The Continuing Support Thread for Anyone Trying to Lead an Alcohol-Free Life Spring 2026

[REP22]

Hello and welcome. I’m glad you’ve found your way here. We are a bunch of people who are trying to give up and keep off alcohol. No judgement, just honest support and kindness.
The original thread was started by @drybird2020 in 2020 and we have plenty of veterans and newer members who can offer advice and signposting. You are welcome here, whether you post several times a day, once or twice and then never again, or if you only just come to read but have no intention of ever posting.
Whatever your stage on the AF journey, and whatever you’re going through, someone here will have gone through it too. Don’t be shy about posting, we love to celebrate your successes of whatever shape and size - and will support you when things get challenging. We get it, we've been there too.
All we ask is that you’re genuinely trying to abstain. We don't encourage moderation-only here, as it can be triggering for some to read. If you’re looking to moderate your drinking rather than quitting it altogether then MN has another long-running and very active moderation/abstaining thread that’s always near the top on the alcohol support board. Lots of fine support there from those worthy people too. Keep trying. Sobriety may not be easy - but I guarantee you that it is worth it.
I started trying to give up drink in 2018, succeeded (mostly) in 2019 but had a few “wobbles”, one of which led me here in April 2023. I still struggle sometimes but the posters on this thread have been an absolute godsend of wisdom, support and encouragement, along with my dog - known here as Sid (not his real name), and they keep me going. I hope you find strength and comfort here too. This thread and its wonderful posters has been a lifesaver to many, and have certainly seen me through many good and not-so-good days.
These books were particularly helpful to me and I still go back to them from time to time: The Sober Diaries by Clare Pooley (Amazon - Sober Diaries) and The Unexpected Joy of Being Sober by Catherine Gray (Amazon - Unexpected Joy). Others have found This Naked Mind by Annie Grace (Amazon - This Naked Mind) helpful. There are Apps that help track your AF journey, including Reframe and the ones I use, I Am Sober and TryDry. Podcasts can also be helpful. I have found One for the Road by Sober Dave to be a good listen. But different things work for different people. Feel free to post and ask. There is solidarity, wisdom and support here. This is a safe space where your voice will be heard, understood and valued.
Warmer weather is coming. Keep an eye out for that first daffodil waving in the breeze, and make yourself at home. It's going to be alright. x

Thanks @Lavrander and @FiloPasty am back home now. Ruled out anything scary, need GP to do a referral for a scan. Enjoying a Goodrays and about to go for a long shower i always feel the need to wash hospital germs off 🙈

One whole year @HorrorFan81 you’re amazing!!!! And glad you are home. Hope you feel better soon.
congratulations to @TheMentalMentalLoad abd @WhatMaggieDid on your continued milestones!
@endlesswashing well done on a successful social event! I’m hoping these get easier.
Sorry to hear of those who are feeling under the weather at the moment. Sending tons of well wishes and hope for brighter days!
Any varifocal wearers here? I’ve just got my first pair and spent 5 minutes gawping at my face in horror today at the HD clarity of it all. I also have nearly come a cropper going up and downstairs on several occasions and am feeling slightly seasick. I needed the new specs but think they might take a bit of getting used to!

@HorrorFan81 you absolute legend!! That’s amazing. Fabulous and inspiring. I think I started at around the same time as you last year but fell fairly quickly. I’ve spent this year very on and off but I’m hoping this time next year, when you’re approaching your second year, I’ll just have completed my first.
Bloody well done!!! 🥳

@Carpetburn I’ve had varifocals for a year now. It took me a week to get over the weird seasickness but I wouldn’t be without them now (although they do still spend rather too long perched on top of my head…

Huge congratulations @HorrorFan81! One whole year - amazingly well done 👏
And everyone else deservedly celebrating milestones - every day sober is a victory.
I don’t yet wear varifocals @Carpetburn but think I may have to look into them (haha, no pun intended). I’m shortsighted, though not massively. However I found it impossible to see threading a needle today, and had to do it by feel as I couldn’t see a ruddy thing 😢

