Haven't touched a drop in...

scriba

eamor wrote: »

Into day 101. The gift that keeps on giving.

E.

Today is my 100th day. Feeling pretty good.

drydub

Less than a day here


Not good for me. I dont think i havent not had a drink in the last 30. In a bad spot and finding it increasingly hard to capture any will power i had.

Reading some of my old posts for encouragement.

marienbad

drydub wrote: »

Less than a day here


Not good for me. I dont think i havent not had a drink in the last 30. In a bad spot and finding it increasingly hard to capture any will power i had.

Reading some of my old posts for encouragement.

drydub - just try and get through today - whatever it takes .we are here for you .

I know it is a cliché but every journey starts with a first step .

drydub

Bit more focused today. My mind is closing in on itself at times and the anxiety gets overwhelming some times.
I need to come up with a plan.

All I want is to get out of the woods. Get some sober time under my belt and think clearer.

realdanbreen

drydub wrote: »

Bit more focused today. My mind is closing in on itself at times and the anxiety gets overwhelming some times.
I need to come up with a plan.

All I want is to get out of the woods. Get some sober time under my belt and think clearer.

I have to be careful what I say as text in a post can be misinterpreted or misunderstood. The main thing is that everyone here would be on your side and would wish you well and wish you success. I have not had a drink for a long time and TBH it's rarely that I get the urge to drink. Now I am a very average guy and was never great in the willpower department and I absolutely loved drinking. I attended AA meetings at first and quickly accepted the fact that I was/am an alcoholic. I also realised that no amount of having my ass kicked, locked up, threats/sympathy from family, losing jobs etc was going to get me to stop drinking unless I did it for me and me alone. There are certain facts facing you drydub, 1: you can (obviously) stop drinking. 2: Nobody else, those close to you or others can stop you drinking. I sincerely wish you well because you and everyone of us deserve a life free from the misery drink can bring-go for it!

tinpib

drydub wrote: »

Bit more focused today. My mind is closing in on itself at times and the anxiety gets overwhelming some times.
I need to come up with a plan.

All I want is to get out of the woods. Get some sober time under my belt and think clearer.

I've posted before that I find the stopdrinking subreddit is excellent.

https://www.reddit.com/r/stopdrinking/

Good luck!

drydub

realdanbreen wrote: »

I have to be careful what I say as text in a post can be misinterpreted or misunderstood. The main thing is that everyone here would be on your side and would wish you well and wish you success. I have not had a drink for a long time and TBH it's rarely that I get the urge to drink. Now I am a very average guy and was never great in the willpower department and I absolutely loved drinking. I attended AA meetings at first and quickly accepted the fact that I was/am an alcoholic. I also realised that no amount of having my ass kicked, locked up, threats/sympathy from family, losing jobs etc was going to get me to stop drinking unless I did it for me and me alone. There are certain facts facing you drydub, 1: you can (obviously) stop drinking. 2: Nobody else, those close to you or others can stop you drinking. I sincerely wish you well because you and everyone of us deserve a life free from the misery drink can bring-go for it!

THanks for you post. I realise i need to do this for me. I say im a moderate drinker or i can just have one or two but its been one or two for a while now...non stop. But with christmas and a fair bit before its been more than one or two.

I have set up a plan of removing any remaining alcohol in the house and to put a few 0% beers in the fridge and plenty of fizzy water for the emergency.

When i knocked it on the head for 8 weeks i remmeber the pride i had in that acheivment and everything that went with feeling great and the clarity....i want to work at that again and i want the anxiety and foginess to be gone.

Have travel plans at the weekend but determined to keep dry

Laeot

300 days .

Boom.

marienbad

Laeot wrote: »

300 days .

Boom.

boom bada boom , if I could thank this post 10 times I would , Well done Laeot -outstanding achievement !

The flying mouse

Laeot wrote: »

Hi all,

Old user returning here...

11 days today...

Laeot wrote: »

143 days.

Today for the first time in a month or so I romanticised going on a pub crawl.
It came upon me suddenly as I was driving through my local city (Waterford).
Driving by the old haunts and imagining downing some beers and being cock o the walk... Not a care in the world ...

But I didn't drink.

Romanticising turned into catastrophising. This is the key for me. Play the fcuking tape to the end and imagine...... I.e. A disaster.

Keep well my friends.

From Above

Laeot wrote: »

300 days .Boom.

To Above,

Very well done Laeot, you should be very proud of yourself, as we can all relate and know how hard it actually is to succeed.

gossamer

Two years and eight months. Time flies.

eamor

scriba wrote: »

Today is my 100th day. Feeling pretty good.

