AF Anyone??

[prose]

AF Anyone??

I'm Baaaaaaaaaaaaack!
Hi everyone,
had an absolutely wonderful time, now am ready to tackle all the holiday stuff.
I have just skimmed through all the posts, I think I missed wakeupmom, which makes me sad because I wanted to say merry Christmas!!!
I managed 2 af nights and 2 really moderate nights, so am feeling good. back to the workout tomorrow, along with all the other stuff that has been neglected for 5 days!
You all sound like you are doing well! great see, I missed everyone,
P

[wakupmom]

AF Anyone??

Hi Prose,
Just checking before i go,and wanted to say."MERRY CHRISTMAS"!Well done for your a/f's.I will miss you and look forward to catching up when i get back.Take good care of yourself xx

Lots of love to everyone else xx

[fjones]

AF Anyone??

Hi All,

Moving into Day 7 - can't say that I feel fantastic because I don't - in fact I feel the same as I have been feeling when drinking except I don't have the angst of a hangover. At least I haven't been out of control for the last 7 days but I am very very down.

Hope you all are hanging in there.

[cuckoosnest83]

AF Anyone??

Good morning, all. Prose glad to have you back. Wakupmom we got to say goodbye so if you do happen to see this enjoy your vaca. Amelia you sound really great. Hope you all have a good day. Need to get to work.

Sweetpea, nice of you to check in here. In case our paths don't meet before the holidays have a lovely holiday and enjoy. Hope it is filled with family and fun.

Love all,
Cuckoo

[fjones]

AF Anyone??

Hi All Starting Day 8 and do not feel good at all. Very depressed and down. PTSD is running riot and this is when I will drink. Sleep pattern very disturbed and rest of life is not very organised - I am off from Friday for 16 days and hopefully can start to put some order back into my life following a very stressful sale of my house and move into rented accomodation. I remain exhausted but have a plan for the 16 days off. Hope you are all okay.

[AMELIA]

AF Anyone??

Hello All, Day 15 for me today!! Have had a couple of stressful days as I am delivering paintings (commissions) tommorrow....but, they are all packed up (finished) in the back of the van and ready to go! This is a first for me. In the past I would have been up all night the night before panicking and sweating just to finish them, but being off the booze seems to be helping somewhat!

Prose, nice to have you back!! Good on you for having your 2 AF days and mods inbetween. You are sounding very bright and breezy too! Glad you had a great time. What have you got planned for Christmas??? Anything exciting?

Fjones, Day 8!! Well done honey! I am sorry though that you are not feeling so hot.
Friday is only a couple of days away and then you can have a bit of rest and get everything a little calmer. I am the same, the last couple of days have been the first two that I have thought about drinking, purely because I am sick, tired, stressed and had deadlines.
But I didn't drink and I am glad that I didn't. Hope you manage to sort it out.

Cuckoo, Cindi, Maggiemoo, Ripple, Keeper and everyone else :h to you.

I HAVE to get myself some zzzzzzz's

[dcline]

AF Anyone??

Hi everyone,

I'm new on MWO. Read the book and I've done my homework, have my ammunition ready and will begin my first attempt at AF with hopes of moderation down the road. I start my sobriety, diet and exercise plan beginning the day after Christmas. It truly is the Christmas gift I got for myself and I'm scared as hell but excited to get started. I have the week off of work so I thought it would be a good week to start and... I want to be sober for New Years' Eve! I have my CDs, supps and pick up my Topa tomorrow. I will be getting a tread mill from my husband for Christmas and will find a couple of good books to keep me happy. I start a Yoga class in January. Any other words of wisdom as I prepare for my mission?

btw - it's been a while. What is moderation? Sounds silly but I don't even remember what moderate drinking was like. When to drink? How many to drink? It reminds me of a roommate in college who was bulemic. She asked me what a normal meal was because she didn't know. I know... I just need to be AF right now but obvious I'm a bit of a planner. Suggestions?

Your new friend, Debbie.

[AMELIA]

AF Anyone??

