Newbies in need May Day 4

[Sunny AZ]

Newbies in need May Day 4

Hi everyone! Good to be back on this side of midnight...

Janice - I am in awe of your strength! To power through such a potent trigger and not give in is so brave and gutsy.

Aduggan - hang on, hang on, hang on.

Retteacher - I'm there with you, wish I was AF but feel better that I am moderating and feeling clear eyed/headed in the morning. Using CD's and supps. Still no Topa.

stay strong

sunny

[imatree]

Newbies in need May Day 4

Ug. Morning from hell for me so far. I had the worst nightmare of my life this morning and it seemed to go on for hours, then everything went wrong after I woke up, at work now and have way too much to do today. I'm going to work hard to shake this funk because staying sober (or nearly so) will be quite a challenge on a Friday night (not to mention the entire weekend). I just want to go home and go back to bed.

Good thing I can say is this is second morning without a hangover!

[zincityzen]

Newbies in need May Day 4

Congratulations, imatree on 2nd hangover-free day! And to everyone for hangin' in there. Day 5 for me and feeling good. Drinking water, water, and some coffee instead of wine. I have a social thing tonight and wine is usually a big part of it. Half the group are moderate social drinkers, half are non-drinkers, and two of us tend to get sloshed, now it will just be one, and it won't be me (hopefully not him either)! I haven't seen them because of work conflicts since I started swing shift at a spa, but I don't work Friday nights. I feel like I'm going as a new person!

[imatree]

Newbies in need May Day 4

Good work Z! I'm not a social person at all, and have always wondered how people do social stuff without booze. To make it through a social event without drinking is, I think, a major accomplishment. Pat yourself on the back everytime you let an urge pass!

[fire31]

Newbies in need May Day 4

Hi all, Day 4 AF for me. Was very very tempted to drink last night. I got very close. For no other reason than I was jsut craving it.... Luckilly I decided to wait out the crave wave for about 20 minutes (delay the decision to drink) and also put some food in my belly which always helps take the craving away a bit.

So so glad I got thru last night, as I have a killer work day (and weekend) ahead of me, and would've been completely assed out if I got drunk last night.

As far as drink replacements- I now tend to drink a lot of different teas. black teas in the morning, sometimes chamomile for relaxation (especially helpful when craving), and peppermint for digestion. They actually do help.

Drink replacements in social situations- I tried different approaches (non alco-beers, soda, etc) and found that ginger ale is the most comfortable option for me. I like the taste and it seems to draw less attention than non-alco beers, which is sometimes handy when I'm not feeling like explaining my sobriety to others in detail!


Kudos, good luck and keep going to all of you!

[juney]

Newbies in need May Day 4

hi its day 5 AF for me and its usually weekends more than during the week that i binge very heavily until i pass out and my kids have to ring nan to come and see if im ok. ever so embarassing! but not this time im determined to do this just one step at a time.

thanks all for being there for me when i needed u xx

[fire31]

Newbies in need May Day 4

good luck and stay strong this weekend Juney! You can totally do it. If you're super-craving, maybe logging into chat will help.

[juney]

Newbies in need May Day 4

i will. im extremely tired now and its so nice knowing that i havent had a drink to make me feel this way. im usually on my second bottle of wine by now which i would have retrieved from the depths of my wardrobe.
its knowing that i can come here and share these things that is keeping me together.
i can share how i feel, good or bad, here but i cant do that with anyone else around me especially my family and friends and its because i dont think they would understand and although they want to support me as best they can its only people like you who i can get the help i need from because you all understand how it feels and can point in the right direction

[Kitty]

Newbies in need May Day 4

Hi everyone,

Just wishing you all a great weekend, especially those you with social events to attend.

I'm going back to London for the bank holiday weekend and will have a lot of temptation with dinner parties etc. but I'm going to try and keep strong. I've reached my week af so I know I can do it. If I do fall off the wagon I'll just jump straight back on asap.

This newbie thread has been really great, and long may it continue!!

Kitty

[aduggan]

Newbies in need May Day 4

Just got back from my social event and although I was asked and cajoled by well meaning do gooders (or non do gooders!!) to drink on several occasions I abstained. So I have now done 8 days yipee!! Off to bed with a halo on my head. Hope you made it too Janice.

[Riker]

Newbies in need May Day 4

Good job Fire.. those cravings can be really stong for sure..but I do remember the feeling when you don't give in.. you feel stronger.. and it builds on itself..
I find for me if I am doing well at eating or exercising (working on the drinking part right now) I don't want to sabotage the hard work I've put in so I usually don't give in..you want to keep it going

But it's damm hard sometimes.. those beers they call.....they call...and the voice is strong.. ..but WE are Stronger right !!!!

Keep it up !!

Riker

[Janice]

Newbies in need May Day 4

Yes I did thanks to you guys. Well done Aduggan! Good luck everyone over the weekend, we can do this.

[Riker]

Newbies in need May Day 4

Excellent aduggan, I was reading your posts since this morning and I know you had a really crappy day today, and I also know you had a night out last night and did not drink, so Huge Congrats on your second evening out in a row, whithout drinking..

I can only hope that I will be as strong as you someday soon. You are an inspiration for sure..

Riker

[Riker]

Newbies in need May Day 4

Juney,

You are so right, they want to support us and they mean really well.. but they simply do not and cannot understand what it is like to be in our situation. Here, we all have a different branch to the same issue and our experiences might be different in certain areas, we are all connected at the root.

Way to go.. keep it up..
Riker

[nancy]

Newbies in need May Day 4

Oh my god is it only Day 5?

Ughh

Not sleeping but otherwise doing fine. I am viewing this as living healthy rather than cutting booze out.

RE substitute drinks...

watch out for diet sodas with caffeine and coffee, and sugary fruit drinks.

people tend to substitute booze with sugary things which is just shifting the addiction. alcohol has a lot of sugar. i think it is important to get blood sugar levels back to normal. if you keep having sugary things you keep a sugar addiction going.

regarding caffeine, that also gives you an adrenalin surge, a mood changer, which affects your blood sugar.