If you have given up alcohol, do you feel better?

[MeltingWax]

I am thinking about giving up alcohol altogether as I find just cutting down too difficult.

Over the last 20 years I have had 2 alcohol-free pregnancies and have done dry January twice but other than that no long periods without booze. I have started to get to the point where I think a proper break would probably be good for me for both mental and physical reasons.

I think am also probably peri menopausal with the associated mild anxiety which accompanies that.

So, I have been 10 days alcohol free now which yes, I know is not much. But I was kind of expecting to be feeling, I don't know, different somehow by now. Maybe am expecting too much. On good weeks previously I would drink the recommended weekly number of units but many many weeks it would be, um, significantly more than that.

So, anyone who has gone permanently alcohol free was there some tipping point when you suddenly felt much better?

I stopped drinking 8 years ago and I love it!
It's the psychological benefit that really makes a difference for me. I hated the thoughts and pressures associated with alcohol. Either regretting drinking too much, or thinking too much about when I was going to open the bottle (wine o'clock). Consciously thinking about which days would be AF. Feeling irritated if I was having to drive on a night out etc. etc.
All that has completely gone.

I don't miss alcohol at all and I was certain I would. I regard myself as an ex drinker just as I am an ex smoker. Life is so much simpler

6 years here :)
The mental anguish, anxiety has lessened considerably... happier

But didn’t really notice for first year or two

Physically, nothing. Still not bounding out of bed full of beans! May have lost a few pounds but am addicted to sugar now so replacing those calories :( !!

I used to suffer with anxiety terribly pre-DD. I've always marvelled at how having a child has somehow helped my anxiety so much, but with hindsight perhaps it may also be related to the fact that I stopped drinking when I got pregnant and have been pretty much tee-total ever since (over 5 years now).
I also love my weekends now. When my siblings complain of a hangover I can't help but think 'I feel fine, surely the alcohol isn't worth the pain the next day?', but obviously I keep that to myself as don't want to be a smug, holier-than-you, old before my time, bore as usual.

I'm not totally alcohol free but largely don't bother anymore. I go months without drinking. I really reduced how much I drabk while I was pregnant with my eldest. It was 5 years ago, so it's hard to kind of tell what benefits I've seen. I didn't magically lose weight or see health benefits overnight. But I was pregnant and also I didn't drink every night beforehand. I would more binge drink socially on the weekends. But I don't get hangovers any more! I am also a miserable drunk and got to the point where I didn't enjoy it.

So do I feel better? I don't know. But it does have it's benefits.

Yes, massively. I sleep better, think more clearly. But I wasn’t a big drinker anyway and I didn’t really like it when I did. I still go to pubs with friends and colleagues, I just have lemonade

No, I don't feel better, but I also didn't drink much (6 units a month maybe). I did 4 months alcohol free then started up again as I missed it and didn't feel any benefit from stopping.

I'm now pregnant so on the teetotal bandwagon again though!

Oh, I forgot to mention how much money I've saved. I have an app that tracks how long I've been AF and it will calculate the savings if you enter in the average daily amount. I've saved thousands of pounds in under 2 years.

It more than pays for my gym memberships (plural).

I haven’t gone t-total, I’ve got down to one glass of wine a week, on a Friday night, and that’s it.
But yes, I feel a lot better.

Sandstorm at 6 units a month I think many people would have regarded you as practically alcohol free to start with

I've not had a drink since Christmas day (got massively drunk and hangover was horrendous!).
I thought I'd feel a lot better/healthier for not drinking. But actually I don't! It's weird. I don't miss drinking, but I can honestly say that I don't feel better for it.

I've not had a drink for 3 years. For a couple of years before that I could only drink spritzers or very weak shandies or I had bad headaches. Since giving up completely I have rarely had a headache and have lost some weight. I don't miss it at all. The only downside is constantly having to justify not drinking to other people who seem to think it's antisocial of me to not have alcohol.

