Anyone else just feel done with drinking?

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Has anyone else suddenly just felt completely done with drinking? I used to love it. Always a binge drinker at the weekends rather than a couple of glasses a night kind of person but I’m now 32, have a 10 month old son and recently married and I suddenly feel completely done with alcohol altogether.

Not that I’ve been binge drinking in the last few years (more my early 20’s) but even a couple of glasses of wine at the weekend now is affecting how I feel the next day and I just feel like I don’t want to waste anymore time feeling mildly hungover and just want to enjoy my life to the full. Maybe it’s a combination of things but has anyone else felt like this and completely given it up for good?

My social circle all drinks rather heavily and currently believe I’m pregnant (I’m not) rather than accept I just don’t want to drink. We went to a barbecue yesterday afternoon and it felt great to actually be completely sober, have interesting chats and be able to drive home and wake up hangover free. I really want to keep this going but the social pressure to drink is enormous sometimes.

Yeah, I’m the same. Gave up for a few months and felt amazing so kept going. For me the benefits of not drinking far outweigh the enjoyment I’d get from the drink.

I've drank alcohol on/off for years, but would like to just give it up completely now.

It's easy with my friends because there's no pressure there to drink: two of them are tee total, and the others don't drink much. It's a different story with my bboyfriend's friends and family though. His mum drinks wine and always pours me a glass even when I say I don't fancy one. I end up having to sneak off to pour it down the sink most of the time. If we go to the pub with his friends, they will buy rounds and get me alcoholic drinks even when I say I'm not drinking. I've taken to saying I'm on call for work so can't drink, which seems to work.

Just stick with it. The social pressure will ease as it just becomes normal that you don't drink.

Stopped four years ago after some pretty embarrassing behaviour on my part and a subsequent vicious three day hangover. Don’t really miss it. Social pressure eases off the more you say you just don’t fancy drinking (the message sinks in eventually)

I was similar after having DC. Going without for 9 months does help! I always knew I'd have to get up with the kids in the morning hangover or not. So it was just easier not to drink. Then we live somewhere that public transport isn't great so usually one of needs to drive after a night out.

I do still drink and go through phases of enjoying a few drinks in the evenings. But I can't drink to excess anymore and 2 or 3 is my limit these days.

Yep. Pretty much stopped drinking when I had my first child 18 years ago. I have the very occasional cold beer or gin and tonic but easily less than 10 drinks a year. I don't miss it.

The social pressure to drink is outrageous I agree. Some people just won't take no for an answer or think you must be pregnant!

I just thought recently - what is the number of days where I've felt shit because of going out drinking? Loads!

Went on holiday with uni friends recently- just a weekend in Europe and I stuck to just a few drinks a night - stuff like weak beer that I could sip at. It was perfect weekend. No one said anything, no headaches or feeling crappy the next day.

Going to stick with it!

Yep, about a year ago.
Alcohol and perimenopause just do not mix.

I rarely drink alcohol - no one gives a monkey's!

I barely drink anymore as it also makes me feel shite for days.

if you’re out for dinner or at friends / family house, just let them pour you a glass. They won’t notice that you don’t drink it and will just assume it’s been topped up.

It's just not worth it. A hangover with small kids? Not fair on them

I don't want to give it up entirely as I still enjoy a glass or two (not drinking now though as ttc).

But I don't enjoy going past the "pleasantly tipsy" stage. I'm happy to stop after the second or third drink at a stretch. The way I feel the next day is I get plastered just isn't worth it. And I enjoy the evening less if I drink too much. So I get how you feel.

I also find that alcohol impacts me more now (mid-thirties) than in my twenties.

How rubbish to have to lie about being on call for work though! This is exactly the kind of peer pressure I get when I’m not drinking. I think I just need to be more assertive with saying NO.

Yep, I’ve only been properly hungover once since having my son and I was useless all day. I felt horrendously guilty after it that I wasn’t enjoying my time with him and this is partly why I want to give it up completely.