Sober twins. ðŸ˜႒

Johnny two hats

10 days...

Posted on here back in August saying I planned to give it up for 1 month ( longest break I ever had ) and made it to 5 weeks. After that I planned to limit drinking to 2 nights a week max and never on a work night. I had some success with this but inevitably started slipping back to my old ways of having a couple here and there mid week or a few on a Sunday etc. I find if I'm having a few beers at home on a Saturday night in the back of my mind there is anxiety knowing that the next day I can't drink! I will then spend all day Sunday rattling around the house not necessarily hung over but just completely wound up, can't relax or enjoy my day off and knowing the only thing that would relieve it is a few beers. The fact is every few weeks I have some type of crash where I can't go to work due to the fear or am rowing with my wife and the bottom line is this is all down to the booze. I can't imagine a life completely free of booze mainly due to the boredom and I know the normality of all work/kids would get me down without a drink here and there to dilute it! I am also seeing a counsellor and my hope is that maybe after talking through some stuff the booze won't be such a big obsession for me and I can just take it or leave it ( wishful thinking ?! )

Woah sorry for the long post, thats been brewing a while!

So for now I plan on having a good break for as long as it takes for me to start feeling positive or good again and I guess I'll take it from there, never say never again, again!

Good luck to all and thanks for all your great advice and support!

Glen_Quagmire

@ Johnny two hats, I can relate to 90% of what you said in your post. I would imagine there are a lot of people out there in the same situation. A lot of it comes down to habit and boredom and helping to ease the little stresses in life. It's a bit of an escape for a while as you said.

Not having a drink doesn't bother me from Monday to Thursday but as soon as Friday comes along its like a switch going off in my head where where I must have a pint in the pub or few beers at home. I have tried to "just not drink" but beer becomes an obsession and "the forbidden fruit" so for me anyhow it's very difficult to not give in to the urge.

I tried to do dry January and last weekend I didn't touch a drop Friday and that was grand but I was at home all day Saturday and I couldn't get beer off my mind all day but I tried my best not to give in. I was frustrated as hell and I actually lost my cool at one point for about 30 mins. I put that down to the frustration of not being "allowed" to have the thing I was craving so bad which was a few beers. I couldn't handle the feeling anymore so I ended up getting a few beers after the girlfriend came home from work which chilled me out instantly. I had a few Sunday then too.

Now it's midweek again and it doesn't bother me in the slightest but come Friday that will change again.

tinpib

Glen_Quagmire wrote: »

I was frustrated as hell and I actually lost my cool at one point for about 30 mins.

Sounds like you were having the good angel/bad angel debate. Last time that happened me I actually ended up shouting out loud "Aaaaggghhhh!!!" as it was like two voices battling in my head.

I was on my own at home at the time

It's a tough one for sure.

Glen_Quagmire

tinpib wrote:

Sounds like you were having the good angel/bad angel debate. Last time that happened me I actually ended up shouting out loud "Aaaaggghhhh!!!" as it was like two voices battling in my head.

tinpib wrote:

I was on my own at home at the time

tinpib wrote:

It's a tough one for sure.

Yes that's sounds about right! One part of you wants to do the right thing and stay off it but the other part is constantly craving a beer so you are having this inner battle with yourself. Extremely frustrating and very hard to control.

drydub

An early night tonight will see me clear day 5.

My biggest challenge will be making it through the weekend. Want to make it to week 1 clean.

eamor

drydub wrote: »

An early night tonight will see me clear day 5.

My biggest challenge will be making it through the weekend. Want to make it to week 1 clean.

What's your normal weekend routine? I didn't 'do' pubs, most of my drinking was at home. To that end, I could monitor my environment and keep busy.... If your routine involved the pub, try to avoid it if you can for a while. Dry people, dry places. There's no point testing yourself. Baby steps, build up your sobriety bank account. Once you start seeing results, the battle gets easier......

tinpib

drydub wrote: »

My biggest challenge will be making it through the weekend.

Like most of us you probably have a trigger on a Friday evening. 6pm leaving work = beers.

Have a plan for that time, an easy option is to go straight to the cinema, that will kill a couple of hours and if you get home around 9/10pm you may already be feeling huge relief for not drinking.

drydub

Sadly I'm planned to fly out for the weekend. By no means a piss up or drinking weekend but one that will involve a bar mid-day or restaurant for lunch.
I'll be glad to get through it and mentioned not drinking to my partner

The flying mouse

8 years ago today, I made a dicision that changed my life forever, I decided to get clean & sober after years upon years of self abuse, Thanks for all your support . What lies behind us & what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us :-)

bikubesong

113 days today, just a week short of 4 months. I know it's not comparable to others' 'numbers' on here (Flying Mouse!! :eek: well done!) but it's unequivocally the best decision I've ever made. Combined with a total lifestyle and mental attitude change, I've gone from an anxious, suicidal chronic depressive to someone who has hope and possibility for the future.

