Decent excuses for not drinking - meeting boozy mates

[EldonAve]

I know it's been done before but I've trawled the archives - all I found was detox/ABs/drugs

Anyway I am meeting two old workmates for dinner this week
They will expect me to join them drinking copious quantities of wine
They have no shame and will accuse me of pregnancy if I'm not drinking

What other excuses are there?

drive. if you live within walking distance, say you have to drop something off somewhere...

i said i had chronic water infection and that booze would just make my bits sting more! that soon put pay to further questions!

Anti-biotics? Driving?

given it up for lent

Make sure you do the buying for yourself (or make an arrangement with the bar staff first), order apple juice and soda - looks like a white wine spritzer.

Driving is the best one. Anything else - well, you'll have to pull it off beautifully. 'Anti-b's' screams 'up the duff' to me (although I have used it myself in desperation).

Driving is out as it's central London

FioFio - I know I don't need an excuse. It just avoids me having to brazen it out when they accuse me of pgy.

Oooh, is it pancake day tomorrow?

People just thought I was weird when I started on pints of blackcurrant instead of bitter, so I'm not a helpful person to ask.

This time I just said 'money' when I stopped.

Agree with FioFio - we do have a pernicious booze culture now IMO.

If you must lie, how about so utterly hungover that you can't face drink of any kind - you went out with DH's mates and were drinking rum, tequila, wine and beer at different stages of the evening, and couldn't stop talking about donkeys until you made a fool of yourself and passed out.... etc. etc.. It will also explain if you feel or look ill and want to sit down.

Here's an embarrasing one - raging thrush! Mine is exacerbated wildly by alcohol, although you will have to try and avoid very sugary drinks too. It may stop the conversation getting too far out of control!!

Message withdrawn

tell them you are hideuosly hung over from the night before.

Say you are taking Metronidazole for an infection. These are practically the only antibiotics you cant take with alcohol and you would be violently ill

hmmm hungover they might believe

metronidazole they'd want gory details of the infection!

The hungover one works a treat - and was the only way I got away with it.
You can tell some lovely stories about what you got up to last night and make vomity faces when you look at booze.

Otherwise agree with the above suggestion - if you have a glass and "sip" at it - people will not notice. My biggest problem came when someone suggested shots!
Good luck!

tell them its vaginal and shut em up

Aren't you pregnant then?

6 weeks but really don't want to tell anyone

Oh in that case hangover is best excuse

Detox
Lent
Hungover

I used to claim my hypertension was playing up again.

What Christiana said. People really, really don't notice if you don't mention it. Take the drink and pretend to sip. On your rounds, buy a sparkling water and ask the bartender to make it look like G&T. Nobody realised that I was off booze when I was pregnant because I just didn't mention it at all.