B sober needs help. Now.

[Elle]

Sounding really good, B sober. I'm glad Antabuse is working for you. I don't worry about being "powerless." Who ever heard of someone who is powerful being addicted. If we were so powerful, we wouldn't have succumbed to it. Addiction is addiction. It owns whoever it catches. There are fortunately different ways of escaping from its power. Anything that works is good.

You're rolling. Good for you!

[B sober]

Originally Posted by Elle

Sounding really good, B sober. I'm glad Antabuse is working for you. I don't worry about being "powerless." Who ever heard of someone who is powerful being addicted. If we were so powerful, we wouldn't have succumbed to it. Addiction is addiction. It owns whoever it catches. There are fortunately different ways of escaping from its power. Anything that works is good.

You're rolling. Good for you!

Thanks Elle!

My recovery pro agrees with you 100%, "once you're addicted you will always be addicted, please use every available tool to stay sober" - and he is emphasizing that being sober is just being symptom free, not cured.

If a pill is what it takes, I'm all in.

To me it's like carrying a big stick - I don't expect problems, but just in case....

[B sober]

Doing good!

Two parties this weekend, one birthday and one BBQ with friends, all moderate drinkers, I had diet coke and not a single question about why.

B sober is sober

[Kaizen]

Congratulations B Sober !!! I hope that you had a great time at the parties and that you are starting to appreciate that you can have alot of fun w/o drinking. Personally I didn't know that was possible until fairly recently.

[B sober]

Originally Posted by Kaizen

Congratulations B Sober !!! I hope that you had a great time at the parties and that you are starting to appreciate that you can have alot of fun w/o drinking. Personally I didn't know that was possible until fairly recently.

Yep, great fun, great people, great food - and a pleasure to be able to drive both then and the next morning. .

I'm not sure if I drank to have fun, come to think about it, I guess I drank just because I wanted the effect of alcohol, what is known in my home country as "cotton-wrapping your brain" to protect it from sharp corners or unwanted thoughts about everyday challenges (and, of course, because it is addictive). Since I seldom tell jokes to myself, drinking alone was not amusing, maybe it was relaxing (until the next morning when drinking or a pill was necessary to feel normal).

But I disgress: The proof of the pudding comes when I go to Europe in November and will meet old friends for whom drinking is an important part of having fun. There will be questions (why? how long? are you saying you're an alc....ic?). Some of them will question the statement that I drank too much (you were never embarrassing, look at xxx, he's worse than you), some of them will say "just a couple with old friends", and some of them will say "way to go, B, I should cut down myself". Bad hangovers have been my excuse earlier, this time I don't know yet. The a-word comes with a stigma almost like pedophile sex-offender and words spread quickly, "I drank too much" is more innocent and sounds almost like I'm talking about coffee.

I will stick to my pills and will not be able to drink even if I should want to. Problem solved for now ...

B sober is sober and I'm almost four weeks into it. Yay!

[Kaizen]

Originally Posted by B sober

But I disgress: The proof of the pudding comes when I go to Europe in November and will meet old friends for whom drinking is an important part of having fun. There will be questions (why? how long? are you saying you're an alc....ic?). Some of them will question the statement that I drank too much (you were never embarrassing, look at xxx, he's worse than you), some of them will say "just a couple with old friends", and some of them will say "way to go, B, I should cut down myself". Bad hangovers have been my excuse earlier, this time I don't know yet. The a-word comes with a stigma almost like pedophile sex-offender and words spread quickly, "I drank too much" is more innocent and sounds almost like I'm talking about coffee.

I will stick to my pills and will not be able to drink even if I should want to. Problem solved for now ...

B sober is sober and I'm almost four weeks into it. Yay!

B - Congrats on almost 4 weeks !!!! You are well on your way now. the thing is that it keeps getting better. You continue to feel better, sleep better, look better and think more clearly.

No need to worry about November now. We'll deal with that wonderfully when it comes. But there is absolutely no reason why you have to tell people anything you don't chose to tell them. You are not drinking. Thats all that matters. If you want you can say its for your health or diet or you just decided to stop and leave it at that. After that its nobody's business why you aren't drinking alcohol.

You are doing wonderfully. Think about starting a Journal here as it can really help you stay sober and meet others here.

Best,
K

[B sober]

Originally Posted by Kaizen

B - Congrats on almost 4 weeks !!!! You are well on your way now. the thing is that it keeps getting better. You continue to feel better, sleep better, look better and think more clearly.

No need to worry about November now. We'll deal with that wonderfully when it comes. But there is absolutely no reason why you have to tell people anything you don't chose to tell them. You are not drinking. Thats all that matters. If you want you can say its for your health or diet or you just decided to stop and leave it at that. After that its nobody's business why you aren't drinking alcohol.

Thanks, and you are right about feeling better every day. Slow mornings, coffee and breakfast, check mail, take a look at the headlines here and in Europe, feeling great and ready for the day - it's an amazing change.

November will be OK. My daughters and best friends know already. As for the second-best friends that I cannot avoid without insulting them (when you live in a foreign country there's a number of people expecting to get a call when you're "home") - I am making a mental list of who's going to be easy and who's more likely to make a big deal out of it. I am starting to think that long brunches and (or) coffee early in the afternoon are underestimated ways of meeting old friends, don't you agree?

Yes, I am overthinking it, and the main thing is that I can't and won't drink.

B sober is sober.

One month on Sunday, don't think I won't post and change colors and so on!