Two Days Sober Today

[Livinginexile]

Anyone know what to do in BKK?

I have an ex- colleague who is slowly killing himself.

He has done AA, and I think he has had anti-abuse tablets (??) in the past. The place in Kachanaburi is expensive it seems,. I don't think he will go to a Wat.

I am not qualified to say whether he needs to go in a ward, or if he can have tablets at home. Ideally he needs some kind of good psychiatrist in BKK, who will give him the tablets he needs and see him regularly. maybe Bumrungrad or somewhere, I was going to suggest that. But...I don't know which place does that stuff.

Any comments would be helpful.

thanks

P Ed

Hi Paul,

I believe there are some very good detox centres in Bangkok. Some are expensive, some are cheap. But your friend has to want to do this himself, he has to be ready otherwise it's a waist of time.

I never went myself, I only got as far as getting some details whilst I was in Thailand.

I can give you the details and contact numbers if you PM me.

Good luck with your friend

All the best

I see you are keeping up the good work. The best of luck.

Could you - or anybody who has information on detox centres/hospitals provide more detailed information, please.

Name, address, tel., Can I smoke ?, Bring a laptop?, Use a cellphone, Order fastfood (stupid question when you are dying from alcohol - I know), Bring my wife and kids, ????

And approximately price (with no complications). If I cannot afford it here, I have to leave for my home country.

Thanks

Hi Phil,

If you PM me I will give you a phone number of someone in Bangkok that can provide you with all that information.

Best of luck mate.

[Livinginexile]

15 days

[Sheryl]

I sent my nephew to an excellent and very affordable place in the Phillippines: Recovery House (in Cebu). :

<[email protected]>

tel: 63-32-2340355

It worked for him and I was very impressed with the sincerity and dedication of the staff.

It was about 5 years ago and at that time less than US $400 a month for room, board and therapy. At that time at least it was a better option than anything I could find in Thailand.

There or pretty much any other residential detox program, you can't bring along wife and kids and will initially be limited in making phone calls, this is done to help cut off alcoholics and addicts (they treat both) from negative influences. Obviously less of an issue for you as you'd be thousands of miles from your usual drinking buddies etc, but those are the rules. Initial separation from family is an important part of the immersion in rehab...enables you to give full attention to sorting things out and reflecting on your life, getting insight.

Laptop and smokes, no idea, you'd have to ask, ditto smokes.

I don't think food is any problem.

There is also a place near Manila : New Beginnings Foundation

Treatment Center

23 Villaba cor. Ynchaust Sts. Phase 6-A, BF Homes, Paranaque, Manila, Philippines

Telephone

+63 2 8094578

+63 2 7722122

+63 920 9066200

[Livinginexile]

16 days

[loong]

You definitely deserve to give yourself a pat on the back now - your doing so well.

Hope that you are sleeping better now

[TheWalkingMan]

Keep up the fight!

[Livinginexile]

You definitely deserve to give yourself a pat on the back now - your doing so well.

Hope that you are sleeping better now

Thanx loong

Physically I feel fine.

Sleeping is still a problem. The wife tells me I am very restless like I am having nightmares. Luckily I don't remember.

The worst thing is in the mornings. I really feel like I've got a huge hangover! No headache but I takes me a good hour to centre myself and 3 strong coffees.

I know this will pass with time.

Today I was driving home with my wife and son. Suddenly my wife looked at me and started chuckling. I asked what she was laughing at.

She said "Nothing, I'm just happy to have my husband back"

She was really happy and it really warmed my heart

[sbk]

Just remember, this is the first hump to get over. Next hump is dealing with the problems and behaviors that got you drinking in the first place. You don't say if you are attending AA meetings, and while AA might not be for you, for sure you need to do something more than just stopping drinking. Don't mean to be a party pooper because you are doing great, and I think its wonderful that you are so committed to keeping sober. Baby steps, livinginexile, baby steps. But keep it up, and you will be great.

[ThaiPauly]

Just remember, this is the first hump to get over. Next hump is dealing with the problems and behaviors that got you drinking in the first place. You don't say if you are attending AA meetings, and while AA might not be for you, for sure you need to do something more than just stopping drinking. Don't mean to be a party pooper because you are doing great, and I think its wonderful that you are so committed to keeping sober. Baby steps, livinginexile, baby steps. But keep it up, and you will be great.

