Functioning Alcoholic Post Reply

[lazy-bones]

Call the AA help Line...0845 7697555
http://www.alcoholics-anonymous.org.uk

There is an OPEN AA meeting at the friends & family meeting rooms in Byrne Road SW12 on Wednesday evenings starts at 7.30 (corner of Bedford Road and Byrne roads) Its an open AA meeting all are welcome, Their you will find new comers and old timers all people with a desire to stop drinking!
I am an alcoholic and proud of it crazy it may seem, I was a functioning alcoholic for years before I went to AA.
At the meetings I met Police officers, Doctors, lawyers, decorators all kinds of people from 15 to 80 years old all with the same disease....
Look up on line the AA web-site for open meetings out of the area if you want?
What I can promise you is that you will be in the right place?

[lindsit27]

Well done for being so brave! Know that you are not alone! There are plenty of people out there that downs a bottle a night to wind down. This is Not good of course,we know that. but you really are not alone and shouldn't feel ashamed.
I completely agree with the addiction specialist's reply. Keep a diary, look at it as a process, cut down a little bit each time. The elastic band sound like a great idea. Even if it's just a little bit. Going from a bottle straight to just 1 glas may not work for you. You might relapse more in the long term if you go straight for the goal. Be gentle with yourself, a little bit at the time, you're more likely to get the results you want. Be specific about what you want to. What is your ideal intake per night or week? Then work towards that. It took sometime for you to get in to the habit, give yourself time to get out of it too. Don't let your guilt rule the process, you're then likely to keep relapsing. It's a process and a very doable one too. There is a network site out there which you can join called Soberistas. You don't have to reveal your name or anything, you might find it useful.
xx

[wandsworthmum1]

try finding out about Janey Halliday at www.fitforaprincess.co.uk - she does an online workshop on how to manage your alcohol intake which I found revolutionary. I hardly drink anything nowadays. also consider rather than actively seeking to stop drinking - start doing an activity in the evenings where you can't drink - so could be anything from yoga, pilates, going to the gym, learning the guitar. Give yourself something else to do. I find knitting slows me down!

[lindsit27]

Yes that is great. I reckon an activity and a conscious effort to monitor
how much you drink is the way forward. Trust me if I want a drink I will have one, knitting or not. The diary keeps me more motivated:)

[lazy-bones]

Try AA if it doesn't work we can refund your misery

Your going to get a lot of advice about how to slow down your drinking and control your alcohol intake ( trying whisky in milk on a full stomach or cutting down at parties, Changing from a strong wine to a weak wine, perhaps leaving some in the bottle? only drinking at meal times? switching from larger to shandy going to the Gym or taking the dog for a walk (What about when your own?)

The truth is you have a problem with alcohol ??????
AA has a solution to your problem not a cure

I tried for many years all these other remedies and the result was nil...
Go to AA and you will hear all of this stuff people are talking about in other posts....... I'm not saying it doesn't work for them but for me an alcoholic would be suicide

[lazy-bones]

Yes that is great. I reckon an activity and a conscious effort to monitor
how much you drink is the way forward. Trust me if I want a drink I will have one, knitting or not. The diary keeps me more motivated:)

This is called the Paul Gascoigne & George Best method?
Its the 1st Drink that does the damage.........????
AA will always be here for you come when your ready...

[lindsit27]

why the anger? There is no need to shoot me down here..
what works for some might not work for others.
Every person has their way. If AA is the only way for you, if that's where you're at, great. Comparing myself to Best or Gasgoine is not where I'm at. Let's put things in perspective.
Be gentle with yoursef.

[lindsit27]

p.s The diary method was also mentioned by the addiction counsellor.
CBT method. It may work. It may not. Depends on where you're at

[pippi2009]

I think this is what you need and not go to AA, like you said yourself you do not get up and start drinking..

http://makingthingseasy.com/project/win ... made-easy/

I have followed Janey's Boot camps and they are great. I have not done the wine one but have done her Best Body Boot camps and seen tremendous difference.

It's worth a go!

Good luck and all the best! I am sure you can shake this!

[lindsit27]

That looks great. Thanks for sharing that Pippi (although I'm not the one who started the post initially
(Going back to lazy bones posts, I do think AA could be suitable for anyone who thinks their relationship with alcohol is unhealthy. You don't have to drink in the morning to attaned AA. )
Everything is worth a go, to find whichever works for you

[lazy-bones]

why the anger? There is no need to shoot me down here..
what works for some might not work for others.
Every person has their way. If AA is the only way for you, if that's where you're at, great. Comparing myself to Best or Gasgoine is not where I'm at. Let's put things in perspective.
Be gentle with yoursef.

I am personally sorry if you feel upset?
Terribly sorry if you feel offended! that was not my intension? I am merely trying to use Paul Gascoigne and George Best as examples to your suggested method... If a person has a problem with Alcohol then they have a problem with alcohol ( A life threatening killer of a disease) It will destroy families and takes no prisoners) Look at what it did for these to people? and many many 100's of thousands more?
Once again I am sorry if your upset and I am most definitely not attacking you personally...The alcoholic is cunning baffling & powerful & will go to any lengths to hide the fact they are alcoholic's even pretend they have a cure!
The answer is easy if you think you don't have a problem with alcohol then stop drinking!

[NYE31]

My sister's ex boyfriend died from liver failure in the Summer after losing a 15 year battle with alcohol addiction, he lost his will to live, job, their family home, driving licence, his wife left him, he stopped seeing his children as he was never sober & everything that they had.

It's v.sad that he died but even sadder for his wife, 2 children aged 8 & 10 who have nothing now as he left them with absolutely nothing thanks to drinking 2 bottles of vodka a day for 15 years.

[lindsit27]

That's ok Lazy-Bones. Thank you for your comment
I agree with you though as well. Alcohol is bloody evil!
Just to refer to your point on AA, people seem to think that you have to
be drinking in the morning and be on strong spirits to attend a meeting. I know this is not true. AA is for anyone who feel as if their life is being more or less ruled by alcohol. So I get your point. And I agree. Alcohol can not only ruin a person's life but it can tear families apart.
I just feel that any method is worth trying if this is what the person in question wants to do. If it really doesn't work, then so be it. Try something else, try to become teetotal. I know the lady who posted the original comment mentioned she didn't want to go to AA hence I reckon all the other piece of advice from various people including me came up. xx

[lazy-bones]

Thank you
I totally understand how she feels, I couldn't go to AA either in the early days I thought my life was finished when I went through the doors of an AA meeting.
Now I look back and realise it had only just begun ...
Hope all have a beautiful Xmas

[Ali]

Hi,
congratulations in asking for help. Once you have the courage to admit you have a problem,half of the problem is sorted.

Talk to your GP. In addition to a variety of psychological therapies, there is a medication that the GP can prescribe and makes you feel sick every time you drink alcohol. That means your brain will not "crave" alcohol as associates alcohol with feeling sick. You might need only few weeks of this tablet, enough for the brain to make the connection. Since you break the pattern alcohol= relaxation and change it into alcohol= feel sick there is a good chance you will never experience this problem again if you find yourself in a stressful situation.
It tends to work only for motivated,smart people who want to get better and take the tables.
some GP are more proactive than others. Do ask for help clearly and tell him/her if something that he suggested does not work.
You will certainly succeed in fixing this problem as you have a very clear insight into it. Good luck.