it’s a habit for you, if you’ve been drinking every night, you need to break the habit.
As already mentioned, there are different types of alcoholics, not all of them are constantly pissed.
It’s not just your liver you need to worry about hora, don’t forget your pancreas. You can be very sick with alcoholic pancreatitis (try sedated/ventilated on intensive care needing regular operations to remove bits of dead pancreas). I work in a liver transplant theatre and see LOTS of alcohol related disease, if that isn’t enough to make you drink less/responsibly then you’ve no chance.

DON’T drink in the house.
ONLY drink if you’re planning a night out (and don’t go out every night either!)
DON’T drink on your own.

Remember, alcoholics didn’t become an alcoholic overnight, these things creep up on you, then you need it.

(I was in a similar position, relationship problems, regular drinking. Now I only drink if we go out, and NEVER in the house)

Good idea. This way I’ll actually start enjoying going out to a pub again rather than seeing it as a ‘chore’/something to almost endure.

I see good and bad and me in all of these comments, so probably not good really. But then again gotta live life!

i stopped on 28th dec 08. lost 2 stone now and have had a couple of beers in the past week.
feeling like my old self again.still going to loose more too 🙂

it’s a drug and ur getting high from it. drinking every day is fcuced up…..

Another night free of booze! riding tomorrow- drink tomorrow night, ride Sunday, drink Sunday evening. Sorted 🙂

I never could see the attraction of drinking. Getting pissed, doing stupid stuff vomiting.
Thank you very much but no thank you

Your French Juan. The English tend to do everything totally; War, exploring and conquering other nations.
…I now sound like Al Murray (keeping the pub-theme) 🙄

I have seen people getting pissed in France too. Less pissed though as the **** tend to drive back home after.

“I’ve done abit of research and I think I am (possibly) suffering from iron overload ontop of a sluggish liver not being able to store glycogen effectively ready for rides.”

Nope – you are hung over. If you take alcohol out of the equation and you get the same symptoms, then there might be something to look at. However, hanging out of your hoop more often that not is more the problem. Change your routine and alter the bits that were for drinking.

The English tend to do everything totally; War, exploring and conquering other nations.

you missed out “saying really fatuous things” but gave an example…

what puzzles me is that the use of alcohol is widely condoned while other less harmful drugs (to others) are prohibited so counterproductively 🙁

TooTall (I can only apply common sense rather than any personal medical knowledge). If you are drinking all the time and not giving your liver or digestive system a break then surely its common sense to assume its having an impact on your ability to exercise and utilise energy and efficiency of the body 100%? Same if you have a cold and exercise?

There are a lot of people “limiting” themselves or “allowing” themselves a certain amount. Also some advice not to have drink in the house. The implication of all this is that you are not in control of yourself really, either you have to physically remove the alcohol from your house or you are placing a lower limit than you naturally would prefer.

This attitude places more strain than necessary on other people for what is your problem. I am an alcoholic but my wife isn’t. We have the odd crate of wine delivered as my wife is in a wine club and therefore we have plenty of alcohol in the house. I have no problem with this as I don’t drink. I don’t want my alcoholism to have any more impact on my wife or friends by imposing my addiction on them.

Ultimately, you need to be in control. Either give up or be comfortable with a lower amount without feeling you have missed out. I no longer feel I miss out by not having wine with a meal and I am happy to be at the table with others drinking (sometimes to excess).

you missed out “saying really fatuous things” but gave an example…

SFB, your day is surely done 🙂

ah socially accepted DRUG’s – dont you just love them!

a short but sweet crack habit should get you off & over the boozing

Good luck!

I no longer feel I miss out by not having wine with a meal and I am happy to be at the table with others drinking (sometimes to excess).

great attitude Count! I feel much the same though I’m not alcoholic. I prefer to get my enjoyment from activity and socialising rather than recreational drugs.

i just prefer to get off my tits and piss off the locals, but maybe thats just me 🙂

no drink in the house
set yourself a goal (like do a 100 miler) so you have to train for it
get yourself some nightlights so you can ride at night instead of going to the pub
If you do go out and drink, cut back, and put that extra money in a glass jar (so you can see it)
when you enough money, treat yourself to a new wheelset or something nice then you can see how much money your saving by reducing.

End of the day, you’ll be fitter and have a nice new set of wheels for that 100 miler race 😮

juan – Member
I never could see the attraction of drinking. Getting pissed, doing stupid stuff vomiting.
Thank you very much but no thank you

I never understand this attitude. Maybe some people drink because they like the taste of it, the fact that it’s alcoholic can be a side issue? It’s like that for me, I don’t really like the feeling of being pissed (well, not very often anyway) 😉

I drink a glass or two of wine most nights, although I am trying to have 2 or 3 dry nights a week. I’ve also gone back to buying good bottles of beer and cider, and limiting myself to just one bottle a night through the week (admittedly, M&S’s organic cider is about 7%)…

I find it dead easy not to drink if I’m having boring food (jacket potato with something or other), but if I’ve cooked something interesting, which is most nights, I like a glass of wine or cider to go with it.

I could give it up, but I don’t want to. I do like to keep my units to under 15 a week though – no science, it just feels right…

It must be partly a taste thing. I quite enjoy the odd 0.0% lager, the ability to make a decent alcohol-free lager seems to have improved and they are now free rather than just very low so OK for me (I won’t even have cough mixture which can be like 5%, or a sauce at a restaurant with wine).

I have really forgotten what lager tastes like now but the alcohol-free stuff is fine for me so might be an idea if you still enjoy the habit but want to lose the units.

what puzzles me is that the use of alcohol is widely condoned while other less harmful drugs (to others) are prohibited so counterproductively

Perhaps because alcohol has been used/abused for 1000s of years? Most other drugs have a very recent history compared to beer for instance.

There was a suggestion in a book I read recently that agriculture was taken up by hunter/gatherers because they could make alcohol, rather than because of the food aspect. To a point it makes sense to me – a loaf of bread or a few pints of beer with your haunch of venison? (Or both, with a nice cheese course afterwards……..)

The Jar idea is a brilliant idea. I reckon Ive saved c.£5, £8, £10, £6 so far this week = £29 x 4 x 52 = Over a grand for a new frame EVERY year.

Right, buying a big jar this weekend from one of those bargain home shops.

The Jar idea is a brilliant idea. I reckon Ive saved c.£5, £8, £10, £6 so far this week = £29 x 4 x 52 = Over a grand for a new frame EVERY year.

I think the booze has impacted your maths skills 😆

Hora try using Kudzu from health food shops. Worked for me

whiskey and heroin followed by seven hours of lairy downhill is the future! 😆

Hora I really don’t think you should worry about having a glass or two of an evening- everything in moderation. OK maybe if you’re combining that with a session at the weekend then cutting back might be wise starting with not getting blitzed at the weekend which probably does more damage.

Well done Hora. I think i’m going have a big jar too. Been ten years since a new bike so what better way to justify it. I too have been booze free, maybe some over weekend then back to week nights off and been running twice in last two days. My legs feel like they’re hit with sticks, but boy it feels good 🙂

Just to mention that if you are a daily heavy drinker that it can be quite dangerous to stop drinking suddenly. Alcohol withdrawal symptoms range from the unpleasant; feeling rubbish, sweats, mild tremour all the way upto err seizures/dying.
If you do experience withdrawal symptoms then it’s sensible to cut back quantities/strength before stopping alltogether or if you have a history of unpleasant withdrawals arranging a detox through GP.