LESS Alcohol ~ JANUARY 2023 ~ One Day At A Time
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Today AF- I have to keep it going. I feel so much better emotionally and physically.
Last night, we went to my cousin's house for dinner. We had a wonderful time, played cards and drank wine. A little too much for me- but not as much as previous dinners.
My cousin woke up fresh as a daisy and made us breakfast. I could barely swallow breakfast because I was queasy. I wondered how my cousin can drink so heavily (much much more than me and my hubby) and wake up fresh???
On the way home, my husband told me that my cousin's wife said that he woke up and had wine. So, he has wine before breakfast which staves off the hangover.
I think hangovers are a blessing in disguise for me- although they are torture, it reminds me of why I want to drink less- I guess he never gets them because he is always drinking..... sigh.8 -
Wow! it has taken me a bit to get caught up but boy everyone has been busy! Like @MissMay says were does the time go???
DH and I are still 'working' on packing--not really. We finally came to the conclusion that the month of January has been our rest time, no more family guests, no pressure from the holidays etc. We will get back in the swing in Feb and be done by the end of March????. Now that the building has sold and we have paid the massive capitol gains tax...just don't think that is a fair thing but no way around it unless we did a '1033' exchange and bought another commercial property. So we are most definitely poorer than planned with the fee's, taxes, etc. Yes I am whining. not wineing
I have not stayed AF but then again I have not gone off the deep end either. A beer with lunch for me is ok in my head and planned.
I would love to be able to give out real hugs to all but this will have to do, my grandson when he was about 3 months old 'milk drunk' The expression still makes me laugh even if it is blurry a bit
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January accountability: 10 days AF
Alcohol: 12 days (32 drinks)
Goal: Limit 2 glasses per day; 20-25 AF days this month. I usually target 12-16 AF days each month which is usually a challenge … hitting 20 days since DH backed out of his dry January commitment is definitely influencing me to join him on weekdays I had not planned when setting the goal. Going for it anyway!
1/22 - AF; I had a Betty Buzz Meyer Lemon Club Soda. DH had bourbon & coke but I passed8 -
@lmlmrn that face, what a cutie!
Today has been okay. Chinese New Year, we went and got some Chongqing chicken for lunch and had the leftovers for dinner, I got some wine to go with Dark Wave. Smoked half a Camel while the latest PIL single was on....sorry, but even when he tries to sing a pretty song, John Lydon can't sing pretty and I've just never been a big fan.
Weird connection to yesterday: the new PIL single is apparently about his wife, Nora Forster, who is suffering Alzheimer's. Yesterday, I listened to Everywhere At The End Of Time. That is an insanely dark piece and really difficult to listen to. It's intent is to portray the progression of Alzheimer's disease into dementia. At the beginning, it's relatively pleasant and listenable tracks based upon loops from ballroom music. By the end, it's deteriorated through stages evocative of dark ambient styles, into truly difficult to listen to noise with only slight hints of what came before.
Anyway, Darkwave has been pretty jamming tonight and we're pretending to get along, so there's that. Up early and off to the vet to see if we can address Bentley's mobility issues. We started with treating it as probable osteo-arthritis, and administering rimadyl, but we're thinking he may need something a little different.
Hmm, Sisters Of Mercy now. Gonna go dance alone in the studio.
-m7 -
SunnyDays930 wrote: »My husband and I did what we THOUGHT would be a "gentle 15 minute workout for beginners" (my youtube request) but it still kicked our butts. We are out of shape. Then we watched The Higher video from the Fitness Marshall and laughed. I will never get those moves but he is now one of my favorites.
Haha, yes, I totally know what you mean about Fitness Marshall and the moves. Some songs take me 5 times doing them until I learn the dance moves, some songs take 10 times!
This is the newest one posted last Monday, so I have done it 5 times and it is getting easier. One of my new faves because of the very cool choreo, so fun to do and I am starting to "get" it and just dance and have fun (while whittling my waist of course).
@RockinRobyn672 maybe you can just do the arm movements : - ). I hope that you are not in too much pain, and that the outcome is good. Glad that is behind you.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M0sS2tkoZTY
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I am Dawn, I live in SE BC Canada
My ongoing goal remains, 16-20 AF days per month.
Last month I had 18AF days
I do this diary style to keep track, and post the next morning
Friday January 20 - Drinks. I was making them 1/2 - 3/4 shots. Some friends are coming over for Prossecco prior to us going to the Theatre to see a production of Cabaret. They drink much more than I do. I am planning only one glass because I want to have my car when we get out, their husbands will pick them up so they will have lots of wine at the theatre. I probably will have a nightcap when I get home safe and sound. I guess that I had better clean my house a bit.
