There are times when it feels a little like this forum is an extension of MIND with all the 'baggage' that a lot of us bring. Linked to that then is the issue of 'self-medication' and particularly its potential overuse. I doubt I'm alone in this regard but I know how much of a challenge it can be fighting it back.
So I'm setting myself (and anyone who wishes to join in) a challenge ... to stay 'dry' for as long as possible. Starting today and counting on. Target 1 - one week. Given that this covers a weekend as well ...
I know that it doesn't take much at the moment to push me in the wrong direction and even this small target is likely to be a major challenge at the moment but what's life without challenges (anyone ever finds out, please let me know!)
Good luck Tjm86 👍🏻
I have a mate who was a big drinker and took us all by surprise and went cold turkey. Unfortunately this meant he stopped going out as he didn't see the point if he didn't/couldn't drink. 🙁 haven't seen him in a while I should give him a call.
I didn't go cold turkey but I definitely cut back near the end of the first lockdown and now only drink on Friday & Saturdays * and even then it's only 2/3 bottles of beer. Apart from reducing alcohol intake it's helped my waistline.😁
I hope it all works out for you.
*The Euros have broken this for now so glad it's almost over.
A member of our family is taking a break from alcohol, having realized (after a doctor visit) that their habit was going to be life-changing (or life-shortening, really). Their partner, who hardly drank anyway, has joined them in solidarity. It's been difficult to manage, and they had a whisky recently at a wake that made the whole project wobble significantly.
One of the trickiest parts is managing the social aspect - who to tell (when not wanting to make too big a deal of it), how to manage relatives whose response to the phrase "actually, we're having a bit of a dry house at the moment" was to turn up with champagne and gleefully pronounce "oops - I brought alcohol to the dry house" and then, of course, dealing with the addiction itself.
I feel lucky - my big problem was tobacco, and I managed to stop back in 2008. I still get cravings sometimes, although fewer than I used to. My brain still tells me some lies, as well. "Just one won't hurt", it whispers. Liar!
Agree on the social aspect, I've done dry periods before and people seem to delight in trying to get you to break a resolution: endured constant mockery / attempts to get me to have 'just one' / even outright attempts to trick me into drinking alcohol. I had a similar experience when I went vegetarian.
It's all about having the right support group. If I / we can support you here, I will - it is a challenge, but it's definitely one worth tackling!
Quote from: Funt Solo on 28 June, 2021, 04:37:35 PM
A member of our family is taking a break from alcohol, having realized (after a doctor visit) that their habit was going to be life-changing (or life-shortening, really). Their partner, who hardly drank anyway, has joined them in solidarity. It's been difficult to manage, and they had a whisky recently at a wake that made the whole project wobble significantly.
One of the trickiest parts is managing the social aspect - who to tell (when not wanting to make too big a deal of it), how to manage relatives whose response to the phrase "actually, we're having a bit of a dry house at the moment" was to turn up with champagne and gleefully pronounce "oops - I brought alcohol to the dry house" and then, of course, dealing with the addiction itself.
I feel lucky - my big problem was tobacco, and I managed to stop back in 2008. I still get cravings sometimes, although fewer than I used to. My brain still tells me some lies, as well. "Just one won't hurt", it whispers. Liar!
The social aspect is huge hence my mate not going out. Society can be a powerful tool for good and bad when people just want to fit in but then the individuals propensity to addiction kicks in and affects us all in different ways.
Funt your cravings (even minor) after so many years goes to show how powerful the "addiction gene" can be.
Thanks for the support, I will wear it always.
Fortunately with the BPD the socialising aspect isn't a problem. On those rare occasions when I do get the Pink Chit I end up driving so that covers that one.
Anyway, another dry day so I'm going to take that one. I know what you mean about the cravings Funt. Reading up on addictions and the role of neurotransmitters makes for some interesting, if a little disturbing, thoughts. Hopefully like you I can rewire that part of the brain.
Fair play - loads of respect for you here. My drinking habits got a wee bit out of control for most of the lockdown period. Managed to break the cycle by accident really - working so hard that I was only fit for a small beer before bed. So far I haven't got back into the nightly heavy drinking.
It's a weird one in the houseboat community where I live - pretty much everyone is an alcoholic, or if not then a chronic stoner. My neighbour goes for a morning walk with a can of Heineken every single day without fail. Another neighbour, still punk as feck in his 50s, has a bar of chocolate and a line of speed for breakfast every day, then hits the beers. He's a bleeding sound fella, mind you.
Four days into my own dry spell, all for supporting it myself. I feel my case is a much lighter one than others, and is less about staying off alcoholism, as someone who does enjoy exploring whiskey I doubt I'd ever be a true soberite, as it is reinstating some measure of self discipline that has gone array of late. But whatever the reason it can't hurt to give the liver and kidneys a break every now and again.
My personal goal is to make it exactly six months, Christmas Day, before taking another sip of booze. But of course to each have their own goals and wish them nought but the best of luck.
