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[Guest]

I am new here and am on my 21st day of abs.

So far so good.

Maude

:new:

[gitawine]

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I'm new too, on Day 17, are you doing any of the program yet?
Gita

[Guest]

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New

Good going on the 17! We are at about the same place so it is nice to have company!

No, I am not doing any of the program yet, except I am starting to put my numbers in the drink tracker.

I did a thirty in another program about a year and half ago. The second thirty is easier than the first one.

I already have lots of supplements, so I won't be needing those. Might get the book and the hypno tapes though.

Maude

[gitawine]

New

Good Job to you too! I just ordered my CD's and am excited to start them. I've been hypnotized before (professionally though, not by CD's) for anxiety so I know it really does work. I also ordered the kudzu and Amino Acids and bought some L Glutamine and Vit B. Just started the last two yesterday, so no telling if they're helping yet. Keep us posted!
Gita

[Guest]

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Gita,

Not that there is anything wrong with the supplements. It is just that I have 22 different bottles of Vitamins in my cubbard already, which I grind up into a powder because I can swallow pills without choking.

On my first thirty though a starter kit might have been an OK idea as on my first 30 I had a hard time figuring stuff out and concentrating.

Maude

[Guest]

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Actually my husband hypnotized me the other day and even that seemed to help me feel like I could mods better. But now I am afraid he will try to hypnotize me into doing the dishes for him, so I think I'll go with the CD's instead.

[InnerStrength]

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Hi Gita
You mentioned you tried hypno for anxiety and it worked? Do you mind sharinig more? I am very intrigued...

[goingsobermum]

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Welcome Maude and Gita,
Whow you are both doing really well already. Glad to have you here.

[gitawine]

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Hi,
Yes I was hypnotized a few years ago. I have suffered from social anxiety since I was in about sixth grade, but I had no idea what was wrong w/ me until I finally went to a doctor my senior year of high school. I knew I got nauseous/sick in social situations, but had never even heard of social anxiety. I started Paxil and it was like a new life!
But when I got prego w/ my daughter I went off all medicaitons, and I did pretty well for awhile. Then one of my best guy friends that I grew up was graduating college and I booked a flight to go to his graduation. It was a month in advance and the minute I booked it I started getting nauseous all the time and on the verge of panic attacks. W/ the trip being less than a month away, I knew I didn't have time to start on new medication and guarantee it would work and I didn't want to go and be miserable the whole time.
So I looked up a clinical social worker who specialized in hypnotism. I went to two sessions...It was weird because you don't think it's working because you're so conscious during the whole thing but when she said try and lift your arms/legs etc and you won't be able to, I couldn't!
I geared it towards a specific situation, I went on my trip, and had not one moment of anxiety! It was pretty amazing. I've also considered after learning about MWO going back and getting hypnotherapy for this specific problem, but I thinK I'll try the CD's first, cheaper that way
Hope that helps!
Gita

[gitawine]

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Maude, how did your husband hypnotize you? Is that something he was trained to do, or did he read a book or what? I'd be afraid to have my BF hypnotize me too! Who knows what he'd have me doing!!

[Guest]

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Gita,

He is not trained to do it, but he has been hypnotizing himself for years. He read some about hypnotism and alcohol off the Internet. Actually, I did feel like I was going to be able to stick to my moderating rules better after the session, but now that I see these tapes are available- I like that they're from someone who actually understands drinking problems better. So that sounds like a good idea to me.

One thing I noticed that was different from his perspective and mine when we talked afterward was that he thought I was going to be able to drink in moderation without rules, I thought I was going to be able to stick to my drinking rules and therefore moderate.

Plus, when it comes to the moderation phase after this AF 30, we might have different ideas on what moderation is.


Maude

[gitawine]

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So are you both doing 30 Days AF? I have to make my decisions on what my "rules" of moderation are going to be as well. I was reading someone elses posts on being DF (Drunk Free) I think if it's the weekend I may make that my policy, but then again, I guess i need rules to make sure I stay that way. The biggest thing I have to stick to is no drinking alone in the evenings (my BF works nights) because that just makes me too depressed.

[Guest]

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Gita,

Yes, my husband is doing the 30 AF days with me. Even though I am new here I have been working on moderating for about a year and a half. Though the main goal for me is to be DF, I have to follow my drinking rules to do that. Making too many exceptions can be problematic.

1) Have to have three AF days a week at least. (Four is even better)

2) No hard alcohol on SUN- TH. (have to work the next day)

3) No more than 4 standard drinks a day. No more than 3 standard drinks on SUN-Th (have to work the next day)

4) No more than 12 drinks a week.

5) No drinking before 5 PM.

6) Only drink right before, during or after Dinner.

7) Make sure all drinks are standard drinks (measured out)

Even with all these rules I may have to try some Topa to make it work. I don't know though? perhaps I should try it one more time without the Topa? This is my second AF30, perhaps I will do better this time.

These rules will be different for everyone, so you can come up with your own. It helps to actually write them down I find. You don't have to post them, but you might want to write your list down somewhere.

Maude

[gitawine]

New

Maude,
I actually wrote down some ideas last night as far as what my rules might be. As much as I would love to have wine w/ dinner during the week, I cannot drink alone. If I have friends over I will make allowances for that, but I can't keep a bottle of wine in the house 24/7 as I have in the past. That is great that your hubby is doing ABS w/ you. My BF (we live together) does not drink much unless he is in that "going out" mood, and even when he does drink to excess he never has the anger problems like I do.
So my ideas for drinking rules were:
No Drinking Alone
During the week No more than 3 glasses of wine, only if someone is drinking w/ me. If they leave, they have to take the bottle w/ them.
Concentrating on "sipping" my drinks
Drink one glass of water between each drink, and no more than two drinks per hour if I'm out at a bar etc

Thats all I've really come up w/ so far. My gfriends are coming over tonight and were hanging out and having dinner at the house, used to be our Wine Night but tonight I'll be drinking non alcoholic wine (Ariel makes a decent one)
Sometimes I wonder what exactly I'm getting out of the 30 days...I did it mainly to give myself a breather, try to get out of the habit of drinking every day. But I spend so much time thinking about drinking! I feel like the only reason I'm doing it is because of the promise I made to my BF and I don't break promises. I guess I'll wait for the rest of the supplements to get here and see if I feel better at that point. I'm really thinking about doing the Topa after reading all the great results, but am scared to combine anything w/ my Cymbalta, and not sure if I want to go to my Dr.

[Guest]

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Sounds like a good list Gita.

Try to stick to doing the thirty if you can, though you may be doing it just because you told your boyfriend so, you will get more out of it than that.

Your tolerence will go down and you'll be able to drink less when you start up again and next time you do a thirty it will be easier than this time.

The only thing is that after a thirty ,after months and months, ones drinking can go back up if they aren't real careful (hence my second thirty)

Hang in there with your thirty, you can do it!!!

I can understand your concerns about mixing your current medication with Topa. You should try moderating w/o topa first anyways IMHO.

Try a thirty first and see if that helps without the topa. (IMHO)

In fact, I am going to try mods again without the topa to see how it goes this time before taking such a drastic step.

I may have to try the topa eventually, but not yet.

Maude