I've cut back on my drinking and it's making me feel rubbish

[Beamsss]

I honestly don't think it's withdrawal, I was never a big drinker. I'd go for a few drinks roughly twice a month and drink steadily throughout the evening (or occasionaly afternoon in Summer) . Typical consumption would be two pints in the first hour and then switch to halves, so a total of one pint an hour thereafter, switching to water by 10pm. Very unusal for me to drink more than 4/5 pints in a session.

But, it was giving me hangovers and I don't want them any more, so the last two times I've been out I've stuck at two pints. I'm horrible on it. Anxious, needy, bad tempered. Not temper tantrum nasty, but snappy and grumpy. All things I am not normally, either sober or drunk.

So, the only answer is to not drink at all? Does anyone else experience this?

Just me then 🤣

What pints are you drinking Stella? 😂 in all honesty some beers give me a headache after a couple, others I’m fine.

Try switching what you drink? If I drank pints of beer I’d feel horrible.

As pp said, it might be what you are drinking. I can't look at Kronenbourg for example without getting a headache.

i worked in the alcohol trade years ago (so may not be relevant anymore) but some beers (Stella was one) had a lot of additives in which lead to headaches and general lousiness. I can’t stand the feeling you get with drinking beer. Either don’t drink or swap to something less nasty.

Why are people talking about switching the brand? OP is saying she feels grumpy and snappy cutting down her drinking.
I'd drink 0% from the off OP. Doesn't have to be water.

Your tolerance to it may of reduced leading to worse effects

I always blame dirty lines.
I now drink San Miguel as it's the top seller at the bar and I know it'll have run through 20 pints at least by the time I get there.
But I only have one pint tops and almost never during the day unless it's a shandy with a lazy long lunch.

You are still getting the negative effects of alcohol no matter how little you drink, but you probably aren’t getting what you perceive as the benefits now. Have you tried not drinking? Or switching what you do socially to something that doesn’t revolve alcohol at all?

I stopped drinking 3 years ago (I was drinking a lot more than you). It was a bit of a learning curve to start, but I truly don’t miss it. If you actually enjoy your friends and want to be around them, you still will if you’re drinking a lime and soda. If not drinking means you find them intolerable, well, the problem isn’t the drinking, it’s the company. No sense making yourself feel like shit just to spend time with people, when you can just spend time with them and feel great instead.

YY to reduced tolerance. This is meant without judgment, but 2 pints of normal strength lager is 5 units , so not really a minimal amount. I used to drink a lot in a socially acceptable (90s/00s pub culture) but medically problematic way. Since cutting down white wine is the only thing I can have more than one of without feeling a bit rough.

Very unusal for me to drink more than 4/5 pints in a session. That's heavy drinking.

Two pints is already more than recommended and depending on strength could be close to the definition of binge drinking for a woman (six units).

Presumably when you drank the 4/5 pints you were less aware of the impacts due to the volumes consumed.