You are right SBK.

Once you take the alcohol away there is a hole that needs to be filled.

I've filled mine and I fill it on a daily basis.

It's also possible that one's partner may take time to get used to this "new person"

[ding]

Livinginexile,congrats. We're all different distances from our last drunk, but all just an arm's length away from a drink. 24 years for me and it's a great jouney. I liked hearing that I never had to drink again. And that no person, no place, and no thing - could EVER make me take a drink again.

No &lt;deleted&gt; way.

Contentment is enough for me today. I stopped chasing the "juice" in life and have replaced excitement and chaos with serenity and love. Pollyanna? yep, but it works for me. I don't know how it works, or why it works - and I don't have to. I can see that it definitely DOES work. eom

"Today I was driving home with my wife and son. Suddenly my wife looked at me and started chuckling. I asked what she was laughing at.

She said "Nothing, I'm just happy to have my husband back"

She was really happy and it really warmed my heart "

Now THAT'S what I'm talkin' about.

Edited May 21, 2009 by ding

[philo]

Thanks to Sheryl.

Sounds great, but I am unable to go abroad.

I think I have only two options: Find a reasonable priced place in Muang Thai og get my ass home to cold Europe.

Or dump my wife and children (at her parents house) and go detox (on water, Valium and B1) or drink myself to death in a cheap silent room somewhere in Isan.

Those who are still alive will know ...

Best of luck to the OP.

[kaz49]

You definitely deserve to give yourself a pat on the back now - your doing so well.

Hope that you are sleeping better now

Thanx loong

Physically I feel fine.

Sleeping is still a problem. The wife tells me I am very restless like I am having nightmares. Luckily I don't remember.

The worst thing is in the mornings. I really feel like I've got a huge hangover! No headache but I takes me a good hour to centre myself and 3 strong coffees.

I know this will pass with time.

Today I was driving home with my wife and son. Suddenly my wife looked at me and started chuckling. I asked what she was laughing at.

She said "Nothing, I'm just happy to have my husband back"

She was really happy and it really warmed my heart

Hey, Livinginexile, well done. It surely takes strong resolve and motivation to give up the booze, especially here in our Oz culture..."one day at a time, sometimes one hour, even one minute".

Just a gentle reminder, your wife (if she isn't already doing so) may like to attend an Al-Anon meeting for support, fellowship and recovery. Their are many meetings held during the day and evenings in and around the burbs of the Gold Coast and Brisbane. She will be made to feel very welcome, I can guarantee it!!!!

[GarryP]

Good on you keep it up. Used to drink beer every day after work and all day Saturday and Sunday myself, screwing up my life good an proper. Never any savings and hurting the family. Went out on a wild binge just over three years ago and was so ashamed, embarrassed, disgusted (you name the negative) with myself and wanted the world to swallow myself up that I just swore to my wife then and there that I was never touching beer (or any alcohol) again and didn't.

Whenever I got the urge for a drink, all I needed to do was think of how pathetic I had been when under the influence that the urge instantly disappeared. Just think of the cringe inducing things you have done when under the influence.

Now getting on great with my son and have the added bonus of actually saving money. Over a mil since I gave up the booze and cleared my debts.

Sorry for the long message but it is just to show you that you are not alone and that it really is worth the effort.

Edited May 22, 2009 by GarryP

[gerryBScot]

Livinginexile great reading your story and long may you continue to be alcohol free. On 26th May it shall be five years since my last drink. If anybody had said to me at the time I quit that I would have the life I have today I would have thought they were taking the mick. I am just happy the war is over, I surrendered, alcohol won resoundingly, I quit. Today I have a lovely wife, a happy home, our first son is due July and I am working as a teacher here and am happy about my prospects. Tonight, Friday, I am at home just relaxing and not really a worry in the world and didn't feel any need to rush out and pore drink down my throat to start the weekend. I don't have much money, don't need much money, but I have everything I need and most of what I want. In my early days someone said something to me that stuck and made me laugh...now that you have stopped drinking there are three situations when you might drink again; firstly when you are happy and full of joy and everything is going well, secondly when you are angry and depressed, and thirdly every other second when you are neither happy or sad! Good luck and get ripped into life!

