I have to start today....

Hi Saffie,

Well done for staying gambling free for the last 3 days. I can feel your stress as I've kind of had the same problem. I guess we all have similar battles here. I hope your recovery continues till you beat the monster. I'm also fairly new here and currently 35 days GF . Since I joined I am always taking it one day at a time which I found very helpful.

Keep up the good work!

Sars

**update**

So, I haven't posted for a few months. I relapsed, and managed to spend a lot of money in the casino. I managed to win a fair bit, but obviously gave most of that back.....

1 month ago today I lost a significant amount at the casino. I felt physically sick. At that point, I had managed to reduce my debt by a few thousand overall but nowhere near the level it would have been had I stopped after the wins (cg never can though...)

I decided that day that I have to change. I switched my bank account, removing the overdraft and stopping that merry go round. I closed my other current accounts and made sure every site online were all blocked. .

I have not been back to the casino nor online gambled for 30 days Xmas felt so good, buying things and not worrying about going into unauthorised overdraft etc. Thankfully my addiction never caused me to miss payments or borrow over limits so I'm grateful that all of the debt I accrued is all at 0% on credit cards as I hadn't got to the stage of completely ruining my credit rating, which i intend to move to new cards when the rate ends

Feeling really positive, have a plan in place for debt repayment through overtime and I just have everything crossed I don't relapse again!

Hi saffie, thanks for taking the time to read and post on my diary. I have read yours too and seems like we are in really similar places; slots, a few times trying to beat it, debt and well paid jobs.

Have you tried GA? I am finding it really helpful and have spent a long time reading literature given to me. We can do this!

Thanks for your kind comments. I started a new diary for this years attempt! http://www.gamcare.org.uk/forum/my-recovery-and-debt-diary I am 39 days now and feeling strong.

I haven't tried GA yet but have put lots of blocks in place like changing account, removing my overdraft and self exclusion. I feel a real sense of achievement in a strange way even though I am still knee deep in debt! Hope you're doing well on your journey

Saffie you're saying what we all say. That we can control this and that we look forward to paying off our debts and stop gambling. It all means nothing unless you put controls in place. Download blocking software. I use gamblock. Do it on all devices. Organise 1-1 or group counselling through the site asap. Finally get yourself permanently excluded from all the casinos. Why you haven't done this in the past I don't know but this needs to be done today! I did all of the above and feel far more in control. Good luck!

Thanks Stewarty. I have in fact self excluded from any online casino I had access to. I also limit the amount of money I have by handing over the savings to my husband. I thought I was doing quite well at 39 days but perhaps I should think again.

Hi Saffie, well done still being GF. Handing over my finances to my partner was and currently is the only thing stopping me chasing losses, I can and have used will power at times but without other blocks, I would have risked more money. Keep up the good work :). Scott