Time to Change

[Shadowforest]

47 year old mum of older kids.

I have been heavy drinking for many years. Red wine is my poison of choice. A bottle barely touches the sides. Can easily polish off 2 or more.

Sick of the way I feel. Functioning with full time job etc

Decided to start this journal to keep track of what I'm drinking. Going to gradually cut down. Scared of withdrawal symptoms. Do t go a day without alcohol so ensure whether will get withdrawal or not.

Cut down starts today. Aim to be AF by 1st July.

I'm love running. I'm overweight so terribly slow. I want to cut the alcohol, lose the weight, focus on healthy eating and not come near last in a race.

Here goes.

[Guitarista]

You can do it Shadowforest. I'm just back from a trail run today actually. Near a big surf beach way out of town. Good feeling. You can do it. G

[available]

Hi Shadow and welcome. 51 year old mother of 4 grown up children. Used to be what i classified myself as a functioning alcoholic and now am sober and happy. Two plus night drinker of white wine. I only drank on days ending in a Y so i pretty well had everyday covered.

Now life is great.

We all withdraw differently so do what you think is best for you. I stopped one day and just decided to let my body heal slowly and one day at a time. I knew in myself if i kept on drinking it would justify myself to just keep it up especially if i was stressed which seemed to be a major trigger for me.

The newbies nest is a great place to pop in and get to know others. Lots of great threads to read to keep you motivate.

[Eloise]

Hey Shawdow!! 48 over here, almost 2 years sober and want to reiterate You Can Do This!! And, it is worth it!!
I am still listening to the Bubble Hour podcasts, they really sealed the deal for me... gave me soooo many reasons why the only sensible option was to stop drinking.
They also made me realize that drinking too much is not the sign of a bad character. We are not horrible people, we just developed a drinking problem. Good for you for recognizing it is time handle the situation!

[Shadowforest]

Well last night had 5 large glasses wine. One glass short of 2 bottles.

Did make it out for a hungover 10k run this morning. Slow one.

Not beating myself up about the wine. That the most I am going to have.

Going down from now.

[lex]

shadowfest- good luck with this but it might be a good idea to bite the bullet and get in, say, 30 days AF. Listen, if you can run a 10k with a hangover surely you can notch up 30 days! Good luck either way!!

[Shadowforest]

I would love to. In 18 months I've only managed 1 day AF. not sure if can and scared of withdrawal symptoms. May be I read too much about DTs but have had a close friend die of DTs.

I ran a marathon last year while drinking heavy during training. I can run and drink. I'm slow. I'm fat cos I drink too much. What can I achieve if I don't drink. I'm not just doing it for running though. I want to be healthy.

[Byrdlady]

Hey Shadow and welcome!

None of us here are doctors, so all we can do is share what worked for us. For ME (and this is just ME), whenever I tried to taper off and EASE into it, I just didnt get anywhere....here's the thing, I started out with intentions of not having as much that day, but once I had a couple, my judgement was impared so off I went. I evenually just went cold turkey. I drank a liter (bottle and a half) a day, much more on weekends. I didnt have any DT's but you can expect to be anxious, after all, we aren't getting our fix. The taper is a good idea in theory, but if we could control this thing, we wouldnt be here. Cold turkey is actually more humane than the constant feeling of deprivation and impending doom of the taper. All of this is my opinion, and you know what they say about those!

I let the FEAR of quitting keep me from actually doing it for years. The thoughts of it are much worse than the reslity. Today, I feel so blessed to be free of AL's pull.

We are glad you're here! 2 good links in my signature line! All the best, Byrdie

[Shadowforest]

Stopped at one bottle of wine tonight. Now drinking tea. Now that's an achievement. Seriously considering quitting altogether rather than tapering.

[Shadowforest]

Same again. After a boot camp fitness session found bottle of wine. Wanted to continue but stopped and had tea so proud of myself. Xx