[Livinginexile]

17 days today.

I have had so many messages of support and good luck that it is allmost overwhelming. I had no idea when I posted Two days sober today that I would have got such a response.

So many guys in the same boat as me. Who would have thought.

I got a wakeup call yesterday on how serious this is for me. I was out with the Mrs shopping and out of the blue I wanted to dart off to the bottle shop. It was strong. I told myself to wait untill we got home and by that time the compulsion left me.

I have decided to start regular meetings, I can't do this alone. /the problem is we live so dam_n far away. In my drinking I thought it would be a good idea to live far away from civilisation so I rented a house on top of Mount Tamberine. Beaytifull place but pretty isolated.

Just one of the many brilliant ideas I had when I was drinking

Thanks again to all of you.

[loong]

Hi Living,

I'm sure that when you get these urges to slip back it must be very difficult for you. The only good thing is that it does prove that you can stay in control.

Keep strong na!

[ding]

17 days today.

I have had so many messages of support and good luck that it is allmost overwhelming. I had no idea when I posted Two days sober today that I would have got such a response.

So many guys in the same boat as me. Who would have thought.

I got a wakeup call yesterday on how serious this is for me. I was out with the Mrs shopping and out of the blue I wanted to dart off to the bottle shop. It was strong. I told myself to wait untill we got home and by that time the compulsion left me.

I have decided to start regular meetings, I can't do this alone. /the problem is we live so dam_n far away. In my drinking I thought it would be a good idea to live far away from civilisation so I rented a house on top of Mount Tamberine. Beaytifull place but pretty isolated.

Just one of the many brilliant ideas I had when I was drinking

Thanks again to all of you.

Excellent point Livinginexile. I want to move to LOS to teach someday soon but really need to stay in Bangkok to be near those outstanding meetings. Everything else is second for me, nothing good can follow if I drink and everything good in my life is only happening because I'm stopped.

Hang tough and use this, or the AA Grapevine, or AA stuff online - in the interim. You're absolutely not alone bro.

[tjansen]

4 days

Congratulations. I see no mention of Alcoholics Anonymus in the posts. That is the path I took in 1981, and it worked for me. I am now living in Ban Pong, retired, and very happy. It's funny because my Thai lady friend was recently telling me what a problem alcohol is in Thailand, and she was relating many instances of damaged lives that she knows of personally.

I will try not to preach about AA, but I will urge you to keep their number handy, and when the time comes that you are ready to bag the effort as not being worth it, give them a jingle and find a meeting. I believe I looked on the Internet and found some meetings in Bangkok. The one thing to realize about AA is that they teach and give you skills for living sober, not just for staying dry.

Another interesting thing, in my case, is that the 11th step of AA mentions the words prayer and meditation, and I have been wanting the meditation part for all these years but have not been able to get at it. When I was ready to leave Thailand in January at the end of a 9 month engineering contract and retire to Malaysia, my newly found friend suggested a ten day Buddhist meditation retreat, which I attended. I am now meditating every day, I love my life, and I know that stopping my uncontrollable drinking was the first step that made it possible.

You have quite an adventure ahead of you. Continue reaching out for support and know that whatever you have to go through, it is worth it. My thoughts will be with you today. If you want to get in touch with me, my**please pm poster***

[gerryBScot]

4 days

Congratulations. I see no mention of Alcoholics Anonymus in the posts. That is the path I took in 1981, and it worked for me. I am now living in Ban Pong, retired, and very happy. It's funny because my Thai lady friend was recently telling me what a problem alcohol is in Thailand, and she was relating many instances of damaged lives that she knows of personally.

I will try not to preach about AA, but I will urge you to keep their number handy, and when the time comes that you are ready to bag the effort as not being worth it, give them a jingle and find a meeting. I believe I looked on the Internet and found some meetings in Bangkok. The one thing to realize about AA is that they teach and give you skills for living sober, not just for staying dry.

