First alcohol councelling session
 

Morning all

I had my first alcohol councelling session last night and well I say session it was more of an assessment with a future appointment gonna be made for me to attend.

I was quite nervous so took some Bedranol I am prescribed and it didn't go as bad as I thought it was although it did last between 90-105 minutes lol. My fiancée was allowed in for the first 15 minutes as she could fill in how I am exactly with a drink in me and it's the old Jekyll and Hyde situation.

I had only been 4 days sober but came off a 2 day bender so wasn't withdrawing or anything. In fact from March to August I stopped completely for 21 weeks then ha d a 2 day bender stopped for 2 weeks and again had a 2 day bender just the weekend there.

We went through a lot of things like why I drink, what services they can offer etc and I felt at complete ease with the man. I made an earlier post a couple of nights ago about going on Antabuse and talked about that with him and I think he is happy for me to go on it. I already see a psychiatrist for bipolar and don't see him until December now so I am hoping I can stay off it until then and of course I know I CAN'T drink on the Antabuse.

So here is to 5 days sober and by the time I see my psychiatrist by my reckoning I will be 89 days sober(blast that 1 day, I really wanted it to be 90 as I know that is a milestone :) )I can get appointments for after work so that shouldn't be an issue and we also discussed how to spend my time which I usually when sober for the week work labouring 8-430 and exercise 545-7ish(mixed martial arts) so my week is full and on Saturday is shopping etc and occasionally the gym and Sunday will just be resting PHEW!

So my friends I hope with your help and the helps of these forums I can encourage and be ancouraged from this wonderful website and network of people. Thanks. Any questions about my drinking which has been going on from ages of 16-33 fire away as my drinking has been a very complicated issue and pattern.

Much love!

Big congrats on day 5 & congrats on the therapy it helped me a lot too

Sounds good and keep us updated. I also see a regular therapist and have been considering going to an addiction specialist as well.

Well done SBalonD. I see an addiction counselor. That has made a world of difference for me. Congratulations on day 5!

Sounds like a good plan. Keep at it. Pulling for you to succeed. ��

Congratulations on your sobriety and it sounds like you have a good plan.

Did they discuss AA meetings as part of your plan? Exercise and shopping are fine things to do but will do nothing to help you deal with alcoholism. Great job on 5 days and I hope you find a game plan that will help you keep moving forward!

Thanks everyone on the replies by the sounds of it I have seemed to do the right thing by taking these actions with the councelling.

For the concern of exercise etc and AA, I am not making excuses but I really don't think AA is for me, I don't want every day in my life to just get through one other day EVERY day. I know it's the most important thing but I will see how the working and exercise go first and if I feel like I may go off track I will look for an AA meeting in my area. my whole days last from 6am until 830pm each day so I am constantly busy but IF I was going to go to an AA meeting it would be at the weekend as I like that schedule I have put in place. In my sports field I have a training partner who is fighting in 3 months so I am one of his main training partners and going there feeling part of a family and helping someone can help then eventually I want to fight also which takes A LOT of dedication and long hours. As I say I will just see how it goes and if I do run into problems my first port of call will be a meeting.

Thanks everyone and I will just use this thread as my only thread as updates or questions etc so I don't clutter up the boards :D

Sbalondt well done on 5 days sober and taking control of your life .

AA was really, really helpful for me in my early days of sobriety, but ultimately it was not a program fror me for the long term. In fact, my counselor at the time was such a 12step AA guy that it became a block to our counselling success. I left his practice eventually. Good luck going forward. SR is here for you.

Sounds like you thought it through some. If you ever decide you are an alcoholic and want to deal with it just remember that you are an AA meeting away from all the help you want! Good luck on your journey and keep sharing and asking questions.

Use your thread as much as you need to SalonBD - no such things as 'cluttering up the boards'
I hate you to think that's what recovery is a like - it's really not.
In the beginning yeah - it's tough but it gets better.

In the same way as I don't usually have to focus on my breathing,. I don't usually have to focus directly on the not drinking part of my recovery either...

but as an asthmatic and alcoholic it's good to have some plans and strategies in place in case I ever get into trouble :)

D

Thanks for the replies again and yeah I know sometimes AA are for some people and not for others and also there is ALWAYS an AA meeting each and every day if I really need one.

Another day sober a week tomorrow the date is easy to remember for my last drink11th September terrible atrocity for America but maybe the start for me so I will not forget this date in a hurry.

Hope everyone has had a fun and sober weekend I have went shopping with my fiancée most of the day, which involved her trying on about 100 pieces of clothes haha. Was moody for quite a bit today but I dunno if that is because the crap is still coming out my system or I am just a moody so and so at the start of this rehabilitation.

Ah 1 whole week off the drink and starting to feel better although I can't get to sleep as quick as usual(even when not drinking for long periods of time and abstinent).

Back to work tomorrow and exercise(was thinking of a 45 minute stationary moderate bike ride but might just leave it and rest).

I work for an agency who send me to different sites for my job as a labourer, pay is crap, but hey it pays the rent, bills and food. A little nervous as I was sent home last Wednesday saying I looked like death although that was not alcohol related just had some bug and was feeling better on the Thursday but was told not to come back until this week as they didn't want it spreading through the whole site which is acceptable. I am worried that I lose my job as I had a good 6 week plan in place if the work kept coming my way for next 6 weeks I would be able to have Christmas all paid for and the rent and bills for October and November all paid. You can literally get told to not come back to a site at the end of the day as they don't need you but I have been there since January and looks like there might still be work there until Christmas then I would be moving somewhere else where hopefully it would be another long term contract.

So if all goes well tomorrow I will try my damn hardest t achieve what I have set myself to do and also to drop a stone(14 pounds) in weight. All that would boost me so much in my quest and direction for sobriety. Thanks for listening, hope everyone had a good sober free weekend!

Congratulations

Well 2 weeks in tomorrow first week fully back at work a little bit of mood swings as in aggression but got back to the training as well which helped take mind off things at night and managed 5 days this week and if any of you have done MMA you will know how taxing it is on your body. Lost nearly a stone so just 2 stone 4 pounds to go to get to 200 pounds remember i'm 6ft 2 so 200 pounds isn't much but I didn't realise how much my fitness had went down so really gonna give that my all probably become a healthy addiction for a while up until Christmas. Really striving for that 2.5 pounds a week until then. Anyway gives me a target just waiting for the Antabuse but me and my fiancée have a plan/agreement.

She keeps my bank card but I get the prescription for Antabuse. Now I have two choices here if I get the ban card and spend money and go on a drinking binge then she will put me on the Antabuse or I am afraid we will be no more and I dunno what I would do without her so it's now or never but without my bank card all I could do is pretend i'm homeless and beg for money and I am not at that low an ebb haha.

She is like my guardian angel and if I never met her I would definitely be one of three things, near death, jailed or homeless. She sees something in me that a lot of people do and they just know I go haywire now and again and hopefully this councelling and psychosocial support. can help me. Well only 2 weeks tomorrow but I have achieved a lot in this, two meetings with different support groups, back to full time work, exercising every night, taking care of my affairs and keeping my nose clean.(no drug pun as I never take the stuff alcohol is my only concern).

Thanks for listening and hopefully this time next week I will have another positive story, stay strong everyone and much love heading your way!

Congrats on two weeks Salon.

Have you given any thought to long term tho - your partner keeping your bankcard and you taking antabuse doesn't seem likely as a long term solution?

D