Saturday January 21 - Drinks - 1 glass of Prosecco in the late afternoon and then water since I was the driver to take us to the production of Cabaret, and offered to drive them home afterwards. It was an outstanding show even though none of us are used to staying up so late. I had 2 drinks when I got home.
Sunday January 22 - AF - Drinks sounded like a lovely idea, but I abstained. My usual for the week planned: one weekday and both days on the weekend.
Rolling total: 12AF days out of 22 days7 -
I haven't drank since July because I went on Lexapro and Ativan for panic attacks. I didn't miss it at first (and honestly, some of my friends are kind of alcoholics, so it wasn't a great influence to be drinking with them). But as time goes on it's getting more annoying. I couldn't even have a drink at my 7th anniversary dinner, or red wine with my steak when I went to a steakhouse with my friends, or champagne on NYE. I also don't feel that the Lexapro is really doing anything. I got more anxiolytic benefits from a natural supplement I started taking (inositol). I can't even have an ibuprofen when I get cramps without raising the risk that I will start bleeding from my stomach because of this stupid Lexapro. It sucks LOL. Anyone have any advice or can relate?
Also I posted in a less alcohol thread several months ago about how I was considering giving up drinking because I was getting acid reflux and headaches a lot of times when I went out. Well, turns out that giving up drinking didn't actually solve that. I still get acid reflux and headaches a lot of times when I go out. The headaches are probably from dehydration so I've been trying to make sure I stay hydrated when I go out. But I have no idea why I get acid reflux, it might be from anxiety, or it might be from having to talk louder than usual, or even from drinking Diet Coke (it's probably not from eating unhealthy food because I eat unhealthy food all the time but it only causes acid reflux when I go out). The weird thing is I also sometimes drink diet soda or seltzer during the day and it doesn't cause acid reflux, it's only when I drink it while out that I get it, so not sure if soda is the issue either.8 -
Hello! It’s Amanda, I’m back. It’s a new month and a new year! I’ve been thinking about 2022 and 2023. I’ve got some goals for the year and staying 98% AF is one of them. I love this group, I love this thread, it really works.
1/1-1/7: 7 out of 7 AF
1/8-1/14: 7 out of 7 AF
1/15-1/22: 7 out of 7 AF
1/22: AF
This weekend was busier than I would have liked but I got to see one of my closest friends. She was upset as she had been to her uncle’s Celebration of Life the night before and most people there were very drunk. She does not drink and actually lost her mom suddenly to what was an alcoholic related cardiac event in November. She went through hell with her mom, getting her into detox many times, paying her bills, not seeing her on holidays because she was too drunk. There are so many other horror stories. Her mom was only 65. The uncle mentioned above was her mother’s brother, who was also an alcoholic and died suddenly. My friends brother was at the Celebration of Life and was so drunk he was acting inappropriately and asked to leave. My friend was crying and stated “alcohol is ruining my life and I don’t even drink it.”
I care deeply for this friend and she is just one of the reasons I choose not to drink.
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Jan 1- AF
Jan 1 - AF
Jan 2 - AF
Jan 3 - AF
Jan 4 - AF
Jan 5 - 6- 7- A
Jan 8 - AF
Jan 9 - AF
Jan 10 - AF
Jan 11 - AF
Jan 12- 13- 14 - A
Jan 15 - AF
Jan 16 - AF
Jan 17 - AF
Jan 18 - AF
Jan 19 -20- 21 -A
Jan 22 -AF
Jan 23 - AF7 -
@MissMay I despise her too. It’s not really fun working for a person you despise. I spent part of the day last Monday looking up ways I could get her license taken away. She is the owner of this practice and it’s not corporate so she answers to no one. Her husband is a big shot lawyer and they have a ton of money. So me trying to do something about her lack of ethics would likely end up breaking me mentally and financially. She is a narcissist, so she doesn’t care about the animals. It’s the animals I worry about at 3 am. Legally I cannot tell the clients to go elsewhere but I try to get them to read between the lines. It’s all frustrating and sad.
@globalhiker I love your plan! Tell me more about the stress gummies. L-theanine or…?
@RockinRobyn672 Finding good elder care is hard. It’s a low paying field and it’s a hard job (for the CNAs, I don’t know about the doctors) and elderly patients with dementia are a challenge. I’ve always thought it extremely unfair how the US health system (and some families) treat people when they get old. I am sorry you are going through this and dealing with your toe and not able to jump on your Peloton!
