Newbies Nest

[Lavande]

Newbies Nest

Same here June, although it has been cold & snowy so staying out is not really an option

Hello & welcome bkgirl!
Glad you found us, please make yourself comfortable. Sounds to me like you have had a wakeup call or two. Now is a good time to take back control of your life. Please do it now because things only get worse, honestly! Make a plan & let us know how you're doing!

Lav

[Cherokeer]

Newbies Nest

Hang in there BK. It took me a couple of times (dozen) embarrassing times for my dim bulb to start to come on. Then another devastating one to knock myself into the realization that I had to find another way to live. That the road I was going down was taking me to a hell of my own making. I am on Topamax, using the supplements, and listen to the hypno tapes daily. I feel better than I have in a couple years. My soul searching has began. It's my internal work I have to do on myself. I haven't quite figured out my place in the universe yet but I think (hope) I am on my way. Much strength and peace to you. Cherokee

[Lavande]

Newbies Nest

Good to see you Cherokee & happy to hear you are making progress on your journey

Done shoveling as much snow as I absolutely had to - the rest can stay right where it is!!!
Wishing everyone a safe & cozy night in the nest!

Lav

[Byrdlady]

Newbies Nest

Nighty all! Rox, great job on putting 4 days in the books. Cherokeer, so good to see you!

Dots and Lav, yall should just move.

Lead, great to see you!

Xo, B

[bkgirl]

Newbies Nest

Thank you for the encouragements! It's helped today reading through other people's posts. I'm looking forward to making this change! Goodnight everyone.

[Dottie Belle]

Newbies Nest

Lav we couldn't shovel or snow blow it was so frozen...so we just drove on it...might melt by spring.
Byrdie I would love to live someplace warm.....and sunny....and NO SNOW!!!!

[Sarah42]

Newbies Nest

Byrdlady;1624838 wrote: Hey Sarah...I have moderate to severe Crohn's /Colitis as well. In fact, in 1996 I was scheduled to have my lower colon removed and resected. Don't ask me why, but before the appointment, I began to improve so I cancelled it. My colon is in tatters, but it's hanging in there! :H What new med are you taking? I was taking and LOVING Budesonide (steroid-like, without the face swelling) but now I have learned this has decreased my bone density by 12%, so we are doing damage control on that now. I highlighted the area above because your gastro doesn't know the extent of your drinking. If he did, he would most likely insist you find help to stop it immediately. My stopping did NOT cause any flairs, in fact, stopping helped my colon considerably.

In my one year acceptance speech, I talked about learning which voices to listen to in my head. The ones that talked about continuing to drink are the ones I had to tune out. If your voices are telling you that continuing to drink will ease the chances of a flair, then I hope you will call bullshit on them. That is the addiction talking. Make today your Day 1 and get this monkey off your back once and for all! Anything else is just prolonging the agony. Sorry, I know that's not what you want to hear...but Lav pretty much told me this was baggage claim, and my bags had arrived! I had to face the ugly truth and walk thru it. I'm so glad I finally listened to her. Look at all the happy people in this nest! We are happy because AL is taking a backseat now, it is no longer controlling our actions and threatening our lives. One day at a time, one hour at a time. It is do-able...we are here to help...we have truly walked in your shoes. Byrdie

Hi Byrdie, I highlighted a couple of your comments for ease of comment.

I am now taking Humira (injections I now give myself) along with my anti-cancer drug. Previously, I was just on the anti-cancer drug and took Prednisone when having flare ups, but the last 2 times I had flare ups I had a HUGE reaction to the Prednisone and am no longer able to take it, and now afraid of any steroid. (it's a long story). I am also allergic to any sulfur so Asulfidenes or anything with sulfur I cannot take.

You are right about my gastro...irregardless of whether it would cause a flare up or not he would absolutely tell me to stop drinking. (He already said to stop smoking). Doc said I needed to be on calcium supps too for bone density loss. I tried but those pills hare HUGE, but good idea to take if you can.

