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[Nanette]

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Thank you Sunbeam. So far so good. I believe I am on day 20.

[Nanette]

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Thank you Sunbeam. So far so good. I believe I am on day 20.

[Byrdlady]

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This is my Quit....Patrick

This is how you should protect your quit by Patrick:

I was watching Full Metal Jacket last night and the riflemans creed made me think of this.Sorry if its corny.

This is my Quit.There are many like it but this one is mine.
My Quit is my best friend.It is my life.I must master it as I master my life.
My Quit without me is useless.Without my Quit I am useless.I must keep my Quit true.
I must be stronger than my enemy who is trying to kill me.I must kill him before he kills me.
I will.
My Quit and I know that what counts in this war is not the empty promises we make,the bullshit we tell ourselves and others or the false dawns that we tell ourselves"this time its for good.It is the Quit that counts.WE WILL QUIT.
My Quit is human, even as I, because it is my life.Thus, I will learn it as a brother,it strengths and its weaknesses,its moods ,its ups and its downs.
I will keep my Quit clean and ready even as I am clean and ready.We will become part of each other.We will...
I swear this creed.My Quit and I are the defenders of my family.We are the masters of our enemy.We are the saviors of my life.
So be it until victory is mine and there is no enemy.
Only peace.

[Byrdlady]

Tool box

This is my Quit....Patrick

This is how you should protect your quit by Patrick:

I was watching Full Metal Jacket last night and the riflemans creed made me think of this.Sorry if its corny.

This is my Quit.There are many like it but this one is mine.
My Quit is my best friend.It is my life.I must master it as I master my life.
My Quit without me is useless.Without my Quit I am useless.I must keep my Quit true.
I must be stronger than my enemy who is trying to kill me.I must kill him before he kills me.
I will.
My Quit and I know that what counts in this war is not the empty promises we make,the bullshit we tell ourselves and others or the false dawns that we tell ourselves"this time its for good.It is the Quit that counts.WE WILL QUIT.
My Quit is human, even as I, because it is my life.Thus, I will learn it as a brother,it strengths and its weaknesses,its moods ,its ups and its downs.
I will keep my Quit clean and ready even as I am clean and ready.We will become part of each other.We will...
I swear this creed.My Quit and I are the defenders of my family.We are the masters of our enemy.We are the saviors of my life.
So be it until victory is mine and there is no enemy.
Only peace.

[Lavande]

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:spam:

[Lavande]

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:spam:

[Tess-2]

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Sober Visitor;1339478 wrote: A picture says a thousand words! These images depict exactly how I felt when I was drinking! TRAPED IN AL HELL!

[img][/IMG]

[img][/IMG]

[img][/IMG]



[img][/IMG]

[img][/IMG]

I just found these images. Wow! They tell the entire terrible AL story without a single word. Thank you, Sober Visitor, for the reminder.

[Tess-2]

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Sober Visitor;1339478 wrote: A picture says a thousand words! These images depict exactly how I felt when I was drinking! TRAPED IN AL HELL!

[img][/IMG]

[img][/IMG]

[img][/IMG]



[img][/IMG]

[img][/IMG]

I just found these images. Wow! They tell the entire terrible AL story without a single word. Thank you, Sober Visitor, for the reminder.

[Faithful]

Tool box

When I quit smoking 12 years ago, I had an affirmation that I had posted in my kitchen that said, "I am confident in my ability to resist temptation" and I repeated it often whenever I was having a strong craving. I am on Day 4 AF now and I started using the same technique. I went on the Spiritual River site and took some things he said along with some things I found here on MWO and I printed them out and cut them into daily affirmations and tucked them into my clothing. Whenever I had a craving or thought of drinking, I pulled it out and read it. Hope this helps any of you:

But what if I fail to stay clean? The alternative is misery.
You can be sure that you will be miserable for the rest of your existence.

Sobriety is a chance at true happiness.
But if you stay stuck in addiction then you are certain to remain miserable.

Unfortunately it is much like banging your head into a wall until you realize that your head hurts
and that there is a better way to make a hole (try using a hammer!).

