Newbies Nest

[Byrdlady]

Newbies Nest

Hang in there BND! Hope you have a wonderful Monday! Congrats on Day 3!! B

[Lostinspace]

Newbies Nest

New here - hello

Hi all. I can't say that this is day one for me because my intake of vodka and/or bourbon is atrociously high. I've had terrible withdrawal in the past (seizures, DTs, the whole nine yards). Anyway, today is day one of tapering down on my liquor intake - and IT IS HARD! I WILL do this. I've managed to keep my job this time around and I will not blow it. It will take several days of cutting down little by little to get to nothing, but I WILL do it. So help me God, I will do it. I hope to get to know some of you and maybe we can support each other during this difficult process? I know many of you are a lot further along in your journey and maybe never had to go through this level of addiction. (I'm disgusting - it's a wonder I'm still alive, let alone manage to function), but I hope to get and give some support here. I've "lurked" for a long time and I like what I see. Nice to meet you all!

[bran new day]

Newbies Nest

Hi Lost , you'll get the support you need , we've all been through it, so strap yourself in . BND

[j-vo]

Newbies Nest

Hi Lost,
You found a great place of support. Post here as much as you can. Someone will be here for you at some point. That's the nice thing about an international forum. We're all in different time zones. Have you tapered before? You said you had problems with seizures before. Do you think a doc could help you to detox more safely? Whatever you do, please be careful. Drink lots of water. Keep us updated as much as possible. Cyber hugs to you!

[wagmore]

Newbies Nest

Lostinspace;1672369 wrote: Hi all. I can't say that this is day one for me because my intake of vodka and/or bourbon is atrociously high. I've had terrible withdrawal in the past (seizures, DTs, the whole nine yards). Anyway, today is day one of tapering down on my liquor intake - and IT IS HARD! I WILL do this. I've managed to keep my job this time around and I will not blow it. It will take several days of cutting down little by little to get to nothing, but I WILL do it. So help me God, I will do it. I hope to get to know some of you and maybe we can support each other during this difficult process? I know many of you are a lot further along in your journey and maybe never had to go through this level of addiction. (I'm disgusting - it's a wonder I'm still alive, let alone manage to function), but I hope to get and give some support here. I've "lurked" for a long time and I like what I see. Nice to meet you all!

I answered you on the thread you started but thought I'd catch you here as well. Glad you found the Nest. As BND said, strap yourself in and hold on tight. Tapering is very hard, especially using hard alcohol, but sounds necessary given your previous experiences. Good that you're aware of that. Do you have a good tapering schedule mapped out? Given your history with dangerous withdrawal symptoms, I agree with j-vo that seeing a Dr might be wisest.

One thing I would suggest is to try to stop berating yourself (e.g., calling yourself "disgusting" or "stupid") as you have in several posts. For one thing, you aren't either of those things. You have an alcohol problem and you are facing it. If this were easy, none of us would be here on MWO.

Allen Berger promotes the practice of "self-supporting" in his recommendations for people in recovery. Instead of telling yourself, "I am stupid, disgusting, etc." he urges you to say something like this to yourself (my paraphrase of his words):

"It's good that I'm not happy with how much I've been drinking and it's good that I'm not satisfied with my previous efforts to stop. That isn't the person I want to be. I am tired of living like this, and it's time to do things differently. I will begin by _________."

In other words, you acknowledge your feelings but you leverage them to help you make changes rather than simply flogging yourself (which accomplishes nothing and might actually get in your way).

You need to be your own best friend and ally right now. We can supply loads of additional support, encouragement, etc.

:l

Quotes/paraphrases are from: 12 Smart Things to Do When the Booze and Drugs Are Gone, by Allen Berger (2010).

[available]

Newbies Nest

BND, you know the first week is the hardest, that is why when i stopped last time that it would be the last as i didnt want to withdraw again and again and again. The sleep will return, the dreams will fade and you will feel human in a few weeks. you have done some great days af its just a shame that al wins at times. What doesnt kill us makes us stronger! Its bloody miserable in melbourne!

