OMG- I know that feeling sooo well. I remember a very similar night a few months ago, it's just the booze making you over-emotional and teary. It is strange how sometimes it grabs you like that.

I hope you are feeling a bit better now-
As you say it will pass.

(((Hugs)))

W2E and Marb (and houtx/ART, KK, etc.), I love this forum, and the support/encouragement I get from all of you. Everyone is so darned REAL. No pretenses or facades. Isn't that refreshing, tho?

I had a real 'down' day, and at my SO's encouragement in his daily morning note, decided to be kind to myself today. Isn't it funny how it's easy to give other people the benefit of the doubt, but hard to do that for ourselves? Anyway, part of my 'kindness' was to treat myself to a whirlpool bath in the middle of the day. As I lay back and let my mind relax, I suddenly realized what the source of my depressed mood was. My health insurance quit when my business went aground last year, and my bio-identical, compounded hormones are costing me over a hundred bucks a month. I decided a couple of weeks ago to substiture a cheaper, over-the-internet product that promised to be 'the real deal.'

So I've been rubbing on a product that is most definitely NOT as effective or potent as the prescribed compound - and had a one day menopause moment. Eeeeeekkkkk!

It usually takes 24 hours notice to get that compound script filled. Fortunately, I'm friends with the pharmacist. I called, and they said they could have it ready for me within an hour. So my darling SO (I've decided to go with 'companion,' whattayathink?) is at this moment driving the 15 miles to go get my script for sanity restored. (He was only TOO happy to do so. . . )

How do you gals manage w/o those hormones? A good friend of mine who has always been a real 'up' personality has been very depressed and negative for the past year. She refuses to take the bio-identicals (for good reason. . .), and I'm guessing that's at the root of her personality change. Any suggestions for something that might help restore her good nature?

PS: You damned MEN have it so damned EASY!!@!

I am interested in the HRT thing, except I don't think I'm in full-blown menopause yet. I just attribute my lows as being the depresseant effect of alcohol. Probably everything -

I didn't have too great of a night either...drank a bottle of champagne as it was the only thing I had. Then I emailed this man I've been corresponding w/ but haven't met yet. It's been dragging on for aout 3 wks and I am ready to meet him & go in whatever direction. Get it over with! I don't really remember writing it except I recognized the words this morning. I came across as...icey, to say the least. He wrote me a very polite, short, sweet goodbye note. Ugh - I felt so bad, but oh well...

Did someone say there is a PM place on here? I will look...Will catch up here later - got a busy weekend for a change. Going out tomorrow to the Shell Open w/ a former dating friend. Haven't seen him in a couple of months and he is always easy to be with..and a serious drinker, so I have to really watch it. It'll be ok.

G4M - the guy GRINNED in bed and you blew him off?? LOL I might be able to overlook that if he had the other criteria! You're funny! Hang in there, all!

G4M - Your SO is awesome.

I did BHRT (including the testosterone) for almost 2 years...it helped at first but I was still having hot flashes and getting angry and depressed 2 weeks each month. (I remember running out of them and calling up the dr's office screaming at the girl because she wouldn't fill my script until I saw the doctor and he couldn't see me for another month. It was horrible.)

Anyway - I started seeing a Naturalist in October last year and cut all dairy and meat from my diet, and stopped the hormones completely. I also take several supplements from Thorne Research. They are expensive, but worth it for me. The first two weeks were horrible as I think I went through withdrawal (plus I was on topamax at the time). Since then, however, my moods have evened out dramatically to where I only have 1 bad day a month and even that's not as bad as before...and I no longer have hot flashes. I was not full-on menopausal and I know what you are going through is worse, but my doctor uses the same protocol for menopause...and it seems to have totally reversed my symptoms. Just a thought for your friend. Giving up dairy is no biggy once you get used to it, and the more I read about it, the more I think it's a big source of issues for moods in adults as well as kids.

Also - I think bubble baths should be part of the The Sinclair Method - I read somewhere else today how learning to relax is important for decreasing triggers...I took a long one last night instead of drinking after a horrible day. Never missed my wine.

Hope your day is better tomorrow.

