Time to change

Hello my friend, welcome to the forum.

You have done the right thing by posting here my friend. For many it can be embaressing to first post on this site but you have done the right thing by doing so. The support, advice and knowledge that can be gained from this forum is invaluable, & hearing from others in the same situation certainly helped for me.

Its a sickening feeling to have lost so much money my friend, myself and almost every other person here knows and understands that feeling 100%, you are not alone in this.

The most important thing for me in my recovery was accepting that what i lost is gone forever, its hard to take my friend but thats the way it is. I have only been gamble free for 5 days but even after this i feel much better. Like yourself i woke up one morning and decided enough was enough, that there was no point in losing more and more money trying to get back money which i never will, & even if i did win it back that wouldnt stop me gambling, the same for everyone here my friend you may think that if you won it all back you would stop but the cruel reality is that you wouldnt.

You have done the right thing by putting blocks in place to limit your access to online gambling, but this will only take away a small amount of temptation. To stop gambling completely is down to you and you alone my friend, though both myself and others on this foorum will always be here to offer you support if you ever need it.

The best of luck to you my friend i hope to hear back from you.

Take care

Three days clean now! Might not seem like much but that's a huge achievement for me. I've had the tempting moments and I know this isn't going to be easy but the way I look at it is that I got addicted to gambling so surely I can get addicted to not gambling!

You're right that I have to accept the money I've lost is gone. Hard to do I know but it's my own fault. Looking to the future is the only thing I can do now.

In Arnie's famous words 'I'll be back!'

Bye for now

Hello again mate,

That's a great achievement my friend, well done.

Keep moving forward my friend in time you will feel much better. Keep it up & good luck, i look forward to hearing back from you.

Take care

i totally know where you are coming from. When i read your message i immediately thought that's me. Up to about 5 years ago i too had been playing online casino's. This was when the credit cards were easy to access to deposit on casinos. I remember now that many a night i would get in from the pub and sit down in isolation on my computer and enter a reckless world of gambling often all through the night until sun rise. It almost seams an impossibilty what i did- even now i can not believe the money i lost. It seams a surreal world i lived in. Yes i have a good job and felt/feel that i should be able to sort this out myself. I realise that you can put blocks in place. I remember when i first contacted Gamcare i was in tears - i realised them i had to turn the corner and i have. I have conquered this online gambling.Been relativly clean from this for some 5 years. I realised if i did not stop i would be totally destroyed. Gamblock was a programme i downloaded. This meant i could not go on to any gambling site. It worked.

I managed to stop the rot. If i continued at the level i had been gambling at i hate to think where i would be now.,

The point i am making is you can do it. It takes time and you will find it tough at times. You have to put obstacles in place. I was and to a degree am embarrassed sharing my problems - but this site gives much comfort and support when times are difficult. We need to keep sounding off - this has to focus the mind and keeps you moving in the right direction.

Keep going - be strong - give youself a small tangible reward. I remember this forum some five years ago - it might sound daft but someone said he had bought a red watering can and this was the start.buy some thing that is tangible - doesn't have to be much but keep it in eye shot - reminds you of good times on the horizon!! You have something which you can build on.

I really wish you well - keep up the good work

Almost four years since my last post. Unfortunately my determination and resolve waned and I've ended up in a worse situation than I was even four years ago.

As I write this post, I am now two weeks into my latest no gambling session. I've had the worst two weeks for a long time! I had to admit to my boss that I was gambling at work, using my work computer which has resulted in a written warning and a block being put in place on the work computer system. I'm only thankful they didn't fire me!

I don't just have one boss though, I work for a board of ten and they all know my situation; £40k in debt and entering a DPP. Might not be a problem to some but I live in a small rural area where everyone knows everyone else. My line manager assured me that my situation would be kept confidential but I'm not sure that's possible here....

Some of my family know some of my situation but I can't tell them everything as I'm pretty sure they'll disown me or blast me and I'm not emotionally strong enough to cope with the disapprovement. I want to get my situation sorted so i can then give my testimony 'Look how far down I was and look where I am now'!

If I could go back to that day in 2006 when I opened my first account with that bingo site, I wouldn't even think about doing it given what I know now but I guess hindsight is a wonderful thing! 10 years and tens of thousands of pounds lost....

Anyway, enough of the self-pity and depression - onwards and upwards. I'm pretty much at rock bottom so the only way must be up..right?..

Hi sorry to learn of your relapse, the only way is up if you don't gamble. we all wish we could turn back time but no one can, but we can determine the future. stop thinking about the losses, it will only drive you to gamble more. You need to ensure there are blocks in place to stop you whilst at home, get some counselling and keep a diary on here. X

Hi gt that's brilliant advice thank you I've got a diary running on the recovery section too. I've got Betfilter now on my laptop did have K9 but my counsellor gave me a free code that clients of GamCare are allowed to install Betfilter. Thank you though hun it's much appreciated. I'm also getting Betfilter app for iPhone when I've got some spare money in meantime I've self excluded from just about every site and got a new debit card and my friend scratched off the Ccv number on back but I know I need stronger blocks as there's a way around the blocks I've got 🙁 but whenever I get urges I come on here and fight it, hope your ok hun best wishes Lu x

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Hi allainepo, I hope you are well and thank you for your kind words. I am much more determined this time to stay stopped and there are blocks in place on everything so it would make it hard to start again even if I wanted to. 19 days today, 2 days to go until 3 weeks which will be a huge milestone for me as I could barely go 3 days before 🙂

Hi gt you will have reached your three weeks by now, that's great! Keep going strong hun! Best wishes Lu x

Thanks Lu, 26 days - nearly four weeks now, massive, massive achievement and one that I'm NOT going to ruin! Bless you Lu xx

Sorry fo

Sorry for the Hi, new to this but I need to change, the last 6months it's been a case of payday then gamble away online, starts off then I get a win and the buzz kicks in and before I know it the win is gone and I'm rapidly depositing money. at one point having to take to the credit card to pay bills and get by until the next payday, enough is enough I need to stop before this really starts to affect my relationship and work. I feel ashamed about all this and always down. I have a good job and partner but have nothing to show for it and always feel down.

Sorry for the rant just had to confess and it's comforting to see some of the stories in here and that I'm not alone

Hi Paul,

Good to hear from you and it's good that you have come here. The first step to recovery is just getting it out there and this is as good a place as any. What steps have you taken? Something that has helped me is blocking software on all devices that I can access the internet - it's vital that you get someone else to set the passwords though as it's all too tempting to go in and change the settings. I've also seen other people say they have spoken with Netline so perhaps that's a good way to go.

Please remember that you are not the only person going through this, just look at the number of members on here! You are NOT alone in this fight.

GT x

Hi GT,

I wrote on your other forum post just to ask how you are getting on with Stepchange? I will be contacting them after Christmas as I have huge debts and I need to get sorted out. How has your experience been with them so far?

Ta