in more depth into my drinking habits, cravings, what made me more likely to drink and building different ways of coping
My name is Davina
Life is hard why? …because it is, but do we make it that way? ...or is it how things are? All these are questions we have pondered over for a long time. How we deal with them is the thing.
Addiction comes in many forms, it’s just some are more harmful than others, they can destroy you and others around you, let’s face facts, nothing is easy in this world and handed to us on a plate, we have to work hard, it is very easy to fall into a vicious circle, I know this all too well.
I was addicted to food and was super morbidly obese, as far back as I can remember, so it was decided the best thing was for me to have a gastric bypass. In 2010 I did have the operation, then I couldn’t eat as I did pre op…what was I to do?
We all see on the TV that people who have had a bad day have a beer or a bottle of wine to make them feel better. So off I went down that route, what a mistake, I didn’t know if I was on this earth or fullers (ashes) earth, just barely functioning.
I got help from Turning Point after seeing a poster in the doctors. I reduced my wine intake a great deal at that point I was drinking a full box of wine a day and got this down to 4 cans of lager over a period of time. I was fine on lager instead of wine, well at least I thought I was, I felt I did not need any more help from Turning Point so I stuck to my reduced lager and left the service.
Alcohol is widely accepted as a way to relax and make you feel better and something to enjoy, if you keep telling yourself that long enough you don’t have a problem, I used to think eight pints in one session was fine. It then came to a point I had enough of drinking, the way I felt every day, waking up hung over, craving a drink and shaking, I was disgusted with the amount of money I had spent.
So I decided to go back to Turning Point, at this point I was drinking eight cans of 6% lager a day, finding excuses to have a drink, like going to pubs to use the toilet, having to nip to the shop for something else and coming back home with cans of lager too. Every night was the last time I was gonna drink, I promised myself this was it, to wake up and start all over again...square one!
I started on an alcohol rehab programme, with Turning Point, it was a rocky time and it all went wrong after two months as I had a lot to deal with at home and maybe it wasn’t actually the right time then.
A bit later with my own determination to get this alcohol sorted I rolled up my sleeves, went to Turning Point and started on the detox preparation programme. This took me over several weeks, working at my own pace, looking in more depth into my drinking habits, cravings, what made me more likely to drink and building different ways of coping with day to day life. My triggers:
The preparation programme can be very hard as you have to look at yourself and be brutally honest, take the rose coloured specs off as believe me it is not rosy!
Now I am six months free of alcohol, I have better motivation on a daily basis and a healthier bank balance too.
I am still on medication as a deterrent, but with Turning Point you can succeed. As a person there is only you that can do it, but you don’t have to be alone.
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