It’s Been A While

Everyday living
1

Hi everyone :smiling_face:

I’m coming up to my 9 year anniversary of RRMS diagnosis (though it had been showing signs for some time before that)

I had Lemtrada in 2015 & 2016 and I’m still walking without a stick - although that is OBVIOUSLY not everything

I’ve finally started at the gym properly, 3 times a week, every week

I stopped drinking alcohol in Jan ‘23…next week would have been my 7 months sober badge

I’m still smoking weed (habit of a lifetime)

Last night I had a drink, 6 and a half beers

Omg…this is, evidently, what I needed to remind myself why I gave up

Before I went to the shop I was trying to talk myself round, don’t do it…look how far you’ve come - but then that awful saying ‘relapse is a part of recovery’ came into my head

Once I’d said that to myself it was like I had a pass go ticket

I’m not worried about relapsing further, because last night between the vomiting (3 times, kept drinking after), the hiccups and then the abysmal nights sleep I had after I remember, vividly, why I stopped

Today I feel like trash, so tired. I’m gonna go to the gym tomorrow and sweat out the toxins

I don’t feel mad upset that I broke my abstinence. I accept it, and move on

I know I can - and will - do it again

Yes, I am pleased I knocked the drinking on the head….but for me it’s the smoking I need to sort out….so many years I’ve been a slave to it and I’m done

In other news, it’s the time of year that I thoroughly despise, but we’re coming to the end of now….just one more month and that’s it

Roll on autumn/winter :two_hearts:

2

Amen to autumn/winter.

I’m sure you’ve considered alternative ways of ingesting a little bit of what you fancy without the health hit of tobacco and combustion? I was also going to the gym long before I gave up the cigarettes and I remember smiling wryly at the daftness of that. I’m sure you do the same. It’s something about cognitive dissonance - isn’t it? - we know that our behaviour makes no sense, but that doesn’t make it easy to change. Well done, cutting back on the sauce. You’re making a lot of progress, the overall trajectory is in the right direction and Rome wasn’t built in a day, was it?

3

Hello,
Well done on your 9+ years MS.

I only did 1st cycle of Lemtrada in 2018 and that was it for me, couldn’t continue.

Just can’t manage the gym anymore; 20 minutes morning physio and energy drained --feels good to get the endorphins going.

Had one drink this year, just before January relapse.

Non smoker. I’ve had intravenous of pure THC after relapse once --was only expecting to have usual Prednisolone steroid.

6 and half beers is good going. I’m quite a lightweight these days --gone is ‘All U can Drink’ public house.

Good comparing notes with you.
Best,
JP

1 Like