Again, no excuses...I'm still trying to wrap my head around all this and develop a plan for healthier LIVING. I know I should just jump in and hope for the best, but I am afraid. I wouldn't be here if I knew I didn't need help, and boy do I need it!! I'm still reading the Toolbox and hoping I can set a target day 1 of abstinence. I'm not there yet in my mind..and I know that's part of the addiction and habit. So far, I know I need a plan, distractions and plenty of healthy foods in the house. Anyone got a non-addicted brain I can borrow?? LOL

[Sarah42]

Newbies Nest

bkgirl...Welcome! I am new too and hopefully we both succeed in our journey together to be AF.

[Mein Sonnenschein]

Newbies Nest

Good morning (from Germany)! It's a dreary morning here... cold and windy. I'm up early with a nice cup of coffee and baked avocado for breakfast, trying to get up the nerve to take my pup out for a walk in the wind. Brrr! Feeling so awesomely sober this morning. I'm trying something new today... as soon as a woke up and fed the pup, I immediately put on my work-out clothes as an inspiration to leave the house this morning. Just by having them on already make me feel like I have one foot in the gym. I have almost 20 (yes 20!) AL pounds to lose. I started gaining the weight when my binging became out of control, partially because of the excess calories from AL, partially because of the shit food I eat with a hangover, partially because of of the lack of exercise motivation due to a hangover... etc. Not anymore. I would love to wear all of the lovely clothes in my closet. So this week will be a week of strength and love for myself. I'm so happy that I have the MWO community to reach out to.

More later, much love and strength to you all today. :l

[DreamThinkDo]

Newbies Nest

MAE Nesters!

I've neglected my coffee-making duties over the weekend; please help yourself



Mein, good idea to get into your work-out clothes asap. I've been so lazy recently to get my walking in - thanks heavens for this cholesterol challenge thingy in town (although I missed it this morning - long story, but I can catch up this pm). I'm now in the habit of getting up and going for a walk - just have to keep up the habit when the challenge ends on Friday. And with not taking in Alcojoules, my weight keeps on dropping, with no changes in my diet. YAY!

Sarah, all of us, I think, were afraid of quitting; all of us wanted to wait for the right time - but there is no right time: the best time is right now. If you set today as a quit date, you'll have a few AF days behind you before the dreaded first AF weekend. I've put some butt velcro and a non-addicted brain:H next to your coffee - use those first, then enjoy the coffee! I was the same with taking painkillers - would rather have lived with the pain than not be able to drink (at least I was careful not to mix the two).

:welcome: bk! MWO a great site, and the Nest is, well the Nest is special. I think you've already discovered that - there's lot of genuine support and sober advice , and glimpses into people's lives. It's my lifeline!

Chero, lovely to see you, and good to hear that you are working on things. I'm happy for my place in the universe to be close to MWO. Stay in touch, please, won't you?

3J, our days are getting shorterder and shorterder - what going on in the world?:H But you guys deserve some respite from snow and ice and cold.

DD, are you feeling better? Sending you megahugs and rivers of good wishes.

Lots of people I haven't mentioned - but :l to you all, and have an unblue AF Monday!

[maji]

Newbies Nest

Hello All,

Mein I am similar to you in the pounds to lose, probably about the same, so far I've gone easy on myself but it's time to get started.

Getting dressed/ready for exercise first thing sounds a good idea. I think it is time to begin some long hard walks with my dogs regardless of the wind and rain, instead of the quick round the block forays I've been doing.

I would quite like to go back to horse riding again or dancing, neither of which I do well; how to choose between them since they are so different! Or are they, the perfect alignment/partnership with a horse is like a dance.

Maji

[available]

Newbies Nest

MAE nesters

Just thought i would poke my nose in and say hello. My Maddison is jumping around like a 2 year old not an 11 year old. It is a joy to see her back to normal actually better than what she was before.

BK welcome to MWO, i used to get blackouts every time i drank, oh that was everyday. If you posted on here you realise that al is a problem or is greatly becoming one. The only thing to do is bite the bullet and stop drinking. That sounds so damn easy to say doesnt it but you will be amazed at how good you will feel eventually. Take it day by day, minute by minute if you have to. The blackouts scared the begeezus out of me which started me thinking i had a pretty huge problem. Be positive we have all different stories to tell of this addiction and none of them are nice.

