First step taken.

[Pennywise]

Hello all,

For note, I live in Sheffield UK.

So Ive taken the first step, Ive admitted to my partner that I do find it difficult to curb the booze and went to see the Dr this week.

I don't want to play down my affliction to drink, but I don't drink in the morning, I don't usually drink in the afternoon. I work full time and get a daily weekday request for beer at about teatime from something inside me (somewhere). I do sometimes at weekends have a few beers in the afternoon while with friends watching Football etc (I'm a Sheffield Wednesday fan (which is probably a cause of my drink issues). I don't touch anything stronger than regular 4% ish lagers.

I believe that I do have a fairly good self level of will power, I did decide to stop smoking about 2 years ago and succeeded without any medical help. I have since had the occasional odd smoke, but never ever go back as a matter of course, thats exactly where I want to be with drinking. Not making myself never have a beer, not wanting to feel bad about having the occasional 1, 2 or even 8 on a weekend, but just to cut out the unnecessary beers consumed either alone or with my partner while she doesn't drink at home during the week watching little or nothing on the telly.

In a regular evening I'll have probably 6 - 8 tins of lager. I may have more at the weekend, but at first its these (what I call) empty beers that I want to curb. I use the term empty as they, for me, are unnecessary and I have them for the reason only that Ive had them everyday (other than probably a handful) I remember for the last 10 years.

Ive tried to cut down the beers on occasions to varying degrees of success on will power alone and (as mentioned afore) have had brief periods of having no booze.

The 2 main problems I have with cutting down and/or having periods totally dry are:-

a - Firstly, the craving I get between about teatime and bedtime for beers and secondly, and for me just as or even more importantly.

b - I cannot sleep at night. This results in me feeling terrible the morning after and also guilty for keeping the Mrs from having a decent night's sleep too.

I think I basically need 2 things:-

Something to assist the numbing of my Booze craving.

and something to take to knock me out to sleep thro my body's craving for beers at bedtime.

Please could someone give me advice / tips / poss medications to assist these 2 main problems??

Any Help Gratefully appreciated.

Thank you.

[beatle]

First step taken.

Yes, you have taken the first and most important step.

If you do not feel you are physically addicted, I think the MWO programme will work great for you, without the medication (topomax). You can probably taper down (one beer less a night) with motivation and the support you get here. The MWO supplements give you help with sleeping. If it is not enough, there are other ways to help with sleeping (see the many threads in the Holisitic forum). Cravings are addressed with kudzu and L-Glutamine, and sleep with a variety of natural sleep medications.

[Accountable for Me]

First step taken.

Yep - it helps disclosing your fear of not being able to curb the alcohol to a loved one.

I also think this program will work very well for you. I think you have identified within yourself that you are starting to have increased cravings and want to keep them at bay. Good plan, before it possibly escalates to become a problem.

I started where you were.... Drank a couple after work, a few on the weekends and before I knew it, I was craving it more often and then it escalated into something more than I could handle.

Welcome pennywise!

[Guest]

First step taken.

Hi Pennywise and welcome.
I suggest you do the recommended 30 days of abstinence and then consider whether or not you wish to moderate.

Love and strength to you,

Starlight Impress x

[paula]

First step taken.

Hi Pennywise and welcome,
Willpower alone never cured alcoholism, and you don't have to drink in the morning to be
an alcoholic, I'm an alcoholic and don't drink a.m. but as soon as I pick up that first drink
usually an evening I wouldn't know when to stop. You could ask your gp he may be able
to prescribe something to take edge off your cravings, and maybe a sleep tablet. But there
is no magic cure. Read the mwo book, plenty of advice in it. I haven't had a drink for some
time now and feel really well.
Best wishes to you Paula.

[Pennywise]

First step taken.

Thank you all for your kind, sympathetic and helpful responses.

Beatle, you mentioned Kudzu and L-Glut as possibilities for curbing the cravings. Please could you point me to possible places whereby these would both be found??

Furthermore to that, how much of each should I take and when daily??

To address Starlights point, the 30 day abstinence would be great, but for me that sounds a little like a Catch22, if I could go 30 days, I don't think Id have the drinking problem. As I know I couldn't do the 30 days, is a big suggestion to me that I do have a demon within.

And in reference to the drinking in the morning reference, I apologise for that, reading back that could read a little unsympathetic to folk who find they do, and for that I sincerely apologise. The reason I mentioned it tho was that it was the first Q my GP asked me after I said that I believe I was at some level dependent on drink.

Sorry for my further Qs.

[Guest]

First step taken.

Pennywise,
You can order quality kudzu and L-Glut from the M.W.O. health store.

I do really recommend you try the 30 days, Pennywise..........I completely relate to your doubting you can do it........that`s exactly how I felt. No way was I ever going to get sober, only I did, almost 3 mths ago. If I can go AF, anyone can.