Using alcohol no longer makes me happy. There has to be a better way.

If you do nothing and just continue on as you have been, what will happen?
What results will you get? Are you suddenly going to become happy by drinking?

The idea of continuing on in the misery of addiction, doing nothing, is completely unacceptable. Nothing can justify that misery.

As your addiction progresses and gets worse and worse over time the amount
of misery that you must endure keeps growing and growing.

At some point you have to surrender fully. You must give up the struggle.
You have to let everything slide, not just your addiction but every part of
your life that you are clinging to and holding on to. Your desperate need
for control is actually keeping you stuck in addiction.

At some point you have to surrender fully. You must give up the struggle. You have to let everything slide,
not just your addiction but every part of your life that you are clinging to and holding on to. Your desperate
need for control is actually keeping you stuck in addiction.

In this moment of full surrender you will get a glimpse at your possible future. And you will see that there is no hope if you continue to self medicate. You will finally see through your denial and realize that drugs or alcohol are never going to bring you lasting happiness.

Our denial says that we are just fine and able to enjoy our life just fine in spite of our alcoholism. We deny the fact that we are actually miserable because of our drinking.


How does an alcoholic continue to punish themselves with misery for decades and decades? They do it because they have lowered their awareness, lowered their consciousness, and blocked out the fact that they are actually miserable. They keep doing it because of their denial. That is the only way that they can continue?they have to convince themselves that they are actually happy, or that happiness is only found in the bottle.


It only makes you think that you are happy, or that you can get drunk whenever you want and achieve instant happiness. But the truth is that you are miserable 99 percent of the time.

I want you to understand that I did not have any illusions about this, I was not secretly thinking in the back of my mind that I might somehow be successful at drinking in the future. I really knew fully and completely that I was alcoholic.


I admitted to alcoholism, but I would not embrace the solution. So I stayed stuck in my alcoholism for another year. I went back out and drank some more, got some more misery for myself.


See your drinking for the crutch that it really is. Honestly see how it controls you and dominates you, even though you ?enjoy? it. Measure your time spent being ?happy? while drinking, and notice that you are almost always miserable, but hanging on to happy memories of drinking.

If nothing changes, nothing changes. The scope of what you are trying to do (quitting drinking) is truly massive. You are trying to change your whole life. This takes a huge effort. Do not underestimate it. Go big or go home.


Fitness is huge in recovery. Most people disregard fitness due to inherent laziness. Push yourself to exercise regularly and reap huge benefits. Some recovery programs are based on exercise alone?that is how powerful it is.

If you are truly grateful, relapse is impossible. Gratitude is the mindset for learning and growth experiences. Practicing gratitude enhances recovery and leads to more learning and thus more growth.


I believed that life was a party, and that you were not celebrating life unless you were living it up and getting wasted every day. Somehow I believed that the only way to live passionately was to drink heavily. These ideas were obviously from the ?good old days? when drinking was still fun, and hanging onto this illusion was just another part of my denial.

The truth of the matter was that I was miserable for 99% of the time, and it was a rare moment when I could find the right level of toxicity where I could even claim to be ?happy? in my drunken stupor.

Denial is the trap that you can control your drinking some of the time. If you hang on to those successes, but ignore the train wreck that is your life, then you are in denial.


Now the problem with quitting drinking on your own is that this is a thinking disease?..our mind is messed up and we our in a battle with ourselves to try and control our own drinking. Our mind created the problem of addiction and now we are trying to solve that problem with the same mind that created it.

I get excited watching the alcohol free
days add up and I don't want to mess that up.
I've done this for me and I'm proud I started
taking care of myself.

Equally important is something we call the "mental game." This is short-hand for the process of changing our thinking and attitudes toward: alcohol, drinking, our emotions, and our behavior. We must learn a whole new approach to problems in life (we don't try to drink them away, any more), and we don't see alcohol as a "reward" for having accomplished something. We learn to tolerate distress, including the urges and impulses and cravings for drink, and we allow them to naturally pass away, without giving in to them. We learn not to engage in battles within our minds about drinking; we step away from that whole process, and choose to think about, and do, something else.

