Newbies Nest

[Lavande]

Newbies Nest

Good evening Nesters,

Can't believe we are gearing up for yet another weather assault here on the east coast on Wednesday. This could be a very long & crappy winter season coming

CONGRATS to Mom2 & DorothyFree! Hitting the milestones feels good & reinforces your commitment to making a better life

Hi Pinecone, nice to see you around again!

Dottie, good to hear your vision is clearing. I was responsible for the care of both of my parents, my father-in-law & several other older relatives & I know how trying it can all be. Being a nurse didn't really make anything easier for me, may have actually made it all more difficult. If you can find anyone to give you a hand with your Dad, please get some help so you don't run yourself down. You need to focus on your recovery so you can be available for him as his condition deteriorates. I wish you much strength

Nanette, I remember feeling like I had the flu or something during the first week. Just take good care of yourself, you will be feeling better very soon.

Alcoholic, have you actually chosen a quit date yet? What's your plan?

Daisy, I know you have been trying for a long time. I hope you can move closer to acceptance that choosing AL when life gets tough keeps us stuck in the addiction cycle. I really, really took a giant leap into the unknown when I decided to quit for good. Turned out I had absolutely nothing to fear at all

Wishing everyone a safe night in the nest!
Lav

[Alcoholic]

Newbies Nest

Lav: I'll send you a pm.

[Catbuddy]

Newbies Nest

Checking in on my sleeping and sleepy nestmates. Long Monday, with some unexpected highpoints.

Lav, Lola, Byrdie, how long till my energy gets returns? I'm taking the supplements, am on thyroid meds which are suppose to be sufficient, but I sleep at least 9 hours a night and could nap every day if allowed. I'm on day 35? Is this part of recovery?

Iama, I want to share that my son is a huge motivator to stick with an AF lifestyle. I need time, energy, emotional bandwidth to raise him as he deserves, and I want to be a role model he can emulate. He is nine, so I think all the time that as he begins to ask questions, I can have unapologetic discussions with him. It's such a relief, and it keeps me on this road, among other things.

Okay, Goodnight Lav, Lola, Byrdie, K9, Nurdle, Kuya, Allan, RC, Alco, Dottie, Star, Fin, Dorothy, Daisy, Mom, Iama and all the newbies. And of course, Goodnight Johnboy. :H

[Catbuddy]

Newbies Nest

Aaanndd my friend Raven, who isn't posting here but may come by and be happy for a shoutout.

I heard this great quote from an interview yesterday. Being alone isn't loneliness. Being in a crowd where no one needs or cares for you is loneliness.

Cat

[Catbuddy]

Newbies Nest

Aaannnddd Pinecone, who inspired me to start a sober holidays thread. Check it out for strategies; I plan to post my experiences as they come.

One nice one in advance. My old boss called today to ask if my son and I would join his family for a matinee performance of A Christmas Carole in December. I didn't have to worry about being sober enough to drive or sit through the production when I said yes. Wow, off to a good start.

Anyone else I missed saying Good Night too, a special sweet dreams to ya!

Cat

[Bennii]

Newbies Nest

Morning all

Checking in on Day 4. It?s going to take a while for me to remember everyone here but just wanted to say all of your posts are so encouraging and thanks again for the welcome. Congrats Mom and Dorothyfree, fantastic milestones. After today is when I am totally out of my comfort zone. It?s about two years since I did 4 days but over four years since I did 5 days. Really looking forward to reaching my 7!
Like you Nanette I?m feeling a bit fuzzy. Really hope to get a bit of bounce soon, I?m looking after my body for the first time in years, I suppose it just takes a while to get all the toxins out of my system.

Hope you all have a wonderful AF day. Bx

[emily]

Newbies Nest

Morning all

Just a quick update to say that I'm coping fine without AL and even though from Friday through to Sunday my mood was black I wasn't tempted to numb out my feelings.

Thanks for the previous advice about negative thinking - tbh I kinda felt a bit defensive about this. The truth is my job requires me to lift others higher than they think they can go and I'm all about motivation!!! I just felt so defeated and angry that I have to help others and there's no-one to help me. Also, it's a huge part of why I've never really worked hard on my business - because I felt a total fraud. Here was I setting myself up as a balanced, successful person and they truth was I was even more out of balance than my clients (I'm a health and wellness coach, yep)

However, I have been battering in the nutrition and all last week and this week I have the urge and energy to exercise again, which I love and I've went back to taking part in fitness classes and it's great. I still feel a bit down due to financial worries but hey, they're only going to get better. My husband, who is still drinking, has cut down considerably on his intake and the money saved per week from his beer and my wine will be immense.

