Mentium

All the best Layali. I think the issue of sugar is a big one for me too. After a couple of days without alcohol I have in the past started to consume large volumes of chocolate, I assume to replace the carbs delivered normally by the alcohol. Of course it doesn't really help and the more sugar one takes in I suspect, the more likely one is to relapse.

My partner lost a lot of weight on a version of the Atkins diet and she takes the same view.

Layali

That sounds beautiful, Mentium! (edit: oh, referring to your previous post, haha! I didn't realise you posted again....) xD

Layali

Yes, I figure I need a short period to taper off of the sugar....instead of going off all alcohol and sugars at the same time. But I don't want to take it too long, because then the sugars might just keep the alcohol cravings alive!! I've done something similar to Atkins before. This time around, I will have more carbs but they will be complex carbs, with a ton of fibre (and no gluten, maybe not even grains....I'm sure there are carbs without grains, haha)

Kathleen DesMaisons has an excellent program for sugar addicts - she originally started her work with alcoholics actually. She's really knowledgeable on addictions and nutrition. Her program (radiant recovery) has 7 steps, and the first is to have enough protein, especially in the morning (the 7th step is to get rid of all sugars - aaahhh!)

KeyofC

Layali I'm so glad you're feeling a little better. I know it's a relief...(hug)

helpimalive

No see, the fruit which is in fact real food is there to make me feel better about eating the ice cream I know I should not be eating

helpimalive

Ugh, me neither. "No thanks" works when drinking isn't the point of the moment, but if my family was doing a brewery tour and required my attendance, I have no idea how I'd handle it.

helpimalive

It's the "I've got this now" thoughts. They're arrogant and terrible and I wish they'd shut up. They're harder for me to fend off than any other kind of thought.

Rar. I don't mean to whine. Sorry.

helpimalive

Welcome! I'll be interested to hear how the stuff works for you. I've thought about getting a cravings drug myself.

KeyofC

The subject of drinking can be whatever you feel comfortable making it Nmd and Helpimalive. I'm very honest and tell people I don't drink anymore. If they pursue it I will tell them I'm an alcoholic. You can always tell them you're on a prescription that you're not allowed to drink with, you've had a stomach bug or you're stomach jus don't feel up to drinking. There are a million reasons why. You could simply say no thanks I don't want any. So however you want to handle it. I suppose you could just feel obligated to drink since you don't know how to handle it (of course that would be a terrible choice) or you could reach out to SR, Dee or people who have more time under their belt than me if I didn't help any here. Just a suggestion.

helpimalive

There is a new class thread created each month. You can post in as many class threads as you want. You're a member of a class thread if you decide you are, and post in the thread. For many, the those the class of the month where they stopped drinking. But other people post in class threads too. I chose October even tho my date is 9/20 this year because I didn't want to join the September class so late.

Once the month is over, the class thread moves from the "Newcomers" forum to the "Daily support" forum. Many classes from years past still see activity from class members who have been posting for years.

helpimalive

Where'd you read that? That sounds really interesting. I negaspiral like its my job. Or, I used to. I've been working on it.

helpimalive

I don't think I've ever inspired anyone before :p Thank you.

I say it's getting harder, but I guess time will tell whether these thoughts really are dangerous, or if they're just pesky. Maybe it's better to think of them as pesky: The thoughts come and so I know I've got to do a, b, and c to make em go away, and that's all there is to it.

helpimalive

I don't mean if do it! I just mean getting past that first hard "no" with my family when they're pushing he subject will be awkward :/ And I know it'll happen eventually, because my family loves to drink and they know I've often participated in the past.

I'm also pretty sure this situation won't arise for a good long while, though, so I'm figuring that since I'll be longer sober by the time it does happen, I'll have a better sense then of what to say.

helpimalive

Beeme, jilly, Layali, everybody who's pressing on: great job! It sounds like things are getting better for a lot of us.

StrongEnough, I wanted to say: I know what you mean about the brain resisting very simple stuff like frying an egg. I've been flossing every night for a while now, something I'd always felt bad for not doing, and yet every night my brain is like, Staaaahhhp. Be lazzzzyyyyyyy. But I know when I let things slide, I let it all slide, and I get drunk. So I floss.

XD

On the great sugar debate:

Seriously?!?! Sugar can CAUSE cravings?