Another interesting thing, in my case, is that the 11th step of AA mentions the words prayer and meditation, and I have been wanting the meditation part for all these years but have not been able to get at it. When I was ready to leave Thailand in January at the end of a 9 month engineering contract and retire to Malaysia, my newly found friend suggested a ten day Buddhist meditation retreat, which I attended. I am now meditating every day, I love my life, and I know that stopping my uncontrollable drinking was the first step that made it possible.

You have quite an adventure ahead of you. Continue reaching out for support and know that whatever you have to go through, it is worth it. My thoughts will be with you today. If you want to get in touch with me, my**please pm poster***

You might like to know we have an AA meeting going in Ratchaburi which is not so far away from Ban Pong., there are three of us, and we meet Sunday lunchtime @1200. if you would like more details PM me. we will be going live once we are clear about venue. Good luck

[Livinginexile]

18 days

[dr_Pat_Pong]

18 days

Great Job. A month is in sight.

[Livinginexile]

19 days

[sbk]

How are you feeling?

[jumnien]

I love checking in on your progress each day. You have so many well wishers here on TV. Keep up the good work and stay strong on your journey. Today I celebrate 14 years clean and sober, and it really is the best thing I've ever experienced. To be free from the prison of addiction and to be enjoying life sure beats incomprehensible demoralization! I've had the fellowship of 12-step program all along the way. In fact, that, and an interest in Buddhism, is what led me to Thailand 12 years ago.

Keep posting on your experience, you are indeed helping others.

Edited May 24, 2009 by jumnien

[loong]

Congratulations.

Everyday you are taking more control of your life and proving that your family is more important to you than a bottle. It must mean a lot to them and I'm sure that it has not been easy.

[B Fuddled]

Thank you Living' for your decision to stop drinking. Your sharing with us of your experince, strength and hope and the contributions of your friends is very important to my continuos sobriety.

[Livinginexile]

How are you feeling?

Hi sbk, thanks for asking. I appreciate yours and others continuing support, believe me when I tell you it really does help.

Physically I feel fine. I now have an appetite of sorts and I am sleeping a lot better.

I think my immune system has taken a battering as I keep getting little infections like on the sides of my finger nails (painful little buggers) and a middle ear infection (one in each ear) It's to be expected as I feel my body is re adjusting itself back to normal.

I've started meetings and these help a lot.

I feel like I have a short wick at the moment, I quickly get upset, angry, sad, resentful...etc but notice that they pass as quickly as they come.

I am also not working, there’s no way I could hold down a job in this state. I will re asses working in a couple of months.

The family and I go out every day and we are really enjoying ourselves. Bush walks, shopping, fishing. It's been a long time since I have not worked so I don't feel guilty about accepting money from the government. We are close again and I can see my wife is starting to relax around me again.

Thanks again for your support along the way.

[BigSnake]

How are you feeling?

Hi sbk, thanks for asking. I appreciate yours and others continuing support, believe me when I tell you it really does help.

Physically I feel fine. I now have an appetite of sorts and I am sleeping a lot better.

I think my immune system has taken a battering as I keep getting little infections like on the sides of my finger nails (painful little buggers) and a middle ear infection (one in each ear) It's to be expected as I feel my body is re adjusting itself back to normal.

I've started meetings and these help a lot.

I feel like I have a short wick at the moment, I quickly get upset, angry, sad, resentful...etc but notice that they pass as quickly as they come.

I am also not working, there’s no way I could hold down a job in this state. I will re asses working in a couple of months.

The family and I go out every day and we are really enjoying ourselves. Bush walks, shopping, fishing. It's been a long time since I have not worked so I don't feel guilty about accepting money from the government. We are close again and I can see my wife is starting to relax around me again.

Thanks again for your support along the way.

Hang in there my friend, there will be a bump in the road here and there but the family will be there for you along with your many supporters here on TV. KEEP ON KEEPING on

[Livinginexile]

20 days!

But who's counting?

[kennkate]

GO Man GO Well Done 3 Weeks Thats great

Don't forget we are watching You

Failure is no longer an option Just think of the stick you would get from your supporters on here

your future looks so much better in every way Best Wishes Ken