Newbies Nest

[4MyHealth]

Newbies Nest

Hi Nesters,
I had decided not to post here until day 7 AF, but I think I do better when I actively post. So today is day 1 (again) (sigh). Need to make it to 7.
Sorry SL that you are having to move. That is great that you have your trip home to look forward to!
jobe - good work on making it through the weekend AF
byrdlady - good point on the one glass of wine
vg - read your thread about your journey - thanks for "bumping it"; it was good to read
Nellie - day 1 for me too! Hope we can both reach 70 and beyond!
Leave - hope your blue mood lifts! Good work not turning to drinking for comfort.
Lav - have fun with your grandson! 2 1/2 is such a fun age!!
Does anyone watch Piers Morgan (is that his name??)? He took over for Larry King on CNN. Had Rob Lowe on the other day & talked about his 20+ years of not drinking. Piers told Rob that he would miss having a glass of wine with pasta. Rob said "a" glass of wine? It is never "a" glass of wine. Interesting how candid he is about his inability to stop. He said "you're not one of us, if you can have a glass of wine".

Here's to another AF day!

[Andrew from Ireland]

Newbies Nest

Byrdlady, I wish I was exaggerating the withdrawals but I really wasn't! I heard something of kindling where the more times you go cold turkey the worse it gets. Well my drinking life in the last few years has been all about going cold turkey plenty of times so it makes sense. What I was reading also said that the withdrawals for somebody who does it regularly will be much worse than for someone who's been drinking for a long time straight. Alcohol withdrawal syndrome - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Maybe it's all in my head, but my god, the insomnia and nightmares were so bad. Hellish.

[Byrdlady]

Newbies Nest

Jeezus Andrew, glad I didn't read that article before I stopped drinking! I'd of had ALL those symptoms! (Yes, I'm one of those!) Gosh, I hadn't heard of 'kindling' before. I wish I were smart enough to understand what they said was happening, but my take-away from it was it's God-Awful.
I can only relate what I've experienced, and I'm so sorry that you are having these hellish nights....I will stay out of this one and rely on other nesters to lend their voice.

[dancingon]

Newbies Nest

I guess we're all different. I never have serious withdrawl symptioms, just feel a bit fluey and sleep like the dead. But others on here have had trouble sleeping. I do occasionally get weird dreams though, even after a long time AF. One of the scariest was feeling someone talking into my ear while asleep, and I think I told you about the one where I woke up believing that I had just been stopped by police while drink driving, only to find myself sober and in bed. Unfair to have such dreams while sober. Drink just gives you another set of problems though. Eventually the symptoms must cease.
Try playing some low level music, a boring radio station or the relaxing CDs from MWO to help with the sleep problems.

[sunshinetoday]

Newbies Nest

Good Mornig Nest,
Lots of activity while I was asleep. YAY! :angel:
Byrd, I definitely can relate to what Andrew is going through. I know different people experience different things.
Andrew, Last Year my husband had to go out of the country for 5 days, and my mind went YAY, drinking time. So I drink SO MUCH AL that I don't remember half of it, called in sick to work one of the days. I remember feeling so wretched when I had to pick him up. I drank a beer in the airport parking lot and threw it right back up. Before this I had been without AL for almost a month. I drank so much I had the shakes, the impending doom, heart palpitations, and went to the hospital. I admitted my problem. They gave me something that made me feel like I was high as a kite, and I passed out. I think because I drank so much in such a small amount of time, the withdrawal lasted for about four days. Not as bad as day one, but still there. The anxiety was there for a while. It is some scary stuff. I would repeatedly ask myself, WHY do I do this to myself? So I can relate to you. I have also had so much AL in a short time, that the next morning I find myself needing to buy that one more drink, or two more, to ward of those symptoms that I know so well will dominate my day. Been there many a times.:h
Scottish Lass, It is great that you figured out your triggers, now you just have to arm yourself with some tools to battle them. I know what you mean about the sickening feeling of how much flights cost to go home. I want to go home often but it doesn't happen because of the money. Halfway around the world seems so far. Sometimes they have specials for Americans for 700 or 800 round trip to come here, but they charge us an extra 500 for the cheapest deal. Crappola. Anyways, glad you're here.:l
4my, I think posting here is a great way to help one stay motivated. You don't have to reach a certain number of days. We love your company, and want to help. :l
Jobe, Congrats friend, 7 days is wonderful. It really heps to have a supportive spouse as well.
VG, Lav, IC, Dancing,Mimi, Hope you all are enjoying some beautiful weather. Hi LIS!

So, I had a soccer game last night and we got our butts handed to us as usual. I was thinking how when I was trying to do this journey with out the help of this site, every few weeks I would have a match in my head, and I would get my butt handed to me by AL. I was always going to lose because I was never prepared, I had not acquired any tools (skills) to deal with AL. It was lonely and so deflating. Since being here I feel like I have the best team in the world to support me and allow me to win. I just have to put in the work. I also need to put in my time training to be a better player on the field. I guess if I can learn to say NO to AL, I can learn to say yes to a run here and there to help me not feel so defeated on the field. At least if I give it everything, I can be happy with losing in soccer. I will never lose against AL. Anyways, off to work. My Hubs is doing a wonderful job of quitting smoking. See you all later!:h:waving:

[InChains]

Newbies Nest

hey all, a flying hello on my day 15, have actualyl had soem great weather today sunshine, with the extra special bonus that my skin has improved enough for me to wear a t-shirt without feelign self conscious for the first time in months, loving it

xIC

[leaveinsilence]

