Posters don’t drink alcohol

[HannaYeah]

What is it like?

Did you ever drink?

Would love to hear from all perspectives; people that never did, only do very occasionally, used to drink but quit.

I don’t drink, I never have I don’t like the taste of any alcohol.

My skin is very un-wrinkled for my age, which I attribute to being pretty much an alcohol-free zone for decades

I have the same. Although my jowls have hit the ground. I am like a jumper you hand wash.
Pull it out of the water and it hasn’t got a wrinkle but that is due to it pulling down because of the weight of the water

I feel like I grew out of it.

I used to have a drink to be social and then waking up the next day not dehydrated became more important. And of course I can be social without alcohol.

I will have a glass of wine about 3 or 4 times a year.

I am quite fascinated by people who drink regularly to be honest. If I have alcohol in the evening I don't sleep well that night as I wake up to pee or have a glass of water.

I've never drunk alcohol. It's for religious reasons and even though I'm Irish I don't have any desire to drink and don't feel like I'm missing out.b

you see a pattern OP, I don't drink but used to, absolutely loads and think I was in trouble with it at one point. I felt out of control with alcohol, I used to drink excessively and habitually, but then was completely out of control. I stopped drinking because I wanted to maintain some control over what I was doing and saying, and don't miss it really.

I haven't drank for around 10 years after even a small alcoholic drink started giving me the most horrible migraines. I did when younger but never lots,
Never socialised in pubs though and would go clubbing later in the evening.

My parents never went to the pub regularly either and neither are big drinkers.

@steppemum it’s the taste I miss. Because I drank vodka and usually had it with some sort of fruit juice - grapefruit or tomato being my favourite - I’ll just drink the juice on its own. I don’t mind alcohol free beer but have never tasted the wine.

Off of the back of this thread, I’ve sat and had a think about what it is I actually really miss, and for me it’s the choice (as well as the taste). I think it’s the same as anything, once your choice to have or do something is removed you want to do or have that thing and in my case it’s alcohol (as well as some other stuff). I drank probably 1 or 2 drinks in the previous years before I was told I am no longer allowed alcohol with the medications I take, so not a huge amount at all but the option was there if I wanted to.

I drank loads until the age of about 22. Just the usual social drinking think which I don’t feel like I need to do anymore. My friends like to sit and drink tea!

Dh and I have never been drunk together, we just never really needed to. I hate hangovers, when you work a lot/ have kids all it does is waste your free time. I also think alcohol ruins your skin and can lead to depression.

I probably have 2 Pina coladas a year and that’s enough for me.

I was a weekend wine drinker, I looked forward to Friday and cracking open a bottle. But increasingly it was making me tired and anxious (although I wasn't really aware of it at the time) and I was drinking just a bit too much and feeling crappy.

I don't really know what drove me to stop, there was no single compelling reason. But I am so so thankful I did. I haven't drunk since the new year and I feel so different - my anxiety is gone, i am well rested and my mood is so much better. And I just feel more alive in a way I can't really articulate.

The further I get from my last drink, the less I want to go back. I just can't see any benefits now and I can't believe I feel like that. A year ago I was a totally different person.

I panic at the thought of being out of control. I never used to only have one because I don't even really like the taste so what's the point. So now I mostly have none 🤷‍♀️

Drink a small amount (one bottle/can of beer or cider) occasionally. Don't like feeling drunk. Detest being around people who are drunk.

Funnily enough, I have exactly the same issue as whatsnew 👆. I used to enjoy a drink...the occasional gin and tonic or a nice glass of wine. Never drank massively but now I can't drink at all because it makes me feel so ill - and I haven't found it a huge problem to give it up, quite honestly.

Although from time to time I look at someone else's cool, crisp glass of rosé or whatever and feel a little wistful.....

I drank a lot at university. Too much, I wasn't addicted, but when I did go out (which was a lot) I would get black out drunk. Now I know that's bloody dangerous and I am so lucky that nothing bad happened. I can take or leave it now, if someone said you can never drink again I genuinely wouldn't be arsed, but if I wanted something which rarely I do I would.

All the various comments about the effects of it make me wonder what impact alcohol is having that I don’t even realize.

One odd thing I noticed when I stopped before is that I sometimes attributed things to alcohol that it was not actually causing! Headaches and tiredness. That alarmed me because I realized that drinking could be masking health issues that I would otherwise work to prevent.

