April Mod Squad

[drinkingal]

Hi modders, no one has started an April thread yet so here it is.

How is everyone doing? what are your goals for April?
How has your drinking improved since you started modding?

[Eve11]

April Mod Squad



Hi drinkingal. Thanks for starting our April thread. April makes me think of April showers so with rain in mind...let's rain on the parade of thinking we can drink too much because it's Saturday, or a holiday, or deserved because we worked hard.

Before we take a drink, let's evaluate why we are drinking, think about how much we intend to drink so we don't drink with reckless abandon and have too many, and track how much we drank, what occasion, who we were with, how many we had, and how we felt afterward.

Let's make April our mod challenge to really stick to a good plan of moderating our drinking for those of us who are following that path. Abstainers are always welcome to post any words of encouragement that help them abstain. The Ruby Tuesday thread is always a good thread to state goals and discuss if goals were met or not the following week.

Let's really WORK our program!

Hugs to all,
:l
p.s. was a drag that the site was down or you would have gotten this yesterday. Glad we're up and running again.

[nonamegirl]

April Mod Squad

Happy April, everyone!

Hi, all. So, I'm back from my trip ... though my husband is still there, taking care of his folks. It feels good that he trusts me to handle my demons on my own. I think he knows that I am really committed to moderating my drinking, and I know that with your help I will succeed.

We are finally getting some signs of spring here. I have a few daffodils getting ready to bloom, and finally the ice is off my veg garden. Sunshine always makes me feel better, and I know that the winter gloomies will soon be gone.

I appreciate and cherish the ability to come here and "chat" with like-minded folks. You all have such good ideas, and I thank you for sharing them.

[ToMyHealth]

April Mod Squad

Hi DG, Eve, and NNG. Been MIA and not doing well. Drink almost everyday and usually 1 too many. And I just realized it's been almost 2 yrs since I found this site. I have had a few AF periods, 2 week stretches.

I'm tired and I'm sick of being tired. I work out, pretty careful as to what I eat, why can't I apply that discipline to alcohol?? I can. I want to look and be healthy as my MWO name implies. Today is Day 1 and today is all I am going to think about. Will check back in this evening.

TMH

[Eve11]

April Mod Squad

Hey TMH,

From what I recall regarding your life, you are retired and either live in a golf community or hang with likewise folks who golf a lot and with that comes the mindset of drinking after the games. A lot of temptation and for me personally, I do not fare well when hanging with big drinkers.

I have been thinking more and more about my health too and have gotten quite caught up in watching movies like "Forks over Knives", and "Sick, Fat, and nearly Dead". The thought has been reinforced with watching films such as these and picking up health related books is that our bodies want to be in an alkaline state and too many bad foods and drinks (like alcohol) make it too acidic. That opens the door for the breakdown of the immunity system which can lead to cancer and various diseases. For my health, I am determined to moderate to safe levels and may even decide to abstain one day. I have cut way down on my meat consumption and may even go vegan one day. It's all a step by step process.

Maybe go to the library and read a book about the importance of maintaining an alkaline body. Sometimes that reinforcement to stay within drinking limits for our health helps us to stay strong in this battle where it's too easy sometimes to cave into temptation.

To our health my friend!

:l
Eve11

[Lasha]

April Mod Squad

Hi TMH,
I'm still in the process of tapering and my alcohol councillor asked me what I'm going to replace the pub life with.
My answer was Golf and he didn't think that was a good idea due to the 19th hole.
So when I play golf it's during the day and then come home and have my 3 drinks at night.
He was right I'm still vulnerable when I go out at night so I don't do it.
When I'm ready and get some serious al free days in, I'm going to go out on a Saturday night at about 9 o'clock and will limit that to 3 drinks "looking forward to it".
I'm feeling better every day so can you.
Lash

[ToMyHealth]

April Mod Squad

Well almost bedtime and it was an AF day! No exercise today which is highly unusual, will get back on program tomorrow.

Yes, Eve, I am retired in a gated golf community. It isn't just the golf lifestyle, it's everyone is from somewhere else so it's easy to make friends and the calendar is constantly full. It's not unusual to have 4 nights out within a week. And yes, all tend to be fairly heavy drinkers. Besides that it's having a fair amount of company so you are in entertainment mode often. Also, if we are at the club our bartenders pour a big drink, wineglass is more like 8 oz. I ordered the recommended movies from Netflix today.