Yeah, I noticed my drinking getting out of hand early into this whole clusterfuck. I would be something of a regular in my local before the lockdowns. The thing is, going for a few pints isn't the same, you couldn't hit the bottle as soon as you finished work and keep going to bedtime. Then on top of that, being in public and knowing you needed to be able to walk home introduced some self regulation to your drinking.
What I found helped a lot was going back to how I filled my time as a teenager, before I discovered whiskey and beer. It has been a strain on my hands and wrists, but I have rediscovered my love of wanking*. As a teenager, I was so good at wanking that older friends would invite me to wank on stage*** with their bands. It took a while to get back into it, but my muscle memory has been pleasantly surprising and I have enjoyed going back and listening to my angry teenage music.
An interesting, related development, was when I met my parents for the first time in over a year, they gave me my combined birthday/christmas present. A banjo! I've always related to the banjo as an instrument. Much like myself, no one is really interested in listening to it.
*I should clarify, in this context,"wanking" means playing Kirk Hammett/Dimebag Darrell**/Alex Skolnick guitar solos.
**Cemetary gates was my big party piece. It's kinda hard to reconcile my teenage love for Pantera, now that I'm better informed about the confederate flag (that they used in much of their marketing) and Phil Anselmo's general Qness.
***More accurately: corner of the pub
Quote from: Mister Pops on 29 June, 2021, 09:34:51 PM
It has been a strain on my hands and wrists, but I have rediscovered my love of wanking
:o
(I like all the imaginary stuff you add after that in which you try to make out it has a different meaning.)
Zounds! My ruse has failed!
Good luck chaps, I too have over indulged over lockdown, going to be dry over weekdays, but its a struggle.
Mind you health and wealth options maybe driving my choices!
As my partner used to say, alcohol is a depressant, you take it each day you're going to be depressed.
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 28 June, 2021, 10:00:41 PM
Four days into my own dry spell, all for supporting it myself.
Congratulations sir, I didn't even make two days. Had to restart again Tuesday. Made it to today though. Here comes the weekend though ... Good luck, if that is as much a challenge for you as for me.
Aye a week in and can't say I'm really missing it, though last night I did have a brief pang to open up a bottle and have a dram of smoky islay scotch but thought better of it.
Don't feel back about having to restart mate, trials and all that are there to be won.
True, just wish I wasn't getting so much practice dealing with trials and tribulations. :(
Quote from: Tjm86 on 02 July, 2021, 10:35:00 AM
True, just wish I wasn't getting so much practice dealing with trials and tribulations. :(
Here's the thing, though... you shouldn't beat yourself up over any of this. Any day you don't drink is a day you didn't drink — that
alone is better for your physical and mental health, and your wallet.
I used to drink every day. Some weeks, I still do. Most weeks, though, I don't. What I've tried to do is eliminate the "just because" drinking. If you can knock it on the head three days a week, that's the equivalent of doing five months dry over a year. I don't drink Mondays, Tuesdays, go to the pub for (literally) a couple on a Wednesday to break up the week, dry on Thursday, and weekends are fair game.
As you reduce consumption, your tolerance falls, so you need less booze to get the same effect and once you break the every day/most days habit, you also break the psychological expectation. I now find that if we're not going to the pub on a Saturday, I can quite happily drink non-alcoholic stuff right through Saturday evening if I don't feel like it. Usually I do feel like it, but sometimes I don't, and that's another dry night to add to the tally.
Learn to recognise the wins, no matter how small, and build on them, rather than focussing on the 'failures' and feeling terrible about them.
After being rushed to hospital with acute alcohol-induced pancreatitis in 2001, I had to stop drinking altogether for a while. Horrible condition, felt like my insides were on fire from neck to groin, and 1 in 20 people just go into shock and die. The only treatment is to shut down the digestive system completely (nil by mouth) and manage the pain, so I had 3 weeks in hospital with a nutrient drip in one arm, and a drugs drip in the other.
It was impossible to get a consistent answer from the docs at the hospital about future drinking- advice from different consultants ranged from "a pint a day would be fine" to "you must never touch alcohol again". The brush with death (and the fact that someone I knew died of the same condition) scared me teetotal for two or three years, but I did some research myself and the advice is to 'avoid alcohol abuse'. interestingly, the pancreas and liver are self-regenerating organs and so can deal with binges, but my habit of 2-3 pints a day after work was not giving it any chance to recover, so it went on strike. At first I tried to continue going to my local and not drinking, but I soon realised the difference between actual friends and drinking buddies, and came to appreciate just how much shit people talk later in the evening. I gradually stopped going and don't see most of those people at all now.
After a couple, of years total abstinence, I allowed myself a few drinks at special occasions such as Christmas, but gradually the "occasions" became less special - Friday is a special occasion isn't it?
Nowadays I drink quite a lot when I do, but drink nothing for 5-6 days a week, and I've been fine. Getting shitfaced on a Friday has become a weekly treat rather than a daily habit.