Awful stage at the moment where I think well I feel much better now, surely I can just have a couple, it'll probably be fine, everyone else manages etc. But I know I can't and hiw awful wine was making me feel, the anxiety and memory blanks, and how terrible I felt after just a couple of glasses. But the compulsion to have a wine is strong. I am almost one week AF again after my slip last Wednesday (had managed whole of Jan) so am determined but it is tricky. Well done @HorrorFan81 and everyone else managing long stretches AF, its so hard to keep going.

I'll hit 100 days tomorrow. I'm keeping track until my next clinic appointment so I know how long it's been, then I'll start counting in years, I think.

I have friends round on Friday, and they like a drink. As I'm hosting, I will have plenty of AF options, but it is likely to be tricky. I am finding that side of things so much harder this time - I just want to join in and get a buzz. Never mind, it's not an option now.

Good luck with the scan, @HorrorFan81. Whatever it turns out to be will be better for sobriety, so you're doing the right thing.

Morning all.
Sorry you’re finding it hard at the moment @ElizabethBennetsFineEyes but you’re right that it’s just a dangerous time- our brain is going “I feel great, I can’t have a problem with alcohol after all!” Whereas really the message is “I am feeling great without alcohol, and if I carry on I will feel even better”. It takes a lot of trust to believe that second message, because you’ve not been there - but those of us who are further down the line can tell that it’s true. Unfortunately, the only way to get there is one day at a time! Can you set yourself a target that feels manageable and focus on that?

Morning all.

Morning all.
@ElizabethBennetsFineEyeskeep thinking of your why and playing it forward. Have you done the Alcohol Experiment by Annie Grace? I found that really helpful and rather eye opening. It's just a month long and free to do.

I don't have varifocals @Carpetburnbut I do wear contacts. My eyes aren't terrible and I can survive without them so unless I go to drive I can sometimes forget I don't have them in. But to your point - when I don't have them in I always think wow my skin looks so lovely today 🤣 . Reminds me a bit of when HD TVs started to be a thing and Actors weren't in soft focus any more.
But, must remember, to be alive and well is a gift. Pores and all 🙈

Good morning lovely shipmates. A couple of days of not feeling too good have hit me and Sid, but we are back up and still fighting on.

I'm sorry you're finding it hard @ElizabethBennetsFineEyes - that siren song of the Wine Witch of very, very strong. We are with you in this. It does get easier, even if it doesn't feel like it at the moment.

Strength and courage brave friends. It will be alright. x

Hello everyone. 500 days today. ❤️

Omg @CarrotSeeds well done!!

Brilliant @CarrotSeeds

Yayyy! That's fantastic @CarrotSeeds 🎉 x

@carrotseeds what an achievement!

Blooming marvellous @CarrotSeeds!!

Amazing @CarrotSeeds i think I was on here when you were in the early days clearly I was still on the misery go round a bit longer ) and 500 days is just fantastic!!!
And it must be another huge hoorah for @ShyMaryEllen on100 days today!

@ElizabethBennetsFineEyes i promise you I have done the same 7 days over and over! There are bunnies in the field but you are still grafting through the obstacle course as Claire Pooley says. I NEVER thought I could envision a better life not drinking and it’s not all plain sailing but I cannot tell you how much better my life is at the moment. Keep posting and try to remember why you came here. @WendyWagon says it far better than me. “All will be well my friends.
We can have everything but the drink. It doesn't suit us. It doesn't serve us”

I am feeling less seasick today with my new glasses although remain astounded by my face in HD! But @Lavrander you are so right i prefer it pores and all to my drinking complexion which was pretty haggard!

