappeared from work for a bit, but physically fine.

I was so mad at myself, if it wasn't for this last relapse I probably would've been in contact with him at least a little bit, texts or something. But instead I couldn't even make contact when police were worried for his safety. Ugh. Thank god I was sober for all that, but what if something really was wrong and I was drunk again. I wouldn't be able to help anyone. It really shook me up. I have other family that need me, we just lost my only grandparent and I wasn't there for anyone, I've been so incredibly selfish and self absorbed and that was one of the first times I really FELT that.

I'm fine now, I know being sober and doing the next right thing is all I can do and will be great for everyone in the long run, it just wasn't the best few days - thanks to those who checked on me

Anyway, off to walk the dog!! Back soon, have a happy sober morning/night all

samantha14

Immri - I am glad to hear your family member is okay!

KiKi0615

I agree about the boredom Samantha but the longer we are sober the more fun sober things we will start to do. :-) Are you still going to AA meetings? You seemed to like those. :-)

samantha14

I haven't been to an AA meeting in about a week Kiki - the last one I went to was stressful and sent my PTSD into a tailspin.....not sure if I can go back just yet.....I do see an addictions counselor which is helpful

Keets

Hello everyone hope everyone is doing well. Missed checking for a few days. The last few days have been rough recovering from surgery still I guess I have to,take tha bad with the good. Went back and looked at the calander and I'm was wrong about how many days sober and was actually surprised to see I'm at 14 days today! W



Sorry this might a little long as I try to find the words I'm looking for I greatly appreciate any advice and ideas. I'm in need of some help so I can keep my number of sober days going up and not falling back and restarting day one over and over again.

Today my therapist told me we needed to figure other ways besides alcohol to cope with my problems. For example being able to sleep, not being in a bad mood around my husband or what ever reason I was drinking in the first. I kind of need to sit down and really think about that one because that might get deep lol who knows there is no one answer to that.
That being said how have the ones in here that have gone a long time sober dealt with it? No so much AA or support groups but like maybe in the moment sort of things to cope with. Maybe for example a fight with the spouse, kids having melt downs like bad bad not normal or receiving bad news on the phone or email. Not like something long term but like I need a drink now because of X is going on and I will feel better if I had a drink sort of thing.
I guess what I'm saying is my trigger is in the here and now, I get bad news and drink excessively and it helps me cope. But than I fall into a habit of just drinking because I don't feel like dealing with things sober.
Now I can't do that I need to find ways to cope but getting nowhere
Please if anything has helped you let me know I'm in need of ideas so,I don't fall back into,old habits.

KiKi0615

(((immri)))) You've been through a lot the last few days. Be kind to yourself & try not to think about what "could have happened". That guilt & shame will get us every time and pull us back into the hellish cycle of alcohol use.

I remember several years ago when my grandfather died I felt soooo guilty because I hadn't called him in months because all I cared about was alcohol.

Then...he got sick & died. I hated myself! I ended up getting sober around that time (and stayed sober for a long while) and made amends at his grave. I also wrote him a letter & left it there. I knew he was proud of me & forgave me & my grandma said he did.

We aren't bad people...we are sick people. We can and will get better!!! Xo

KiKi0615

Really? Certain AA meetings have triggered me in the past too. Was it a certain topic or person?

I also have PTSD & was also sent into a tail spin in January which led to me drinking again after 9 weeks without a drink. Several men had been trying to hug me & flirt with me etc. and it really triggered me because I was sexually assaulted at the age of 17. Anyway...I put those men in place and they have backed off but it does scare me a little bit when I go to AA. PLUS I am married & they know it!

Anyway...until I feel safe there again I am kind of avoiding AA meetings because I am afraid I will leave and drinking like I have several times. I still talk to my sponsor daily & she's supportive. I may start trying a few women only meetings starting this week. There a few that women say are wonderful & very safe & serene.