Giving Up The Booze

@mert – a few to me is 3. a couple is 2. So my general ‘casual’ drinking would be 2 or 3 on a friday evening, same saturday, and probably same sunday. Again, not a massive amount, but i suspect on the limit of the NHS recommendation.

And i am fine with this amount, its as soon as i go past this it tends to escalate into many more (which is a handful of times a year), then i get loose lips, and generally dont hold back during a conversation. This is the part i really dislike and want to eliminate from my life. As its not pleasant for those around me.

pour them, shows yourself you have taken control. Or if they are nice once use them to cook something nice, pork & apple dish of some sort

as @grantyboy says use them for cooking or get rid!

Put temptation in the way will probably only end in one outcome!!

“4 Ciders in the fridge”

This is the same situation we all get, just before NYE, when the house is full of whisky, coke(?!) and chocolate. My advice would be to “commence the purge” 🙂

Take 3 of then out of the fridge. You’re not going to drink warm cider.

Setting a limit when going out to the pub doesn’t usually work for me.

I can limit myself to *a number* of beers, but that’s not easy. The problem I have is drinking with pals who like strong beers, so 3 beers can be 3×7% 440ml cans, whereas my ideal is 3x 4% session 330ml cans. In terms of alcohol that’s, what, over twice as much? The former leaves me feeling drunk (which I don’t so much like these days) and terrible for a day or two, the second is perfectly enjoyable with minimal after effects.

So…. has anyone given up booze or changed their drinking habits. May i ask the inspiration why and how did you or are you finding it?[/]

I have drunk since I was 13/14 years old, now just over 50, and drunk heavily for most of that. I always was a happy drunk but simply didn’t have a stop button so would just keep drinking until everyone went to bed/the place closed and then go to bed myself. Last August I got told I had basically broken my liver so had to stop drinking. I haven’t had a drink since September 1st 2021.

Good stuff
Still alive
Lost 4 stone in weight so feel a bit healthier

Bad Stuff
Miss the taste of proper beer and wine – AF is okay, in the same way a basic Halfords budget bike is okay compared to a high end ‘proper’ bike.
I am awake for 17-19 hours a day which makes the bloody days drag on for ever. The medics reckon it is because my body had grown accustomed to coping with a few of bottles wine a night so now it doesn’t need to process that lot, I get by happily on 5-6 hours sleep a night.

Unexpected Stuff
Booze doesn’t make the evenings better, they can be great or shit all on their own. Those great nights getting pissed with your mates and doing crazy shit can still happen when you are stone cold sober.
You have a lot more time to think because you are capable of reasoned thought for more of the day. This can be good or bad depending on how you are feeling.
My liver disease was completely asymptomatic so I was totally unaware of it and there were no symptoms. My recovery is really dull because there is nothing to watch as there are still no symptoms to improve.

Just found this which was written after ‘more time to think’ when it wasn’t necessarily a good thing.

Sobriety
I haven’t drunk alcohol since August and sober ain’t all that great
Days go on for eternity with no respite.
How the hell to fill the endless hours?
People that were just slightly irritating, bearable only through the soft focus filter of drink
Now in sharp focus they are not, but I am still not allowed to kill.
People speak openly on how different I look but get stressed when I comment on them
Them, You’re slim and your jeans don’t fit
Me, You’re grey and your face has new lines.
If they didn’t want to discuss their appearance then they shouldn’t have started on mine.
People keep telling me that I must feel better.
Why? I don’t, I just feel sober. Again.
I miss wild, reckless nights with the slow hazy mornings that follow
Where things gradually come back into focus and you wonder what Amazon will deliver.
The curtain is lifting in my mind and I see why the sober are sad

I don’t drink in the week, but come the weekend I’ll drink a lot of beer, well over weekly limits over Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Oftern accompanied by a big bag of crisps.

I ahve done dry January’s before and more, but after the 6 to 8 weeks of feeling great and richer, I then slip in to old habits as social occasions crop up.

It doesn’t stop me doing anyhting on the weekends, but I’m getting a bit long in the tooth of feeling ill in the monring, and being tired as I only get 6 hours of poor quality sleep. Its to the point that on a Sunday at 10pm I know I’ve had plenty, and am going to bed in 20 minutes but will squeeze one more in.

This behaviour isn’t limited to home, its similar if I go out. I like the taste of beer, and there must be a psycho-sematic thing because I like the way that chugging a beetr makes me feel, its almost an instant hit, even though it takes a while for alcohol to have an affect IIRC.

I struggle to limit myslef to ‘Just 4’, as I’ll often buy more in advance or I’ll root out the G&T or other spirits. I’d rather not buy the beer in the first place than only limiting myself to 4. I’ll buy say 8 cans safe in the knowledge there’s plenty for the night, then if there’s a couple left over I’ll top up the supply.

I like a beer as I feel ‘I deserve it’ or in part of my mind if I can’t have utopia, I can have a nice beer in the comfort of my family home with all my comfortable surroundings.

I’ve tried AF stuff but more often than not it gives me a bad tummy, and after the 3rd can or so I’m distinctly aware of the lack of alcohol so see it as a pointless waste of money.

So in conclusion I’m a binge drinker, and you’d probably say its a drinking problem of a peculiar nature, a bit like a weekend functioning alcoholic, however I never start until after tea, or lunchtime if its a special occasion.

I’ll try to practice the moderation thing, but for me its closer to all or nothing, and wonder whether I need to quit all together, or introduce more periods of abstinence.