Also, now I'm feeling less of a fraud and actually living a healthy lifestyle I'm sure I'll be able to break through the limitations I've created around my own potential and with that breakthrough the money will start to flow in and not out.

Hope everyone is doing well, not had time to read through the posts yet as I have a client coming so need to get organised - so as they say - the show must go on! happy face and motivation in place

[kuya]

Newbies Nest

Evening all......what a lively thread this is at the moment and so positive!

Someone asked about fuzzy brain and whilst we are all different I am pleased to say that AT LAST at day 66 I am no longer fuzzy brained, fatigued and so up and down emotionally. It literally all came together in 24 hours but was preceded by a couple of iffy days. Kind of proves what I have expounded here that crappy days are a sign that the brain is rewiring and you can expect to feel MUCH better.

Also have found my appetite has been stabilizing and my sleep is getting more predictable and better quality.

I think it is hard for the longer term members to remember when things happened cos days just blend and I know how often I just wanted to know when things were gonna improve

So basically no negatives and EVERY reason to hang on in there!

A few weeks of negative feelings versus a (shortened) life time of HELL .......not a bad trade eh?

Be well buddies :l

KY

[nurdl]

Newbies Nest

Kuya, glad to hear your fuzzy brain is clearing. I'm right behind you on day 60- something. Let's see it must be 63. I have trouble with word recall or mixing up words and that scares me. I'll put it on sheer exhaustion for now. We are STILL without power. It's quite depressing at night. So my fingers are crossed for a mental turnaround sometime in the near future. Off to shower and vote.
~nurdl

[iamaquitter28]

Newbies Nest

Kuya: I am going to put a picture of her today on my dashboard or somewhere in my car that it is always visible so that if the bastard rears his ugly head I can look at her and think back to how I felt yesterday (and today as I STILL feel that way). I also went out and bought a notebook to journal my quit. I am going to make an entry today (when no ones home as I may get emotional) about exactly how I feel about my drinking and how I feel about my daughter and what it is doing to her and what it would do to her if I died from my heavy drinking. If that craving ever returns, which I know eventually it will, I will read my journal and "refeel" what I was feeling the day those entries were written. I think this is genius!!! :-)
Dottie: I'm glad to hear that all went well with your Dad. Parents can be the most stressful thing in our lives sometimes. The day after Easter my mother was rushed to the hospital with Congestive heart failure at only 62 years old. Let me tell you how my drinking skyrocketted after that. I was drinking more than ever and I realize now that god forbid she passed during those months I would have never forgiven myself for spending my last moments with her blitz all the time.
Dorothy: WOOT WOOT! Congrats on day 14. That's amazing. I can't wait to be up there with you. Soon enough! :-) I'm so happy for you!
Cat: I am just thankful that my daughter doesn't ask questions yet because she's still too young to understand. However, if she talks about Mommy's beer sometimes and can pick out my brand of vodka in a line up. I am glad that I can kick this before she really understands what I am doing. My sister's daughter, who is 7, was setting the table one night and was putting plastic cups for everyone and when she got to my sisters seat she skipped it and said "Oh well, Mommy will have her wine glass like she always does". That sentence really struck a cord in me. I never want my daughter to think or say anything like that. Unfortunately, it did not strike a cord in my sister who still has her wine glass every night!
Emily: I read somewhere a couple of months back that it actually takes your body about 90 days to rid itself of all of the alcohol and toxins that have accumulated over years of heavy drinking. I expect to finally be myself (whoever that is) at 90 days or so. I too feel a bit woozy in the head sometimes but the way I see it, it's better than the feeling I'd have in my head if I were drunk!!! At least I'll remember my day tomorrow!!! :-)
Alcho: I too am curious about your quit day. Have you gone completely AF yet? If you want to PM please do but you have not really posted about your progress and I am very curious. We started around the same time so I consider you one of my "quit buddies" :-)
So, I hope I got everyone and if I didn't I apologize. I didn't catch up before bed last night so there was a million posts to read. To all, have a wonderful AF day. See you around the forum throughout the day.

