Welcome Deric! Glad u found us! This is truly such a supportive place. I can understand ur reason for quitting everything all at once. If they are all equally detrimental and somehow linked together, than its important that u try to quit everything. Thats what i had to do in my situation.
I know they have GA meetings out there. Not sure if there are some online for that or if u have some in person ones in ur area. I attend NA/AA online thru the Intherooms app. There are plenty of those around for in person aswell. A 12 step group may be beneficial
I also find setting a routine for my day extremely helpful also. I wake up and do my recovery stuff first thing to start my day off on the right foot. That includes prayer of course, asking for guidance in my thoughts and actions throughout the day.
I plan my day the night before so that I dont have idle time to potentially engage in my addictions. Recovery is possible friend!
Thanks a lot for your support and advice. I haven’t been able to stop gambling. I yet again have gambled all the money I have access for. marijuana and alcohol is completely out of my life. If only I can do the same for gambling I will be able to get my life going in the right direction. I feel so close to rock bottom and homelessness , it’s very scary. I don’t want this life that I have been living. My co workers see me doing the same mistakes and don’t believe I will quit. Please God give me the strength
Starlight. Thanks a lot for suggesting that. Each time I am struggling and thinking of gambling, I will come here and look for someone to lean on. It’s very special to know people are here for me. Hugs to you.
Hi Nikki. Thank you for showing me that I am not the only one relapsing on a regular. I havent self excluded yet from the only site I use, party poker casino. I keep telling myself I will self excluded after I receive my cash back (I get 10percent of what I lose on casino deposited into my account monday morning). But of course I always play with that then lose. Let’s keep supporting each other because the depression is a killer each time we lose big. The emotional rollercoaster is too much to handle. I am enjoying keeping in touch. I do believe this will help us finally quit for good. Hugs for you and each person here .
Thank you king for the advice. I just started seeing a counselor for free through my work. I am looking for them to help me find a gambling support group. Congrats on staying away from the gambling. I hope I can get there soon. I am feeling much not smoking marijuana and drinking alcohol. Those 2 haven’t been a problem for me quitting. The gambling I want to , but seems like I can’t. I worry I will lose my wife if I don’t soon.
I love this. I will say the same exact things to myself. I’m going to copy and paste your message to my phone and repeat the same words daily, when I wake up and when I go to bed.
First of all, good on you for being here, and recognizing the need for change.
Second, quitting all three is doable, but it won’t be easy. I was not a heavy drinker, but I was a regular drinker so I didn’t deal with physical withdrawals as much as I just had to rewrite the script and change my routines to consciously avoid it. I never got into gambling, so I don’t have much advice there, but I have smoked a considerable amount of cannabis, and that one was a little trickier to finally let go of. The fear of the come down is far worse than it actually is though, and that’s your addicted brain working to keep you going on it. I had some vivid nightmares for a few nights after quitting, but they are long gone at this point, and were really the only truly uncomfortable experience I had with quitting.
God has you in his hands, He sees your heart and will help you through this if you let Him. I had a very vivid encounter with the Spirit that ultimately drove me to quitting cannabis, and it wasn’t a clean separation. I relapsed after 4 months and went back into it hard and fast, but quit again just over a year ago. I have had one small hiccup but it was a harsh reminder as to why I made the choice to quit, and that was truly a blessing in and of itself.
You can do this, you will get through, but you’ll have to embrace the suck for a bit, recognize the nightmares are your brain and body desperately trying to heal itself, and consciously focus on changing your habits and routine away from known triggers. Be sure to check in here as often as you need, and find a good church to learn how to walk in His way and it will get easier.
Hi Nikki. Appreciate you being honest with me about the relapse. I’m doing amazing. I told my wife the truth about my gambling addiction last Monday. It was the best thing I could do. I haven’t gambled since the day before, almost one full week now. My wife was supportive and wants to help me stop gambling foreevr. I gave her full control of my money, I went to my first GA meeting on Thursday, it was great and I will go every week. I self excluded from the gambling sites. But I know the only way I will stay away for now is no access to money. This blue jays loss was tough for me. Feeling quite depressed this morning and didnt sleep well..but I will continue on this journey. No alcohol and weed for 13 days straight now. And day 6 no gambling. I can’t wait for things to get easier. Hugs to you and I hope my success story so far, helps you.
Thanks moisimus. I appreciate your openess and support. I have vivid nightmares with quitting marijuana as well. I hope they Go away soon. I’m going strong today. Proud of what I have accomplished so far and can’t wait to keep going. How are you doing today ?
They will definitely pass with time sober. I am doing okay today, made it to church and am about to go help my SIL move out of her house. Busier than I like to be, but she’ll be in her new place soon and this arduous season will be over. Just ready for a bit of normalcy that has been lacking the past few months. But, I’ve endured it all and remained sober through it, so it could all be worse.
How is everyone doing with their sobriety? I’ve been less active probably because life is going well for me. Day 2 of GA meetings tonight. Can’t wait. The days of not gambling, not smoking marijuana and not drinking just keep going up. Because I gave all my access of money to my wife, there really is no urges for me. I’m getting used to living a more boring and simpler life. If stopping gambling is hard for you, I recommend gamblers anonymous meetings and counselling. I’m lucky I got free counselling from work. Also don’t allow yourself to have access to any money. I know I don’t have the control to stop without these important barriers.
Hi Nikki . It’s the same for me. I’m so used to my routine of smoking marijuana , having a little alcohol and gambling. Life on weeknds is the hardest. It definitely feels more boring and I told the wife that I wanted some marijuana. She said no way. Over time this will get easier. I find the gamblers anonymous meetings really helping too. I go every Thursday evening after work. Have you considering any meetings? I have my second counselling session with an addictions counselor coming up Nov 10 too.
Weekends are hard at first, weve trained our brains to use our addictions even more when we have spare time, try to keep yourself distracted with things that you enjoy, make up new routines…when I first stopped drinking i had a routine to simply have a cup of coffee at the time I would have usually started drinking late afternoon and kept doing that, I ate quite alot too….I tried anything that wasn’t alcohol to keep myself going, yes it can feel boring at times but sometimes life is boring id sure rather feel bored than the alternative….eventually in time youl find that sobriety becomes your new normal and you won’t miss it so much, your both doing great Nikki and Deric xx
