the lows are too low

Posted by: holycrosser

have You put the blocks in place so you can’t gamble online?

I have monzo which allows no betting transactions to go through

although I don't really believe in blocks as I feel if I cant beat this on my own will power then how will I ever be able to fully trust myself ?

I am plodding along slowly my biggest test will come when the football season resumes I used to see accumulators as the spice of life

more realistic than the lottery and more chance of coming in however I will need to remind myself that accumulators are the top of a slippery slope

Posted by: Lordlucan

Hi buzz 

your entry’s are extremely positive you are definitely heading in the right direction.

Those temptations never seem to pass. Definitely they become less and less overtime it’s just finding the right things to stop those triggers from going back into a ridiculous dark situation 

the business idea could be a great thing for you. 

Going down that route myself has definitely kept me away from consistently  gambling everyday and has helped me starve the regular urges that I once had.  It will give you new purposes help with your mind keeping it active and positive.

It will also give better value for the money you earn out of it regardless the amount you make. 

I personally just need to add to things and start getting smarter when things are not going great and build on the road to recovery which we will achieve one day, however for me this addiction will always be lurking in the background 

keep up the good work it’s great to read your success 

 

 

 

 

 

 

thanks for the input lordlucan

can I ask what it is you do exactly ?

at 54 days i am slowly regaining the value for money although nowhere near what a normal person is like

i have had an expensive summer so far and have been taking the attiude that if i am not gambling i can have whatever i want which to be honest isn't the best attitude to have so more work to be done on my relationship with money

i am far calmer in myself and don't seem to be having many anxiety attacks or severe mood swings any longer

good luck on your own recovery

day 57 

Monday and i am tired in work the humidity in the air at the moment is playing havoc with my sleep 

dont think i got 4 hours sleep last night 

i had to laugh Friday i had an email from a well known firm whos initials are WH 

it was titled " have you forgotten about our live casino" 

i thought to myself yes i have forgotten about it and i dont really want to be reminded of it  

operators act so innocent they must be fully aware they are facilitating so many peoples demise 

anyway im not really having any urges for live casinos they are too dangerous i  highly doubt i will ever get involved with them again 

i did buy a scratch card in the shop on saturday it didnt really trigger anything though 

i have a big test this weekend i am off on a lads weekend away with a bloke who has got a serious issues with gambling 

he loves punting whether he is winning or losing it doenst matter 

although he has recently started arbing so not doubt i will be asked to place some bets in the shop for him 

i dont mind this as its not my money but i will be putting my foot down if he suggests any form of casino

day 65 - i was resolute over the weekend and to be fair to my mate he barely mentioned gambling 

the new football season starts this weekend and i am unsure as to how exactly im going to be able to not have a couple of accumulators or ante posts on 

we'll see 

well i made around 3 months without a bet of any description  and theres no denying it did benefit my mental health massively 

but with all the excitement of the new football season resuming on the weekend and all manner of offers and advertisements i could no longer resist the temptation and did a couple of accumulators nothing earth stopping 

by Sunday this did lead to urges to return to online gambling too but i managed to resist those urges as i know how dangerous it is 

i am slightly disappointed in myself but short of selling my tv , laptop, iPad and phone i cant see how i will be able to escape the constant temptation of football betting 

food for thought i guess

Hello mate - sorry about your relapse, but well done for stopping before it got worse. I also feel like the only way I'll stop is by selling my electronics. But we can't live like this. The little bet we do on the weekend just isn't worth the hit on our mental health. Use GamStop my friend, make the move over to Monzo. Ban yourself from bookies. Good luck.