@lmlmrn What a great picture! You’ve got to pull that out when he’s older!4 -
@siberiantarragon Im not proud to say this but I have been on many, many psych drugs since I was 15 and it never stopped me from drinking or taking ibuprofen. In my 20s (46 now) I would usually end up getting sick at the end of the night but I didn’t connect the two at the time. Kudos to you for following doctor’s orders and not drinking since July! That’s a huge step!
For the heartburn, I was getting it every time I went to bed, if I had drank or not. I used omeprazole for 14 days and felt so much better. Then when I stopped it came back. I saw my doctor and she advised I could safely take it everyday but advised me to keep it up with the weight loss. Now I’m eating better but will get a flare if I have something tomato based for dinner (marinara, ketchup, tomato soup, even some dark chocolate.)
Just my experience, good luck to you!4 -
Wow, so much to catch up on after a weekend!
Stayed AF this weekend... but I also didn't go anywhere, so temptation was low.
I was really bummed yesterday morning when I weighed in (I weigh on a 4-day rolling schedule). I was so diligent, so mindful - yet I was up 1.2 lbs. I hate the scale. But... I did all the things again yesterday and weighed in this morning just to check... the 1.2 is gone along with another .2. The human body is a crazy, crazy vehicle. Water retention, hormones, stress, who the heck knows. Whatever. Moving on!
Also, I am planning my week based around this coming Saturday. DH and I are going into NYC for The Lion King. It was my Christmas present. Even though I am a native NY'er, I hardly ever get into the City too much anymore from these Jersey 'burbs. I plan to enjoy the day, which includes eating and drinking what I want - which I hope will look different from what I would have ate or drank a month ago based on new developing behaviors.
I will rein it all back in on Sunday and will really stick to my goals this week to prepare for it.
I hope everyone has a great week. I have enjoyed all of the catch up (including ADORABLE smooshy baby faces!).
-Georgia7 -
Robyn here. I have been a part of this group for a few months and have significantly reduced my alcohol intake. I'm drinking less for health and weight loss.
Goal: 16-20 AF days monthly/three A-days weekly. Last month I had 16 AF days. I post the next morning.
1/22: AF - AF last night. It was hard at first because DH bought/drank wine. I stuck with cranberry and club soda. I also successfully skipped the late night snacking. Weight is down this morning.
Rolling Total: 12 AF Days out of 22
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@Stockholm_Andy hilarious! Now if we can only get those same men to not wear Speedos on the beach…2
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@Stockholm_Andy Ive seen Yellowstone advertised all over the place here in the US on cable and heard of many people bingeing it. I’m working on The Crown still.
Yellowstone is on our list as well! I hear it’s great. Oh, and I LOVED The Crown!4 -
@dawnbgethealthy Great idea just to do the arms. I will try it out. You can't work out to one of those videos without a mood change for the better! That guy just makes you happy. My foot is feeling better.
@mfowler883 I usually feel some joy when dancing alone to music. I hope you did. Maybe we all need to do more of that!
@joans1976 I so feel for your friend. From my own experience I know that there's not much one can do about a loved one who is alcoholic other than to learn more about how not to be an enabler and to keep hoping that he/she will get tired of living that way and stop.5 -
By the way, we did something unusual for us yesterday, which is to stay in all day. It was cold and rainy for one thing and I can't do a lot while my foot is healing. We accidentally found and binge-watched the "Woman of the Dead" series. We couldn't stop! We had planned to knock off some some non-walking things on our very long to-do list, but stayed glued to the TV instead. I highly recommend ... the series ... not the binge-watching.
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@joans1976 oh your boss! OMG, it’s bad enough to make her staff suffer, but to neglect the animals? Hopefully the licensing board can do a pop in visit and shut her down. But you’re in a bad position, hopefully the pet owners can read between the lines.
@RockinRobyn672 so sorry your MIL isn’t getting the care you were promised! That’s awful. Hope she can go elsewhere soon. Elder care is so tough.
@mfowler883 glad things are at a truce. but unless you both really do the hard work of couples therapy and learn to “fight fair”, it’s going to be wash rinse repeat next time you have an argument. Fight hard/love hard is not for the faint of heart!
@Sinisterbarbie1 that NA drink looks lovely! The Valley Ho looks like such a cool retro hotel. I’ve never stayed there, but have been inside.
