DRY JANUARY 2025! Join us for a healthier start to the year! All welcome 🥤☕️🧋

[HPLikecraft]

It’s that time of year again!
If you need a detox, to lose weight, to be healthier, to undo some seasonal overindulgence, to sleep better, to look better, to have healthier skin, to save money, boost liver function, improve your memory, or to decrease your likelihood of dying earlier of various nasty illnesses (sorry for the sudden hard ball!) then you’ve come to the right place!

The MN DJ2025 Chat thread is for anyone who wants to reset their relationship with alcohol; whether you’re a weekend tippler or a problem heavier drinker.
This is a friendly, non-judgmental thread where we support and encourage each other, exchange ideas and information, share alcohol-free drinks recommendations etc.

Hopefully we’ll have some fun along the way. Please hop aboard the good ship DJ 2025, everyone welcome!

Day 9. Deep cleaned the kitchen today. Everything out of drawers and cupboards, cleaned, checked dates, put back. Feeling a bit disappointed I’m having a cup of tea as a reward instead of a glass of wine. Also gave up sweets this week. Not sure that was the best idea…

@Thursa Wow, please come to my kitchen! @Fordian 'Bit of a litany of woe, isn't it?!'
Love this phrase! And perfectly describes my first week and a bit.

However, last night I had my first dead to the world for 6.75 hrs sleep, (it doesn't get much better than that with my dc) and I feel amazing for it! Doubt that feeling will last long after just one night but it's definitely provided a much needed chink of hope after a tough start this year.

I woke up this morning feeling rested, hydrated and healthy. DC woke me in the night but I went almost straight back to sleep - when I drink I’m awake for hours if I’m woken. This feels soooo good compared to waking with a hangover.

Your brain chemistry does adjust after a while and you lose that feeling of being bored in the evening, but it does take a few weeks. Sitting down in the evening for some relaxation with a cup of tea and a book, or a tv programme or just for a scroll or a chat with the people you live with is actually really nice, especially knowing you’ll wake up without a hangover, but your brain is currently wanting its dopamine hit. Hang in there!

Good morning everyone!
Here we are on Day 10, which sounds pretty amazing to me. Well done if you’ve got this far.

Its important to remember that you have done your body a whole fantastic amount of good by now, even if you don’t feel super amazing yet.

Round about Day 10ish: Apart from your liver repairing itself happily in the background there, your sleep will be improving, and crucially your immune system should be stronger (great for this time of year and during a particularly abundant year for flu). If your sleep doesn’t feel better yet, it soon will, but the sleep you’re currently having should still be of better quality than before. You’ll be looking much better than before. Your blood pressure will be going down.
Your concentration should be better too!

And would you believe it, as of 8am, 10 minutes ago, we were exactly…

30%

of the way through DJ2025!

🥳 Im very proud of you 💪💪

Day 10 and feeling great. Sleeping better, more productive and head so much clearer. Weekend now approaching and appreciate will be more temptations but feeling strong. I like waking up like this.

So good to hear lots are feeling a bit better 😊

Day 10 and I feel like complete shite. Think it's covid as my sense of smell has gone. Been sneezing with constant nose running since New Year's day. I keep thinking I have turned a corner and then it flares up again.
At least I don't want to drink!

Late starting this year but Day 5 for me
I have a few days off work so now would be the usual time I would buy wine to " relax"
Not this time....

Friday and I have the ‘shop for the weekend’ later- will look for some nice AF drinks instead of my usual Chardonnay. OH will have his Friday whisky later though and I will most likely have terrible FOMO so I need to brace myself for that. I’m likely to be a bit unpleasant and spiky and I don’t want to take it out on him and start a row!!

I read the article and was a bit hmmmm at the better skin, as I have woken up with a massive zit 🙄 but I do think my eyes are less puffy and I might even be seeing less meno-belly, despite not doing any weights or strong exercise.

One thing I am finding this week and I don’t know if it’s related to being AF or just it’s been a full-on week. I am sleeping really deeply and darkly, and waking with a sense of memory loss- in fact my instinct is to ask myself if I was drunk last night. Has anyone else experienced similar? I could easily sleep longer as well, but I think that’s a winter thing.

Morning everyone,

Mildly irritated this morning, as when discussing weekend plans this morning with a colleague, her response was to call me 'boring' because I'm doing DJ.

It's just indicative of that drink culture!

I was a bit perturbed that you'd had your first good 6.75 hours sleep but posted at FIVE THIRTY A.M.! 😂 I'm on my second of three night-time wees at that time!

