Basically, I have been drinking since I was a teenager. My parents drank, although not terribly heavily. They used to make their own as in those days they couldn't afford to buy it. But my drinking peaked when the kids were young and my lovely husband Paul had a very pressurised job in IT and was always working. I used to pour myself a drink to perk me up at bath and bedtime and, once the kids were in bed, I would sit down with another one. Then, when my husband came in from work, I would also join him with a wine. Apart from a slight break with stomach problems and high blood pressure, I have continued to drink idespite knowing that my health might improve if I was to cut down or have some alcohol free days.

I didn't feel that my drinking was a problem as I was only having two or three glasses a night and most of my friends were doing the same. I also I didn't realise how many units were in a glass of wine, especially as we all seem to drink out of much larger glasses than our parents did in years gone by. At weekends my husband and I would probably drink more like a bottle of wine each, as I am a very social person and always the life and soul of the party. My children have never thought my drinking to be a problem. They've only ever seen me drunk once and on that occasion I was so embarrassed that I just put myself to bed. My children are my life and I have never let my moderate drinking affect the way I have bought them up. They are lovely, well balanced kids.

Then I noticed an advert on the ITV homepage asking for normal mums who probably drink a little more than they should, not mums that drank loads. They wanted to do a documentary. Having been on TV before and always felt very confident in front of the camera, I thought I would appIy. I thought it would be an interesting experience, although I had no idea how much I was in fact going to learn! Lots of my friends thought I was mad and were worried that I was exposing myself as a bit of a lush, I was not bothered at all because I knew that, even though I probably drank more than I should, I was not alcohol dependent and I was just like every other mum out there.

What an experience! Armed with a camcorder, the kids filmed me every time I opened the fridge, every time I opened a bottle of wine and every time I topped up my glass. They even filmed me taking out our recycling crate full of two weeks worth of empty bottles! I very slowly became aware that maybe I was drinking a bit too much, probably because every time I had a drink there was this camera staring at me!

I was then asked to go and meet liver specialist Dr Mark Wright - who, incidentally, I have nicknamed "lovely Mark". He discussed my drinking habits, took a blood test to check my liver function and then advised me that it would be extremely beneficial to my health to cut down, especially as I have stomach problems. He was so lovely. He didn't make me feel bad about myself, was very understanding and extremely positive.

The following week my children and I travelled up to London for the results of my blood test and handed back all filming we had done. Mark told me that my liver was fine. I cried. I was so relieved. He then recommended that I gave up alcohol for a month and asked me if I thought I could do it. I assured him that I could and shook hands on it. I haven't touched a drink since.

We came back from London armed with more tapes, and filming resumed. But this time the filming was of me drinking lime cordial! For the first week I struggled to get to sleep and suffered from headaches but I still felt fantastic. It was like that feeling you have when you have just started a diet and, although you haven't lost any weight, you feel you have because you are so positive and are not pumping unhealthy things into you body. 10 days into my detox, I feel great and so proud of myself. I will do the month and then, with the very positive outlook I have managed to adopt, I will ALWAYS stick to my 14 units, not 45-50 units!