Welcome Lost, you have come to the right place to find yourself with giving up booze. The world is a pretty amazing place not drinking. If you have such bad withdrawals do you not think it would be a good idea to see a doctor and be under supervision. We are all different in how we go about giving up drinking but like Jvo, i am a bit worried.

[Lavande]

Newbies Nest

Good evening Nesters,

CONGRATS to Roaxanne on 50 AF days :yay:

Hello & welcome Lostinspace!
Glad you found us & decided to join in the fun. We are a very caring & supportive group.
Please be very careful with your detox. Do you have any medical help, anyone around to keep an eye on you for a while? Stay well hydrated & eat as much as you can, it helps.

I had a great day with my family, they didn't leave until 10 pm tonight so I am beat. But I am happy & grateful for this time together.
Wishing everyone a safe night in the nest!

Lav

[Pavati]

Newbies Nest

Hi, Everyone:

A beautiful memorial (Ava - we gathered at the beautiful home of a friend, ate great food, had a band, said some speeches and memories, and hung out with family and friends who all loved our friend dearly - is that a piss off??) I am home now - it is late and I am exhausted.

The children of the woman who died dealt with it by drinking a lot this week - I know they were very involved with making gut wrenching decisions all through the last 6 months and felt like alcohol was a way to blow off steam. I doubt in the long run it made them feel any better - I wanted to tell them that but of course no one asked me. I was relieved to have gone through the pain and sadness as well as to celebrate the great life of this wonderful person.

Welcome new newbies. Lost, I second Lav's advice, be careful. Tapering is HARD, but it sounds like you know that.

I'll catch up better when I get some sleep and can focus.

xo
Pav

[Lavande]

Newbies Nest

Good morning Nesters,

It's morning already? Short night for me :H

Pav, I'm glad to hear you got through your friend's memorial OK.
There's not much point in delaying grieving, is there? No amount of AL can soothe the loss of a loved one.

Wishing everyone a great AF Monday!

Lav

[Juja]

Newbies Nest

MAE, all.

Congrats to petrel, kailey, and Roxanne. Well done, my friends.

Lost, stay close.

Pav-:l Btw, are you getting any rain in CA? Droughts always makes me antsy, and scared.

I wasn't around much this weekend due to depression. I could feel it starting to lift last night, and was thrilled. I slept great. I feel like myself this morning. So, until our next couples' session, which sends me reeling, I'll enjoy my new life.

I've lost a few pounds due to reduced AL consumption. My pants are fitting better. Yay me!

Hello to all my lovelies-- Byrdie, Lavande, j-vo, Wag, Jane, Bran, Frances, Ginger, Cherokeer, Rahul, Orimus, and Av. I'm missing someone important, I know.

[available]

Newbies Nest

Juj so glad you are keeping strong. It seems like nothing is going to take you off track with being af and that is a huge achievement. So glad you are starting to feel better, just take each day as it comes and yes enjoy.

I am finally losing some weight after 6 months. god i ate a sweet factory i think. put the vineyard out of business and moved my money into sweets. Now i am getting over the sugar fix and losing some weight. I never ate when drinking, so i was as my son said "looking like a crack whore" before giving up al. he has such a sweet way with words my boy.

Oh Pave "piss up" in Aus means celebrating ones life by getting blind drunk and thats after the funeral. I am glad you had a lovely day albeit a sad occasion and you stayed on track. I never have any doubts that you will fail being af.

[Byrdlady]

Newbies Nest

Good Morning, Nesters!
Pav, so glad you are able to see life thru sober eyes. Only when we are under Al's influence do we think the only way to cope is to drink MORE. It takes that distance from it to clearly see that AL solves absolutely nothing, in fact, makes everything worse! We get about 3 minutes of pleasure from the process....kinda like s_x! Bahahaha....