If you've been drinking fairly heavily for a while, completely stopping is not advisable- there can be serious health issues arising from the bodies reaction to 'cold turkey'. Days 3-5 (apparently) are key days where people are more likely to suffer seizures, hallucinations and other health concerns (not to mention death, which can happen through withdrawal shock). Just enough to take the edge off withdrawal is good enough and in that context, falling off the wagon a few days here and there is less risky. Jim's strategy of gradual reduction holds water.
I'm no expert, but my wife is (though she's too modest to agree with me), she's an experienced addictions worker. She says the safest way is to get a home detox, though how you go about this will depend on where you are, as services differ from region to region and we're in Scotland, which would be entirely different to systems outside of Scotland as Health is devolved. However, this would usually involve local health services of some sort and might go on your medical record, so it depends on how you feel about that.
Anyway- good luck with reducing your intake everyone and I would reiterate what Jim says about thinking about the days you didn't drink rather than the days you did.
What a match. Easily the most exciting first half of the season.
Anyway I crumbled and had a beer. Just the one, so that's pretty good especially after what has been a pretty stressful week. Jim speaks wisdom.
When I met my first wife, we soon fell into a routine that was horribly bad for my health- we'd shut the shop at 3pm and go straight to the pub... where we'd stay til closing time. This went on for a few years until she found she was carrying our first child. By which time the drinking had become a problem for both of us. She obviously stopped drinking- and I did likewise, to show willing. This was (I shudder at this...) nineteen years ago. When my eldest was born, I just... didn't start again.
Eventually, I fell into a 'pleasant routine' of 'only drinking on special occasions'- and when we split up five or so years ago, I guess I was drinking once a month, when my second wife and I went out to meet friends.
Now, I'm happy to say I haven't had any alcohol (except once, when I made rum and raisin chocolate) since Xmas 2019. And no cigarettes since Sept 2017.
I don't know where I'm going with this, except to say that it can be done- and despite being a chronic depressive with rampant anxiety and diagnosed morbid rumination- obsessive suicidalism to you and me- alcohol is one thing that I have absolutely no intention of ever having again. Well, unless it's a glass to be social once in a very odd while. My eldest turns 18 in a couple of weeks, and he has already made noises about "doing the dad thing for his first real pub trip", but has also told me he just can't be bothered with booze, so I think we may just have one pint for the sake of it and then go home. If that happens, I will be content.
SBT
Had the absolute weekend from hell. Two 11 hour shifts, idiots abound, and nothing but more annoying housing bureaucracy to fight my way through courtesy of an unwelcome mortgage broker agency.
I'm only so strong, a small dram of whisky tonight.
Still, only drank probably the equivalent of 4 units in two weeks is a massive improvement, and had it not been such a miserable couple of days probably would have been just happy with the beer yesterday. Small wins.
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 04 July, 2021, 06:48:20 PMStill, only drank probably the equivalent of 4 units in two weeks
Good lord, who knew that Cruzcampo was alcohol free? ;) :lol:
Quote from: Dandontdare on 02 July, 2021, 02:18:20 PM
After being rushed to hospital with acute alcohol-induced pancreatitis in 2001, I had to stop drinking altogether for a while. Horrible condition, felt like my insides were on fire from neck to groin, and 1 in 20 people just go into shock and die. The only treatment is to shut down the digestive system completely (nil by mouth) and manage the pain, so I had 3 weeks in hospital with a nutrient drip in one arm, and a drugs drip in the other.
It was impossible to get a consistent answer from the docs at the hospital about future drinking- advice from different consultants ranged from "a pint a day would be fine" to "you must never touch alcohol again". The brush with death (and the fact that someone I knew died of the same condition) scared me teetotal for two or three years, but I did some research myself and the advice is to 'avoid alcohol abuse'. interestingly, the pancreas and liver are self-regenerating organs and so can deal with binges, but my habit of 2-3 pints a day after work was not giving it any chance to recover, so it went on strike. At first I tried to continue going to my local and not drinking, but I soon realised the difference between actual friends and drinking buddies, and came to appreciate just how much shit people talk later in the evening. I gradually stopped going and don't see most of those people at all now.
After a couple, of years total abstinence, I allowed myself a few drinks at special occasions such as Christmas, but gradually the "occasions" became less special - Friday is a special occasion isn't it?
Nowadays I drink quite a lot when I do, but drink nothing for 5-6 days a week, and I've been fine. Getting shitfaced on a Friday has become a weekly treat rather than a daily habit.
This post has inspired me to cut down / scared me into cutting down my booze intake, and this week I've had my first booze free days in months. And it wasn't really that hard - I just drank alcohol free beers instead of my usual IPAs. So thanks!
I'll have a bevvy tonight and I've no real intention of stopping but I'll be doing a few booze-free days a week from now on for purposes of organ repair.
I should point out things were getting a bit out of hand as lockdown went on, to the point where I never went to bed without feeling at least a bit tipsy. Time for a change.