Relief

If you EVER get a pang to gamble, come on to this site and read the stories here

https://www.gamcare.org.uk/forum/family-friends/

You'll see what your gambling pang results in, devastation and regret everywhere in this thread, from family members.

I am so happy for you! You sound like you are on the right path to recovery. Honestly the sessions I had have been a life saver and I am so grateful for the help and support I have received! I really hope it goes well for you. Wishing you luck in your journey. I have not gambled for 3 months, having done it most days for 20 years!! It feels amazing to have my life back. I still have debts and low days but I feel better equipped to deal with the bad. All the best with everything xxx

I am so happy for you! You sound like you are on the right path to recovery. Honestly the sessions I had have been a life saver and I am so grateful for the help and support I have received! I really hope it goes well for you. Wishing you luck in your journey. I have not gambled for 3 months, having done it most days for 20 years!! It feels amazing to have my life back. I still have debts and low days but I feel better equipped to deal with the bad. All the best with everything xxx

Thankyou for supportive comments. 

day 3 now, no gambling. Still have fleeting thoughts of playing slots and certain games that I liked to play. But no wavering here. I am committed to remaining gambling free

my goal is to find positive coping skills. I tend to replace one negative thing for another, like binge eating. So I am going to try and replace this with healthy eating and exercise…very hard during Xmas time lol

anyway I feel positive

i feel in control

i feel very lucky to have the family and friends that I have

i also feel quite proud of myself for seeking help and motivating myself. However I do tend to feel guilty for feeling proud of myself as if that minimises my recent troubles or losing money, I still feel the guilt about that 

take care all and merry Xmas x

@carolp again, I have the same feelings of feeling guilty for being proud of how far I’ve come. I have to dig deep and have positive self talk. I can’t help thinking I’ve have been conditioned to feel guilty about doing well and changing for the better. I think maybe certain people in my life and society to a certain extent don’t like seeing others do well and that negativity I have experience in the past keeps repeating itself. I genuinely think you have done an amazing job. The whole experience is difficult but you will come out of it stronger and more empowered. Keep going xx

@ae20 thankyou

its good to know that other people feel the same as you

day 4 now, going strong

Day 6 today GF

i have my counselling appointment today and I’m quite nervous about it. This will be my first appointment, don’t really know what to expect 

funny thing, just got a notification on my phone that my screen time is down 76% from last week lol just shows you the amount of time i was spending on my phone playing slots

its also nice to see my bank balance hasn’t changed much. My bank balance was very volatile before. Rich to skint, rich, skint all changing throughout the day. Almost always ending up with less than I started with

i am also enjoying actually watching television with my husband. Previously we would have stuck a programme on but I wouldn’t really have been watching it, I would be playing slots on my phone while he watched it. Now I actually know what’s happening in the programme 

I’m also sleeping so much better. And that feels amazing. For months I have been waiting until my husband fell asleep and then playing slots on my phone until maybe 5am. I still needed to get up about 7.30-8 so I have been walking about completely shattered and drained for months. What a difference a good nights sleep makes

Take care everyone xx stay strong xx you got this! 

C xx

Day 7 GF

feeling good. Proud of myself ? 

had my first counselling appointment yesterday and it went really well. I find it quite hard talking about myself that much but I think it can only be a positive thing 

xx