Probably my simplest technique, and one of the most effective: When I realize that I have some thoughts or urges about drinking, I just quietly say, to myself--

I don't drink.

It is as if I am just giving myself a gentle reminder, helping me to remember, and truly realize, that drinking thoughts, urges, and cravings are no longer truly relevant in my life. They are just leftovers, mental habits, from a life that I am no longer living. And that feels REALLY good.

When you know how you want the rest of your life to be,
you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible!
Stay SOBER...it's way more rewarding!!!

You are in control of the computer of your mind, you tell the brain whether you are going to drink, eat, smoke, chew. Once you relaize that you are the one in control it's pretty empowering. I also control how I feel. Happy, depressed, sad, angry, I get to decide. If you make the right decisions you could be happy, thin sober and healthy everyday!! It really is all up to you. Unlearn the bad habits and actions and feelings that hold you back.

[Faithful]

Tool box

When I quit smoking 12 years ago, I had an affirmation that I had posted in my kitchen that said, "I am confident in my ability to resist temptation" and I repeated it often whenever I was having a strong craving. I am on Day 4 AF now and I started using the same technique. I went on the Spiritual River site and took some things he said along with some things I found here on MWO and I printed them out and cut them into daily affirmations and tucked them into my clothing. Whenever I had a craving or thought of drinking, I pulled it out and read it. Hope this helps any of you:

But what if I fail to stay clean? The alternative is misery.
You can be sure that you will be miserable for the rest of your existence.

Sobriety is a chance at true happiness.
But if you stay stuck in addiction then you are certain to remain miserable.

Unfortunately it is much like banging your head into a wall until you realize that your head hurts
and that there is a better way to make a hole (try using a hammer!).

Using alcohol no longer makes me happy. There has to be a better way.

If you do nothing and just continue on as you have been, what will happen?
What results will you get? Are you suddenly going to become happy by drinking?

The idea of continuing on in the misery of addiction, doing nothing, is completely unacceptable. Nothing can justify that misery.

As your addiction progresses and gets worse and worse over time the amount
of misery that you must endure keeps growing and growing.

At some point you have to surrender fully. You must give up the struggle.
You have to let everything slide, not just your addiction but every part of
your life that you are clinging to and holding on to. Your desperate need
for control is actually keeping you stuck in addiction.

At some point you have to surrender fully. You must give up the struggle. You have to let everything slide,
not just your addiction but every part of your life that you are clinging to and holding on to. Your desperate
need for control is actually keeping you stuck in addiction.

In this moment of full surrender you will get a glimpse at your possible future. And you will see that there is no hope if you continue to self medicate. You will finally see through your denial and realize that drugs or alcohol are never going to bring you lasting happiness.

Our denial says that we are just fine and able to enjoy our life just fine in spite of our alcoholism. We deny the fact that we are actually miserable because of our drinking.


How does an alcoholic continue to punish themselves with misery for decades and decades? They do it because they have lowered their awareness, lowered their consciousness, and blocked out the fact that they are actually miserable. They keep doing it because of their denial. That is the only way that they can continue?they have to convince themselves that they are actually happy, or that happiness is only found in the bottle.


It only makes you think that you are happy, or that you can get drunk whenever you want and achieve instant happiness. But the truth is that you are miserable 99 percent of the time.

I want you to understand that I did not have any illusions about this, I was not secretly thinking in the back of my mind that I might somehow be successful at drinking in the future. I really knew fully and completely that I was alcoholic.


I admitted to alcoholism, but I would not embrace the solution. So I stayed stuck in my alcoholism for another year. I went back out and drank some more, got some more misery for myself.


See your drinking for the crutch that it really is. Honestly see how it controls you and dominates you, even though you ?enjoy? it. Measure your time spent being ?happy? while drinking, and notice that you are almost always miserable, but hanging on to happy memories of drinking.