LostInSpace, welcome aboard. Like the others, I'm worried for you if you have a history of seizures. I guess you have a tapering schedule that works for you? You know it might be worth just biting the bullet and getting some professional help. 28 days in a rehab program is a small price to pay for your freedom. In retrospect, that's what I should have done...instead, I dragged it out for years trying to quit on my own....all the time getting worse. They can help you detox safely....and humanely! Is that a possibility? Nonetheless, welcome to the nest! We're glad you are here!

Dottie Belle, happy birthday! Hope you have a wonderful day! You deserve it!
I had to think of you this weekend, as you remember, we lost my son in law in January. We went to my step daughter's home this weekend and were cleaning out his workshop. This was the place that he was his best...it was his sanctuary. It was just gut wrenching to be rifling thru all his stuff. There is mountains of it, too. He was a bit of a hoarder. Gosh, my heart goes out to you with your dad's house. If you have a friend or someone who is not attached to the situation, that might be helpful, they can honestly say, 'this is junk, throw it away'. We kept lingering over every piece until a neighbor came in and helped. Just a thought, anyway. It's not easy, that's for sure.

I hope everyone is looking forward to another AF week! I will be traveling this week, so Jane is going to help me with the Prize Patrol! My childhood friend has cancer and we are going up to help her with some scans and tests she's having at Duke. I will be checking in, but worried that I would miss an award, so Jane has graciously been volunteered to help!!:H (I told you I was going to put you to work!!)

Hugs to all, make it a great day, you have the choice!!! Byrdie

[j-vo]

Newbies Nest

MAE Nesters,

Byrd, hope your trip goes well and I'm sure you'll be a great support for your friend. Sorry to hear that. Yeah, that situation you faced this past weekend can be mentally exhausting, as everything you pick up, you hold in your hand and remember something. When we were cleaning my grandparents house out whom I was extremely close with, I felt that way. And they were huge hoarders! My grandfather had a whole collection of those TV rabbit ears! Must have been about 50 of them. I wish I'd have kept one

How are you this morning Lost? Check in lots.

Dot, happy birthday to you!

We had a Father's Day picnic here yesterday. It was a beautiful day. I had some annoying thoughts. One when mom was sitting next to me and the smell of her glass of wine was so strong it kind of bothered me. I should have just gotten up and moved. My aunt who had/has acute then chronic pancreatitis drank. WTF? Not a lot, but she looks a mess. She's really think, takes loads of medications and she's only 67. This is what alcohol does to one eventually. I felt bad for her. And of course, the real reason for her condition is not alcohol. How we can deny. Ha. Sad.

Have a great day.

[frances]

Newbies Nest

Hi all! Been awhile since I checked in so I thought I'd say hello. Byrdie I hope you have safe travels and I am sorry to hear about your friend. So nice that she has you to help her through this complicated, confusing, and stressful time! The Prize Patrol will be in great hands with Jane!

Jvo I hope you feel better soon. I am lucky that I haven't been around too much drinking lately, but your particular situation would definitely be irritating!

Ava I got a good laugh about your son's 'sweet way with words'

I've been a little 'flat' lately. So happy to not be drinking but just feeling a little bored. I need to find some things to do that I enjoy doing. The problem is, I really don't have time. Days are filled with work and evenings and weekends with commitments with the kids. There is very rarely an evening off. Oh well, I know this will pass all too soon and I will be wistfully remembering these busy times with the kids! So I'll stop complaining. I just need to snap out of whatever little funk I'm in.

Good to see everyone here - stay close!!

[wagmore]

Newbies Nest

Juja - sorry to hear about the depression, but glad you're feeling better now. Hang in there!

Byrd - safe travels and hugs to you as you go to support your friend.

Lost - please update us and let us know how you're doing

Dot - Happy birthday!

j-vo - sounds like a rough weekend mentally and emotionally, for several reasons. Good job getting through it and also sorting through all of your feelings about things.