Not doing so great 😞
Posted , 10 users are following.
Hello, it's me again, after being good last week and only drinking 2 evenings (10 units both times), I am now on my third night of drinking this week as my hubby is working nights. I am also feeling a lot more anxious at the moment and even more so when hubby is on nights. I saw the ARC last week and I am just waiting for them to get in touch with me once they have allocated me a support worker. I asked them last week about TSM but they said no, but when I go next time I have been advised by you good people on here to print off some info about TSM and take it with me. I really just don't want to drink anymore as I want to be healthy and I am so scared of the damage I am doing to my liver, and I love waking up in the morning without a hangover, so why do we do it!!!!😞
0 likes, 16 replies
ADEfree christine13951
Posted
Christine, I think the trick is to familiarize yourself with the NICE guidelines, as ARC will be unlikely to know about TSM. I'll PM you the address of a C3 Europe page that has links to the NICE guidelines and the resources for particular areas in the UK. I believe Joanna also sent you some links, so that's going to be the more up to date/specific info.
christine13951 ADEfree
Posted
Well I have completely messed up again 😢. I had a beer at 3am this morning when I woke up and now I have called in sick at work. I haven't had a day off work due to drinking in nearly a year and I swore I wouldn't ever have another day off work due to drinking, and now I have just bought myself some wine so I can forget the guilt. Not looking for sympathy as this is all my own fault and I have no one else to blame, just want and NEED to stop doing this, just don't know what the answer is.
sharon07214 christine13951
Posted
Ok....don't give up on TSM! It works!!!! As the others before me have advised go armed with relevant information about TSM from C3Europe. PM Joanna and get her support before your visit so you are confident I need what you are trying to achieve.
Alcohol abuse IS a physiological disorder.....something I myself took a while to register and I know I had to prove it to myself first before I can convince/re-educate others. When you do embark on this journey you must follow the guidelines and drink mindfully etc. Again Joanna is a great support here.
If you, after trying further (it took me a while for them to want to give me Naltrexone....and I had to 'pretend to use it as it was prescribed....for every day....and then actually use it for TSM. It seems that in this country, or some parts of it, don't acknowledge TSM but will prescribe medication. My practitioner (from alcohol recovery centre) knew that I was probably going to use Naltrexone using the TSM method but couldn't actually prescibe it that way....she had to prescribe it as a daily tablet. So what I am trying to say is they may say no to TSM but may prescribe it for an alternate method. You may have to 'play along' (like I did) and then use it for TSM with C3Europe/Joanna's guidelines.
Phew hope the above makes sense. In the meantime try to hold on to the positive thought that at least you know you have a problem and want to get help. That is the most important first step! Don't give up! If you really cannot get the help in time Joanna could advise you of how to get hold of the medication from a reputable source etc.
Keep posting and as you know everyone on this forum is here to support and not judge. Xx
deirdre._03652 christine13951
Posted
Do NOT feel bad or guilty for drinking, it is very difficult not to..but you do not need to....
Two evenings...of 10 units, is not bad at all...i could drink between 15,..to ...30 units, seven days a week...it nearly killed me in fact...
You want !! To give up...and that truly is half of the battle...get all of the support that you can, from your GP...NURSE....CAS....ADAS.....And support groups in your local area...
You want to stop !!! And that is a huge bonus..,take it Day by Day....if you slip up...just start again the next day, or next, or next, or next....you CAN, AND WILL GET THERE...HONESTLY...XXXX you will have your self esteem back, energy back...interest in life...back...caring for your appearance, and energy, and joy of waking up every single morning, and the best part...you can look at yourself in the mirror, without shame, horror...and SADNESS...
YOU DESERVE TO GET THERE...AND YOU WILL CHRISTINE....XXXX
BRAVO...IT TAKES MUCH COURAGE TO POST ON HERE.XXXXX KEEP STRONG...and any slips...ignore them. And just carry on.....my motto is...
NEVER GIVE UP ....GIVING UP....XXXXXX
christine13951 deirdre._03652
Posted
Well I have decided that I have got to do something after the mess or yesterday. I am going to see if I can quit for at least the next 2 weeks. I say 2 weeks as I will be going on holiday in 2 weeks and I don't have the confidence to say I won't drink on holiday. Anyway 2 weeks would be an achievement for me. I am shaking something terrible this morning and I hate feeling like this plus I am loaded down with the guilt of not going to work yesterday. Anyway here's to the next week and no doubt I will be popping on here for your valued support x
sharon07214 christine13951
Posted
nancy99421 christine13951
Posted
What is TSM you all mention? I'm in the US and never heard of it. Thanks and Christine, sometimes a lorazapam gets me through a though day and I can dry out. By the next morning I feel beter. And beleive it or not I just tried chamomile tea, 2 bags to one cup. and it makes me very sleepy. Course I have to turn off all the lights, tv, etc and lay still, but I drift off with out the booze. One day at a time for me.. about 2 days sober per week.