@v7fmp luck wished for 🙂

I think being aware of it is important, took me ages to realise what a douche I was being when drunk!

Well that’s the cider gone. Tipped down the drain. Oddly I found it harder to do than I thought, which makes me think is my relationship with alcohol stronger than I realised?

My intentions are to be alcohol free, so let’s see how this goes.

Again, thanks for all the stories, input and wise words. When we aren’t arguing about politics, ebikes or speeding fines, the friendly and helpful nature of this forum really shines through.

Feel free to PM me if you want to chat about it or just divert your attention. Not going to be available all the time but should respond within 24 hours.

It was mostly the habit I found hardest and switching to AF beer sort of helped as I still had a ‘beer’ in my hand when I felt I should have. Let your mates know and hopefully they will also help, after the initial piss take.

Hiding sobriety is almost as destructive as hiding drinking

I went through a stage of complete abstinence. I slept loads better and felt a bit more zing.

I’ve stopped drinking during the week (in the main). What it has helped me with is breaking a habit. However, alcohol does have a strange way of creeping back in. I do like a beer but even two causes me to feel foggy the next day.

Good luck to you. I found fizzy sugar free drinks really good for the replacement.

When you don’t drink alcohol, you realise how deeply ingrained it is in our society. You are treated as unusual and with suspicion for not wanting a drink.
People are more accepting of it, if I tell them I’m a recovering alcoholic, than if I tell them it just makes me feel ill…

When you don’t drink alcohol, you realise how deeply ingrained it is in our society. You are treated as unusual and with suspicion for not wanting a drink.

Whilst this is true, I think you could also say the same about tea and coffee. Whilst there is a clear culture of abusing alcohol in the uk, the drinking of alcoholic drinks in group situations is as much about the shared experience as it is a peer pressure to drink alcohol.

Pie face.
Its a dopamime hit associated with drinking alcohol. Its why alcoholics should not cold turkey stop. But reduce and gradually wran themselves off alcohol as the drastically reduced dopamime screws you up

Im the same as you, but limit myself to 5pm till 8pm fri and or Saturday evening

Starting to wish i could not have any as i miss what i could do on a bike 3 years ago when i was actually ok, ad to being mediocre now
A month or 2 of no alcohol and some hard rides would bring a chunk of fitness back, but boy do i enjoy a beer or 4 on a Friday

You are treated as unusual and with suspicion for not wanting a drink.

A (new) chap at work was saying how there’s something wrong with folk that don’t drink, he just can’t trust them. I let him dig a big old hole for a bit before letting him in on my little (not) secret. Apparently he was pretty proud he could ‘easily gets through £40 a week in booze & £100 a month in cigars’. I smiled and nodded, tends to be my standard response now, it’s their problem that I don’t drink, not mine.

Oddly, the only place I’ve struggled to get AF drinks was at a (modern) Michelin starred restaurant. The three drinks they offered were a ludicrously sweet honey based cold tea, a crazy bitter tonic and water.

I think you could also say the same about tea and coffee.

Lolz, don’t drink that either…

Funny thing is, a lot of my mates HAVE seen me drunk. And when i say “not tonight, i don’t feel like it” they (possibly) breathe a joint inward sigh of relief…

And ask if they can have a lift home.

I’ve cut down a lot recently as was never getting drunk but just having at least one beer almost every day. Still get a craving for something to sip in an evening though but reckon I can get rid of that with something else

Any good replacements to throw in my morissons order that isn’t AF beer? Something fizzy but not crazy sweet. Might try some ginger beer but that’s quite sugary.

Maybe sounds weird but I think to satisfy my craving it also needs to be in a sma can rather than a glass as that’s how my beer is

Apparently dark chocolate gives a similar ‘hit’ to alcohol according to the woman I saw at the liver clinic. When I said I didn’t like sweet stuff and rarely ate chocolate she just smiled and said “You will”.

I think I have eaten more Magnum ice-creams this ear than in my whole previous life.

For the record, I went cold turkey and had no cravings, shakes or any symptoms other than boredom. Hep Lab woman was surprised and pleased saying the last set of blood results showed an almost unbelievable improvement which was nice.

some great thoughts in here. As with many others, working from home and lockdown saw weekend evening drinks here stretching into weekday ones too. Moderation rather than abstinence works for me, though I do have a rule of nothing on ‘school nights’ and then try and have no more that 2 (sometimes home measure GnT’s mind you !) on a weekend night.

Made easier for me in that my wife doesn’t drink at all, never has, and I’m not a pub goer.

@WorldClassAccident – cheers for the offer, i will keep you in mind if the going gets tough!

Oddly felt slightly liberated when i woke up this morning, like a weight had been lifted.

As for Dark chocolate… hateful stuff! Maybe i need to have a bar in the house in case of an emergency!

i need to have a bar in the house

… a backward step maybe… 🙂

hahaha… fair point! 😀

@mert – a few to me is 3. a couple is 2. So my general ‘casual’ drinking would be 2 or 3 on a friday evening, same saturday, and probably same sunday. Again, not a massive amount, but i suspect on the limit of the NHS recommendation.

I have a glass of wine most nights with my supper, (only rarely do I drink more than one) and like you I now find that’s on are slightly over the NHS guidelines. I basically restrict what I buy and once it’s gone, it’s gone.

Something fizzy but not crazy sweet

i tend to buy packs of 500ml sparking water bottles and have one available in front of the telly. You can then add a different flavour du jour as you see fit, this works for me.