@siberiantarragon I’m on Lexapro and it’s the one that worked wonders for me. Sorry it’s not “the one” for you. Are there alternatives that may work better? BTW I can drink wine and take Advil with no problem.
DH’s plans got cancelled Friday night, so we thought we’d stop at a restaurant on the way back from running some late afternoon errands. Went to three different places, all packed, so we gave up and went home. I had two glasses of wine and slept poorly.
Went out to dinner Saturday night with friends, had two glasses. By yesterday (AF) I had a case of the “Sunday Blues” which I think were exacerbated by the fact I drank all that wine. DH left for a 5 day business trip today, and yesterday I was just so
lethargic and bummed. I’ll be AF until Thursday. At least my weight is coming down!
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I really enjoyed The Crown seasons 1-2. I should have binged the rest of that this weekend when DH was away. Didn't think of that!
@MissMay glad you settled into a better work setting, and kudos for doing it all AF. Your experience shows me it's worth testing my culturally programmed beliefs about alcohol (i.e. that it's a stress reliever). Probably more accurate to think of it as a dopamine hit that has neurochemical costs on the backside (anxiety for me).
@joans1976 Potential boss names: Damandria, Dramalinda, Dramaryllis ?
Sad about your friend's family. Perhaps unsurprising that an alcoholic surrounded himself with people who drank too much. The tiniest glint of a silver lining might be that your friend escaped what sounds like against all odds and is living free. Whew.
Last week of the month! That went fast. AF M-Th&Su, A F-Sa = 4 drinks last week. That is bound to be a new low for me on the moderation front (likely aided by the fact DH was away and the interns go out to drink after I make them dinner
) It would be nice if I could follow a pattern more like that on the regular. 4 -
"Potential boss names: Damandria, Dramalinda, Dramaryllis ?
Sad about your friend's family. Perhaps unsurprising that an alcoholic surrounded himself with people who drank too much. The tiniest glint of a silver lining might be that your friend escaped what sounds like against all odds and is living free. Whew."
@ahoy_m8 I would pick Dramalinda or Dramaryllis. Dramandia is too close to my name and this guy I worked with used to call me "Demanda" because I would be like "get off your *kitten* and help!" Used to really make me mad. Which is what he wanted. I just usually refer to her as the narcissistic *kitten* but I could get used to Dramaryllis. lol thanks!5 -
Did you watch GOT? Cersei, maybe? Dramaryllis somehow sounds more benign than Cersei.3
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Turning out to be a successful AF day with no dramas. Quiet calm day today, drinking Sparkling Ice zero lemonade. I like it and it has fewer of the *bad* chemicals many sodas have. It does have citric acid so I would not drink this if I had acid reflux.
I suppose a good diet like whole 30 and weight loss could fix most underlying causes of acid reflux.
I haven't needed my stress gummies so far but the brand is Olly and it has GABA, L-theanine, and lemon balm. I proceed with caution here with this and only use them if I am ready to pull my hair out. I would love to be on anti-depressant and anti-anxiety meds (sometimes I feel I could use both) but a few different doctors I've asked over the years refused to prescribe it and told me I don't need it and they want me to exercise away the stress and get to bed early.3 -
@siberiantarragon Im not proud to say this but I have been on many, many psych drugs since I was 15 and it never stopped me from drinking or taking ibuprofen. In my 20s (46 now) I would usually end up getting sick at the end of the night but I didn’t connect the two at the time. Kudos to you for following doctor’s orders and not drinking since July! That’s a huge step!
Technically I didn't ask if I could drink or not. I just saw that it said on the paperwork not to. Plus at the time when I first started taking it I was having so many problems with panic attacks that going out was the last thing on my mind. My old psychiatrist is very unapproachable and overbooked with patients, and I could barely get an appointment with him let alone ask questions in the appointment without him trying to get me out of there in two minutes. However I switched to a new one so maybe I will be able to get this cleared up. It's possible I could be able to have a drink or two. I know many other people who take SSRIs and other types of psychiatric medications and still drink, even heavily, without any apparent problems. But I'm just paranoid.
