AIBU?
Have you given up alcohol even though you loved it?
Sweetdisposition91 · 27/12/2019 22:26
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?
Am I being unreasonable?
AIBUYou have one vote. All votes are anonymous.
SantaBeckett · 27/12/2019 22:32
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 .
Dragongirl10 · 27/12/2019 23:04
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.
Metalhead · 27/12/2019 23:18
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.
Northernsoullover · 27/12/2019 23:24
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.
Lobsterquadrille2 · 27/12/2019 23:27
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.
underneaththeash · 27/12/2019 23:46
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.
Jillyhilly · 27/12/2019 23:46
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.
AllTheWhoresOfMalta · 28/12/2019 21:02
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.
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