do you ever get to the point

[greeneyes]

that you don't see yourself as an alcoholic? Roberta says some people just move on from this site. I look like one, probably smell like one, but don't quite see myself as one. (would that be denial?) I know I have the potential to get back to being reasonable. Or do I just have to say to myself - this is it for me. When I did cigarettes I would have a puff off someone's and theneventually be smoking my brains out. Is it a addictive personality? Is always going to haunt me? I don't even think of cigarettes now, can it be like that for me with alcohol?

[Not Happy Hour-Happy Life]

do you ever get to the point

Green eyes, that's a great question, and I wonder the same thing. For some people, maybe this site can simply be treatment~ kind of like chemo~ and when they've finished, they shut the door and look back. But for me, if I'm going to fix ME, than I need to stay around here.

I think that my brain has emotionally forgiven myself for drinking too much. Physically, I feel more alert. It's not just the lack of hangover~ I'm also not as confused as I used to be.

"The unsteady gait, confusion and poor memory that many of us associate with someone who drinks excessively is just as likely to be caused by a lack of thiamin as by too much to drink."

So, my million dollar question is: I've stopped drinking. I'm flushing my body with water, exercising, and taking supplements. If the root cause to the unsteadiness and memory confusion was booze, but I've corrected it with thiamin, am I cured? Have I learned my lesson? Can I promise myself that I'll be a "good girl?"

I don't have those answers yet.

[betty boop]

do you ever get to the point

Hi, I have been here for 15 months, when I first started I was drinking every waking hour, if I woke during the night I would drink to get back to sleep and would wake up in the morning shaking and craving a drink ........

I would go to work and find every excuse to call back home to drink( work with my parents and only across the road) so I would 'forget' things a lot ........

I was counting the minutes till my next drink all of the time ..........

I have to admit that I still enjoy a glass of wine with dinner, but I can honestly honestly say that I don't think about it during the day and the thought of drinking in the morning makes my stomach turn ......

Hope that helps ............

[greeneyes]

do you ever get to the point

BB, yeah I can do the 24 / 7 thing. I do think the CDs and kudzu are helping as well as this site. I really did notice a diference with the CDs. I guess I'm a good candidate for hypnosis, thank goodness. I just look at myself and wonder how did I get to this point? And why? I had a normal childhood and all. Genetics maybe. I guess it doesn't matter - but to just find your way out.

[Croft]

do you ever get to the point

betty boop;262624 wrote: Hi, I have been here for 15 months, when I first started I was drinking every waking hour, if I woke during the night I would drink to get back to sleep and would wake up in the morning shaking and craving a drink ........

I would go to work and find every excuse to call back home to drink( work with my parents and only across the road) so I would 'forget' things a lot ........

I was counting the minutes till my next drink all of the time ..........

I have to admit that I still enjoy a glass of wine with dinner, but I can honestly honestly say that I don't think about it during the day and the thought of drinking in the morning makes my stomach turn ......

Hope that helps ............

I really hope that someday....the thought of drinking in the morning makes my stomach turn. It is, unfortuntately my worst craving time.

[greeneyes]

do you ever get to the point

me too, she says with a sigh.

[Croft]

do you ever get to the point

little toes with smiley faces on them: I really can relate to this question. I know I am "one", but don't tell anyone. I need help. But I still want to be in denile as well. And I am still struggling despite some minor accomplishements. I only drank 2 glasses of wine yesterday, which is GREAT for me. But I am already drinking this morning. Apparently celebrating drinking only 2 glasses of wine yesterday.

[greeneyes]

do you ever get to the point

croft, some wise person on this site pointed out that if you eat and hydrate, your body cries less for drink. I just must train the brain. And eat or "drink healthy beverages". Which brings me to the CDs. Hubby is sooooo encouraging with them. I remember when I quit nicotine, how free i felt. not having to see how many I had , is the store still open, looking for matches, lighters, all that. I want to feel like that with alcohol. To not even have it as an issue. Oh well. One step at a time.

[Croft]

do you ever get to the point

greeneyes;262641 wrote: croft, some wise person on this site pointed out that if you eat and hydrate, your body cries less for drink. I just must train the brain. And eat or "drink healthy beverages". Which brings me to the CDs. Hubby is sooooo encouraging with them. I remember when I quit nicotine, how free i felt. not having to see how many I had , is the store still open, looking for matches, lighters, all that. I want to feel like that with alcohol. To not even have it as an issue. Oh well. One step at a time.