Lash, during week I play golf in the a.m., stay for lunch usually and never drink. Sometimes on weekend afternoons may have a beer on course but have discovered that seems to trigger more drinks later. It is the 3 drinks at night that I need to do away with or at least limit how many days I allow that.
I pretty much match my dh drink for drink. He weighs 190; I weigh 117. No wonder I get in trouble! I am happy for you that you are feeling better. How many al free days are you aiming for?

My goal is to be AF for awhile, then cut way back on days and # of drinks.

TMH

[freethinker]

April Mod Squad

TMH,

Years of regular consumption have developed into a pretty strong tolerance for me. I could easily have 4 or 5 drinks and you could hardly tell (still a problem, anyway).
I weigh about 195 and my wife weighs 115. She could never, and has never, tried to keep up with me. She's an extremely moderate drinker (2 or 3 per week)

The exposure you have to the "high life" there in your community may pose somewhat of a challenge. Good luck with your moderation efforts. It is somewhat troubling how so much of our so-called "good time" activities always involve drinking. I guess it's a combination of many influences coupled with the social awkwardness that so many people feel.

I know I've always felt a few drinks made me feel a little more confident and relaxed in social situations. I'm really trying to grow beyond that line of thinking.

[Lasha]

April Mod Squad

Hi TMH.

Alice Cooper almost killed himself with al and after re-hab took up golf to keep him from drinking so nothing wrong with golf it's just the 19th hole.

My target of al free days is the same as Eve and Freethinkers, none during the week and 2-3 at weekends but I'm not there yet, still working on it. By the way not the large wines at the club!:H:H

I'm deliberately staying away from my watering holes for now until I'm ready, it's my way of doing it but get comments like:- are you a monk now, why don't you come out anymore etc etc.

I just say to them I'm giving my liver a rest but will see you soon, seems to work.

[ToMyHealth]

April Mod Squad

Another AF Day! 2 in a row, yay.

The usual can't sleep syndrome. Too late now to take a sleeping aid. Need to be up at 6:00a. Other than that it's all good. It was an easy day yest to not drink. Admittedly, believe it's because dh is out of town. Not that it's his fault, it's just so easy to get caught up in, I'm going to fix a drink, do you want anything?

Freethinker, it isn't like I "try" to keep up with him, it's just that it's one for him, one for me, no matter who is getting it. We most times quit by 3, it's just that lately it seems to have turned into 4, and that's over the top. And it's dang near daily. I do remember during my brief AF stints, going out, seeing lots of friends & drinking club soda or nonalcohol beer and thinking OMGoodness, I can have a good time w/o drinking!

Lasha - love the giving the liver a rest. I have used giving my body a break. Sometimes get the quizzical look and "why"?

Farfalla - are you still lurking?

Could use some advice. I recently saw an internist who insisted on doing a complete bloodwork. It did show my liver enzymes to be slightly elevated. I was truthful with her as to how much I drink, she said I need to cut down, that is too much. Duh....anyway, she asked me to come back in 6 weeks for further testing. That's now 4 weeks away. Think I'd be in normal range if I did not drink at all until then. However, I am thinking I should take a break, then start drinking as per my goal, get tested and if it's back in normal range, ok. If not, then need to cut back further. Not looking for an excuse to start drinking again, I just don't want to skew the test results if abstaining is not my intended lifestyle.

Any and all comments from you modders appreciated.

TMH

[Eve11]

April Mod Squad

Hey TMH,

Elevated liver enzymes can indicate a problem with inflammation in the liver. When the liver is inflamed, cells will emit a higher amount of certain chemicals, including liver enzymes, into the blood stream. In most cases, an increase in liver enzymes is temporary and can be monitored through a liver function test.

There are other reasons why liver enzymes can be high such as cholesterol and pain relief medications, hepatitis, obesity (certainly not your case) etc. Some of the less-common causes of elevated liver enzyme include alcoholic or celiac disease, and cirrhosis of the liver to name a few The NIACC believes woman should have no more than 7 drinks weekly. With chronic heavy drinking the liver can become fatty. What happens is that fat deposits in the liver block the liver cells from their blood supply, depriving them of oxygen and other nutrients, eventually killing them. When liver cells die from lack of fresh blood, they are replaced with scar tissue, which can't perform the functions of a liver cell — a condition is called cirrhosis. Heavy drinkers are also at increased risk for cancer with breast cancer being a major one. They are also more prone to broken bones as heavy consumption leads to decreased bone formation, an increased incidence of fractures, and delayed fracture healing.