I can so identify with this. Get drunk and go boot up the e-mail. My one daughter does the DWI thing (dialing while intoxicated). I don't answer her calls past a certain time of night, and will get the funniest, long-winded voice mails from her - I think she sometimes forgets she's on voice mail. Sad. . .but I'm hoping our example on TSM will inspire her to give it a try.



Nope, that was someone else who had the grinner. . .but I suggested that if that was the worst thing he did, she might overlook it.

Well, just finished week 7, starting week 8. It's been an odd one, as my drinking has been all over the charts. A couple of days I had 11 units - higher than my pre-sinclair average. Then I had a couple days with only 5 or 6 units, and a couple others with 8. All lower than usual. So my weekly average is a bit down, TG. I hate those heavy drinking days!

Yesterday was interesting. I took my Nal around 4 and poured a small glass of wine around 5 to sip on while fixing dinner. It took about 45 minutes to get it all put together, and I still had over half the glass. I sat at my computer to work, and sipped on the wine for another hour or so. It was nearly 6:30 p.m. by the time I finished that first glass. I did end up having 5 units over the rest of the evening. . .but really, it feels like the 'hook' is coming out of me. I suspect the same for my SO, as he came home around 5 (late for him), and only drank about 4 beers - not much for him.

I've decided to make a more conscious effort at eating highly nutritious foods, and getting back to the practice of meditation. Got a juicer, and yesterday made a blend out of every kind of fruit/vegie you can imagine. Ended up with about a dozen nutritious fruits/vegetables. It tasted great! The meditation really helped to center me. I suspect these practices - and back to regular exercise once I'm up to it again - are going to go a long way to help me recover 'me.' Probably not coincidentally, I had one of the most productive, energetic days yesterday than I've experienced in ages!

This is a 'weekly progress report' thread, but I enjoy posting changes I've noted thru the week when something is notable, and the last few days have definitely been that!

Thursday I drank slower and less than usual. Friday I had a couple glasses of wine in the afternoon, and then quit until early evening . When I did go back to drinking, I drank much slower than usual, and definitely felt like quitting at a certain point. Last night I left my 'nightcap' glass of wine undrank on the bedside table, and it was tossed out this morning. All this would be unheard of, in the past.

I've found I'm clearer thinking and have more energy the past several days, and all my thoughts don't revolve around the next drink, or bottle, or whether I should, or shouldn't. I've taken an interest in better nutrition as well. My consumption overall has been down by a third, without any real effort on my part.

I have a sense that I've hit a point where I can see/feel the beginning of definite progress - and it came upon me quite suddenly, just when I was beginning to wonder. . .

Just completed week 8, and it was an interesting one. While my consumption has only gone down about 10 upw (hey, that's two whole bottles of wine!) my experience of drinking has changed substantially. The lowered drinking is consistent every night, whereas b/4 I would have a couple of strong binge days where I drank more than my usual 2 bottles of wine. I'm more interested in nutritious food and outdoor activities. The 'brain fog' I've had for the past year or so is clearing up. I'm starting to drink later in the day most of the time (4 or 5 pm as opposed to noon-2). After I've had a few drinks, my interest in drinking is much less, and I'm drinking slower. A few nights I didn't finish my 'nightcap' glass of wine, and last night I debated over taking the last glass in the bottle - and decided to leave it and drink water, instead.

Most interesting, when I'm drinking I feel much more clear headed and in control than I did in the past. While I still get a buzz, that sense of euphoria that accompanies a few drinks is far less. I don't get opinionated and loud-mouthed - my SO says that's not as big an issue as I imagine, anyway. But he tells me that b/4 when I drank, I tended to fixate on something and repeat myself a lot. . .and that I'm no longer doing that.

Oh yes, last but not least - our sex life has improved. Before, we were often both too toasted at the end of the day to bother with it. . .and too hung over in the morning.

Awesome progress! Sounds like you've already gotten significant results, G4M. This is all wonderful, especially the improved sex life (of course).

Hi G4M!

Looks like we've both had promising results during week 8! It's really uplifting, isn't it? I hope we keep seeing positive changes as time goes on -(and that's my wish for everyone here, of coarse). I still won't freak out if I slip, because I think this is an up and down journey, but overall - things are MUCH better for me than when I started. Here's to more happy days - Cheers!