please help me not drink

[Quakegirl]

We just had a decent sized quake here (we've had more than 15,000 in the past couple of years, four of them over 6.0m) and I really want a glass of wine. I am so scared that it's a foreshock and another big one is coming.

I am going to try and focus on cooking dinner, and taking it a minute at a time. But I really, really, really want a wine right now

[kuya]

please help me not drink

Wine is not going to help. You are doing really well. This is the wine making you want to drink. Think about it logically. Everybody in ChCh who had a drink problem before the quakes will be drinking more, people who didn't won't.

Not drinking will help you cope with the stress of what you are enduring so much better.

You know that.

[SKendall]

please help me not drink

As Kuya says.

Drinking never solves anything, only complicates it. Thinking of you. I've lived through an earthquake and several tornadoes, luckily sober. Can't imagine how I would deal in an emergency drunk.

Hang on.

[Quakegirl]

please help me not drink

Thanks, Kura, you're right:

Not drinking will help you cope with the stress of what you are enduring so much better.


I have only just got over really bad PTSD (medication, unfortunately, I couldn't fix it myself or with just therapy for the life of me). If I drink to numb myself against the fear or what is to come, and don't feel the fear, I'll end up back at square one. I'll wake up tomorrow morning feeling not only keyed up and anxious, but with a chemical overlay, too.

But I just so badly want to just check out right now and not go through it all again..I know it might not happen. It probably won't happen. But I hate this feeling of being on edge and hyper sensitive and freaked out by every noise and creak. Drinking would take that away.

But you're right. It only solves things temporarily. And leaves me with a bigger mess on the other side.

[Quakegirl]

please help me not drink

Thanks, Skendall. It sucks, doesn't it? Gonna cook the kids' dinner. And just get through the next minute.

[kuya]

please help me not drink

How many days are you sober now Quakegirl?

[DriftyAlison0]

please help me not drink

Take it OMAAT if needbe. You may think a drink will help, but it will just make things worse.

[Quakegirl]

please help me not drink

21 days, Kuya.
I had an early dinner with the kids, cleaned up, and have bought an episode of a new show I've been waiting for. So will sit down and enjoy that, clear headed and sober, and try not to leap ahead to 'what ifs' around earthquakes and/or drinking.
Thanks, Alison, just have to get through til bed time.

[tree23]

please help me not drink

Quake,
I have pretty severe PTSD as well. Have you tried a low-dose beta-blocker to help with anxiety? My psychiatrist prescribed 10mg Propranolol to take after I experience a trigger. It really helps the physiological fight or flight reaction and allows the brain to process what is going on. You can actually feel it work and it is not addictive and has very few side effects, if any. I know having PTSD is one of the reasons my alcohol consumption became so problematic. I have also used EMDR with a lot of success. I wish you all the best!

[Glass Half Empty]

please help me not drink

Hi Quake
How are you going now? I hope you're still hanging in there and there have been no new quakes.

[Wildflowers]

please help me not drink

tree23;1456476 wrote: Quake,
I have pretty severe PTSD as well. Have you tried a low-dose beta-blocker to help with anxiety? My psychiatrist prescribed 10mg Propranolol to take after I experience a trigger. It really helps the physiological fight or flight reaction and allows the brain to process what is going on. You can actually feel it work and it is not addictive and has very few side effects, if any. I know having PTSD is one of the reasons my alcohol consumption became so problematic. I have also used EMDR with a lot of success. I wish you all the best!

Ditto here. I also have Graves Disease, GAD on top of PTSD. The Propranolol RX'd orig by my GP while waiting to get into my initial Endo helped, tho it made me itch. I now occasionally take Atenolol. No itching, helps with anxiety & not addictive. Low dose Topamax off label for PTSD, RXd by PDr. Helped some with cravings in beg. But I still get them at times, along with anxiety, fears. Much better as time progresses! Deep belly breathing, visualization, meditation. I also had a therapist who specialized in EMDR. I can overcome, stay sober & know contentment even during challenging times.

I find at certain intervals like a week before certain milestones, I can get squirrely. Your close to 30 days now Quake. Many people have this happen. I'm not trying to minimize your added stress, fears living in a quake zone has to be frightening!.... Just know others have managed to achieve sobriety & maintain it living in these areas.

Whenever I feel overly pressured, stressed, or over think things. I try & practice thinking about what I can control & letting go of what I can't.... Mindfulness, being aware of now, not yesterday, or tom. It takes practice.... Some days are easier then others. I also do what you & others do, I reach out, tell someone who understands. Getting it out of my head often cuts the problem, fear in half.