Because I accidentally, briefly napped at 6pm yesterday, I knew it was pointless going to bed before I felt tired again, so I came up at 00:30 having read the Traitors thread in its entirety. I slept til 8, with 2 wake ups, one really annoyingly itching like mad (I'm post- menopausal and developed eczema following stress at work 2 years ago- I quit the job), the second for a wee, so I had another crazy-dream filled sleep til 10 as I'm not working today.

An advantage of bank working is, though, the weekends aren't sacrosanct so I can try and avoid that end-of-working-week wine-reward feeling to an extent.

@AlertCat funnily enough, I've been having slight memory blanks, which I'd always associated with having had a few, but I'm stone cold sober!

@HollyGolightly4 yes, drinking culture is deeply entrenched. In the past I think I would have associated not drinking with boring, and I can clearly recall at least one occasion in my early 30s when my then partner (now DH) and I had prepared a lavish dinner party for friends, complete with complementary wines, who turned up announcing they weren't drinking because they had a skin full the previous evening. And if I'm honest, the evening wasn't as fun as it would have been if they'd been drinking. I felt they'd let us down a bit!

Day nine for me

Im finding Im tired in the evening now, Im nodding off after 10. I gave in last night after realising I was drifting in and out of sleep around 11 ish, went to bed, out like a light, and wide awake at 4 am!! However the quality of sleep is better, my body battery is higher then it ever has been. Im hoping sleep does improve as in the time I spend asleep. I became an insomniac when I went into detox all those years back, back then Id go 3 nights without sleep but it got better over the years. Now I usually get some sleep, it used to be about 6, but it started getting shorter again middle of last year. I can function well enough on 5 hours, 4 or less and its a struggle

DH has invited some friends round at the weekend. They definitely enjoy a drink and I’m already dreading how to navigate it. I’m not sure I can get through social situations without a glass of wine - I’m worried that I’m terribly boring when sober and also find it hard to relax around other people (strangers and friends) without a glass of wine in hand. Drinking makes me more confident and outgoing.

Good morning everyone.

I had a drink last night 😳Honestly, I hadn’t craved it at all, I don’t know quite why I had it to be honest.

Can I still post here? Even though I have failed DJ?

I feel like drinking has just cemented my reasons for not wanting to drink. I hadn’t craved a thick head this morning, very tired etc today, all the usual.

Has anyone tried Sentia? I have just ordered some to try. I remember hearing Prof David Nutt talking about it a couple of years ago on a podcast as he was developing it and remember thinking it could be a game changer if it did as they intended - all the good stuff about booze without the major downsides. Only just realized today that it was now available to buy.

Don’t beat yourself up, jump back in the wagon….

I feel for you. I have done the same in the past. But you can still climb back up on the wagon!

Honestly already tempted for this evening 🤔😬

Booze is a huge liar: it tells you you’re far more witty, funny, confident, attractive and sexy when it’s helping you. It lies.
Once you stop being convinced that you need booze to make you good company you’ll relax and enjoy your evenings much more, just by being your true self.

<proffers a helping hand back onto the wagon to @Bookaholic73 >

Of course you’re still very welcome to post here. No one said this was going to be easy!

Well I made it mostly unscathed through the family birthday tea last evening.
There was a carafe at it's place, near me, but I ignored it the entire meal.
It actually wasn't too difficult; hadn't expected that.

However there was a cocktail in a pretty glass, made by the host.
Sparkly sugar rimmed glass, Lemon juice, simple syrup, citric acid, lemon and vanilla fizzy water, drop of yellow food colour, NO alcohol, she said.

During third small glass, I noticed I was feeling a mild effect and sure enough, found out later that the drink also contained "1/2 cup of Vodka" Hmm.....

Slid the glass over to DH, and the wine that was poured for me too.
Temptation is everywhere, better to stay home!

@HeresToLife I would be so annoyed if I was told it contained No Alcohol and then found it did!

You can't mess with things people are consuming, regardless of the reason.
Would the host be that blasé with someone in recovery?

Did you ask them about it once you realised there was alcohol?

Not a half a cup of Vodka per glass, LOL, it was per pitcher, but still, I could feel it and was none too pleased.
In fairness I hadn't mentioned I was doing DJ, so no malice by host was intended!

@Bookaholic73 I'd say people who've had the odd DJ relapse are particularly welcome here as we can all learn from the triggers, being deep craving or just 'it was there, so I did!'