First time writing

[strawbs]

Hi anyone who's there. I need to know if drinking coffee and caffineated (sp) tea will make my cravings worse. It is the morning of my first day without alcohol. I stopped drinking 9 hours ago (last night). Thanks in advance. Hope someone's there...

[lucky 2.0]

First time writing

Welcome Strawb!

Yes, I have read that caffeine will rev you up and then alcohol will help you unwind from being all revved up.

Hope this helps.

All the best-

[strawbs]

First time writing

Thanks Fan. That was pretty quick. I am reading away. May I ask how many attempts at stopping you made before you got there? My history is 10 years of drinking at least a bottle of 14% alc red wine per night (at least). I have stopped for maximum 5 days and nights at any one time. The fifth night I became pathetic and "congratulated" myself with wine. Very ridiculous idea I know. So in the last 4 months I have stopped for 2, 3, then max 5 nights. I am sick of the quitting process now. I don't want to do these sleepless nights again. This will happen I know if I resist drinking in the first place. I know I must never forget the awfulness of this initial detox.

[strawbs]

First time writing

Thanks too Lucky. Looks like I will crash out of caffiene too! Ah well, if I am withdrawing from one poison I might as well do the 2 at once! Any suggestions on the best juice to be stocking up on? Or herbal tea preferences?

[strawbs]

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Thanks heaps Fan.

[abby1]

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Hi Strawbs,

Welcome..... I am not sure about the coffee/tea thing. I know that has become my drink of choice in the last three months. I use to drink a bottle of wine a night. Best of luck to you.
Abby

[hablur]

First time writing

Welcome Strawbs. I just started here yesturday!

I would avoid caffeine completely. Caffeien isnt really all its cracked up to be. What it actually does is build delay in how you feel with tiredness and many people start the process of drinking coffee because they think it helps them stay awake when all it is doing is building up a bank of exhaution.

About 4 years ago I quit drinking any caffeine what so ever. The first week was pure hell because of horrible headaches. The funny thing is now if I drink even half a cup of coffee I get completely wired for about 4 hours. Hehe.. it feels like I am on speed.

As far as juices try to avoid ones that are just pure suger like grape and apple. The best one you can drink is cranberry because it really helps out the kidneys. Also one of the best drinks you can have is V-8. I dont eat vegetables in general because I just dont like them so by drinking a V-8 it gives me all the vegetables I need and I like the taste. Try to avoid soda as it really just is like drinking beer because of the calories.

I drink about 4 - 8oz glasses of water a day, a glass of milk, a glass of V-8, and a cup of decaf-coffee in the morning on my way to work (I still love the taste of coffee so I couldnt give it up completely.

Unfortunately I also drink 6 to 10 beers 2 to 4 times a week Now lets hope I can cut that last one back substantially

I myself wouldn't even try drinking non-alcohol drinks like O'Douls because it just makes me go to the store and buy the real thing. I hope I helped somewhat. Let me know if you discover something else to drink as well. I get tired of water, V-8, and milk. Oh.. with the milk I sometimes make chocolate milk as a treat before going to bed.

Last thought.. kinda unrelated but thought I would pass it on. My Dad taught me an old recipe of mixing sauerkraut juice and V-8 (or tomato juice) half and half if I ever have the achy flu.. you know the one where your whole body hurts? Within about 30 minutes it takes all the aches away! and lasts for many hours. It works a heck of a lot better than aspirin, tylenol, or advil (doesnt do squat for a fever though, just the aches). Why it works I have no clue.


Hablur

[mamatee]

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I too was a bottle-of-wine-or-more-most-nights kind of girl. Never had any luck going more than an odd day without drinking (except during pregnancy) until MWO. I have great luck with kudzu. I drink a ton of water, coffee, soda, juice, tea. I've always been thirsty , yeah, that's my best excuse. Now, exercise, the folks here, hypno tapes, the book, the supps, the support -- it's all working like a charm. So far so good! Welcome, this is a great place to be.

[DidItForMe]

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Strawbs and Hablur:
Welcome to you both. What to drink? That is the quesion of the hour!! There is a good thread under the recipe secion where people posted some of their favorite non-alcoholic drinks for when you get tired of water, juice & milk. Good luck with everything and welcome to MWO!!!

[strawbs]

First time writing

Hi Abby1, hablur, mamatee, everyone... Thanks for all the responses! Thanks too for the welcome,
I am thinking of alcohol right now, as it is "my usual time of day to start", you guys have helped me not get dressed and go out to buy some... as I shake all over this keyboard (need bigger keys, I swear).
I have tried to stop drinking before, and I know my obvious weaknesses from these other attempts. I need choice of beveridges while my tongue does the 3 day "bottom of birdcage" thing, really yuk!
I have stocked up on rosehip tea, green tea and ginger/lemon tea. The teabag aisle in the supermarket took a good 25 minutes to ponder, talk about choices to make. I have armed myself with watered-down Grapefruit juice (less sugar, thanks Hablur) in the fridge. I have been drinking water and tea all day...cannot believe how thirsty I am! I am nearly 24 hours without alcohol (remembered to pour listerine down the toilet as the smell actually seemed attractive to me at 22 hours without alcohol. Soooo bad. Cannot believe the desperate thoughts I am getting! Listerine is banned from my house for now) Sleeping in sweaty fits on and off all day. I will get through this today. Thank you again for the thoughts!

[Breez]

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Hi & Welcome strawbs!

Hang in there!

Drink plenty of , and then some more . Alcohol really dehydrates you, inside & out.

& take it easy today...glad you found us.


If you feel the need to go & get a drink-see your body shaking/sweating-it's not rock n' rollin'-it's telling you it's getting rid of poison. It's withdrawing. You can do it. We're here for you-24/7!

[betty boop]

First time writing

Hi Strawbs and hablur, a huge welcome to you both .....

Well done strawbs, I know how you feel but it does get easier, I promise .....

Cranberry juice out of a wine glass helped me .....

All the best ......

[hablur]

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Way to go Strawbs! Keep it up you can do it!

[abby1]

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Strawbs...
You are on the right path by aleast recognizing and trying. Yes, if you don't like the tea route, cranberry juice is a great alternative. Hope you are doing well.
Abby

[Determinator]

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hi Strawbs and welcome (Hablur that was very interesting BTW). when you body is in alcohol withdrawal the artificially elevated GABA levels in your body plummet, and your glutamate levels remain high....that is what causes the terrible anxiety and "startle reflex" that I recall all too well. Best to avoid caffeine for a while and also sugar and empty carbs...you really need to stabilize your blood sugar as this will help with everything including cravings. As Fan said, download and read the book re: supplements etc. Most important for you immediately is Magnesium, Vit-C, and a powerfull B complex and GABA. and don't expect to get sufficient quantities from a typical multi-vit...most of them are pretty whimpy. you may get the runs from the excessive magnesium but your body badly needs it right now. ***disclaimer: I'm not a doctor! take care and congrads on making some very good decisions!