Dry January and beyond

[BulldogMumma]

I couldn't find a dry January thread so thought I'd make one.
I've posted on the alcohol threads before but never see it through. This year I'm determined to do dry January and even beyond.
My drinking has really crept up lately and I know I need to address it. I lost my mum this year due to alcohol and I don't want to go the same way. I've been using alcohol as a crutch since losing my mum but now's the time I stop relying on the wine and take back control.
Anyone else who wants to join me are more than welcome, would be good to have some buddies along the way x

One of the reasons I have done DJ is my physical reaction to alcohol is getting worse every year and my tolerance lower. I had a 4 day hangover after my last big night out 🙈. It wasn't worth that.

Hello peeps - been off here for a few days as back to the daily grind and all of a sudden I'm not a lady of leisure any more!

All good though. On day 10 and really haven't thought about booze at all tbh. My liver is rejoicing.

Dog still waking me in the night so feeling pretty ragged but otherwise ok! Hope you're all doing ok?

Evening all!
Interesting to read the poets about moderation. So I was drinking a bottle of wine every night, my tolerance had built up so I could easily drink a bottle of wine and get up fine at 6am the next day, take dd to school and go to work. I didn't drunk text, argue or make a show of myself I just drank at home.
I'm 42 and didn't have any physical symptoms of problems with my liver or anything but for me the fact that I was drinking that amount pretty much every single night meant I'd soon head into problems.
As I've mentioned before my mum was a drinker, she drank for years. Never had a single issue with her liver and had liver function tests. Once the problems started though it went downhill rapidly. She went from being absolutely fine to dead within a month, once your body can no longer deal with the alcohol it quickly shuts down.
Now I'm not preaching or judging anyone because I was drinking probably more than some of you on this thread but seeing what happened to my mum has made me realise I don't want to go the same way so I have to make changes.

@BulldogMumma I'm sorry to hear about your mum. I think so many of us don't realise just how damaging alcohol is. Thank you for sharing your experience. It's definitely made me stop and think.

I'm on day 10 AF today. I'm not having any cravings but I feel quite low in myself. I think it's not helped by feeling unwell. Our family seem to have had endless coughs, colds, flu etc since November. My stepchildren are due to arrive this evening so I'm a bit worried about managing a stressful weekend.

Day 16 AF.
Work has been so so stressful I've broken down 3x today.
Luckily I was WFH so it's not like I caused a scene. Still not tempted to drink though. And reading affirmations id helping. I would end up binge thanks to my none off switch.

Current worry though, didn't think of checking with my Dr on Monday when he prescribed fluoxetine if I could take CBD and I've been here drinking my CBD herbal tea or Trip drinks!

@Littletinytarzanswingingfromanosehair , yes, prozac and CBD can interact. Nothing to worry about, but there is increased risk of side effects, and CBD may enhance or reduce the effect of the prozac (evidence is mixed).

So sorry to read about your mum, I can’t believe how quickly her decline was that must have been really frightening can’t imagine what you both went through.
I completely understand why you would be worried about following the same path and I really hope you can gain some control over the poison because after all that’s what it is.
I’m a binge drinker myself but what ever way you look at it at the end of the day it causes the same damage just I will do all my units and more in one sitting.
My main reason for stopping is definitely for health reasons and I will get my bloods done in feb to check my liver think it’s about time.
Even if they come back ok I still won’t be drinking on every social occasion etc I really would like to be AF that’s my aim, I get worried think it’s due to my dad passing young I’m creeping towards his age and I’ve got so much life to live I know a bit deep but alcohol is so unimportant in all things considered when it could potentially take precious time away from us.
We never know the damage until it’s too late is something I’ve heard a lot I just think it’s down to us to look after ourselves so it’s as good as time as any to start now 😊

@TimeForNosecco thank you, I'm not saying it'll happen to all of us but it's possible I suppose. My mum wasn't an all day every day drinker she didn't even drink wine or spirits but she drank every single night. When she was hospitalised she said drink isn't worth it and she was going to stop, she didn't get the chance in the end. If I hadn't seen that happen to her I'd have carried on and carried on with my nightly wine habit.
I think after January I'd like to be mostly AF and just drink on occasions instead of drinking just because it's a Friday or Saturday

Been really tempted today. Had an AF lager which has done nothing to help the bloating caused by eating carbs and sugary snacks all day. Even with the heating on the house is cold so have gone to bed! Will read and keep myself out of trouble.

Dipping in and out of everyone's posts, can't believe it's the 10th of January already.ast night was my Friday night, after a full on week. Felt very tempted, but didn't. Now it is Friday and I am again very tempted - but I'm taking a friend out for the day tomorrow so need a clear head.

Day 10, woo-hoo! It would be lovely to relax with a glass of naice waine but am ignoring the siren call of the wine witch and am chilling with a cuppa. It's definitely the fear of the unknown health damage and wanting to reset my thinking patterns about alcohol which is inspiring me to see it all through, hard though it can be at times. @BulldogMumma so sorry about your mum, but yes, v thought-provoking. Hugs to you.

In all honesty the only reason I wasn’t making a tit of myself regularly when drinking was because I was confined in the house alone with just drinking myself into a sleepy state then going to bed. I could function yes, but I was more grumpy, dehydrated and very tired the next day but not enough to stop me keep doing it. I wasn’t hurting anyone but myself. Had I been out in a pub or the town, that’s where the drunk version of me becomes worse. I say stupid things and do stupid things. So my drinking was controlled enough to prevent the other stuff so I had an excuse to continue doing it

I also lost a female relative who didn’t drink heavily but regularly for years. They died a very quick unpleasant painful death and that’s when I originally cut back but it’s crept up again over Xmas so I wanted to get back to drinking far less.

