The Rehab Diary – Cold Turkey on Boxing Day – Day 5

Tuesday 26th December 2023

I have given today it’s own dedicated post, just for the ‘Cold Turkey on Boxing Day’ quote ha-ha. On the train from Exeter to Watford as we were nearing London I got up to get my suitcase from the storage area, I was stood next to a guy who saw me grabbing my suitcase, he asked if I was going anywhere nice, I told him I was off to rehab. He was with a group of friends, they were all asking about it and then out of nowhere the first guy said ‘Cold Turkey on Boxing day then’. We all laughed 😂

I woke on Boxing Day still feeling sluggish, took a good while to get going. I felt good today though (despite binge eating in the early hours of the morning, common side effect of taking Diazepam, or must drugs!).

In the morning we had a group session on relapse prevention – it was something I’d never tried before or believed would work, it came in two parts (and you could relate this to any ‘problem’, not just addiction). First, some relaxing music was put on (like you get in a spa) and we were asked to close our eyes, get comfortable and then try to visualise ourselves in a cage, the idea was to spend a few minutes thinking, how would I escape this cage, what would I need to do to get out of it. Not literally, obviously, the cage was more of a metaphor of the issue/problem you were having at the time. I would recommend it to anyone to try, it worked for some in the group but not everyone.

The second part of the session was a task used by therapists and was a writing technique: you have to get a pen and some paper and again, with relaxing music on, start writing with a prompt, and not stop writing for 10 minutes, no stopping, even for a second – eventually you begin to subconsciously think of new thoughts and worries. Our prompt was “I will be better when”. Another great technique for getting something off your mind.

A common theme of the day was ‘having patience’.

Finally, the last part of the day was an external AA meeting, I was not overly keen on going. I had been going to NA for weeks before rehab, and I love NA, I like the structure of it and to be honest I never considered myself an ‘alcoholic’, although I am. We went to AA, and it was an eye opener, just at how busy it was. I did enjoy the experience and I could relate to some of the things people shared.

Detox Medication: Diazepam 24 mg, Thiamine, Vitamin B Complex, Pabrinex.