Good excuses for not drinking - not antibiotics

[Janch13]

Meeting my girl friends for what would usually be a v boozy afternoon but I’m not drinking due to being very very early pregnant.

I find the antibiotics excuse seriously 🙄🙄 so looking for something more believable/ less used.

Just tell them. Whatever you say they will know you’re pregnant. they probably won’t mention it, but they will know (and will talk about it quickly and in hushed tones when you’re at the loo!)

driving is the only excuse that works. If you are the right age/situation to be TTC, no one is going to believe any other excuse.

Stomach ulcer? Getting over an upset stomach. Too acidy etc.

Had a really bad headache all day so have taken paracetamol and ibuprofen and don't want to add alcohol to that too.

Don't use an excuse, I think almost all of them are transparent. Just get non-alcoholic drinks that look like alcohol.

Agree with PPs that ordering your own alcohol-free drinks is the best way to avoid suspicion (alcohol free beer in a glass, mixer rather than spirit and mixer etc). Harder if you're having a sit down meal where you're sharing wine though. But relatively easy if a larger party/event where you can mingle and move around room.

Other options are to tell one person so they can help you cover up your non-drinking. Or to pretend to drink - pretend to take sips. But again more difficult if sitting round table.

I don't think excuses really work unless they fit with your usual behaviours. But if you want to go down that route -

Medication (I had a period of 3 months in my 20s where I couldn't drink because of medication - it wasn't antibiotics. But to be honest there are relatively few medications which stop you drinking completely, which is probably why people get suspicious!).

Training for race/sporting event.

Up early in morning.

Need to drive.

Recent food poisoning/feeling unwell - but to carry that off you'd probably have to refrain from eating too!

Having to do something important after the lunch (childcare?)

Diet/health kick.

I went out and said i felt shitty and that my boyfriend had been up all the night before being sick so hope id not "caught" anything off him. I got to the party me and my friends was going to and i ordered a wine and lemonade, i had one sip and then was waiting until some mentioned go to the toilets and then i managed sneakily pour majority of my drink down sink, when we sat down i had one more sip (looked like i more or less finished it then) and said it made me feel ill and i was gonna get a water. I had a drink of water enjoyed myself for an hour, went to bar got a lime and lemonade, told my friends it had vodka in it and then drank it and said that made me feel sick again so just gonna stick to water and go home early.

None of them suspected it at all, probably coz they thought id drank two alcoholic drinks.
Im not saying you should actually do that you could just probably pretend but i just thought a tiny little bit couldn't do any harm 😊

Any excuse will sound like an excuse, just buy your own drinks and get something non alcoholic that passes for alcoholic- lemonade in a gin glass, just coke if you’d normally have a vodka & coke etc.

After a couple of rounds nobody will notice anyway, the less attentive you bring the better - in reality few people take that much notice of what anyone else is drinking.

I've done vodka and lemonades but just lemonades. The only annoying thing was trying to go to the bar alone all the time!

I also have done driving but one alcohol free cider!

I rope in one trusted Allie to help me pull it off!

@PrincessConsuelaBanana exactly the same as my group, we are a boozy bunch 😂

It’s easier to just say you’re pregnant. There’s really no need to keep it a secret from close friends. All it does is perpetuate a feeling of shame and secrecy around miscarriage, if the worst does happen won’t you want their support?

This is true really.

The only time I've hidden that I was pregnant around friends was at a wedding. The bride is a cancer survivor and at the time of her wedding it wasn't clear if she'd be able to have a child of her own.

There was no way on this earth I was going to announce a pregnancy at her wedding. I drove and had a token glass of champers for the toasts.

There's no point, whatever lie you tell, as soon as you don't drink they'll know you're knocked up.