Newbies Nest

[Unwasted]

Newbies Nest

Byrdie, if you can keep an open mind, Tolle is profound - at least to me. But as you say, whatever works!!

[Byrdlady]

Newbies Nest

Swaggie, after I'd stopped drinking I was able to stop taking 2 Blood pressure meds. Maybe you will find the same. It's hard to say if I feel better of stopping those, AL or both. I feel great! The meds made my mouth dry (NOT the cause of my drinking problem). My Vit D difficiency also went away. The fewer meds I take the better I feel. Byrdie

[FreeFly]

Newbies Nest

Unwasted;1229287 wrote: Byrdie, if you can keep an open mind, Tolle is profound - at least to me. But as you say, whatever works!!

Can only agree UW - love his books

[canadian gal]

Newbies Nest

I hate day 1. But it needed to be today. Last Tuesday night I decided to drink. Then Wednesday and Thursday nights. Then it was Fri, Sat and Sun from am- pm. Didn't go to work, didn't clean my house, didn't eat properly. So now it is 2:41 am and I can't sleep. I don't know why I do this to myself every time. When will I get it through my thick head that I can't drink? I feel so guilty and anxious right now. This battle is is a B****!!!!!

[Unwasted]

Newbies Nest

It is indeed, CG. Getting 30 days AF would be a big help. Can you do that? You know, avoid drinking situation/social gatherings for a while? You'll have to do something different.

[canadian gal]

Newbies Nest

Unwasted- I would love to avoid any kind of drinking situation. Unfortunately, my old drinking buddy will be coming on Thursday and staying at mine for 4 days. She knows that I have quit drinking (she doesn't know about the slips and she doesn't know why I quit) but every time I talk to her she mentions drinking and how it's Christmas. I just have to be really really strong and remember my goals! You are definitely right though, 30 AF days makes a huge difference!

[Unwasted]

Newbies Nest

Good luck, CG.

[Prairie Fairy]

Newbies Nest

Hi everyone - I did not fall from the nest - I have had family staying and been running like the proverbial chicken.

Will read in detail the stuff I missed in the nest later - sheesh - how many pages?!

Have a baziion things to do before loading up the car and starting the drive tomorrow...so it may be tomorrow night before I have 10 minutes to myself...

Happy Birthday Lav! I did see that much .... :-)!!!!!!!!!!

[MinStar]

Newbies Nest

Happy birthday Lav. Hope you have/are having a nice day.

just checking in. havent read past posts so will go back and do that now.


28th day AF for me. Didnt think I could do this but has been an ok ride so far. Not really getting any cravings. Am really tired but my sleep routine has been out of the window. Also weird headaches- wonder if it has to do with toxins or something? would this still be happening 28 days into AFreedom?

Hope all nesters are doing well. Stay safe

[Herbie]

Newbies Nest

Hello All

Unwasted I have also been reading Eckhart Toll ... he has a very good web site ..

Eckhart Tolle TV | The Power of Now, Spirituality and The End of Suffering

I have found it to be exceptionally helpful...

Lav... happy birthday to another sag.....!!!

[Unwasted]

Newbies Nest

Herbie, thanks!

Min, I didn't have headaches, but it seems like I've read others' posts who have had them. Not sure about the timing, though.

Hope everyone is achieving their AF goals today/tonight.:l

[Lavande]

Newbies Nest

Good evening Nesters!

Had a great birthday with my kids & grandkids - thanks!

Eckhart Tolle ~ one of my all time favs

Canadian Girl - the longer you put off getting 30 AF days under your belt the harder it's going to be Having your friend visit for the holidays does NOT mean you have to drink AL. Simply tell your friend you are not drinking & stick to your guns. It doesn't need to be difficult than that & besides, a good friend will/should understand & respect your decision.

MinStar, are you drinking enough water? Could the weather or hormones possibly be contributing to the headaches?

Wishing everyone a safe night in the Nest!

Lav

[Pinecone]

Newbies Nest

Hi Minstar, great job on getting to 28 days. I didn't have any more headaches than normal at that point. Dehydration, lack of sleep and too much coffee (in that order) are the top three causes of headaches for me. Also occipital nerve headaches, which are caused by tension and are very easy to distinguish because they ride up your neck and behind your eye.

Hope everyone is doing very well.

Unwasted, I loved the breathing strategy you posted earlier. It seems like a great way to take control back.

[Prairie Fairy]

Newbies Nest

Have family here - forgot to stuff vitamins in handbag before we went Christmas shopping.

Ummmmmm - Bad Bad Prairie. It was mighty close. I hung on by a thread as I waited in line, sugar plummeting like a rock as the line crawled through...did I say crawled?! yeah - crawled...

I came up with a million distraction games - how many seconds before this happens? How much will this person's order be? How close is my guess to my order? What spices can I slip into my dinner recipe that the guests hate in small amounts they won't notice for giggles?

And then I had to explain in the car that I was hypoglycemic - that I HAD to get my treatment in right away or I could become quite ill - as soon as I got home - before cooking dinner. No one flinched.

And even though I wanted to die during that hour / I wanted to find the wine aisle or stop at the fine wine shop "for a holiday top off" - I didn't. So strange - must because I am overtired and off-schedule which whacks my triggers and now that I think about it - with the SO plus family here - didn't get in any Hypnos but the rare subliminal - so all my coverage mechanisms are shot to hell.

I have delayed my trip til Wednesday so I can get on track tonight and tomorrow in a more relaxed fashion before I face the family in full on holiday nuttiness.

And YAY - the new Hypnos that deal with the serious trigger that was not on my plan before but became very clearly a core component to my failure - came today. So uploading and reprogramming the rat brain will commence immediately.

Also - for those of you who read about changing approaches to life - I picked up Redirect by Timothy D. Wilson this weekend. It was recommended by Malcolm Gladwell - one of my favorite authors as he is such a unique thinker - as a masterpiece. Basic premise is that changing behavior is not as hard as previously made out - it's that psychology hasn't advanced far from the medical version of treating with leeches.

Not that far in...but so far it's interesting.

Lastly - found something for those of you struggling with anxiety as it relates to witching hour...Source Naturals put together a combo called Theanine Serene - which has many of the items already discussed as destressers - in one formula. It has magnesium, GABA, Taurine, Theanine and a couple of herbals I don't know. I tried it. In two pills (easier to carry) plus my glutamine - I can sail through the witching hour - chilled. Once they kick in of course.

Anyway - here is to an AF night for all of you.

[scottish lass]

Newbies Nest

Happy Birthday Lav - you deserve a really great one!
Min - i am also having headaches - last week or so, and my sleep is toally distrubed - forst couple of weeks i was sleeping great, but now wake up all the time. Day 22 for me as well - maybe its the stage we are at??
Finished gift wrapping without a drink - now that is a first since drinking age!!
Work is crazy busy which helps with avoidance, but the voices are there strongly thinking of every excuse under the sun why just one drink is ok.....would love to shut them up....