RHGB nancy99421
Posted
The Sinclair Method. Proven to wean people off alcohol. I have a good link somewhere, and I'll post it later or I am sure someone else who has it to hand will post it, you can Google it in the mean time.
Joanna-SMUKLtd nancy99421
Posted
To learn more about The Sinclair Method (TSM) in the US, please google C3 Foundation Claudia Christian and you will find the US site, which includes listings of doctors you approve and prescribe as per the method as well as an explanation of what it is and how it works etc.
Many in the US are using, or have successfully used, this method.
nancy99421 Joanna-SMUKLtd
Posted
mary8693 christine13951
Posted
Hi Christine,
I recognise too well your struggle. My behaviour is similar to yours. I tried many times to give up but went back again. After a big recent mess I abstained for a week. Well it is the 7th day and have the evening, which is the worse part, to get through. I wonder how you are doing as there isn't any recent posting from you.
Yes, why do we do it?
It starts with feeling guilty for failing and then you drink to numb the pain of the guilt but it is absurd because every time we end up in a bigger mess...
I intend to go on holidays too. If I mess up, as Deirdre says, I will try again and, again.
I can't take medication to help me because I am on antidepressants and don't want to be mixing more chemicals...
I don't always understand the abbreviations people use...
Hope you will feel better and stronger today.
Mary
christine13951 mary8693
Posted
Hi Mary, thank you so much for sharing your journey with me and well done for going 7 days without and I really hope u can keep it up. I think it is so hard for people who don't have this problem to understand why we keep doing it to ourselves especially when we don't have the answers ourselves. My last drink was on Thursday and I have managed to get through the weekend sober, but to be honest by biggest temptation will be in the week when my husband it on lates this week and when ever he is not around this is when I tend to drink the most. But I am determined to at least make it 2 weeks just to prove that I can do it. I have asked my hubby to have my money and bank cards this week so I am not tempted to buy alcohol as I don't trust myself. All I know is when I lose time from work through drinking is when I need to keep trying. For info ARC is for 'Alcohol Relationship Counsellor' which I have decided to turn to again. I too am on anti depressants and am not sure whether the type of drugs that they may offer for treatment would interact with the AD's we are taking, but like you I am sick of all the chemicals in my body. You just get to a point where you are willing to try anything, and I have tried most things. May I ask Mary what other methods you have tried to help you with the drinking?xx
mary8693 christine13951
Posted
Hi Christine,
Really good to hear you made it for so many days and especially weekend. My husband also goes often to work in the afternoons and evenings and as you say, this is the worse time. Now he is out and my brain is telling me to go and get 4 Stellas! I have at least to make it for a couple of weeks and ideally until I go on holidays but will I?
The longest I managed was a month when I went to AA but always left a few days in between drinking again. I always tried to control it. I do OK for a bit but soon after I will make myself sick with it.
I stopped without medication many times just by reading a few good books and watching you tube videos or documentaries about the dangers of alcohol. I tried to brain wash myself!
I have the tendancy to get depressed and get stressed easily so, I can use alcohol like a crutch in order to cope. If something goes wrong the first thing I would think is to have a glass of wine or beer. This week has been relatively stable.
But if I fail, I will have to try again. I have to. I am normally such a quite and one would say sensible person but alcohol changes me and don't like myself.
I wish you strength and thanks for sharing.
Hug,
M xx
ADEfree mary8693
Posted
Mary, if you can manage to dry out and when you do drink, you drink less than before (you don't have escalating relapses), you may just have to have a numbe of runs at it. If your relapses do escalate, that sounds like the Alcohol Deprivation Effect. For that, I'd suggest using Medication Assisted Treatment, something like The Sinclair Method. RHGB and Vickylou use Campral, which can work quite well. You have to start out dry and take it for a couple of weeks before it kicks in, but it really seems to break the connection between stress and drinking. The Sinclair Method otoh, has to be used while you're still drinking.
Joanna-SMUKLtd christine13951
Posted
When most of us here talk about ARCs, we are talking about Alcohol Recovery Centres.  Each area of the country have them such as Addaction, for example.
Just so you know....