To ask how you quit alcohol? I always get too drunk.

[WorthyLemur]

I need help and advice. I rarely drink alcohol (maybe half a dozen times a year). But every single time I drink, I get too drunk. This results in memory loss and horrendous hangxiety. I just don’t seem capable of knowing my limits with alcohol and I can’t keep up with the other drinkers around me.

Has anyone found themselves in a similar situation? How did you quit? My main fear is people thinking I’m unsociable. I know that’s ridiculous and I shouldn’t feel like I need alcohol to have a good time. I just know something needs to change because I’m not happy with how things are.,

Its very normal that tolerance is low when you rarely drink. My trick is water. After every alcoholic drink i order a bottle of water before i have more alcohol. And i try to drink slow. So when the others finish their first drink i will usually still have half of mine left. That way i skip a round. Then i order water in round 3. So when the rest gets their 4th drink i will have my second 😄

None of the ‘tricks’ - alternating water, eating a big meal, sticking to spritzers etc - worked for me. I was bad at moderating, and so eventually I just stopped.

After a while, people geberally accept it when you say you don’t drink. And you stop caring what they think, anyway.

Alcohol no longer features in my life. It’s not something I miss or think about anymore, although it took a year or so of doing drink-associated firsts - holiday, wedding, party etc - before I could fully relax in my decision. My DH still drinks (although not to excess), we have wine in the fridge and I can honestly say I don’t ever feel like it now.

5 years later, I am SO glad I braved it. Love being clear headed, no hangovers or anxiety, and can be comfortable in my own skin and enjoy life’s great moments without getting pissed.

Yes, I know. Its the way your brain reacts. It's not uncommon. These are the people on the threads about "my partner is amazing, they only drink 3 times a year, bit when they do I don't see them until 6am" lovely people who lose the run of themselves entirely. If it helps try to think of it as an allergy. Like some people can't have gluten, peanuts or a pet cat. It's restricting, you'd love not to have it, but you do, so you need to avoid the cause.

I feel like maybe I should just tell people I have developed an allergy to it? Maybe that would help others to accept that I can’t drink.

It worked for me OP, literally no one asked any questions at all. Although I did force my GP to listen to me explaining how I realised I was intolerant/allergic, she couldn't have been less interested but I wanted to tell someone the whole story.
I had planned to say, that even one drink made me violently sick and I passed out the last time I drank more than more then one glass. Which was true but no one did ask.
Really after a short time no one cared. But I have had to politely drink zero alcohol beers kind friends have bought. They aren't bad but usually I just drink water. Unless it's a special occasion and I am in an ice cream shop when it's a milkshake for me!

You can always just tell them you don't drink any more because it gives you a headache. After a few questions noone will think anything of it.

This is me right now. Third social situation yesterday with a different set of people where I drank wine, didn’t know my limits, drank too much, have memory loss and today have massive hangxiety. Embarrassed myself by being an arse to my husband, just generally a massive dick! I am only 8.5 stone so only takes a drink or two for me to be drunk! The last time I drank was a work thing and I lost massive chunks of the night and didn’t know what I’d done and the time before that I cut my forehead.

I know I need to stop entirely as I just don’t know my limits and I don’t want this feeling again.