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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Has anyone just stopped enjoying booze?

82 replies

Merryoldgoat · 31/12/2022 00:42

I don’t drink much, but occasionally have a ‘big night’ (maybe 3/4 times a year) and the odd Prosecco or G&T.

However I just don’t like it much and it’s cone in quite suddenly.

I think I might stop drinking which is obviously not a big deal but it seems a bit odd to just have lost my taste for it.

Has this happened to anyone else?

OP posts:
LuvMyBoyz · 31/12/2022 06:33

This happened to me during Lockdown. DH and I started by drinking too much and every second month was a dry one to try and balance it. After Stoptober in 2020 I had one drink and then gave up completely. It’s been a relief! No decisions to make, no hangovers, no munchies, less arguments and loads of money saved. DH still drinks but has cut back a lot.

imalreadygone · 31/12/2022 07:18

I stopped years ago, just wasn't enjoying it. Tried a small sip of wine at christmas and it was awful

KangarooKenny · 31/12/2022 07:21

I’m peri and decided to stop for a while to help my sleep, as I know it affects it and makes me tired next day.
So a week of no alcohol turned into a couple of months. I had a glass recently and didn’t enjoy it at all, I wondered why on earth i consumed so many bottles of this foul liquid.

SwimmingFree · 31/12/2022 07:24

Yes, after I had COVID though, I've not had a drink again, over a year now. It's great not to bother.

Discwriter · 31/12/2022 07:27

Yes, me! I used to be a big drinker, now I get heart palpitations around 2am if I drink one too many g&ts or wine. It's just not worth it for me now, takes me days to recover so I just stopped completely. Don't miss it either.

Fathercrossmas · 31/12/2022 07:34

I've become intolerant. After 8 years without alcohol after pregnancies and breastfeeding whenever I drink now I get sick, not drunk too much sick, but my body just won't tolerate it. I had 1/4 of a glass of wine last week and spent all night on the loo until it had fully been expelled!

Daffyaboutdaffs · 31/12/2022 07:40

@Merryoldgoat you have made me think. I don’t enjoy it as much as I used to and that may be because of menopause and also recent covid. I also suffer next morning heart palpitations and anxiety. Time to give up I think 😀

TenoringBehind · 31/12/2022 08:20

Post menopause, I can no longer drink sparkling wines, most white wines or ‘clear’ spirits such as gin and vodka. I can’t sleep afterwards and get headaches and heart palpitations, even from a tiny amount.
Red wine is fine though, and I don’t drink anything else.

WonkasBooboofixer · 31/12/2022 08:22

Yep me totally hate the taste now I can actually taste the alcohol through the flavour of drinks and it's put me right off. I still enjoy a glass of alcohol free prosecco though.

StormObelisk · 31/12/2022 08:26

I stopped drinking during an illness earlier this year and haven’t bothered since. I was never a big drinker but I didn’t miss it at all.

Badgerandfox227 · 31/12/2022 08:27

Agree with this, I don’t drink at all at home except for maybe a handful of g&ts in the whole of the summer or some baileys at Christmas. With young children I don’t go out much either.
For me there are a few reasons, i feel the affects so much the following day even with 2 drinks, and it makes me have a rubbish sleep. Plus the number of times the kids seem to be ill with a fever at night means I don’t want to feel out of control in case they were poorly.
Im also not keen on the taste either! Now if we were talking about chocolate it would be a very different story!

AuntieMarys · 31/12/2022 08:31

I'm shocked to say , yes.
Totally gone off gin and white wine. Not keen on anything else.
I like a gin martini occasionally but think 2023 will be the year when alcohol goes out of the window.
Which I find a bit depressing.

TheGuv1982 · 31/12/2022 08:33

I’ve found my relationship with alcohol has changed over the years as I’ve matured, to the point where I can happily take it or leave it - and if it was banned tomorrow I don’t think I’d be overly bothered.

Jinglejanglesnowman · 31/12/2022 08:42

Same! I'm early 30s and haven't been bothered for 8/9 years I'd say. Just lost the taste for it, I'd rather have a pepsi!

Woeman · 31/12/2022 08:44

Well, yes, my cherry pepsi max addiction is through the roof!!

