Episode Details

Tribe Sober - inspiring an alcohol-free life!

My guest this week is one of those people who are passionate about helping those in recovery.

Dr Dawn Bantel, a naturopathic doctor with many years of experience in the recovery space.

In this Episode

• Dawn agrees that to be really healthy we shouldn’t drink at all but just recently she was surprised to learn that even a few glasses of wine a week will raise a woman’s risk of breast cancer
• We talked about alcohol and anxiety and how it was a real issue – it may calm the brain at first but then it will just increase anxiety
• When Dawn did a short video on TikTok about alcohol and anxiety it got half a million views!
• Dawn pointed out that people who develop addictions tend to be “all or nothing” kind of people – so true!
• She takes advantage of this tendency with her clients as she finds that they put their all into getting healthy – just as they did with their substance abuse(!) so once they are on the right track there is no stopping them!
• She believes that recovery gives people a second chance at life – and I certainly can relate to that!
• I asked her for some guidelines about healing after years of alcohol abuse
• SLEEP/DIET AND EXERCISE are of course the pillars of recovery and Dr Dawn feels particularly strongly about the value of sleep
• Poor sleep will put us at risk of relapse so she urges people in recovery to find something that will help them to sleep – obviously she favours natural remedies (green tea, amino acids) but if that’s not working for you then use meds for a short time at the beginning
• We discussed the value of community in recovery and how there is great relief in meeting others on the same path – we are not alone, or broken.. and those of us further along can reassure people of the various stages because we’ve been there – and got through to the other side
• Dawn has found that many people with alcohol dependency are high flyers – very successful people who feel that they that they’ve achieved so much that they should be able to fix their addiction - but of course it’s extremely hard to go it alone and we all need to remember that “connection is the opposite of addiction”
• We talked about PAWS – Post acute withdrawal symptoms – anxiety, depression, lack of joy, low energy seem to be the main ones – it takes time for the body to adapt to sobriety – time to heal
• Dawn mentioned that a guideline was a month in recovery for every year of drinking
• The value of such a guideline is that it helps people to understand they need to be patient (we get people on our groups who say “I’ve been alcohol free for 3 weeks and I don’t feel great”..)
• So if you are on this journey you will need to be patient but on the bright side there will be some “quick wins” – no more hangovers, better skin, no more 3am wake ups filled with anxiety.. so just hang in there
• We talked about the importance of gut health and the fact that alcohol damages the micro biome and causes leaky cut.
• In Dr Dawns practice she takes people on an integrative recovery journey – starting with extensive testing and then setting goals for healing the brain and the body
• She also has a course to educate people in recovery which can be purchased from her website which is integrativerecoverymedicine.com
• Dr Dawn also has a great IG feed –handle is Dr Dawn Bantel – she has some really great practical tips and videos on there so make sure you follow her
• Here at Tribe Sober we start our annual 66 day challenge on 27 September - Sober Spring here in South Africa but can be a Sober Autumn as well!
• Membership also allows you to find your people as we welcome you into our supportive communit