New Members

[drinkingal]

I just thought I'd start a topic where new member can introduce themselves and tell us a bit about yourselves so we can get to know you.

:welcome: Habitual Defender and Getting Real! HabDef you posted a really good post about your story on the other board so if you want me to copy and paste that here let me know.

[Eve11]

New Members

DG,
This is a good idea and I hope we'll have some daring newbies. For those of you who want to know more about me, I have a few blogs on this site which explain my story pretty well. Go to the upper right hand side of my post and you'll see blogs (highlighted I think). Click there and hopefully it will allow you to read about me.
:l
Eve11

[DfromCT]

New Members

Hi, fellow newbies. I, too have a blog, which is really a re-post of some emails I used with my email support group of friends and select family. I've been here since late June. Had a fallout with a group that resides in the Newbie Nest that are alcohol free ("AF") and vehemently deny that moderation is possible, or deserves support. Even though I'm somewhere around day 55 AF, consider myself more of a moderator than an AFer. BTW: There's some great folks in "The Nest", but if you're at all interested in moderation rather than abstinence, either don't bring that up, or stick with us.

I found this site because it gave me hope for the possibility of (eventually) moderating, without going down the path of "never again" such as AA or rehab. I am going to try moderating, probably soon, but want to do so when I'm comfortable that I won't fail at moderation.

WELCOME ALL. Please find us in the current month's "long term moderation" thread as well.

:welcome:

[HabitualDefender]

New Members

drinkingal;1371397 wrote: I just thought I'd start a topic where new member can introduce themselves and tell us a bit about yourselves so we can get to know you.

:welcome: Habitual Defender and Getting Real! HabDef you posted a really good post about your story on the other board so if you want me to copy and paste that here let me know.

Heck yeah DG! I want to get to know as many of the awesome people here as possible.

Thank you :new:

-HD

[drinkingal]

New Members

no problem This is Habdefs post from one of the other boards:

Hello everyone. I just signed up today and this is my first post.

I've been lurking here on and off for at least year, but right away I bought some Kudzu, Aminos, and 5HTP which provided some much needed relief but not long lasting because, well, you know how it goes. I was looking for a quick and easy fix for my problems but not ready to jump in with both feet for the long haul and didn't continue or go farther with the MWO way.

My story with drugs and AL go way back to my teens and now I'm 50 but I was able to manage 4 years of white-knuckle sobriety back in my early 30s with the support and fellowship of AA, and again about 6 years ago went 6 months AF (but not DF) by iron will amazing myself and family.

I've had some health probs, mostly intestinal, which ended up with me under the knife followed by a financial rollercoaster ride that was too good to be true at the start and sure enough ended badly-- which was the the straw that broke the camel's back and lead to a really scary mental and physical breakdown.

I went to the doc and got on Antidepressants, then referred to counseling and was diagnosed with anxiety and ADHD as well. I was still consulting after I sold what was left of my drowning business so the 6 mo AF was good but I still like the weed. I had to stop the weed when the US economy tanked for fear of not being able to pass a drug test to get "a real job". That resulted in me going back on the AL and I haven't really been able to go AF for a full day except under extreme circumstances since then.

I got on a health improvement kick in March of 2011 when I stumbled across the Habit Guide which has been an enormous help. I learned to change my diet from processed crap in a box to mostly raw, whole fruits and vegs, reversing some of the damage and at least delaying more body rot for the short term.

It was also about that time that I began exploring the connection between nutritional deficiencies and substance abuse so I got really serious about vitamins/herbs/minerals along with the organic and whole foods. That search eventually landed me here to MWO and I am more hopeful for the future now I than I have been for a long time.

Frankly, the pattern drinking and substance abuse over the years has ranged from not so terrible, to the wife being sick of looking at me and my grown children wondering what happened to the dad they used to know.

Up until just 2 weeks ago I gradually built up to where I was drinking 8-12 beers on weekdays and 15-20 on most weekend days, staring early while working around the house. My current job is very demanding so I can't do any type of hair of the dog, but I gave up shots about 2 years ago as a general rule after simply having too many blackouts Once in while I may have 1 or 2 shots, but my buddies mostly respect my no shots rule after seeing what they do to my 160LB frame.

The good news is coming back here to MWO on a regular basis, along with consistent nutritional improvement, is motivating me to reduce, reduce, reduce. For the last 2 weeks, I've been down to about 2-3 daily beers and 6-10 on the weekends. That's cutting consumption by more than half, I'll take that as a win for now.

I don't have any set goals or definate plan yet, but I am going to order the MWO book and CDs and get back on the Kudzu, because it really seemed to help back when I tried the quick fix. I don't know if I will be able to mod, so I haven't ruled out abs, if that's what it takes then I am willing. I will not resort to the Medical establishment for Rx, there is no way this is going on my permanent record.