[lolab]

Newbies Nest

I am skipping back a bit this morning ? it?s hard to catch everything the first time through!

Nanette, I think it?s very smart to anticipate the ?manic? phase wearing off?cool idea about the letter?please post your feelings here as you enter each new phase?.you?ll be surprised that someone remembers going through those exact feelings. And just when you get to that point where you think ?is this all there is?? You might just be on the verge of a breakthrough ? where you will discover things about being AF and about yourself ? that you never expected?.to me, it?s a series of ?rising up?s? followed by plateaus ? then another ?wow, this is wonderful!? followed by ? ummm ? this is boring?? I mean there?s definitely more to it than that but just remember when you?re feeling in one of those ?down? tempted modes, that it won?t last forever?.

Atso, I read your other post, too ? this whole process is really eye opening?.some of it good, some of it not so much?Over the past year, I?ve really had to face up to lots of ?stuff? from my past. Family issues ? choices I made ? and one thing that keeps coming up is that everything that I regret in my life can be traced to alcohol abuse. Whether my own or someone else?s?but the more I thought, the longer that list got ? so I have shifted my thinking and I am now taking note of everything in my life that is great because it doesn?t involve alcohol?.and that list is growing like crazy every day.

Fin, how?s it going bud? Are we on day 3?

Allan, I?m so happy that the first day went well?you must be well into your second and I?m sending you more positive thoughts!

Mom, congrats on your 7 days! And Dorothyfree ? on 14! Woohoo!

Iama ? quite an eye opening realization, isn?t that? And we?re the lucky ones?who realize it? so many people will never even try to get out of that trap. And I love that journal idea?.my own written words are very powerful to me?.looking back I can remember how I felt.

Hey cat ? I?d give it a little more time before I started looking into why your?e tired. I think the chemistry of it says that you might be missing that sugar rush of the alcohol?.but I do know that I didn?t feel anywhere near what I now know to be ?somewhat? :H normal for several months. I know when I was in the middle of it ? I thought I felt normal at 2 weeks, but looking back ? nooooo, I had a long way to go.

Emily that?s really great that your husband is trying as well?.I know how hard it was for me, when mine was still drinking nightly and I wasn?t.

RC ? are you out there???

So,, I hope everybody?s feeling strong and remembering why they came here in the first place?.those desperate feelings fade quickly ? and that?s the time that AL sticks his foot in the door as you?re trying to close it on him?.

[Yogamom]

Newbies Nest

Hi All, Still recovering from the storm and have had intermittent access to the computer. Power back on now, yeah. Poor Nurdl. Are you somewhere warm?? I am back on day 7. Dh, came home with wine during the height of the storm and poured me a glass. No MWO. No lights, no disctractions. But, dang why is it so tough. And now more bad weather!!

I have lots to catch up on....got my precious little girl snuggled next to me in bed. Your posts touched me Iamaquitter28. My little girl is 6. I want to be at her wedding. I want to be healthy and full of energy for her. She deserves the best mom. Would love to grab a cub of jo and read, but my house is filthy!!!!! Dirty laundry, dirty dishes, fridge and freezer to clean out.
Ughh.

Thank you all for being here. Will catch up later. Need to check out the holiday plan. That is always a tough one for me. But, I am so much better than I was last year at this time....heading by fits and starts inthe direction I want to go with me life.

[Dottie Belle]

Newbies Nest

Morning all,
The EYE BLOB is gone!!!!!!!!!!!!! Vision is a little blurry still but doc said that is normal..so I can drive again....WooHoo....
Off to vote, get my hair done and a few other errands...
Back later,
Dottie

[iamaquitter28]

Newbies Nest

Yoga: I'm glad that my words and feelings touched someone. And I hope that thought will help you as it's helped me. I've been able to quiet my cravings with the simple thought of my daughter. Great job on your 7 days BTW!!! I'm really looking forward to watching you hit your 30!!! :-)

[Alcoholic]

Newbies Nest

Hi, all: good morning:

hard to type everyone's name up now

but glad Dottie's vision is back!

Happy to see yoga mom also made it back to civilization in one piece.

Cat: for my son's school activity, he had to make fake coupons. Guess what he made? He made coupons for beer!!! (He said "those are for daddy..." Just glad he didn't make one for wine for mommy, lol)

Emily: hope your head gets unfuzzy soon.

Everyone else: Let's do another AF day together!