Generally, we are just taking better care of our bodies if we eliminate or cut down on alcohol consumption. I think your concern was not wanting to skew the test if you abstained hoping the next results would be better, but with abstinence not being your final goal you didn’t want to mislead the doctor. IMO, be honest with the physician with how much you drink and with the fact that moderation (not abstinence) is your goal. She may want to then monitor your enzymes a little better to be sure you are not getting a fatty liver or more severe problems from alcohol. So being honest with her will only help you healthwise in the end. Remember, alcohol is a toxic substance that our body is trying to get rid of. For more info for what alcohol does to the liver go to: What does alcohol do to the liver?

:l
Eve11

[Lasha]

April Mod Squad

Hi TMH,

In good old Blighty it's always units not drinks that are quoted with the MAXIMUM level for a lady being 14 units per week and 21 for a man but you can drink less.
Drinks have different units and can vary as we know, large wines are probably 3 units and ciders/strong beer can go up to 3/4/5 units.
Also my Doctor says and I've heard it before that when your liver fails, it can come out of the blue so don't be fooled by results.
What a bore and party pooper am I.
And a hypocrite I'm on 7.5 units a day and cant get below that for some reason
Still, congrats on al free so far and IMO lay off the juice for now to see if your next test improves and repeat your tests as you start drinking again to see if the results deteriorates.
I talk as if I know what I'm talking about.

[ToMyHealth]

April Mod Squad

Day 3 down. Played a decent game of golf today considering I was awake from 3:30a on. Found myself to be more pleasant, not so irritated with all the idle chatter. Possibly because of no headache? Felt I was more outside of myself, happy for others'. That's a good thing, eh? (Dd married a Canadian).

Eve, thanks for all the info! I'm not sure if I communicated very well. The dr. did not encourage me to drink less, instead absolutely said you need to cut down based on my telling her how much I was drinking, not because of the lab test. She blatently said that's too much. She also said "you are not an alcoholic" and I thought how do you know. She knows it's a big part of my social life but stated the obvious, you can be social w/o drinking. If I stay AF and tests come back normal, how will I know if drinking less often and less drinks won't produce the same result? And that is what she is expecting from me. Drink less, get tested in 6 weeks, come back to see me in 3 months.

Lash, you are not a bore. And don't feel you're a hypocrite as you are being honest. As am I. I 'm pretty certain I'll do the opposite of what you suggest. Have the tests drinking much, much more moderately, then if it's still elevated, cut back even more or stop.

How's everyone else doing? Doesn't have to be all about me ;.)

TMH

[Lasha]

April Mod Squad

Hi TMH,

Nobody else talking so I may as well, you can tell I'm waiting to start new job in 10 days time.
I've had a slight blip a few days ago. After going so long on 3 drinks a day, decided to have a wee blow out and had 7 drinks, next day I felt so depressed, loss of self-confidence and felt physically sick.
How did I ever manage to drink the amounts I used to before I tapered off (about 8 drinks on a working day and god knows how many on days off probably 16-20), I think I just got used to feeling so bad and thought that was the way it was?
NEVER again will I go above 3 drinks on any one day.
NEVER thought I would ever say that.
Lash

[freethinker]

April Mod Squad

I had several drinks over last weekend. It was really in inappropriate way of dealing with a stressful event. I had to have my elderly cat (almost 16) euthanized Sunday afternoon. He had been going downhill the last several months with anemia and congestive heart failure.

I love dogs and cats but my wife and I have only had cats since we've been married. This particular cat, named Moxie, was special to say the least. My wife teased us about
"man-cat love". He stuck to me like white on rice. We had him put to sleep on our back patio by a very compassionate vet. She made the event go very smoothly. I simply drank to much over the course of the weekend because I was hurting too much. That's the only excuse I have.

So, it's back to may stated moderation goals this week which I feel very confident in sticking to. For anyone who's a cat (or dog) lover and has been through this, you know it's like losing a member of the family. I've been through it several times. Here's my posting on TheCatSite

Moxie- My Golden Boy is Gone