Newbies Nest

[Andrew from Ireland]

Newbies Nest

Evening all....
Well, I'm back on Day One.....nothing I could do really. We went for our work lunch and I had decided that morning that I would just go with it and have a few drinks. We were given a pass to spend the afternoon in a bar by our boss. Who had also forked out for 4 bottles of beer each for us at lunch. It worked out well in that I bonded with my colleagues, didn't get TOO drunk and work will be a better place for me in the future. Now I'm back to being AF and I am fully committed to that. I've little bother with telling friends and family I won't be drinking. That's easy and they're impressed by it. Work is different unfortunately, I just had to. That's Ireland for you. But it was a once off. Christmas. I'm not full of regret or anything, just mildly annoyed that it had to be done and broke my 10 day AF. Anyway.

K9lover, 1mg of Xanax is a bad amount to be prescribing, in my opinion. My doc prescribed me 0.25 tabs and the instructions are to take 1 in the morning and 1 in the evening. I messed around with it at the start but now I would take 1 in the morning and that's it. 1mg will have you falling asleep and when it wears off you'll feel pretty bad anxiety. My experience anyway. .5 isn't TOO bad but do try and get it down to .25. I was taking .5 in the morning every work day for a couple of months and I eventually found that when it got to Saturday and I wasn't planning on taking any I felt pretty bad, like I needed something to get me feeling relaxed and calm. It works on the GABA receptors the same as alcohol I think and from what I can gather it's not good to form a reliance on it. Anyway, just my experience. I wish you all the best. And, my doctor did say he'd rather see me on Xanax than alcohol...

[K9Lover]

Newbies Nest

Hi Andrew,
Thanks for the advice on Xanax. Well there was a prime example of my math skills at their finest. LOL I have 0.5mg pills which I cut in half and take a maximum of 2 pills per day, so I am currently on 0.5mg a day, and will soon be cutting out the the morning 0.25mg dose. I do have to agree with your doctor about Xanax being preferable over alcohol (for me anyway, others may not agree). But thank you again for your input. Sorry to hear you are on Day 1, but get back in there! You know you can do it and you know you want to?so re-commit and let?s get it done! Wishing you strength. Stay close!
K9

[Andrew from Ireland]

Newbies Nest

Ah, good stuff.
And yes, I'll be staying close. Looking forward to an AF Christmas.

[FlyAway]

Newbies Nest

lolab;1226817 wrote:

ha! I did it! I read juja's thread about posting photo and then I think Nelz's instructions...thanks!

Way to go Lola! :goodjob:

[scottish lass]

Newbies Nest

hi all - as I continue to get resolve for tomorrow night (work party) - i have a question about the hypnos. This is the only thing from MWO that I have not done (except meds) - I got the control drinking in social situations one and am going to get it out - but how do i use it? Do I play it in the car on my drive there? Can you let me know how to get the most effect from it please????
I tried to change "my mood" to determined, but they don't have that as a choice!!!! Picked optimistic as it seemed the nearest - but its not quite correct - little pessimistic today.
Lav, you suggested that i could be sick, but sadly that won't work - our CEO has made it clear that the senior management is to be present, and I need to keep this job - I am trying to mind set myself that I do not wish to make an ass of myself in front of my staff! be a good boss etc!!
Day 18 today!

[timpin]

Newbies Nest

Hi Andrew

You didn't do much wrong really ? From reading your post, probably a lot of other people would have done exactly what you did. I think that the important thing is that you had a few drinks with work colleagues and you seemed to enjoy that. Well, life is for enjoying and you made a calculated choice. Personally I think that the disaster would have been if you had got legless and then continued drinking to oblivion, but you are now back to square one and off the drink again. If it had been me then I would not have been strong enough to have done what you have so congratulations on starting afresh !

[Lavande]

Newbies Nest

Hello from the 'Seniorbie' in Blondies words :H

Wow! So much to say, so little time to say it all!

SL, if your presence at the party is that important then by all means go. But your presence at the party does not require drinking AL. You know that, we all know that. The old 'I'm on medication' excuse always works. You never need to justify your decision to Not drink AL to anyone - seriously!

K9, wean yourself slowly from the Xanax, OK?

Andrew, glad you came right back. Just wondering how you plan to handle these situations in the future

Noal, awesome on 60 AF days tomorrow!!!!