@ElizabethBennetsFineEyes i go on about it but for me when I have the craving I drink a whole bottle of 0% wine the flavour isn’t the same but the habit of it actually really helps me. I’m past 150 days now but still often have my fuck it says I just now have naughty food and zero wine. I wouldn’t have got through the early days without the zero beer and wine, I drink them so much less than I did but still regularly drink them. What ever works for you x

Morning all.
A bit better this morning.

Well done @ShyMaryEllen

Morning
Glad things are a bit better @WendyWagon

A good marker @ShyMaryEllenfor today. Well done - although you know it's not an option for you there are plenty of people that would continue anyway so well done. When's the clinic appointment? I feel the same around joining in - it tends to be the build up for me. Once I'm past the first hour of it all going around I'm safe but it does consume my thoughts a lot ahead of a social occasion.

How did you get on last night @ElizabethBennetsFineEyes
?

Good morning Shipmates,

Glad you are feeling a bit better @WendyWagon .

@ElizabethBennetsFineEyes - like @Carpetburn I have been many, many times where you are now. The same 'restart' and fall again and again - like Groundhog Week. I don't know why I listen to the Wine Witch/Voldemort Vodka when I know they are lies. But I suppose if resistance was that easy we wouldn't be here. I have to keep telling myself that, although I might want it, I cannot have it. As we get older, or ability to process the stuff diminishes. We can keep drinking - until the day we can't, all of a sudden, and by then it is too late.. I still crave it, but I don't want that future for me or Sid. I know you can do it. You're here because you're strong and you want to fight. I know you've got it in you. ❤️

Strength and courage. We're going to make it. It will be alright. xx

Thanks chaps.

I don't know when my clinic appointment will be (April probably). I get bloods done on Friday ahead of the appointment, but for reasons I don't understand won't see the results ahead of it. I'll ask at the clinic though, as I keep a record of them. They have been normal since about a year after my first appointment over 8 years ago. Odd markers move up and down a bit, sometimes a little to the wrong side of the line, but they shift back again, and they can be affected by all sorts of things, such as drinking more or less coffee than usual, or having a cold. Given the reality of the situation it seems strange that I have normal LFTs, but they are, so if anyone feels that something is wrong, don't settle for a blood test - push for an US or a Fibroscan.

I found AF wine a great help, and still do in social situations. These days I don't drink it every evening like I used to, but being able to open a bottle and have it on the dining table with the others is a help, and will be what I'll do on Friday when my friends are here.

Will keep everything crossed for you for Friday @ShyMaryEllen - hope they don't keep you waiting too long for the results. x

Thanks, @REP22. It's the results of the US that will make a difference, though. LFTs only seem to show if the patient has been drinking heavily recently. My original ones were waaaay off beam, but when I stopped they settled down to normal. The last ones I had were taken soon after I'd had my last 'blip' drink, and were still well in range, although AST had risen from an average of 15 to 30. This was the biggest change, but the normal range is <40, so no big deal, really, although the US had shown a small amount of fluid around the liver, which is a very big deal.

The usual procedure is that I get an US every 6 months or so, followed by a clinic appointment where nothing much happens. Bloods are taken at some point, but not always ahead of the clinic, so things are disjointed. I have had a few endoscopies to check for varicose. Meanwhile, I get LFTs separately from my GP surgery, and can see the results of those on the NHS app, so whilst it is frustrating not to be able to see the hospital ones (and I don't understand why we can't) it's not the end of the world. I record the GP ones, and can see how they've been every July for the past 8-9 years.

I don't want to worry anyone, but I don't think LFTs tell anything like the full story. You (generic) know how you feel, and whether you have the (easily Googleable) symptoms of liver damage, so trust yourself, and ask for more tests if you are concerned but blood tests seem normal. When I went for the last US, I was having discomfort around the liver, which is not something I'd had before. I felt generally unwell, and wasn't surprised when I got the results. I had been on holiday with friends a week or two before the appointment, and had drunk every night. Also, I had been to the pub after my monthly meeting a day or two earlier. I had already decided to stop after the pub night, but obviously that was after the horse had bolted. Hey ho.