My diary

Yeah it's two addictions at once , nightmare !!! It is a test of mental strength and I'm going to beat it , I've never been so determined , i know it's one day at a time so that's why I don't want to fool myself and think I'm OK. As regards to smoking if it gets to much a will try vapour because I don't want one addiction to effect another ! I'm on g f day 10 so I'm doing something right . How you doing , i always read your comments they always make sense to me , thanks for the advice I will be on chat room later if you want to talk . Loz

Hi loz, thank you for the lovely post. I also stopped smoking 8 years ago and have never picked up a cigarette since. I was a 40 a day smoker and had smoked for around 20+years. I remember people always said to me no matter how you feel or how curious you are, that first drag will get you hooked again.....therefore don't give in.

As for the gambling, I remember saying day 11 gf and what a great achievement that felt for someone who had gambled for so long. As I said you will have doubled and even trebled that figure before you know it if you stay strong, positive and determined. If you get any urges it's how you cope with them and what blocks you have in place. When mr gamble comes nagging on your shoulder, knock him off and kick him into touch......same with the smoking.....don't give in to that first bet.

Stay strong and the best of luck with your journey.

It's day 14 g f , I'm up will early the only day I get a lyin and I get up at 7.00 , I'm getting confused on how to add to my daily diary , do you just add comment or start another thread ? . Anyway been a good weekend up to now no gambling , worked yesterday, today got family coming for Sunday dinner so that should be nice ! Thanks to everyone for help and support I'm in a much better place now than I was 14 days ago , I'm learning so much each day . Hope everyone's doing OK, ? , loz

Thanks deano , you have a good weekend too mate .

Hi loz, well done on 2 weeks gf. It's a great feeling to start doing normal things without as many urges and feel that you are actually doing something with your life. Just don't let your guard down or become complacent and you will be at a month before you know it.

Take care

Hi all day 16 now for me and still going strong , I'm still feeling anxious at night and get panic attacks sometimes, but I'm soldiering on !! Gambling keeps popping in my mind but I just keep reminding myself how good I'm doing and how far I've come in a short space of time . I've got my one to onecounselling on Thursday so I'm staying focused for that ! Still not smoking so that's good , been on chat room every night and that's helped loads , I'm feeling confident but in the back of my mind I know I have still got a long way to go , as a have heard on here a few times you're only one bet away from starting gambling again . I hope all are doing well . Loz

Day 17 , just got home from work and I'm knackered didn't sleep again last night not sure if it's not gambling or not smoking that's keeping me up ! Got my one to one tomorrow so I'm looking forward to that , struggling for money a bit but I'm getting by . Still think about gambling now and again , it just pops in my head I can't help it but g f for 17 days now so I'm doing something right . Realising how much gambling has put a stress on my life all these years and how much time it's taken up , think I need a hobby to keep me busy especially at weekends ! One day at time for now , loz

Hi loz, hope the counselling goes well today. When I stopped smoking as I was using patches I was getting awful nightmares and spending more hours awake than sleeping. Probably a combination of both. As for thinking bout gambling, after 77 days gf I still get thoughts and coming on here makes me think but I feel that I am getting stronger each day to deal with them. When I stopped smoking upto about 5 years after giving up I would still have thoughts. Just don't give in you're doing just great

Day 18 , I've just had my counselling session I think it went OK, it's a emotional thing to do because it really makes you think about what you've lost in the past and who you are . It's made me think that I've been gambling so long and it's taken up most of my life that I'm not sure who I am anymore or who I'm at all !! , if that makes sense ? . I'm still taking one day at a time because that seems to work for me so I'm still positive and my counsellor says I doing great and is getting really positive things from me ! It's been a good night all in all just one of those nights that makes you think a lot about what you want from life !! , and I want to live my life g f ! . Been on the chat room for the last 8 minutes so that was nice didn't think I'd have time tonight . so nearly weekend now looking forward to that if the weather stays nice . Hope everyones doing well I'm really grateful for everyone's help , thanks , loz.

Day 19 and still g f yeah !!!!! . Not been a bad day really been really busy at work so that keeps me mind occupied . Still been thinking about my counselling session it's was good and it helps but it does take me back to places I don't want to go in my mind but I suppose that's part of my recovery . Had a few family issues as well but dealing with those not letting things get on top of me as I used to , staying positive . I'm going to phone the s e phone line on Saturday because I need to put my blocks in place now because a don't want to slip back into gambling as I've done many times before . Still visiting chatroom daily and that helps , i think I'm slowly learning what I need to do to stay g f but it's still one day at a time and small steps forward . Thanks to everyone who's helping me , means a lot. Loz

It's day 20 of my gambling recovery , so I bit of a milestone for me. It's gone better than I thought , i think without the help of everyone on gamcare and my counsellor I wouldn't be on day 20 . If anyone reads this post then it's all about getting the help that you need , you need to be honest with everyone in you life to really have any chance of recovering , putting blocks in place , counselling , diary's, chatroom it's all helped me and that's the way to beat this addiction you can't do it alone , i think that's why I relapsed so many times before because I didn't get the help I needed !!! . Anyway still taking one day at a time and feeling better as the days roll by . Loz

Just a quick entry , i just been tesco's for some bits and on the way back I purposely walked past the bookies I used to go in !!!! , i just wanted to test myself , it was so tempting I was sweating and my head was everywhere but I just thought of how far I've come I'm on 21 days and I'm not going back to 1 , so a big victory for me today !!! I still know I've got a long way to go but the work I'm putting in seems to be paying off .

Thanks for your post Loz,and we'll done for 3 weeks gf.

We can't won cos we can't stop,I had that engrained on my brain for 8 or so months the last time I quit for good,we've just gota keep remembering that.

It's all a waste of time,money and life.

Hopefully we can help each other through this journey,I know I've so has enough of gambling,I'm tired!

all the best Robby.

Well done on that huge achievement.

Your purse will be empty because of Tesco and not because of the bookies

Here's to your next 7 days xx