Your strong & sobriety will continue to make you stronger!... Drinking will do the opposite! The relief from alcohol is so short lived & the aftermath is sickening!... When you hear that voice that tells you a drink will make you feel better, tell that addictive voice its a liar & you will no longer drink Ethanol ~ Poison. You want to live the best life possible for yourself & your family.

You can & you will continue to achieve sobriety! Keep telling yourself this. The words you say & hear between your own ears are the ones that you will hear the loudest. I was told this by a wise person who has almost 4 yrs of sobriety.

Your doing great! :l

[Quakegirl]

please help me not drink

tree23;1456476 wrote: Quake,
I have pretty severe PTSD as well. Have you tried a low-dose beta-blocker to help with anxiety? My psychiatrist prescribed 10mg Propranolol to take after I experience a trigger. It really helps the physiological fight or flight reaction and allows the brain to process what is going on. You can actually feel it work and it is not addictive and has very few side effects, if any. I know having PTSD is one of the reasons my alcohol consumption became so problematic. I have also used EMDR with a lot of success. I wish you all the best!

Thanks, Tree, my psych also talked about this, and the woman I saw for CBT suggested EMDR. But then I doubled my AD dose (recommended by the psychiatrist) and I just gradually came right. Couldn't believe it. Suddenly I could get triggered by something quake-related, and my body would respond and go back to baseline, like a normal one.
We just haven't had that many decent shakes lately - two bad ones since mid Jan - so am out of practice. I will definitely look into the Propranolol if things go downhill again - sounds way safer and better than benzos. Or boozing

[Quakegirl]

please help me not drink

Glass Half Empty;1456487 wrote: Hi Quake
How are you going now? I hope you're still hanging in there and there have been no new quakes.

Thanks, Glass Half Empty, I am doing OK. Ate brownies, wish I hadn't. But stopped half way through the second one. Things have stayed quiet, which is good. Just never know in these parts when it's going to turn into something bigger. But so far, so good. Fingers crossed.

[Quakegirl]

please help me not drink

Wildflowers;1456510 wrote: Ditto here. I also have Graves Disease, GAD on top of PTSD. The Propranolol RX'd orig by my GP while waiting to get into my initial Endo helped, tho it made me itch. I now occasionally take Atenolol. No itching, helps with anxiety & not addictive. Low dose Topamax off label for PTSD, RXd by PDr. Helped some with cravings in beg. But I still get them at times, along with anxiety, fears. Much better as time progresses! Deep belly breathing, visualization, meditation. I also had a therapist who specialized in EMDR. I can overcome, stay sober & know contentment even during challenging times.

I find at certain intervals like a week before certain milestones, I can get squirrely. Your close to 30 days now Quake. Many people have this happen. I'm not trying to minimize your added stress, fears living in a quake zone has to be frightening!.... Just know others have managed to achieve sobriety & maintain it living in these areas.

Whenever I feel overly pressured, stressed, or over think things. I try & practice thinking about what I can control & letting go of what I can't.... Mindfulness, being aware of now, not yesterday, or tom. It takes practice.... Some days are easier then others. I also do what you & others do, I reach out, tell someone who understands. Getting it out of my head often cuts the problem, fear in half.

Your strong & sobriety will continue to make you stronger!... Drinking will do the opposite! The relief from alcohol is so short lived & the aftermath is sickening!... When you hear that voice that tells you a drink will make you feel better, tell that addictive voice its a liar & you will no longer drink Ethanol ~ Poison. You want to live the best life possible for yourself & your family.

You can & you will continue to achieve sobriety! Keep telling yourself this. The words you say & hear between your own ears are the ones that you will hear the loudest. I was told this by a wise person who has almost 4 yrs of sobriety.

Your doing great! :l

Thank you, Wildflowers, all the support here is so comforting.
Your reminder about mindfulness is a good one. I have all these tools I already know how to use, from years of battling anxiety and a high-stress lifestyle, but sometimes I just plain forget to use them. It's hard to just stay with the hard stuff, and not run far, far away (whatever form that running takes - the vehicle du jour being wine).

I am really going to be happy to be able to post tomorrow in the 'I Did Not Drink Yesterday thread, thanks to everybody's help.

Going to bed to read some Pema Chodron.

[Glass Half Empty]

please help me not drink

Quakegirl;1456528 wrote:

I am really going to be happy to be able to post tomorrow in the 'I Did Not Drink Yesterday thread, thanks to everybody's help.

We'll look forward to reading it! Take care :h