Starlight Impress x

[Pennywise]

First step taken.

Thanks again Starlight,

Ive probably only had 5 single days in total throughout the last 10+ years tho. From that thought how can I do 30??

Im currently tryin to cut down by diluting my drinks, drinking the same 6 pints but making em into 4 lagers and 2 Lemonades and drinking them as Shandies.

I just need something to assist the cravings and Sleep issues. From there I can look towards, either diluting further or staying off the booze totally during say Mondays - Thursdays at first.

Any advice how many and when I should use Kudzu / L-Glut combo??

And any advice re the sleep problem??

Many Thanks again.

[nancy]

First step taken.

I think the cravings lessen when you have less. So it's a chicken or the egg situation.

I find it not that difficult to do longer alcohol-free stretches now that I have some under my belt.

Regarding sleeping... alcohol actually reduces the quality of your sleep. Look that up on the Internet.

Have you adjusted your diet and made lifestyle changes that are good for helping you sleep? How much caffeine do you take in? Do you exercise? Look up sleep hygeine on the Internet as there are better ways than booze to help sleep. Are you anxious and thinking a lot, so you can't sleep? I am not a believer in sleeping pills because you can become psychologically or physically addicted.

Early on when quitting drinking I think they are ok on a temporary basis. Have you ever tried melatonin? Not sure if it is available in stores near you but probably online? I have taken rapid release melatonin (natural supplement) a few times and it knocks me out quickly.

You need to give yourself sometime to adjust your sleeping patterns to a diet with no booze if that is what you choose.

I find it very interesting that you quit smoking successfully and can also have them once in a while. I think that is a very positive sign because the two addictions are similar. Some drugs that act on one addiction often work for the other one. Also, it's very positive that you are converting to shandies. It's like you are scaling down, like turning your pints into shandies. If you can do that successfully longer term, that's wonderful. maybe your next step could be no drinking on weekdays. It's actually not that hard.

About doses for kudzu and lglut, this has come up a lot on the message boards recently so you might want to do a search. of course the book outlines all the appropriate doses.

[paula]

First step taken.

You can also get kudzu and L glut from some branches of holland and barratt.
And Julian Graves also do some of the supps. You should be able to find what
you want in that super shopping complex in Sheffield ! I love shopping there,
when I come to visit my family in Yorks.
I also recommend Stars advice of 30 af days.
Paula. x

[beatle]

First step taken.

Pennywise, the whole programme is spelled out in the MWO book. It is simple, really. It just takes dedication, not much more, since you can order all the products, including the kudzu, l-glut, and supplements. You can also do it "on your own", by following the supplemental programme, which is listed on the website, and purchasing your own products locally. There is no sales press here.

I reccommend you take it slowly, try to cut down and eventually get to a 30-days abstinence. Starlight is the true inspiration to most of us here, but she sometimes seems to forget that she didn't have such an easy go of it at first (I'll suffer for saying that!)-- really, if you want this you will get it, so go the way that is best for you. Just keep at it.

[Mags]

First step taken.

Pennywise
I can tell you are definitely headed in the right direction and I think we can definitely help you. We would certainly love to try. You have lots of questions. Almost all of them can be answered by reading RJ's book. The good news is it's short and cheap and very easy to read - even fun to read. You can download it directly from this website so you can have it in your hands in a few minutes for only a few dollars. It explains the whole program and how to use the kudzu, the L-glutamine and the calms forte which are the three supplements you sound like you need the most right now. You can also order them directly from this site for the same price you would pay at any store and you can be sure of their quality.
Do yourself a favor, download and read the book from the MWO store, keep reading and posting and keep in touch with us. We are glad you came aboard.
:welcome:

[july232007]

First step taken.

Pennywise,

The MWO book is just the thing to read over those shandies. You will have your questions answered in a well thoughtout and quick way. It can be read in a night or two.

Regarding sleep, after 3-5 days alcohol free most people start feeing better and after 14 days AF you should notice a better level of rest. The supplements at the nutritional store here helped me immensely early on.

Good luck.

July

[Pennywise]

First step taken.

Thanks again for your responses, I yesterday got some Kudzu, L-Glut, Calms pills, along with the Amino Acids I already had + sleeping pills, I may be able to give this a decent shot.

[slightlysuze]

First step taken.

:welcome: Pennywise

Lots of good advice/information on this thread already....I thought I'd just chip in with something about the sleeping problems. My experience was that when I went AF my sleep patterns were totally disrupted, I felt exhausted and wrung out...almost like a hangover LOL....but I hung on because other people here had told me it would probably happen. They were right...by the time I got to 40 days AF I was sleeping like a baby That 's just one benefit of giving up the sauce.....and there are so many more.

Good Luck.....come to MWO often....there's always someone around and you'll get lots of help and good ideas.

Suze x