Glen_Quagmire

The flying mouse wrote:

8 years ago today, I made a dicision that changed my life forever, I decided to get clean & sober after years upon years of self abuse, Thanks for all your support . What lies behind us & what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us :-)

Great stuff! I'm sure you've said it on here before but how did you just decide to stop and how did you manage to stay away for those first few months which I would imagine are the most difficult, if you don't mind me asking?

The flying mouse

Glen_Quagmire wrote: »

Great stuff! I'm sure you've said it on here before but how did you just decide to stop and how did you manage to stay away for those first few months which I would imagine are the most difficult, if you don't mind me asking?

Before alcohol had always met my needs, for fun, freedom, damping down big emotions such as stress, guilt unhappiness. After 33 years of drinking I finally realised that I had had enough. It’s still very hard to explain what exactly clicked with me, except the fact that alcohol wasn't working for me anymore and hadn’t being for a long time.

Long gone were the days of me controlling the drinking. Alcohol was and had been controlling me for years. Many people around me had seen this for years and tried to help as best they could, but I never wanted to listen to them and never recognised it until that morning Tuesday 13th January 2009.

After two weeks of being in a room with massive withdrawals I decided to look for support. AA was suggested to me but I didn't think then that I could face other people. (I did go to AA meetings eventually & made several good & supportive friends there, The meetings after the meetings were some of the best & interesting times for me to be honest.)So I surfed the net looking for support then I found 247helpyourself.com by pure chance I clicked it and it suited my needs and me straight away (anonymity).

It was two weeks before I had the courage to post on the forums. I also put in place a meeting with a addiction and anger councillor and from this joined a 3 month abstinent personal development course which i successfully completed and then went on to the aftercare program. I also got stuck into my health & dug up old hobbies & also read & read up on quitting drinking as I just knew my time was running out

Lately

I went to CA meetings earlier this year & did the 12 step programme which I found fantastic, I also got myself a sponsor in which I can sound of, Also got into bit more spiritual workings & readings and they have all helped me tremendously, imo you cant beat this by yourself & you do need support from where ever suits your needs & thinking of the day.

Looking back, choosing alcohol caused me and others a lot of pain in my life. I put it before all my relationships and it brought me to places and to do things I would never have dreamt of doing ever. I hurt a lot of people who cared and loved me throughout my life. Most of all I hurt me, physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually.

So here I am 8 years later & living the dream I always wanted to.

The flying mouse

Just like to add, I don't claim to know everything & everyway in how to stop the mess that we who come here got ourselves into, I just share my way & how I got out of my hell on earth, IMO there are many ways out & its up to you as individuals to find what way out suits you, The one shoe does not fit all. :-)

Lady is a tramp

Sober almost six months now. It's funny ... When I hit the 24 week mark recently, I couldn't help but think how many countless times I've found a single 24 hour period to feel longer and more impossible than those 24 weeks! But the hours and days and weeks and months just keep building and building now.

In my addiction I hit most of the rock bottoms you hear of. And it'll take time - much more than those six months - to feel my life is back on track (well, on track for the first time really.) But that's OK ... I've got time.

I could write so much about how far I've come in six months, but you know, I can sum it up by saying that every morning that I wake up with a clear conscience for the previous 24 hours and a solid plan for the next 24 hours is PRICELESS. And having 6 months of morning after morning of that blissful feeling has given me such contentedness and peace of mind ... I love it.

drydub

In bed now and successful miwadi and tea

Tomorrow's a fresh challenge

drydub

Failed today. Tomorrow's a new day. Sorry.

marienbad

drydub wrote: »

Failed today. Tomorrow's a new day. Sorry.

You said it , tomorrow is a new day .|As Samuel Beckett said next time fail better . Learn from it and move on .

drydub

Didn't want to post yesterday. The usual fear / hangover endured self pity post.
I hurt bad for parts of yesterday but just took the time to think more.

I was happy that I had lasted a little under a week without drinking so I took some satisfaction from that. But then also gave equal time to thinking why I felt I needed to drink and then once I did start why not have it handy.
I drank 5 or6 pints with a meal and a couple bottles then 4 small cans of stronger beer. I didn't need anything after the meal. I was drunk.
I was following the herd.

I need to not struggle with peer temptation or put myself in a position where I am vulnerable to it.