The MWO philosophy is something I can really get my arms around, there is no cookie-cutter approach to recovery, and this is the most holistic DIY program I've seen.

If you made it this far, thanks for reading.

-HD

[BondGirl]

New Members

I just started a thread here introducing myself... I'd be happy to tell my story but it's getting late, maybe tomorrow?

[drinkingal]

New Members

hi bondgirl, and :welcome: to the modder board.
tell us as little or as much as you want to about yourself, how much you drank, how long etc, whatever you feel like sharing. We're pretty relaxed here so feel free to jump in and post on any of the threads too. We're all here doing it our own way, and working at getting our alcohol use or abuse under control.

We have a monthly modder thread where we talk about anything and everything,

The mon-fri af thread is about motivating each other to do some af days each week, no matter if that's one af (alcohol free) day or more

There's a gratitude thread too,

and if you want to start your own topic, just jump on in and start one. I'm sure we'll get to know you in no time!

[LibraryGirl]

New Members

Welcome BG and HD. Mind if I shorten your names? Just want to welcome you to MWO, and specifically the modders forum. Whatever your goals, modding or AF, we are here for support. There is no pressure, but if you want advice or support we're happy to give it. Look forward to seeing more of you both!

[vlivengood]

New Members

And another big welcome to our newcomers..... glad your here, the more the merrier (people that is NOT DRINKS)
:welcome:

[FarfallaP]

New Members

me too!

:welcome: Just had to add my 2 cents worth...another big welcome! FF

[RunningCourage]

New Members

:new: Well - new to the modders section, and relatively new to the forum. Haven't read much around this part so will do. Presently i'm at 16 days AF - the last time i had 2 weeks AF was when i was probably 19... around 14 years ago. I would like to do 30 days AF before i do consider whether to have a drink though...

Over the last 10 or years i've developed a regular (read 'nightly') habit of indulging in approximately 4 to 6 pints, or 1 - 1 and a half bottles of wine on week nights, plus a little extra at weekends. Rarely touch spirits. To not drink seemed pretty much impossible. And to have only one or two seemed pointless... and anyway, when i had two, it was very, very easy to tell myself to have more.

Anyway, have been hanging out in the newbies nest and reading through some of the various threads. I'm enjoying, for now, being AF, but don't (yet?) see myself as an AFer... but then this is the first time i've done this. Interested to hear, listen and chew the fat with the modders and see what's happenin over here.

RC

[drinkingal]

New Members

Welcome Running! I think doing the 30 days first is a great idea to try and break some of those drinking habits. This forum is also a good place to figure things out so no one will pressure you to mod if you decide that's not what you want, but we'll be here to help if that's what you decide to do too.

I used to drink between 12-15 drinks a night, 7 days a week (yikes!) but I think we can all improve on our drinking if we make it a goal to do that.

[Lasha]

New Members

My story

Hi all,
I've always been a drinker, smoker of cigs and joints and it probably didn't help playing in a funk/reggae band but that was my love.

I was on about 100 units a week with occasional blow outs at concerts, parties etc and thought that was fine (head in the sand). I was pretty fit and that probably helped me with hangovers.

Decided to stop smoking 18 months ago and going well until 2 bereavements in my family (Dad & sis). Couldn't stop it but had a break down and started drinking about 40 units a day but somehow still off smokes.

Have got my head a bit better and now down to 16 units and hopefully will get a lot lower as I've just realised what damage it's doing to my mental and physical health.

All tips useful

[drinkingal]

New Members

Hi lasha, I don't really understand the units of alcohol, how many units are in a standard drink?

I think most of us who abuse alcohol do use it as a coping tool, and for me I really think I lost some coping skills along the way because as someone here posted "likker is quicker", it's just an easy solution to dealing with so many things. One of the things I'm working on is learning some new coping skills because I know that's a real weak point for me.

Another thing that helped me when I was tapering was I realized how much it was affected by my alcohol tolerance, but as I tapered down I also noticed over time that my tolerance got lower as well so it just didn't take as much alcohol to affect me which made it easier to drink less, but it takes time for your body to catch on.

come on over to the october mod squad topic and join us, I learn new things all the time from others just by reading what everyone is going through. You don't have to do this alone, we are here to support each other, and even if you're having a crap day sometimes it helps just to get it off your chest.

[Lasha]

New Members

Hi Dringingal,
Thanks for replying.
Units are marked on the back of a tin or bottle of alcohol and vary, I think it's law in Britain but no-one seems to know about it.
I'm going onto the October mod squad to see if I can find another way to handle depression/stress as you say booze helps but makes it worse the next day.
Yesterday I drunk one bottle of wine (9 units) and 5 ciders (13 units) total 22 and today I'm more depressed.
Winston Churchill caused it the Black dog and he could drink for Britain.