Have you given up alcohol even though you loved it?

[Sweetdisposition91]

I’m a typical binge drinker - every weekend I’ll always drink too much go too over board and waste a day being hungover and having that worried feeling because I can’t remember chunks of the night!

I feel like I need to sort my life out, I did dry January last year and considering doing it again this year.

I wish I could give up alcohol because I have embarrassed myself FAR to many times whilst drunk and also get blackout drunk on occasions potentially putting myself in dangerous situations - and I haven’t got a clue what I’m doing or what I did!

So yeh, has anyone given up alcohol even though they love the social aspect of it?

Or any tips for self control and stopping at just a few?

This thread may interest you and give you some ideas .
Be waned it is going to disappear very soon but one of use will start a new one in Jan .

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/ninety_days_only/3705981-Sober-October-Penguin-Huddle-all-welcome?msgid=92526044 .

Yes! l don't drink except on very rare occasions..
I used to and enjoyed it but started to get very severe headaches after only 2 0r 3 glasses of wine...
then as l had 2 children in quick succession I didn't drink for over 2 years, and when l did, l was so ill for 36 hours l couldn't get out of bed, blinding headache, nausea and shaky....I had had precisely 2 small glasses of wine with dinner. Hardly a bender.

I can tolerate a few spirits without the headache but feel lousy all the following day, wine and champagne is a no go.

I look at alcohol and it looks like poison in a glass to me as it makes me so ill. So the temptation is gone. If l enjoy a cocktail and fancy a few more the fear of the pains in my head will always stop me........it can be excrutiating.

Once you are over 20 no one really cares whether or not you drink alcohol or not, friends don't mind. However it does make you look at drunk people differently. I have little patience with drunken behavior, its only funny if you are drunk yourself.

There are lots of plusses, better skin, better sleep, feeling refreshed on Sunday mornings, always being able to drive home....

Please stop as you sound like you have no control and something very bad could happen to you...it really doesn't ruin your social life although you may find it strange at first.

Read The Unexpected Joy of Being Sober OP. And good luck X

I've given up drinking rum as it makes me so ill. A pity as its my favourite drink. Gives me awful stomach cramps and leaves me on the shitter for at least four hrs after my last drink. Its not worth it tbh.

Yes, I did, after I nearly ruined my marriage over a very drunken night out. I realised then that I needed to finally grow up and act like a responsible adult. I find it much easier not to drink at all than trying to moderate, and there are so many alcohol free alternatives these days that most of the time I don’t feel like I’m missing out.

How old are you? If you're in your early-mid 20s it could be part of growing up. If you're 50 then you probably have a problem.

Ooo I've had a really bad stomach on wine @HomeEdRocks18. Like something is squeezing my insides all night. I am definitely done with it!

I could never moderate so I gave up completely. I read a wonderful book called Alcohol Lied to me and haven't drunk since March this year. I don't even miss it such was the effect of the book.
I was drinking daily but with a binge thrown in on the weekends.
My social life has actually improved. I still dance if a song is worth dancing to and I actually talk to people now. I used to worry about slurring so I wouldn't speak to anyone a few drinks in. No hangovers never gets old either.

Watching with interest, I've recently downloaded a hypnosis book from Audible about giving up drinking.

Oh yes! I went from a very occasional drinker in my twenties, to someone utterly dependent upon it in my thirties. I was a functional alcoholic until I stopped functioning. I don't miss it, but I definitely didn't enjoy it towards the end. Nor did anyone else.

I had to give it up years ago for my pain meds. I can still have a drink now and again but I find it’s not worth the main I get when I have to come off them also I’m an awful person when I’m not on them due to the amount of pain. I suffer.

I want to give up so badly. It feels me back in, Every single time. I'm trying to replace it with another addiction...bit I can't find anything yet that substitutes.

@YouJustDoYou I feel your pain and remember it. So feel for you. Take care xx

YouJust try the book I mentioned. I was drinking every day. Now I'm 9 months sober and loving it.

I love drinking wine. But don't Monday-Wednesday.

We never drink in January and I think it's a good thing to do. We also eat really healthy and exercise a a lot, maybe to counteract the excess in December.
However, I would never give up completely as I think it's unnecessary, I don't think drinking in moderation has any health issues and I don't have any other sugar apart from alcohol.

I loved my wine, but like Dragongirl I gave up for health related reasons - bad UTIs which seemed to be related to drinking.

I also agree with her about now looking at alcohol as “poison in a glass”. It was as if I had somehow unintentionally mentally reprogrammed myself to connect alcohol with feeling physically terrible. The reprogramming seemed to happen amazingly fast once I’d decided to make the change - within a few days I felt really quite repulsed by wine and that “ooh, I’ll treat myself to a glass” end of day feeling I’d had for years just vanished.

I hardly drink at all now - the occasional vodka lime and soda if I really fancy it. And I don’t miss it at all.

A couple of other books that really helped me are Alcohol Explained and This Naked Mind.

Check out Love Sober 💛

https://www.lovesober.com

Go online and look at The Alcohol Experiment Annie Grace, quite brilliant and free, will guide you t hrough 30 days with daily videos and support

I very rarely drink, probably have about 3 drinks a year unless there's a wedding or something when I'll have another one. To be honest, there are so many lovely soft drinks out there that I've never missed it.

6 years. No alcohol best thing I ever did . Spend more time with friends and family who don't drink and find new distractions. Mines eating out and movies x

Exactly the same as Dragongirl10 I loved a drink and loved the social side of it. Had two kids within 26 months and from then on drinking and me just don’t get along. Poison in a glass is right, I had a hangover complete with puking, shivering and sweating for 48 hours a couple of years ago after two chinzanos. Actually think there’s more alcohol in some brands of cough syrup. Booze also brings on horrific migraines for me now, so I’ve given up. No point. My drinking days are over.