Okay, I don't think it does, for me. I've never been a huge sugar eater, I don't even like most sugar--cake meh, cookies no thanks, pastries shrug, candy what even is that--but having my nice (reasonably sized serving of) ice cream every night gives me a sense of routine and calm and reward before the bedtime preparation ritual. I like it a lot. It doesn't make me crave alcohol, I don't think. I hope I'm not wrong. Now I fee I should do further research.

Candida, too, man--I'm sorry that's the case for you, Jsbodhi :/ I just googled it because I didn't know what it was. I have a couple of the symptoms (chronic UTIs, concentration problems). I guess I should get checked out too.

sydneyman

Day 10.. I gave up sugar beginning of the month and my cravings/withdrawals have not been as bad this time around. Perhaps an idea?

Mentium

There's a thread about it and I have committed to posting about (hopefully) my progress.

Here:
http://www.soberrecovery.com/forums/...-baclofen.html

Layali

Hey, not everyone is addicted to sugar or is as sensitive as I am.... we're all different. But, I think that once in the body, sugar turns to ethanol? I don't know, I could be way off. I as watching a lecture by Gary Taubes a long, long time ago..he talked a lot about that. Or was it Dr Robert Lustig? Arrrgh. They're both good people to look into though.

Also, when I say sugar, I mean everything that turns instantly to sugar and is addicting = bread, pasta, sandwhiches, perogies, pizza - basically all the things I love....too much....when I eat them, it switches on and off certain things in my brain. It affects leptin levels and other hormones, which tell you whether you're full, or starving in a famine. Things in wheat can affect the opioid receptors in the brain, just like other drugs. There is so much to know.... I've researched a lot, just because I seem to be incredibly sensitive to it all. Not everyone is as sensitive as I am. I still have a lot to learn, though.

But also. In someone who doesn't seem to be addicted to sweets, does it keep the addiction to alcohol alive? I don't know. But I do know that there is a very high relapse rate. And most people eat sugar and refined carbs. Research that Kathleen DesMaison looked into seems to say that, yes, it does affect it. I think... she wrote Potatoes Not Prozac. She seems to know a lot about this, and is active on her own forum for radiant recovery.

Actually, I think this ties into eating disorders too, and I am fairly certain that many people with ED's are also highly sugar/carb sensitive. Even anorexics. I have (sadly) experience with this.... it's almost as if you love food (sugar/carbs, but for someone who doesn't know what the culprit is, it seems to just be "food") soooo much, that it's hard to stop. It is a drug to me (and others).
But, if I do stop eating almost entirely, it is easier to continue not eating.... that is abstinence, from the drug, kind of. Except that you can't go on not eating.... if one knew which foods were causing the problems, which parts of the food were the "drug", then it might be easier to cut out only "those" things.

I know there is much more to ED's than this - but this I think is a main problem, and it's pretty much ignored in modern therapy. Professionals are all like "wah, such a high relapse ratefor ED's - it's so hard to treat!" but if you dare mention cutting out even one kind of food, it's like you've just suggested you all worship satan. "No, moderation in aaaallll things!" Ugh. They push that a lot. "There is no bad food!" but hey. An alcoholic can't do moderation. Some people can drink moderately, but alcoholics cannot. I don't think a sugar/refined carb addict can practice moderation either!!! It's fighting a losing battle. You DO have to cut out certain things.

Anyway I will shut up now.... It's hard not to go crazy when I talk about these kinds of things lol. Sorry!

sydneyman

Go Paleo thats what I done

sydneyman

And see if it may help

nmd

Oh, yeah, absolutely. I wouldn't go to a brewery. In my case, it wasn't me being invited to a brewery tour, but I was a captive audience to a family member telling me about their recent bus trip which happened to stop at a brewery and then get a full description of the different types of beers, etc. Nobody so much as offered me a drink or made me drink, that was all my own fault. I guess I'm just easily suggestible at this stage. I see/hear and taste the drink as soon as someone starts talking about some fun drinking event.

Yeah, that's the safest bet. I think for me at this stage though, I reserve "i don't drink any more" for my inner circle/immediate family. The world is not so accepting of alcoholics and the easiest way I find to avoid explaining myself is not to open the subject up. I do need skills in diffusing or redirecting conversations though, or at least the practice in doing it even when I'm being triggered. Avoiding situations or bowing out of conversations to attend to something else is the best I have at the moment.