Beautiful3 · 31/12/2022 09:15

I'm the same, as I rarely drink. This year I've had only one drink, that was a baileys on Christmas eve. I've really gone off it! For Christmas we had bought 2 bottles of baileys, bucks fizz, larger, 2 bottles of wine and a processo. We normally would have gotten through all of that for Christmas/New years! It's all sitting in the garage, and I'm now thinking of gifting them on friends birthday.

Orangepolentacake · 31/12/2022 09:17

Merryoldgoat · 31/12/2022 00:56

@Orangepolentacake

absolutely no chance!!

asked as I felt a building aversion when I was pregnant and before I found out. I thought it was just shit wine!
in general I’m less and less interested in the sauce. I’ll have a little bit because a cold beer tastes nice but can’t be arsed with feeling like shit the next day after poisoning myself and talking nonsense I can’t even remember properly

Original poster
Merryoldgoat · 31/12/2022 09:18

Thank you all!

I think that I’m just going to stop the extraneous drinks (Prosecco at home etc) and just have a drink or two if out with frievds IF I feel like it. It’s rare I’m out tbh so we’ll see.

Its not unusual to go a week or two without any booze anyway but it has crept up in November/December and I’ve become aware the majority of occasions weren’t much fun.

OP posts:
Original poster
Merryoldgoat · 31/12/2022 09:19

@Orangepolentacake

Oh totally - I had the same when I was.

It was just a funny thought to me as if I were I’d be a medical marvel 🤣

OP posts:
RewildingAmbridge · 31/12/2022 09:20

This happened to me after I stopped drinking while pregnant and BF. Never got the taste for it back. I had a bucks fizz Christmas morning and a glass of champagne with Christmas dinner, probably more from habit, and because that's what others were drinking, than anything else. We've got loads of alcohol at home, my favourite wines etc. Just never fancy drinking anymore. I don't say I don't drink, because I do have one or two a couple of times a year

Readabookgroucho · 31/12/2022 09:20

Same, as the side effects are getting worse as I get older!
Still, I’ll have a few weeks off then an occasion will make me think, ooh I’d love a …
red wine in the pub with Sunday lunch on a rainy day or a cold beer by the beach on a sunny one etc

Outandover · 31/12/2022 09:26

I’ve never been a big drinker but used to enjoy 1-3 glasses of wine or spirits occasionally when socialising. Since having DC I’ve found my tolerance for alcohol has really reduced and even 1 or 2 glasses can make me feel blah so I often opt for a Diet Coke or water. I have some friends who drink more than ever and I’m sure they think I’m boring now!

hopsalong · 31/12/2022 09:28

Do you feel all right otherwise? I'm sure it's a basically good thing; perhaps even a sign of your body becoming more in tune with its needs.

But, I wouldn't rule out the possibility that the suddenness of the switch is due to something else. For me it's happened twice (pregnant both times). No way to say this without sounding ridiculously scaremongering (I only mean that it's good to take stock of your general well-being), but it also happened to two close friends in recent years. They were both pretty heavy drinkers. One had pancreatic cancer; one had liver cancer.

StormObelisk · 31/12/2022 09:30

I don't think you can compare occasional drinkers who have given it up to 'pretty heavy drinkers' who stop.

You'd have other symptoms if you had either of those illnesses.

Mumtimes2 · 31/12/2022 09:32

anotheruser173 · 31/12/2022 00:55

Yes! I didn't drink during lockdown as I was on my own, and now it just doesn't appeal anymore. I get interrogated every time I don't drink at an event where everyone else is drinking - I don't have a particular reason to not drink, and that's apparently not very acceptable. TBH, I think I'd get fewer looks if I said I was a recovering alcoholic... It's the lack of concrete reason that seems to baffle people.

This… I decided that giving up drinking was a massive challenge, so decided to choose on a daily basis whether I would drink or not. I never drank daily, but I did drink heavily at weekend. However, the daily decision making was powerful. I managed a streak of nearly a year. I lost three stone and felt much better.

Well, some people just don’t get it. The questions, the interrogation, the puzzled looks. It is like you’re breaking some kind of cultural norm and a bit eccentric. They try to find reasons for your bizarre behaviour.

Over the Xmas break, I had one or two drinks on a few days. My choice. And I didn’t really enjoy them and felt crappy too, so I’ll probably not drink again, or I might. My choice. Today, I choose not to. But, I’ll probably have to explain my reasoning as it is NYE.