I'm finished with my work for the day so back to baking cookies for me

[FlyAway]

Newbies Nest

scottish lass;1226916 wrote: hi all - as I continue to get resolve for tomorrow night (work party) - i have a question about the hypnos. This is the only thing from MWO that I have not done (except meds) - I got the control drinking in social situations one and am going to get it out - but how do i use it? Do I play it in the car on my drive there? Can you let me know how to get the most effect from it please????
I tried to change "my mood" to determined, but they don't have that as a choice!!!! Picked optimistic as it seemed the nearest - but its not quite correct - little pessimistic today.
Lav, you suggested that i could be sick, but sadly that won't work - our CEO has made it clear that the senior management is to be present, and I need to keep this job - I am trying to mind set myself that I do not wish to make an ass of myself in front of my staff! be a good boss etc!!
Day 18 today!

I don't have the MWO hypnos, but I thought most hypnotic tapes tell you not to use them while driving as they can make you tired. Are there not directions on how to use them?

[Andrew from Ireland]

Newbies Nest

Timpin
Thanks. I promise it was just a once off. It had to be done, unfortunately. Luckily I know how it feels to be AF for a good number of days and I just want that back so bad.
Lav
there won't be any situations like this in the future. First work Xmas party...that's all. I have zero problem with telling friends and family that I won't be having a drink but this work thing...it just had to be done. This is Ireland, remember. If I'd refused booze (especially after they'd all seen me hammering into the Guinness at a couple of nights out in the last few months) I'd merely have obtained a bad rep, as awful as that sounds. I feel happy and strong today, believe me.

[Steady Hands]

Newbies Nest

Hi Nest!

Just came back from dinner at my mom's house. My step dad said (7:50 over the phone)they are not in a hurry so I turned up at 8 and walked straight into the lion's mouth!! Not AL. Worse... my mother when she wants to put you in your place to feel better about herself! &%$#$^!!! According to her I was sooo late!!

I quickly went to the bathroom to gather myself...noticed the trigger...!!! Locked eyes with myself in the mirror and out of nowhere my brilliant sober brain screamed at me : " FAKE AND F@CK OFF!!"

I returned to the table. Chat a bit. Ate a bit. Asked about their stuff. Bossed them around to see if they have ginger tea. Drank it and said it was lovely and bye.

Tonight I realised my family is not going to change, but the reality of drinking not making it better became mine. More than a month ago I would have gone there with about 3 wines under the belt. Saw my mother's tiff as an excuse to drink more and by now would have phoned someone drunk to talk about this issue.

Through sober eyes it is my mother's problem!

Oh, what a relieve!!

[Unwasted]

Newbies Nest

SH - wow, what a commendable job you did handling your family situation! My mother used to really be able to get under my skin - good for you. Save yourself and don't let them suck you into the drama.

[FlyAway]

Newbies Nest

Andrew--Like Timpin said, it's great that you still have your resolve and didn't go off on a bender. Funny the cultural differences, but I've heard about the drinking culture in Ireland and understand why you feel you needed to do this.

SH--Well done on realizing that it's your mother who has the problem, not you. Don't let the triggers win!

[mylife]

Newbies Nest

Hello Nest!

Just logging in to say Hello and read all the posts! It's impossible to keep up - my head is spinning with all the great advice!

Sounds like everyone is doing well and I'm with K-9 - there's no way I can keep up with all these conversations, but I read all the posts and appreciate so much everyone's advice!

Have a great day all.

[Andrew from Ireland]

Newbies Nest

FlyAway;1226969 wrote: Andrew--Like Timpin said, it's great that you still have your resolve and didn't go off on a bender. Funny the cultural differences, but I've heard about the drinking culture in Ireland and understand why you feel you needed to do this.

!

There's probably not many countries in the world where your boss will give you a pass to spend the rest of the afternoon in the pub while he/she goes back to work. That's just how it is and I went along with it. Next year, I hope to be a year sober and I would have no problem telling everyone that I'm not drinking as they'll know who I am etc. It was only that I'm a newbie in work and, well, had to "bond" with the guys in my team. Anyway, as I said, I'm fully committed to getting back to being AF.

[Byrdlady]

Newbies Nest

Noal!! I have the same thing with my right eye!!! After a couple drinks it turns in and it's like I'm cross eyed! Ugg...used to betray me bad! So glad I don't have to worry about little things like that now. This quit is different for me too, not only am I steadfast, but I finally came clean with my hubs that I cannot drink. I denied that for a long time, to keep my options open. Who was I kidding...certainly not him, only me. Thanks for reminding me of these things....they are important. Great job Mr Handyman...Hope you have lots of Butt Velcro in your stash! We are going to need it for all these parties trying to derail us! Thanks for your posts. Byrdie