If nothing changes, nothing changes. The scope of what you are trying to do (quitting drinking) is truly massive. You are trying to change your whole life. This takes a huge effort. Do not underestimate it. Go big or go home.


Fitness is huge in recovery. Most people disregard fitness due to inherent laziness. Push yourself to exercise regularly and reap huge benefits. Some recovery programs are based on exercise alone?that is how powerful it is.

If you are truly grateful, relapse is impossible. Gratitude is the mindset for learning and growth experiences. Practicing gratitude enhances recovery and leads to more learning and thus more growth.


I believed that life was a party, and that you were not celebrating life unless you were living it up and getting wasted every day. Somehow I believed that the only way to live passionately was to drink heavily. These ideas were obviously from the ?good old days? when drinking was still fun, and hanging onto this illusion was just another part of my denial.

The truth of the matter was that I was miserable for 99% of the time, and it was a rare moment when I could find the right level of toxicity where I could even claim to be ?happy? in my drunken stupor.

Denial is the trap that you can control your drinking some of the time. If you hang on to those successes, but ignore the train wreck that is your life, then you are in denial.


Now the problem with quitting drinking on your own is that this is a thinking disease?..our mind is messed up and we our in a battle with ourselves to try and control our own drinking. Our mind created the problem of addiction and now we are trying to solve that problem with the same mind that created it.

I get excited watching the alcohol free
days add up and I don't want to mess that up.
I've done this for me and I'm proud I started
taking care of myself.

Equally important is something we call the "mental game." This is short-hand for the process of changing our thinking and attitudes toward: alcohol, drinking, our emotions, and our behavior. We must learn a whole new approach to problems in life (we don't try to drink them away, any more), and we don't see alcohol as a "reward" for having accomplished something. We learn to tolerate distress, including the urges and impulses and cravings for drink, and we allow them to naturally pass away, without giving in to them. We learn not to engage in battles within our minds about drinking; we step away from that whole process, and choose to think about, and do, something else.

Probably my simplest technique, and one of the most effective: When I realize that I have some thoughts or urges about drinking, I just quietly say, to myself--

I don't drink.

It is as if I am just giving myself a gentle reminder, helping me to remember, and truly realize, that drinking thoughts, urges, and cravings are no longer truly relevant in my life. They are just leftovers, mental habits, from a life that I am no longer living. And that feels REALLY good.

When you know how you want the rest of your life to be,
you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible!
Stay SOBER...it's way more rewarding!!!

You are in control of the computer of your mind, you tell the brain whether you are going to drink, eat, smoke, chew. Once you relaize that you are the one in control it's pretty empowering. I also control how I feel. Happy, depressed, sad, angry, I get to decide. If you make the right decisions you could be happy, thin sober and healthy everyday!! It really is all up to you. Unlearn the bad habits and actions and feelings that hold you back.

[Siren136]

Tool box

My health and weight are my main reasons for quitting now. Things that have helped me lose weight in the past (before I drank so much) were to take an outfit I wanted to fit into and hang it on the refrigerator door, to remind me of my goals. I plan to do the same now except I'll hang it on the liquor cabinet.

I also plan to stare at myself naked if I want a drink, and look at what alcohol has done to my body. That might not work for a lot of people but it really motivates me.

[Siren136]

Tool box

My health and weight are my main reasons for quitting now. Things that have helped me lose weight in the past (before I drank so much) were to take an outfit I wanted to fit into and hang it on the refrigerator door, to remind me of my goals. I plan to do the same now except I'll hang it on the liquor cabinet.

I also plan to stare at myself naked if I want a drink, and look at what alcohol has done to my body. That might not work for a lot of people but it really motivates me.

[Rainyday]

Tool box

Going to post this in a couple of places. I didn't know this but Ativan can be prescribed for alcohol withdrawal seizures. Here's one article, but there are more out there:

Lorazepam for Alcohol Withdrawal Treatment | eHow.com

Doctors prescribe lorazepam to quell short-term anxiety symptoms or to manage the anxiety sometimes associated with depression. The medication also works to treat panic attacks and anxiety. All these effects can be useful when a patient is experiencing withdrawal from alcohol. Seizure is another symptom of withdrawal from extremely heavy, prolonged alcohol use, and lorazepam can also be an effective tool for preventing these seizures.