Sarah just try not drinking for a day and see how it goes. We all on here did not want to stop drinking at first, gees if i could drink now and control it i would. Simple thing is i cant and never will be able to, well never in this lifetime. It sounds like you want to but you dont and as Byrd says give it a try and stop. Its a horrible thought to think we can never drink again but there are non drinkers out there and we can use every excuse under the sun to cut down or not drink but in reality we are on MWO for a reason and that is to stop feeding al and to start living out lives as they should be.

Wow Pav you certainly let loose didnt you lol but you deserve to you are 70 and im still so proud of you but i better stop partying as before we know it we will be on the 80 day mark. A continuous party by the sounds of it and totally af. I totally agree with you on every excuse, i think we could write a book on excuses of why i cant give up drinking. Now i could write a book on why i dont want to drink but it would be shorter than the why i cant give up as the main reason is i want to live and be happy and functional in this life. God now i am waffling.

Bastet thanks lovely for the well wishes for my pup. I googled bitters and yep it does have al content gees am i back to day 1? They normally put about 3 drops in a drink so i dont classify it as alcoholic in the sense that i would drink it straight but that is an interesting theory. It is my drink of choice when i go out and i cant taste any al in the drink. God now you do have me thinking but i so like that drink and i dont crave anything else after i have had it. Byrd and Lav help me here!

Dot i hope you find a decent dentist to get your tooth fixed. God forbid i could afford a dentist, they are so expensive here, you need a loan. Come to Aus Dot not much snow here and you can avoid those places if you like, but damn it gets hot.

Chero, yes it took me awhile before the bulb lit itself, it was pretty dull there for awhile. Good to see you are on the way to not drinking, every day af is a bonus.

Mein good to hear you are doing well. i should sleep in workout clothes to get me motivated but im concentrating on staying af daily.

DD i hope you are okay, come back here and keep posting, even having one af day is a good start.

Thanks for the coffee Dream but you have probably kept me awake now but thats okay, lots of reading on here and tv to watch.

Keep strong everyone, this post has probably turned out as long as Pavs.

[Lavande]

Newbies Nest

Good Monday morning Nesters!

Waking up to a fresh 2 or 3 inches of snow on the ground, just what I didn't really need :H
Tired of the cold weather, time for Spring

Available, Bitters do have a pretty high alcohol content. I personally wouldn't touch the stuff in fear of it awakening the sleeping beast within You don't need to reset your quit date but I think it would be wise to steer clear of the stuff. If it's flavor you're looking for choose lemon or lime wedges

Wishing everyone a great AF day!
Sarah, get your plan together & just take the leap - it's nice in here

Lav

[roxane]

Newbies Nest

lav, ava has lemon lime and bitters. 2 to 3 drops of bitters in a tall glass with 7up and lime cordial, with a twist of lime. apologies in advance if you know that.

[Byrdlady]

Newbies Nest

Morning, Nesters!
So good to see everyone this morning! Pav and Pops with 71 days now! Ava with 72! good going yall! Rox rocking 5!
Ava...I don't drink lemon/lime stuff because it reminds me of colon cleanse stuff!!!:H:H:H BLECHK! So I would not drink anymore just on those grounds alone. Don't freak out, but maybe eliminate (colon joke) the bitters going forward!

Sarah, motivation is a tough one. I found it helpful to say if Oprah Winfrey offered me a million dollars to stay AF for 7 days, I would, by gosh, find a way to do it. This is no different, if you can do it for her, you can do it for you! Those calcium pills are like horse tablets, they are hard to swallow, but I wish I had been more diligent. I was taking the petite tablets but they are only 400mg, so I prolly hosed myself there. I am also susceptible to kidney stones, so overdosing on Calcium has a whole nuther set of fun stuff....it's a mess with this disease...if you get one aspect of it under control something else pops up! I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy...well there's that one customer. :H If you stick around here, you will find your legs!!

For those who are cold, I wish warmth, and for those roasting, I wish a cool breeze! Hope everyone has an easy day today! Byrdie