Introducing myself

[RJS]

Hello everyone,
I am introducing myself and starting yet another Day 1. I just ordered the supplements. I hope they come soon!! I feel like I have betrayed my body for so many years and I am anxious to start giving it the support it needs.

I hope that with the help of this forum and the nutritional support that this time is going to be different. I was in AA for about 8 months and managed to stay sober for 6 weeks. It was a little slice of heaven and I want to get back there.

During my time in AA, I started seeing an addiction counselor, and she seems to think that I am not a "hardcore alcoholic" as much as I am someone who is a habitual drinker; that I started out using it as a way to escape from stress and yes, it has turned into an addiction that needs to be addressed but my process may not be the same as many people in AA. As we have been working together, I started being really uncomfortable in AA, noticing how many times throughout the day the negative "programming" would enter my brain, and I felt like it was putting me into a box. A lot of it did not apply to my situation and I felt like if I stayed there, the ideas that were being drilled into my head might turn into self-fulfilling prophecies that might not otherwise happen to me had I not started believing them!

I think AA is great for some people, but I am not one of them, as I'm sure is the same for many of you since you are all here :-)

I am so grateful to have found this place for support! I feel like I have hit my bottom and like I am willing to make another effort at stopping once and for all. I currently drink one or two bottles of wine per day. It has not interfered with work yet but it is definitely affecting my poor body :-( I hate the way I look and feel, and the fact that it has so much power over me. My eyes are lifeless and I have no joy. I know this is not the way my life was meant to be lived and I really can't wait to get started!

I am looking forward to getting to know people here....so I will continue reading and finding my way around the site. I hope the supplements come FAST!!!

RJS

[42cat]

Introducing myself

Welcome! ... I can really relate to the things you said... as can many of us here, I am sure.

Looking forward to talking with you more on the boards .... Stick close by and keep up the good fight .. We'll get there!

[one2many]

Introducing myself

WELCOME to you RJS!

Good to have you here...

May I suggest that you read the toolbox thread, full of great info, it is located in the monthly abstinance section..

Keep reading and posting..we are here for you..

[kimber069]

Introducing myself

Welcome! From the sounds of things, there are plenty of us starting out, yet again. Keep your chin up! I dont think AA is going to be my gig either. I might actually just seek out an addiction counselor myself. Glad you mentioned it!

[RJS]

Introducing myself

Hi Kimber!

Finding this therapist has been the best thing that could have happened to me. She is so dialed in to the many reasons I drink, not the least of which is that I have never honored my own voice, my own intuition. When I started expressing my reservations about AA, she actually encouraged me to listen to my instincts and what was right for me, even if that meant ditching AA! It was the last thing I expected to hear from an addiction counselor but she is teaching me to honor my Self and my own process.

It has been a very eye-opening experience

[akgirl]

Introducing myself

Hi and :welcome:

Glad you are here. You sound determined and that is great. Not sure what all you ordered but you can get some of the supps at a health store. Like L-Glut, might help with cravings until the others come. Might help you taper down before going AF. Thats what I am doing, I used to drink 1 1/2-2 bottles a day. I tried to just quit but part of my drinking was like you say "routine" so I didn't have much luck just stopping, some AF time but would always start again. So now I just keep making it less, do that for a while and get used to it, then less....so far so good. I only drink3-4 glasses a night now. Not where I want to be but I'm on my way.

Sending you tons of support, you will love this place.
:l
Ak

[Lavande]

Introducing myself

Hi RJS,

Welcome to MWO, this is a good place, lots of information & support available here
If you haven't read the MWO book yet, it's a good place to start. You can download it right from the Health Store. Most of us have found the CDs to be very helpful too. I still use them off & on.

Please feel free to join us on the 'Newbies Nest' and Monthly Abstinence threads too for lots of chat & non-judgemental support.

Wishing you the very best on your journey!
Lav

[Gold]

Introducing myself

Welcome RJS, I too can relate to what you say, I'm glad the counselling is working so well for you. You'll find lots of support here. Good luck to you.

[greeneyes]

Introducing myself

I'd like to extend a welcome as well.

[shirazgirl]

Introducing myself

Hello from the east coast! You are right, AA has helped countless individuals in their quest for sobriety, but it isn't for everyone (like me). I had a hard time believing I was "powerless" over anything. My life was unmanageable because I chose to drink. Nobody forced it upon me and I didn't have some sad story to tell that would excuse me from accountability. The sad fact was, I liked to drink and party. It was fun for me (at the time I was doing it), but the guilt and blackouts were not worth it anymore. I was hurting people who trusted me as a professional and people that truly cared about me. So I came here. This is still work as you want to help as many people as possible and not lose sight of helping yourself.


So thanks for coming, check back, read, post and ask others for advice when you need it. I can only tell you that my life is SO much better when I don't drink (though I have found myself a little bored at times, I tackle that w/ the gym)!

[mica]

Introducing myself

Welcome, RJS!

I am so glad you found us. This is a wonderful site for folks like us. I have been coming here off and on for about nine months, sometimes with more enthusiasm than others. Finally I got to the point in my own head that doing the program partway wasn't working for me... so I started working the program just exactly the way it is planned out in the My Way Out book with the exception of I'm able to stay with only 75 mg of the topomax. And so far, now a month into the 12 week program, I am feeling very good about it. My cravings are really for all intents and purposes gone. I tell you this, not because it is something that I think everyone needs, or that it is all that hot and fantastic that I am doing... just that this is one thing that has finally oh, thank goodness, worked for me.

Good luck in your own journey. Know that we are here for you.