Among the benzodiazepines, lorazepam in particular may be good for alcohol-withdrawal treatment because of the short time it spends in the body, making it safer for people with liver problems, and because of its relative lack of effects on the respiratory and circulatory systems. Lorazepam may not only prevent the first seizure from occurring among recovering alcoholics, but also prevent future seizures after one has already occurred. Hospitalization is common in patients who suffer repeated seizures, so lorazepam may be useful in cutting down on hospital admissions.

Lorazepam is, however, potentially addictive, so doctors must use care in prescribing it and monitoring its use, especially in patients with alcoholism or other known addictive disorders. Withdrawal effects can sometimes be seen in lorazepam users after as little as a week of use. To avoid dependence-related issues, doctors generally try to prescribe the lowest effective dose and for the shortest possible duration. The drug can be dangerous, leading to respiratory depression, and possibly even death, in overdose situations with alcohol.

In addition to its anxiety-reducing properties, it also has strong amnesic qualities, meaning patients who take it sometimes lose memory of the time spent under its influence, though tolerance to this side effect develops quickly.

Warnings
Lorazepam can cause side effects such as dizziness, drowsiness, nausea, headache, dry mouth, impaired coordination and blurred vision. When using the medication, caution should be used if driving or carrying out other tasks that require you to be alert. Use during pregnancy is not recommended.



Read more: Lorazepam for Alcohol Withdrawal Treatment | eHow.com Lorazepam for Alcohol Withdrawal Treatment | eHow.com

[Rainyday]

Tool box

Going to post this in a couple of places. I didn't know this but Ativan can be prescribed for alcohol withdrawal seizures. Here's one article, but there are more out there:

Lorazepam for Alcohol Withdrawal Treatment | eHow.com

Doctors prescribe lorazepam to quell short-term anxiety symptoms or to manage the anxiety sometimes associated with depression. The medication also works to treat panic attacks and anxiety. All these effects can be useful when a patient is experiencing withdrawal from alcohol. Seizure is another symptom of withdrawal from extremely heavy, prolonged alcohol use, and lorazepam can also be an effective tool for preventing these seizures.

Among the benzodiazepines, lorazepam in particular may be good for alcohol-withdrawal treatment because of the short time it spends in the body, making it safer for people with liver problems, and because of its relative lack of effects on the respiratory and circulatory systems. Lorazepam may not only prevent the first seizure from occurring among recovering alcoholics, but also prevent future seizures after one has already occurred. Hospitalization is common in patients who suffer repeated seizures, so lorazepam may be useful in cutting down on hospital admissions.

Lorazepam is, however, potentially addictive, so doctors must use care in prescribing it and monitoring its use, especially in patients with alcoholism or other known addictive disorders. Withdrawal effects can sometimes be seen in lorazepam users after as little as a week of use. To avoid dependence-related issues, doctors generally try to prescribe the lowest effective dose and for the shortest possible duration. The drug can be dangerous, leading to respiratory depression, and possibly even death, in overdose situations with alcohol.

In addition to its anxiety-reducing properties, it also has strong amnesic qualities, meaning patients who take it sometimes lose memory of the time spent under its influence, though tolerance to this side effect develops quickly.

Warnings
Lorazepam can cause side effects such as dizziness, drowsiness, nausea, headache, dry mouth, impaired coordination and blurred vision. When using the medication, caution should be used if driving or carrying out other tasks that require you to be alert. Use during pregnancy is not recommended.



Read more: Lorazepam for Alcohol Withdrawal Treatment | eHow.com Lorazepam for Alcohol Withdrawal Treatment | eHow.com

[Cinders]

Tool box

This was posted over the door to the commons room in one of my rehabs. I think of it often these days.

"Remember, if you aren't working on your disease, it is working on you."

Just a thought.
Cindi