I also had a bad pain in my right side a few times and it started to scare me. Not had it again since I stopped drinking

For those of you who like AF beer, a friend recommended Lidls own AF beer. I think it's around £3 for 6 bottles and it tastes exactly the same as lager, I bought some today

Evening all, checking in day 11 and haven’t felt tempted today which is nice. I have a cup of tea and a box of guylian’s so as happy as a pig in shit.

I hear those who have lost loved ones to this. I also had a friend who had a problem. I had no idea how bad it was but when she went into hospital she was told she could never drink again. She said she didn’t know if she wanted to live if that was the case. Unfortunately she never got the chance because all her organs shut down and she passed away. She was early 40s and it plays on my mind a lot. I don’t want to be next.

@ThriveIn2025 sorry to hear you lost your friend, alcohol really can do so much damage.
I'm in bed ready for work tomorrow happily still AF.
Day 10 done 👏👏👏

Friday night done. Well done everyone. My friend popped round tonight & we toasted new year with a glass of Trip each 🤣 wild
Tucked up in bed with my book now. Night all.

Day 10 here and well done everyone.

So sorry to those of you who have lost loved ones and friends in such an awful way. Thank you for sharing your stories, it really makes me think and reminds me how important it is to really make the most of this as an opportunity to reset and change. Over the last year I resorted back to usual ways, that was something I’d like to learn from and it’s these sorts of messages that reinforce how important it is.

Has strong cravings today. DH is out on Friday nights and I'm at home with the Dc. Usually I'd have a bottle of wine to relieve the boredom. The wine was calling from about 4, but I reminded myself that I'm into double figures now and that the temporary small joy of drinking would be replaced by shame and failure in the morning. Every day that I don't drink I feel better physically, mentally and emotionally.

So I've done 11 days now.

Feeling quite proud after being out tonight at a friend’s birthday celebration where I drank my Thatchers AF cider. I tried not to pay any attention to the wine being drunk by others and enjoyed the evening. It was just 12 people in her house with drinks and snacks so not a massive drinking event but still really pleased I wasn’t tempted.

Day 13 for me. I did briefly feel the wine witch calling earlier but she got told very firmly no. I went out with DH had a meal with an AF drink then went to the cinema. DH is having a whisky now but I just went to my bed as I have to be up early tomorrow.

Morning all great to wake up and read everyone’s post on how they wanted to give in but kept strong amazing work!!
I had my cravings last night also they have been even heavier this time round, think I got used to the alcohol consumption over Christmas I practically drank every day on holiday for 12 days, luxury sun break and cocktails but I wanted to enjoy my holiday not sure what to do about future ones! Or what that says about my mindset I’m sure I would have enjoyed the holiday sober also.
Christmas is always the time that I cave I do really well in the summer which is weird as many people love the sunny days and beer gardens etc alcohol normally plays a strong role on those BBQ days.
Any how will have to see how it plays out this year!!
keep going everyone 🙌🏻 hope you all enjoy your weekend stay warm it’s -5 here atm!!
Also don’t know why I’m up so early on my day off but that’s a good sign up early productive and zero hangover something to be grateful for this morning!!

God that's awful! When she said she's rather die than live without alcohol, gave me shivers

Sorry to hear of people losing their family or friends through this. This is why the impact and dangers shouldn't be minimised.

I know I have a problem with binge drinking that probably isn't going to go away and I'd rather not have a drink at all than have one drink or whatever the guidelines for 'healthy' drinking say as unfortunately it just wouldn't work for me. I'd be having the whole bottle if I'd opened it..I might achieve moderation when I'm older but can't see it happening for now based on my previous drinking behaviour.

The ideal scenario is being able to enjoy a drink once a week, in moderation so it doesn't impact on any physical or mental health - I'm sure many people can get that balance right and don't have an issue. Unfortunately that's not me 😫-

Well done to those who haven't caved this weekend..it was always going to be a tough one! Stick with it

I'm also feeling better everyday and enjoying not drinking or feeling hungover and that's outweighing the wine witch

Day 11 for me..onwards to 2 weeks nearly :)

@TimeForNosecco I've been thinking about alcohol and holidays as we are planning our honeymoon for later this year. I'm not entirely sure I want a teetotal holiday, I'm hoping that I will get to the point where alcohol is something to enjoy on special occasions, rather than something I do most of the time and just the location changes. I don't know, we'll see!

I agree better for me not to have any otherwise same outcome I will polish of the bottle then get the taste for it and end up drinking more that week.
I find if it’s a work night I have more control as I won’t be able to drive the next day and I’m in my car at 4am with my work.
But I definitely want more that’s the problem and I know I’m not satisfied with one glass of wine.
And if I’m out all bets are off I don’t know who is showing up to the party I don’t do well in social situations sober/ or drinking I’m awkward at both if I’m drinking I’ll probably over drink to calm my anxiety and to fit in which sometimes has got me in to embarrassing situations. and if I’m sober I’m extremely quite and do a lot of fake smiling and generally feel uncomfortable and hate everything about it!!
looks like I better become a recluse 😂
best of luck to you 🙌🏻