There’s too many other things in the world to be doing other than having a hangover. Also once you’ve been drinking for years there’s absolutely no mystery or fun in it. Anyone who would take issue with someone for not drinking is projecting an insecurity.

I'm kind of the same and have this conversation with myself regularly. I will go ages without a drink and then one night I'll fancy it and end up drinking a bottle of wine. I'm never hungover as such but the tiredness and fuzzy head does me in the next day. I still enjoy that feeling of being tipsy, but I'm just not sure it warrants a full day of feeling shit. I feel like when I'm not drinking I'm much more present and happier.

I am always very tired the next day now, so I never drink the night before work. I limit myself to two glasses on two nights.

Totally get this! My son is 18 months old now, but I was definitely the "party girl" of the family before having him, drank a lot, and very unnecessarily. We were in the very first full lock down when I was pregnant with him, but if it weren't for that people would have known instantly that I was pregnant if I had turned my nose up at a glass of Pinot! My whole pregnancy people were like "can't wait for party girl to come back". After having my son I just absolutely had no desire to drink for months. It made me realise I drank ALOT for the wrong reasons, and I think a lot of what I thought I was spending the whole day in bed for hangover was actually quite severe anxiety and not being able to face the day (of course made worse by the skinful the night before). On the occasion that I did have a couple of glasses after he got to about a year old, I would instantly feel awful, it had no "good" affect on my body at all, felt heavy and like my heart was going to thump out of my chest. Was told recently at a wedding reception by an old "friend" that I'm boring now and they much prefer the old me... took a lot to bite my tongue and not spit back! But totally get where you're coming from with being done with it!

Alcohol makes me feel ill so haven't drank since I was 18, don't miss it and I love the thought of going somewhere and driving home and no hangover

I like an occasional drink, maybe one or two cocktails in the sunshine but very rarely. However my friends don't get that and there is pressure to drink. I usually drive my husband but get lots of comments. Yes I drank a lot 15 years ago and some people would have considered me a lot more fun but I'm really not bothered by it now and actually have a much more fun and interesting life now I'm not a teen on the piss every weekend

YES! I want to give up alcohol but I feel irresistible pressure to drink in social situations. Not from others, but from myself to fit in - it's like it's part of the social contract. And it still feels like an essential part of certain moments in time - Friday night, date with DH, etc. Alcohol does not make me feel good anymore, I can feel how poisonous it is, but am struggling to say no in those situations.

I drank a lot in my late teens and my 20s, gave up when I was pregnant, realised how nice it was to wake up on a Sunday with a clear head and have hardly drunk since.

That was 20 years ago. I very occasionally fancy a glass of wine but if I do it will last me an evening.

One of the good side effects is that not drinking has shown me what things I genuinely enjoy and what I only enjoyed because I was drinking (eg work parties) and I've given up anything I have to drink to enjoy.

This is me too - am hoping over time it will fade out completely, as the groggy feeling next day is what stays in my memory, not the fun tipsy part.

Oh great thread! Our social life has always been very alcohol orientated and I used to love it. Honestly it got a bit out of control to the point where I could drink 2 bottles of wine a night when on hols and be fine. However, I did dry Jan and it was a total game changer. I felt energised. Less grumpy with the kids but still felt social pressure to drink. Anyway i think I have finally found a happy medium. I've pretty much given up wine & just have the occasional g&t which I enjoy rather than getting drunk. I feel so much better, my skin and hair are better and I can get up without being grumpy.
I'm at a wedding next week and I am a bit nervous of the amount of alcohol that there will be. I'm just going to say no until the evening. Usually I'd be drinking all day no problems.
Anyway, yes, giving up/cutting down has been amazing.

Oh yes, the whole “boring if you’re not drinking” thing. Pretty sure most people on this thread have heard something similar! I like to think I’m super fun but hopefully less of a twat without the alcohol 😅