Alcohol was easy to give up after getting cluster headaches
I love drinking! It’s always a good time 🍺
6 months! Only had one drink the entire time.
Congratulations for the sucessful 3 week abstinence. Lot of people struggle for even 3 days. Having said that, once you start drinking and smoking, you cannot 100% abstain from it, will go back to it, maybe in a week or month or year. Unfortunately it's always too early to celebrate in this case.
When I was diagnosed with bladder cancer 10 years ago, I quit drinking. I do keep a few things in the cabinet in case I have a visitor, but that's it. I lost about 30 lbs, maybe close to 40. I feel much better physically and actually mentally. I was fortunate with the bladder cancer as it was very small. Ten years later I still have to go in for an annual exam just to be on the safe side. (NO FUN). Anyway, I feel like my life has gotten better and I admire anyone who gives it up.
Going cold turkey isn't as delicious as it sounds, but quitting drinking has been a life changer for me.
By the time I graduated high school I was completely sober, having abused for years and quit many drugs and substances. I may have not had a drink in decades, but I still remember how much I loved it and how hard it was to quit. Hats off to anybody who chooses to stop or cut back for health or personal reasons. It's not easy, but it's an accomplishment to be proud of
“Now don't say you can't swear off drinking; it's easy. I've done it a thousand times.”
W.C. Fields
I stopped drinking because my parole officer said so.
I’m currently trying to quit. I’m nearly 2 months in but it’s so difficult especially in the industry I work in. I’m going cold turkey and doing my best but it’s really really difficult ATM
Just made 6 years in January,everything got so much better
Excellent job on your six months, @disneysamurai! 💪🏼✨️ I'm proud of you for seeing there was a need to start.
I would gently encourage anyone who drinks daily but doesn't feel it constitutes an issue to check out the numbers online, such as in this article...
https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/heavy-drinkers-arent-necessarily-alcoholics-may-almost-alcoholics-201411217539
Like @Bear, I definitely believe I am a food addict. Everyone's bodies and brains are different, and certain things trigger us in different ways. Good luck to everyone out there, with whatever your struggles may be!
@ManOutdoors posted: "Do people have to have alcohol to get together and have a good time? I like many aspects of bars, that you can just show up and don't need to make plans with friends and meet at someone's house. It would be great to have these same benefits without the alcohol, but I don't know if there is the demand for it."
Coffee shops, lounges, apartment clubhouses, mall lounges, parks, etc. are some alternatives that are not in someone's home, and don't require a reservation or even spending a dime.
My boyfriend doesn't drink at all, and he enjoys hanging out and having an Arnold Palmer, boba, a Thai tea, hot chocolate, or a mocktail, wherever his friends may be hanging out. Bars aren't our scene, but if his friends want to shoot pool with him, we'll go and he just grabs a non-alcoholic beverage while they drink beer. It doesn't need to be alcohol in the glass. 🧋
@Erin_Elle_ posted: "drinking had kind of become my go-to activity. Once I swapped it out with other ways of connecting and having fun, it got so much easier. Things like authentic relating games and martial arts gave me a social outlet without the hangovers."
Those kinds of games are so fun! I have like four of the card sets from different companies. My boyfriend and I had a game night recently with our property manager and his girlfriend, and we snacked and asked each other questions from a card set for hours, it was lovely. 🫠
~ Sunset Snuggles
🫂 Enthusiast 🏞 Travel Junkie 📷 Shutter Bug
@Tysond What industry do you work in? The beverage industry? Really curious. I have to take people out for drinks almost nightly for work and I just tell them I can’t drink for health reasons. I can’t imagine being in an environment where you are surrounded by the very addiction you are trying to escape.
I have never been much of a drinker. And when I do drink it is confined to 1 or 2 very specific drinks that either have gin or vodka in them.
But I can’t work in the reggae industry because well ganja mon. So that would be my issue.
@TheFunCartel in the automotive industry. As a mechanic. In Australia it’s really part of our culture
@Tysond It kind of is here in the US as well. Mechanics love to talk shop and play around with cars over several brewskis. An old friend of mine in Virginia who races on dirt and asphalt tracks from Florida to Virginia would drink six packs as a warm up for the evening. He drank in the morning when he woke up! He couldn’t for the life of him figure out why I didn’t drink…especially on the weekends.
But he couldn’t hold his weed.
Sober 11 years and here's how: I asked myself "Have I ever made a good decision while drunk?" and the answer was fairly obvious.
I've definitely cut back my drinking to perhaps 1 happy hour a month or bimonthly. I'm not much of a solo drinker so I've given away most of my alcohol collection from home. I do like keeping some options around.
I started drinking later in life at the age of 36 after leaving a high-end religious cult that I was born into. I've never had an out of control habit with it. When I started, I told my friends to teach me how to enjoy it without getting drunk or having hangovers. ..a healthy buzz is okay.
@SunsetSnuggles I'm a food addict too. I have lost 100 pounds four times. It's only in the last year that I realized why I keep gaining it back.
Like the psychotic who takes the meds and is relieved of the symptoms, and stops the medication because they're 'not sick anymore', I lose weight and act like 'now I can eat whatever I want.' One cookie becomes a box, a bowl of ice cream a carton, and it starts all over again.
I think armed with this insight, I can probably beat it this time.
@LynnP88 So glad you recognized a pattern! Knowledge is power.
I used to think it was so silly when really thin people were like, "I gained ten pounds, I need to do something!"...because I was like pshh, ten pounds is nothing! But eventually I realized they're in good shape because they take notice of those small weight changes. There's a line between obsessing and being mindful, and I wish I had learned about it decades earlier.
Best of luck on your health journey!
I think cuddlers in general have a better foothold for getting out of drinking if it's problematic, even if we feel awkward in early sobriety. Probably, as other posts have mentioned paticipating in activities helping to create a sense of social support. I'm three or more by now, might be closer to five.
Today marks 600 days sober for me 💯
That's something to celebrate, @Morpheus! I'm on my recovery journey as well!
Congrats to @Morpheus and @JoyfulHeart and all others who have fought and are fighting that battle.
After I was diagnosed with heart failure last August I made a vow to quit drinking alcohol for a year and so far I haven't!
@Greg45
Similar for me, after I was diagnosed with cancer, I haven’t had a single drink.
Congrats to all of you that 'gave it up'.... With a little time, you'll feel so much better, and more clear headed....
As an old guy that has been through it, gotten DUIs, been to a ton of AA meetings, and likes to stay in decent shape, I'd say the #1 conclusion is just that the cons FAR outweigh the pros, for lots of reasons you can figuere out for yourself. But ya, pear pressure is a thing, but I found it was lot lot harder at first and then it gets easier. And it's cool to just say no, I'm not going to micro-poisen myself today. Good luck to everyone who decides they would rather lead a healthier life.
I love wine, but only South African wine. I tried different ones in my life time but SA wines always get me.
The older I get, the more clearly I can see that any potential benefits of drinking are far outweighed by negative aspects. There's no point to spending so much time and money on an addictive habit that will give you all sorts of bad health issues. Plus, it's just weird to be the much older person in a bar or club lol
Drinking was the easiest one, but I wasn't an alcoholic for that long. About two years. I'm still kicking benzos, 8 years now. Not easy. Wish you all the best!