I used to absolutely love a drink and often got wasted. I thought I was a party girl but in retrospect I was just an absolute pita. I didn’t have a “serious” problem. Ie not drinking to function, didn’t drink daily. But when I started I often couldn’t stop and was a liability and frankly an embarrassment to myself. It hit home when I was a mum and well into my 30s. And after one particularly bad session I just decided to stop. The decision to stop indefinitely was really hard (I’d had breaks before but could do them fairly easily as I knew I’d be back). But the reality of it was much easier than I had anticipated. It was weird to not drink for a while but after a while it just seemed like normal. I still crave “adult drinks” and transitioning from day to evening but have found my selection of non alcoholic drinks that work for me. After many years of hard binge drinking I finally conceded that I am just unable to moderate. I’d love to be able to but it’s just not on the cards for me. As such life without alcohol is much happier for me.

I feel like drinking is borrowing fun from tomorrow. I might enjoy it at the time but even if I’m not hungover I feel a bit sluggish and unpleasant the following day. I like to be active so find it a bit of a hindrance. I very occasionally have a glass or two but that’s about it.

I used to binge drink in my teens/early 20's, then came DC, maybe didn't drink for around 3 years because of breastfeedin/never going out.
Neither me or DP drink in the house. Can take it or leave it now, but if i'm going out and the DC sleep out, i'll make the most of it! But this only happens a couple of times a year.

@Puffinhead
Now I’d rather stay in with a cup of tea!

I’d like to,go,out but have a nice cup of tea. 😊
I don’t have a big reason that I don’t drink. I find the massive focus on alcohol by people socializing annoying. I don’t like the idea that you can’t have fun unless you drink. I’m not fussed about the taste and I dislike the feeling of being even a little less than clear headed. I don’t disapprove of people who drink I just don’t fancy it myself.

I don't drink at all. Hate the taste, my parents never drank either so maybe it came from there. One less vice to give up!

I used to drink quite a lot socially until I was taken advantage of by a stranger one night at uni - I was very lucky a group of friends found me or things could've been much worse. I think that scared me out of properly drunk much again. I also get awful hangovers and honestly, I don't really like who I am when I've been drinking. I still drink very occasionallythough as I do feel a real social pressure to .

I used to drink quite a lot of wine years ago, mainly in the evening,to try and make me sleepy. as I have had insomnia for many years, and also bad tinnitus. But its not the way to go for sleeping, I would maybe drop off for while, then wake two hours later, and feel really dehydrated, and not sleep again after, and then feel rough the next day.

I don't buy any wine now, but sometimes get a bottle of beer from the local village shop,as they have a selection of craft beers to try.

Stopped drinking after converting to a different religion.

I used to drink before but not loads. Never liked the culture of just drinking to get drunk. Got proper drunk a couple of times and it was horrible

I do think sometimes about what used to be my favourite alcoholic drinks and wish I could just have a sip here or there.... to be honest it has been a few years and those kind of light cravings are much much smaller than before.

I'm happy with schloer (fizzy non alcoholic drink), virgin cocktails and looooved the culture of fruit juices and smoothies when I lived in a kind of teetotal country for a little while

I just don't really like it anymore. Drank at college and uni but never to massive excess and could never be doing with the culture of it, making a big deal of it, boasting about it and how everything revolved around it. Even now, at 40, I don't understand why it is such a big part of people's lives - wine o'clock, prosecco, mad Friday and Saturday nights out where you spend a load of money and feel awful for days afterwards. I understand younger people drinking to excess, it's new, its exciting, it's sociable etc but I don't understand why people in their 30s, 40s etc still get off on it. Then again, I'm.quite anti social so don't go out much anyway. I get the social side of it but I don't get the drinking til you're absolutely blathered. I live opposite a pub and while its quiet now, the noise we get, usually in the summer from people hanging around outside fighting, arguing and shouting at each other is awful. It's the lairyness and the aggressiveness that I don't get. Like why can people not just have a few? Why does it always have to be way too many? I've been that way a few times and it's not nice. So many people still don't seem to know their own limits or they do and do it anyway. Also, I hate people moaning about their hangovers! I probably come across as judgemental but I just don't get it.

T total for 2 1/2 years now. I was pissed every night and hungover at work every morning .
Woke up one day and thought I can’t do this anymore ( had been dinking for over 30 years) .
I still occasionally miss it but have not been tempted to start again. I don’t think I will ever drink again as it would just start the cycle all over.

I feel like drinking is borrowing fun from tomorrow.

I really like this. This is exactly how I feel and why I don't drink.