Newbies Nest

evening nest hope we're all well, Lave "Busy man" just made me smile. I'm in such and odd mood today, this morning i was blue but okay with it but as the day has gone on, i'm suddenly so jealous of everyone (i can honestly say i'm not a jealous type normally) this so unlike me, i'm jealous of my friends who are away this weekend at a weekend gig that i really wanted to go too but for various reasons i can't, i'm jealous of another friend, the list is endless. i've even spent the whole day jealous and hating someone who i have no right to be jealous of but i can't help it

Today i want to drink but at the same time i don't want to, i hate not being able to drink, i hate the fact that other people can drink and i can't, i hate the fact i can 't be trusted with AL, i hate thinking of all those drinks i'll never try even though i don't want them, i found myself in asda tonight so upset that i'd never get to drink a cosmopolitan whilst at the same time working out how to make an AF one, i hate feeling like this

hope everyone is feeling strong today x

[Andrew from Ireland]

Newbies Nest

lis, I hear ya, I feel the same tonight. I'm about to collapse into bed and wake up tomorrow and never drink again. And I feel mournful for all the times when I won't be able to drink!............... Which is just silly, come on. AL does not make the good times. The best times I ever had in my life had nothing to do with booze, even if, sometimes, it was there. None of those moments ever happened because of the booze though.
Which is not really what you're saying, I know....I'm just waffling.
Anyway, went to the doc today, drunk, horrible. He gave me some xanax. I hope to sleep tonight well. Take some tomorrow to get over the hangover and then that's it, continue back to the wonderland that is being AF.....I really loved it so much the last time, in my head that's what it's like. I've spent almost a week being anxious and depressed and insomniac and....well AF long term is the opposite of that.

I'm going on again.

Goodnight to all here, and take care

[mylife]

Newbies Nest

Hello All,

Just checking in to wish everyone a comfortable and safe AF night in the nest!

Have a wonderful AF night all!

[mimi911]

Newbies Nest

Hey all just a quick checkin as I am posting from my cell phone. Today is day4 I was thinking that I wanted a drink and then my next thought was what would be the consequinces of drinking a bottle of wine? 1. Headache 2.calories 3. Guilt 4. Another day 1 instead of making it to day 5. Yay that took my desire away and I am here enjoying an at evening. Let's celebrate........af of courseu

[Lavande]

Newbies Nest

Good evening Nesters!

I'm ready to call it a day myself but just wanted to check in here!
It was a busy Nest today, good to see so many

I realize some of you are struggling & I'm sorry but please don't give up. Just keep trying & you will find your way.We all have different backgrounds, lives & problems but we all have something in commom ~ AL abuse. If you are unhappy and/or unhealthy due to the amount of AL you drink then you have a problem & you need to deal with it properly. There is no one right way unfortunately. If you've tried one way & it hasn't worked, go back to the Tool box & try something else. You will find it if you just keep looking

LIS, mood swings can be a bitch, I've been there! Trying to handle them with AL is something a lot of us (women) do & it never works. Rx antidepressants made me worse & still want to drink. I finally found an OTC herbal product called Amoryn - iy fixed me right up. I was able to quit drinking within three months of starting that product & have never looked back! Seriously!
I've been busy filling my life with new & better things, I do not miss AL! Why not look into dealing with the mood swings first, then see what happens?

I hope everyone has a comfy night in the Nest. I'm looking forward to some decent sleep tonight after my busy day with Mr Busy

Lav

[4MyHealth]

Newbies Nest

Hi All,

mimi-glad you thought of the consequences and decided to go AF. You'll feel so good tomorrow!
Lav - interesting to hear about the Amoryn...I will look for it. Glad you had fun today with Mr. B. sleep well.
tonight was really difficult and had the opportunity (everyone gone during the witching hour -- unusual) to buy wine, but it fell through bc one had to come back from a friend's house. Looking forward to day 2. off to bed.

sleep well nesters!

[rebirth]

Newbies Nest

Hi,
I thought I would through myself into this thread. I would like to go AF for seven days and make more friends if possible. It is now day two for me. Hope everyone is having a good start to their Tuesday.

[Hippy Chick]

Newbies Nest

Hi Rebirth. Havent seen you for ages. Have you been hiding? Great to see you. You did so well last year, you know you can do it. You know what they say... pick yourself up, dust yourself off and get back on that wagon.

Mimi - good on you for working out a strategy that got you thru a craving.

Andrew sorry to hear you are struggling. Dont give up trying to give up. It is hard and sometimes it seems like it is impossible, but it isnt and it is so worth it.

Relapsing is a way of learning what to do different next time. Because if you keep doing the same thing, you will keep getting the same result. So if something doesnt work, change it, if you cant change, it change your attitude. Sometimes it does take a few relapses to get it right, just dont use that as an excuse not to try hard.
It's not easy and it's not instant. It took time to get to you to a point where you asked for help (by coming here) and it is going to take you time to get it right.

I think what I am trying to say is DONT GIVE UP!

Visit us when you need to.

HC

[sunshinetoday]

Newbies Nest

For LIS,
Virgin COSMO
PG TESTED

2 ounces cranberry juice
Splash Rose's sweetened lime juice
Club soda to taste
Fill highball glass with ice. Pour in juices and top with club soda. Alternately, fill cocktail shaker with ice and shake juices until chilled, then pour into martini glass and top with club soda.

Makes 1.

-- Amy McConnell Schaarsmith

CINDERELLA MOCKTAIL

PG tested

1 ounce fresh lemon juice
1 ounce fresh orange juice
1 ounce fresh pineapple juice
Club soda or ginger ale to taste
Add ingredients to a cocktail shaker you've half-filled with ice. Shake until chilled; strain into a chilled martini glass. Club soda or ginger ale can be added for the fizzy excitement of it.

Makes 1.

-- BellaOnline -- The Voice of Women



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