just set my counter back to zero 

this weekend has brought back some bad memories and I've been stung for about 250 quid mainly through my own arrogance 

it was lucky i managed to do a bit of business this morning which has almost covered the financial loss but that aside 

my girlfriend has probably had around 3 hours of my attention in 2 days  the rest being spent watching football or being glued to electronic devices which isn't fair on her in the slightest 

my back is aching from tension and stress 

my mind is exhausted trying to second guess what a deck of cards is going to do next or what 24 football players are going to do next

concentration is zero 

focus on life is zero 

in the past i would have just laughed this episode off and put it down to a weekend of "bad luck" ......but experience has taught me it isn't "bad luck" its literally just the day to day life of the gambler 

nothing else matters other than that next bet or chasing losses 

life was far more straight forward when i wasn't gambling and once again clarity needs to be restored 

will check back in on Monday getting through tomorrow without a bet will be my first challenge 

Dear @givemethebuzz ,

Well done for sharing your story today. It looks like you are struggling with things at the moment and that maybe your health is suffering. Maybe make an appointment to see your GP to talk about the tension, stress and back ache.

Try not to give your self a hard time over this blip. You stated you have set the clock back to zero - at least you have reset it which means you are ready to go again. Clarity will be restored with continued support and determination, you will be back on the right road.

Maybe set the whole day aside tomorrow to dedicate to quality time with your partner. Please come back on Monday and tell us how you are getting on. You know you can always contact us on the helpline if you just need to talk.

all the very best

Forum Admin

still struggling managed to resist most of the week then decided to try my luck earlier this evening online 

a shed load of  cards later and i am down another 150 it was a very arduous process and despite the odd adrenaline pump i didn't really get any enjoyment from it

i then proceeded to email customer services and ask them to close the account down

it had been a long time coming

tomorrow i will look at the bet blocker software and look to install that on some of my devices 

Day 4-

i didn't think much about gambling much after my little blow out on friday 

was pretty annoyed at myself on saturday but i told my girlfriend and we got back to thinking about how awkward and boring gambling can be 

i have been kept pretty busy over the weekend and that defenitley helps to keep the mind off gambling 

and also i forgot to mention some good news that i won my parking dispute in the county court 

Day 4-

i didn't think much about gambling much after my little blow out on friday 

was pretty annoyed at myself on saturday but i told my girlfriend and we got back to thinking about how awkward and boring gambling can be 

i have been kept pretty busy over the weekend and that defenitley helps to keep the mind off gambling 

and also i forgot to mention some good news that i won my parking dispute in the county court 

Day 4-

i didn't think much about gambling much after my little blow out on friday 

was pretty annoyed at myself on saturday but i told my girlfriend and we got back to thinking about how awkward and boring gambling can be 

i have been kept pretty busy over the weekend and that defenitley helps to keep the mind off gambling 

and also i forgot to mention some good news that i won my parking dispute in the county court 

Hi Givemethebuzz,

Sorry you have relapsed but it sounds like it wasn’t a catastrophic relapse & the only solution is to start again.

please consider putting all the self exclusions and blocks in place. Gamstop is a no brainer & sign up for 5 years.

It is not a sign of weakness, it just helps immensely on occasions, when temptation comes your way. 

Putting footie accas on or putting bets on for your mate is simply a recipe for disaster. You are enabling him & risking you own recovery.

HI K2

no not a catastrophic relapse although I have learnt  the hard way over the years so ensure I limit the amount of money I have available to me when I feel a binge is brewing

still I estimate the last 2 weeks have probably cost me somewhere in the region of 500 quid and that is a week abroad for most normal people

my relationship with gambling this year definitely feels different to previous years .....I do feel tired of it and actually stopping does seem to be easier because I find myself gettiing bored with it very quickly especially when I repeatedly lose

there are many theories about various forms of gambling being rigged against the punter and although I've never really bought into them some of the results or outcomes I see are incredibly suspicious

it is a world better off left alone

Day 6

still no really pressing urges to gamble, my friends in a whatsapp group chat were talking about betting the EFL cup last night

the games didn't appeal to me and a few of them lost a good few quid which made me grateful I hadn't done any myself

I then had a dream about blackjack last night , or possibly it was a nightmare ?

anyway as I said not really interested in any of it at the moment so happy to plod along