I'm peri menopausal at 46 and gave up on the 19th May (not that I'm counting!) and it's only in the last couple of weeks that I've noticed a difference. Sleeping, weight, not eating crap etc. I didn't really have an off switch so it's all or nothing for me. It's lovely not waking up hungover. I'm so much more productive 😂

I've just finished my first dry month in years. I'm 45 and my drinking history sounds similar to yours melting
So far.... physical stuff - better sleep, less belly fat, brighter skin and eyes, slimmer face. More noticeable is less stressed, less up and down, calmer, just more kind of content. Also, and this has only happened towards the end of this month, more motivated to get on and get shit done - since Sat I have... cleaned car inside and out, cleaned conservatory windows, mowed lawn, tidied smallest DCs wardrobe and got big bag for charity. These are not normal things for me - I normally barely get through the essentials.
So I'm going to carry on and aim for the magic 100 days.
Oh and yes the financial benefits too are pretty significant

Somewhere between 6-8 years here because of pregnancies and extended breastfeeding. I do feel better and I think I will stay off the booze when I stop bf..I think the main thing for me when drinking was the nights I was full of so much sugar I felt disgusting. So these days I drink water most of the time and maybe every other day have a carbonated diluted fruit juice or something. If having a BBQ I might go no alcohol beer or wine (they don't taste too bad tbh). I think though it is easier for me to do this as I don't go out to places socially any more where drinking is the norm and you don't have too many tasty healthy options.

Yes. Best thing I ever did. My mental and physical health are returning to normal.

It's not easy. Even now I could down a bottle of vodka. But baby steps to cutting it out entirely.

It's so worth it. I still drink maybe 3-4 times a year but rarely to a trashed state.

I will say we do have a couple of alcoholic family members and they are really not very well at all. They are fully aware that they are reaping what they sowed and have regretted their decision to keep drinking.

I stopped drinking about 3 years ago because I could no longer cope with the hangovers. Even a small drink would make me extremely ill. It may be age (I was just past the menopause) but I decided it's just not worth it.
It wasn't so much that I instantly felt better, but more that I stopped having whole days ruined.
In the long run I didn't really lose much weight (but maybe I would have put weight on if I hadn't stopped?) but I do feel healthy.
I am glad that I don't drink and I wouldn't go back now.

Went AF from January to April, since then I have one or two about once a month. I thought of giving up entirely but it seemed a bit bleak to rule it out altogether. Oddly, giving myself permission to have the odd one helps me not drink - most of the time I prefer a cup of tea, or ginger beer.

I feel MUCH better mentally; calmer, quieter, saner.That's been the best. Made me realise how much it affected my mood.

Agree with someone up thread; I don't necessarily notice the benefits of not drinking, but after a bit of abstinence, a couple of glasses of red wine especially, can make me feel dreadful in the morning.

I used to drink a bottle of wine most nights so may have been drinking more than you to star with but I stopped drinking (with Alan Carr) on the 1st January. I’ve lost 4 stone and look 10 years younger. You bloody bet I feel better. I feel like a new person!

100% better! I don't even miss it anymore! I feel and look SO much younger!

I've stopped drinking alcohol on many occasions, the longest that I recall was about 9 months when I went travelling (there's only so many times you can wake up in a Sydney hotel room next to an uneaten $40 burger before you realise you can piss your money away in London...) so I quit.

I'm now on day 16 of a Whole30 so no booze, sugar, processed food, grain, yada yada yada and feel fantastic. But I don't consider its because of no booze, rather the lack of processed sugar. I don't eat much sugar generally because I have a horrendous sweet tooth and once I start I can't stop, so cutting it out completely means my moods have been totally level, I've stopped losing my shit at the kids, I've more patience generally, I'm thinking more clearly and I've got mountains of energy.

So I reckon it's 25% stopping the alcohol and the rest from cutting out sugar entirely. There's no magic moment when you feel better than you did when you were drinking though.

If it's working for you, good luck and keep going!

That's great that so many total or nearly total abstainers are reaping the benefits. Gives me incentive to keep going. Thank you everyone

I feel miles better because I have a life. I was a chronic alcoholic who went from functioning to existing, so it really was stop drinking or die. I'd like to be the person who could drink "normally" but accept that I'm powerless when it comes to alcohol, so it's quite simple. I certainly don't miss it, but then it was the master and I was the slave.

I only stopped a couple of days ago, so no difference felt yet. I am only a weekend drinker, and not a heavy one at that, so not expecting to feel a huge difference. However, I did find it difficult last night not to have a glass of wine following a stressful day at work, hospital appointment and school talk, when I really fancied relaxing with a glass of wine.

Looking forward to the weight loss and saving money!