As for ibuprofen I didn't take it for months because this very rude nurse in the hospital, when I asked about it, screamed at me "YOU CAN JUST TAKE TYLENOL! GET OVER IT!" Of course what the dumb [redacted] didn't bother to find out is that I have PCOS. So every month with my period I would be debilitated for two days because Tylenol doesn't work for me at all and IcyHot doesn't do much either. Recently I started taking ibuprofen again because I got COVID (I'm better now) and pulled the muscles in my neck from coughing so much and my neck was hurting so badly that I had no choice but to take it. As far as I know I didn't develop an ulcer so I plan to also take it during that time of the month.For the heartburn, I was getting it every time I went to bed, if I had drank or not. I used omeprazole for 14 days and felt so much better. Then when I stopped it came back. I saw my doctor and she advised I could safely take it everyday but advised me to keep it up with the weight loss. Now I’m eating better but will get a flare if I have something tomato based for dinner (marinara, ketchup, tomato soup, even some dark chocolate.)
I've taken omeprazole in the past and it didn't work for me. I've had episodes of acid reflux for days or weeks when I have a lot of stress but I haven't had a protracted episode of it in years. If I had to guess I would say that greasy foods like burgers and fries, in conjunction with irritating beverages like either soda or alcohol, and also in conjunction with talking a lot and loudly and possibly having social anxiety, causes it. But it's hard to pin down any one combo of factors because sometimes I've gotten it when one of those factors wasn't present and sometimes I haven't gotten it when all of those factors were present. I had some success with taking Tums pre-emptively before I was going to drink, so maybe I should do that every time I go out.
Also famotidine can't be taken with, guess what, Lexapro! It could give you an irregular heartbeat and kill you
Just my experience, good luck to you!
ThanksGeeBee08505 wrote: »DH and I are going into NYC for The Lion King. It was my Christmas present. Even though I am a native NY'er, I hardly ever get into the City too much anymore from these Jersey 'burbs.
Hi neighbor, I'm a native NYer (Queens represent!) who lives in the Jersey burbs too. Hope you guys have a great time at the Lion King!@siberiantarragon I’m on Lexapro and it’s the one that worked wonders for me. Sorry it’s not “the one” for you. Are there alternatives that may work better? BTW I can drink wine and take Advil with no problem.
I got the best results from a natural supplement called inositol. I take 2 650mg capsules in the morning and another one at night. I haven't had a full panic attack in almost two months, so it's definitely improved. Before I started taking inositol I would be ok for a few weeks and then I would have a period of 2 to 3 weeks where I would be having up to 15 panic attacks a day. So Lexapro itself wasn't really doing much.
The issues I have are not really what Lexapro is usually used to treat. It's usually used for depression but I don't have depression. I have panic attacks and depersonalization/derealization disorder which is very hard to treat in general. I found out about inositol from some random internet forum for people who have DP/DR disorder. It also supposedly treats PCOS although I haven't noticed any change in my PCOS symptoms since I started taking it (however I also haven't been adhering to the recommended diet for PCOS). I feel like the hospital just put me on SSRIs because they didn't really know what else to do, and they felt like they had to put me on a daily medication if they were going to also give me Ativan because of the people who misuse benzos. I do take Ativan if I know I'm going into a high-stress situation (like the dentist or the subway) but I try to avoid taking it as much as possible, and I don't even take it most of the time when I have panic attacks.
Also Lexapro has some dangerous potential side effects like irregular heartbeat and increased risk of diabetes (which I already have an increased risk of because I have PCOS and diabetes also runs in my family). So I'm like, why am I putting this poison in my body? I feel like it's just shortening my lifespan for no good reason. I'm going to ask my new psychiatrist if I can come off it but I expect to get some resistance.
I probably could drink a little on it but I'm going to ask new psychiatrist about that also.
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I forgot to click and send this out this morning. UGH!
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"Potential boss names: Damandria, Dramalinda, Dramaryllis ?
Sad about your friend's family. Perhaps unsurprising that an alcoholic surrounded himself with people who drank too much. The tiniest glint of a silver lining might be that your friend escaped what sounds like against all odds and is living free. Whew."
@ahoy_m8 I would pick Dramalinda or Dramaryllis. Dramandia is too close to my name and this guy I worked with used to call me "Demanda" because I would be like "get off your *kitten* and help!" Used to really make me mad. Which is what he wanted. I just usually refer to her as the narcissistic *kitten* but I could get used to Dramaryllis. lol thanks!
I like Dramaryllis. In keeping with flowers, we can always call her Narcissa.4 -
I like Dramaryllis. In keeping with flowers, we can always call her Narcissa.
Or since she is a puppy abuser there is always Cruella3 -
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@siberiantarragon Sorry to hear you got stuck with Nurse Ratched!!!!! Hope you get some good discussions with your new doctor. Hugs to you with all the medical stuff going on!4
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