Hello Debbie and Welcome:welcome: ,

Well, this is one area that being a bit of a planner really helps - use it to your advantage and you will have a much better chance at success!! You have all the necessary tools in place as far as the book, cd, supps and topa. You have your exercise planned out and start date fixed.
I guess the next thing is your support structure. So yep, that of course is where this site comes in. If you have a partner are they fullly up to speed with what you hope to achieve?? Do you have a couple of close friends that you can rope in for moral support?? That would be the main area that I would consider other than the ones that you mentioned, so that if you have a really bad day and really, really want a drink, you can call someone objective who knows what your long term goals are, who can talk some sense to you. (Happened to me yesterday - I rang my partner and said 'would it be so bad if I had 1 glass of wine?' and he said 'yes it would because you would probably carry on and be really disappointed tomorrow!!' I knew he was right so I didnt have any).
The other thing I would say Debbie, is just that this is a big thing that we are doing - going AF for a period of time and then abstiening completely or moderating. You are excited and scared as hell because of that. You have been overdrinking for a particular reason, so you will probably have to deal with that as you go through your AF days. Go easy on yourself (be gentle with yourself).
Sending you my best wishes and really looking forward to hearing about your progress :h

[cuckoosnest83]

AF Anyone??

Good morning Amelia and Debbie,

Amelia good for you on abstaining yesterday. I know how hard it is especially when you think it is only one glass of wine. Well you won yesterday.

Debbie it sounds like you have a really good plan in place and the only other things I could add to what Amelia has said is one, you might not be able to sleep the first couple of nights which I found really hard. Calms forte (which comes with the supps), melatonin and l-tryptophan (both natural sleep aids and can be found in vitamin aisle of any pharmacy) helped me and two, be prepared for bad days and good days. Don't let the bad days break your spirit. Try to muddle through however best you can because the next day might not be so bad. Good luck and I wish you the absolute best as you start out on your new life.

Cuckoo

Prose, Cindi, Ripple, and everyone else good morning. Have a good day.

[prose]

AF Anyone??

Good morning everyone,
glad to have you here Debbie! Sounds like you are doing everything you need to do, after reading your post I realized that maybe part of my problem is not really having a good plan.
it is truly scary and exciting and a whole bunch of other emotions when you think about changing your life! Although I don't agree with a lot of the AA dogma, I do think breaking this down into little steps (the one day at a time thing) is helpful.
Amelia- wow, you go girl!!! your stars are very pretty!
Cuckoo, you are truly an inspiration!
Hello to everyone else here, I am off to work out then am getting all my Christmas groceries, take care everyone, P

[prose]

AF Anyone??

Just wanted to say a special hello and hang in there to fjones, having to sell a house, move and deal with the holiday season is alot going on! Sorry to hear you are not sleeping. I didn't take any of the supps but the calms forte is supposed to help I think...
I am sure when the sleeping gets itself worked out you will feel much better,
are you able to see anyone for help with the PTSD? If you are able to not drink with all this going on you are really doing well,
take care and hope to hear from you soon! P

[fjones]

AF Anyone??

Day 10. Prose I don't feel that I am doing well because I am barely functioning. I am seeing doctor tonight and asking for thyroid and hormone tests because I am also eitksrebingng her pre or actual menopausal which is contributing to the depression and mood swings. Will also get referral for more counselling. I am sick of having counselling for stuff that was done to me and for which I must take responsibility.

I have a business lunch today and going through shall I shant I but have decided that must get to the doctor without a drink. What happens after that I don't know.

Hope everyone else is hanging on in AFree.

[AMELIA]

AF Anyone??

Hello Fjone, I hope your appointment goes well with the doc and that he can find some way of helping to alleviate the symptoms that you are experiencing.
Thinking of you. xx Well done on 10 days!!

[fjones]

AF Anyone??

Hi All,

Going to business lunch. In the last 10 days I have avoided all alcohol related situations but this one I have to do. I have my plan - grab AF drink on arrival, at table state 'Not for me - I have an appointment at 4pm which I need a clear head for' and I am leaving at 2.45 to make that appointment. I have been trashed more than once in the last 4 years at work related dos and I am up for promotion in the New Year. Given present mental and emotional state alcohol could take me anywhere today so to drink it places my job at risk. Surely to God it can't be worth that. Thanks for all your support.

[Cinders]

AF Anyone??

fjones,

Good luck with the do today. No, drinking is definitely not worth hurting your career for.

Hang in there and smile. I find smiling helps me get through some of the rough periods.

Cindi