One step at a time is right. It is all I can. Some of them are backwards, but I do feel that overall progress is forward. At least on a cellular level. And yes, I spend way too much time scouting out new liquor stores. Trying to figure out how to sneak it into the house and then how to sneak the empty bottles back out. I hide them in my gym bag, in my brief case, in my lunch sack. I stuff the empty bottles of beer with napkins to soak up the back wash so it does not leak into my gym bag. I am constantly looking for a dumpster to throw out the empty. Most go dumpster diving, but not me, I do dumpter filling. I have been known to stop at the liquor store, buy a six-pack, down as much as I can on the 20 minute drive home and throw the rest (including full beers) in a dumpter and then come home, claiming to not have drank. Lyer, lyer, pants on fire!

ps - how do you spell lyer - lier - dang

[Thankful]

do you ever get to the point

GE - perhaps you shouldn't think about being an alcoholic the rest of your life. I had a conversation with a friend's mom many years ago and I never forgot it. We were at a party and I was going to grab another beer. I asked her if I could get her a drink and she said very sadly "no, I'm an alcoholic". I apologized and I said that she didn't have to admit that to me and that I didn't mean to make her feel bad. She said, well that's what AA tells us to say. I asked her when was the last time she drank and she stated it was about 20 yrs ago!! Twenty friggin yrs w/o a drink and she still felt/feels that she had to call herself an alcoholic and feel bad about herself! She should have been happy and proud, but no....she was programed to say for the rest of her life..."I'm an alcoholic" and hang her head in shame.

Yes, we need to admit to ourselves that we have a diease. But there are so my other dieases out there and the people with those others, do not have to wear a label or a title for the rest of there lives, so why should we? I think it's a little counter-productive if you ask me and it's a stigma that AA uses to make people feel guilty. So don't waste your precious energy thinking about it.

You may be in a bit of denial. Only you can really answer that question. But you are here getting help and that is what matters. Just concentrate on what you have to do each day to make your self well.

Just for today, how are you going to stay away from alcohol? Then ask yourself that question each morning.


Love, Me
:l

To All the AAs out there ~ I'm really not trying to bash AA, folks. Just my opinion of what I have witnessed with so many people. I never want to offend anyone here. If it works for you, great. I couldn't be happier for you. Really.

[betty boop]

do you ever get to the point

Croft and Greeneyes, On my first days I would sit with blackcurrant juice in a wine glass, even gulping the first one back like I would if it was wine .......

Be strong it passes, I promise .....

[greeneyes]

do you ever get to the point

Ahhh croft, I think I said something about thoughts on a celluar level. And it is true. "My liver and pancreas are clean and pure" she says to her little cells. I'm serious. But I know I have to stop.

[Croft]

do you ever get to the point

Thankful;262675 wrote: GE - perhaps you shouldn't think about being an alcoholic the rest of your life. I had a conversation with a friend's mom many years ago and I never forgot it. We were at a party and I was going to grab another beer. I asked her if I could get her a drink and she said very sadly "no, I'm an alcoholic". I apologized and I said that she didn't have to admit that to me and that I didn't mean to make her feel bad. She said, well that's what AA tells us to say. I asked her when was the last time she drank and she stated it was about 20 yrs ago!! Twenty friggin yrs w/o a drink and she still felt/feels that she had to call herself an alcoholic and feel bad about herself! She should have been happy and proud, but no....she was programed to say for the rest of her life..."I'm an alcoholic" and hang her head in shame.

Yes, we need to admit to ourselves that we have a diease. But there are so my other dieases out there and the people with those others, do not have to wear a label or a title for the rest of there lives, so why should we? I think it's a little counter-productive if you ask me and it's a stigma that AA uses to make people feel guilty. So don't waste your precious energy thinking about it.

You may be in a bit of denial. Only you can really answer that question. But you are here getting help and that is what matters. Just concentrate on what you have to do each day to make your self well.

Just for today, how are you going to stay away from alcohol? Then ask yourself that question each morning.


Love, Me
:l

To All the AAs out there ~ I'm really not trying to bash AA, folks. Just my opinion of what I have witnessed with so many people. I never want to offend anyone here. If it works for you, great. I couldn't be happier for you. Really.

This story makes me very sad. I agree that she should not have had to live in shame after overcoming such a difficult addiction.

[tlrgs]

do you ever get to the point

hi there... greeneyes.just take it on day at a time ...read and post ..yea i go to aa meeting but for me .i started doing things my own way. i read and learn from everything i do.aa is one way. my way out is another .but when it all comes together it all sound the same. take what you want from everything and use it.. you are the only one that can help yourself. until you come to terms with that. you will always be the same.and for me am a person with a problem.and i wake up everyday and say am not going to drink today.and why because i dont want too .rem god help those who help themselfs

[slightlysuze]

do you ever get to the point

Just a little thought to throw in for you......try to avoid falling into any HALT situations....Hungry, Angry, Lonely or Tired........these things are triggers for most people.

I find Hungry and Angry the most tricky.....so I arrange to eat regularly (good stuff like fruit, nuts etc) during the day and if I feel angry I go out walking the dogs....stomp stomp stomp! Kick up leaves etc!

Always have a back-up plan for tricky moments.....like a list of things to divert you.....phone a pal, clear out a cupboard, surf MWO etc. Write the list down if it helps so that you don't forget the brilliant ideas you've listed!

Stick with it....it all gets better as you go along.....don't try to moderate too soon.

Good Luck



Suze x