365 days without booze... join me?
Discussion
steveT350C said:
Even just writing this has made me think that I must be f
king stupid not to just stop.
I want to give it a go
Just an idea. You may want to write some thoughts down. If you find you get through to yourself this way, it could be a good vehicle in taking stock, setting out where you are and where you want to be and figuring out how to get there. king stupid not to just stop.I want to give it a go
Doesn't have to be here, or public in any way. I don't know about you but I can talk myself into or out of anything in my own head, but to write down on paper something patently untrue about how I feel is really hard.
Anyway, good luck. Divorce is really hard, so having the stones to get a grip of yourself and do something this momentous at the same time is praiseworthy.
Steve Evil said:
I had quite a few non-alcoholic (0.5% at most) beers yesterday throughout the day. Went to bed and my head was a complete fog so I don't think even those agree with me all that much. Will stick to a couple at most today.
Never really understood alcohol-free alcohol, having tried both beer and wine in the past. (Almost as bad as taking caffeine out of coffee - and in any case "de-caffeinated" still has a very reasonable proportion of caffeine......just less, maybe 30% or so)The process of making any alcohol drinkable has always been to throw various things in it. Unsurprising if what's thrown in there is as bad for you as the alcohol (would have been) itself!
Enjoyed Radio 4's Fry and Rutherford attempting to look at the science of the hangover - which was on Boxing Day morning before many boozers would have been aware....
I was chatting to a good friend who has a similar issue to me with regards to alcohol. It was good to talk someone who understands it all, especially at this time of year when the majority see it as a duty/tradition/habit to drink to excess.
I guess he's far 'worse' than me as he's been diagnosed as an alcoholic by his doctor, suffered pancreatitus and developed type II diabetes. He's been dry for more than a year and appears to be happy and comfortable now.
I'd recommended Allan Carr's book a while ago as it's been invaluable to me. I know he's been going to AA meetings and found them a great help - but I was surprised to hear that his group actively discourage this book, and others like it - told him not to read it. They claim it would be counter-productive and make it more difficult to quit.
I suppose it's because the book has a fairly negative opinion of AA and their methods/philosphy - but to suggest it may be harmful is taking it a bit far.
Were it not for the Allan Carr 'Easyway' method I'd still be drinking and much further down the slippery slope.
Clearly, there is no one-size-fits-all solution, but Easyway is invaluable to many, and saved lives.
I guess he's far 'worse' than me as he's been diagnosed as an alcoholic by his doctor, suffered pancreatitus and developed type II diabetes. He's been dry for more than a year and appears to be happy and comfortable now.
I'd recommended Allan Carr's book a while ago as it's been invaluable to me. I know he's been going to AA meetings and found them a great help - but I was surprised to hear that his group actively discourage this book, and others like it - told him not to read it. They claim it would be counter-productive and make it more difficult to quit.
I suppose it's because the book has a fairly negative opinion of AA and their methods/philosphy - but to suggest it may be harmful is taking it a bit far.
Were it not for the Allan Carr 'Easyway' method I'd still be drinking and much further down the slippery slope.
Clearly, there is no one-size-fits-all solution, but Easyway is invaluable to many, and saved lives.
I am going to do this from 1st Jan. I have given up for long periods before, think the longest was 9 months. 2018 has been st for me, nothing major, just death by a thousand cuts, and I like most people have used drink to "deal with it". I get 2 hours of feeling better but the other 22 I feel like st.
I dont think I will ever be tea total, but a year is a good place and will keep me on track with everything I want to do this year to sort stuff out.
I will give those 2 books mentioned above a go as well.
t for me, nothing major, just death by a thousand cuts, and I like most people have used drink to "deal with it". I get 2 hours of feeling better but the other 22 I feel like st. I dont think I will ever be tea total, but a year is a good place and will keep me on track with everything I want to do this year to sort stuff out.
I will give those 2 books mentioned above a go as well.
I managed 4yrs after I was spiked (left for dead) and hospitalised - that was a good 16yrs ago now mind.
It very easily becomes habit and an unconscious decision - I’ve debated on doing it again but I hardly drink now anyways so it wouldn’t be much of a challenge lol
Good luck to those about to commence though!
It very easily becomes habit and an unconscious decision - I’ve debated on doing it again but I hardly drink now anyways so it wouldn’t be much of a challenge lol
Good luck to those about to commence though!
LordGrover said:
I was chatting to a good friend who has a similar issue to me with regards to alcohol. It was good to talk someone who understands it all, especially at this time of year when the majority see it as a duty/tradition/habit to drink to excess.
I guess he's far 'worse' than me as he's been diagnosed as an alcoholic by his doctor, suffered pancreatitus and developed type II diabetes. He's been dry for more than a year and appears to be happy and comfortable now.
I'd recommended Allan Carr's book a while ago as it's been invaluable to me. I know he's been going to AA meetings and found them a great help - but I was surprised to hear that his group actively discourage this book, and others like it - told him not to read it. They claim it would be counter-productive and make it more difficult to quit.
I suppose it's because the book has a fairly negative opinion of AA and their methods/philosphy - but to suggest it may be harmful is taking it a bit far.
Were it not for the Allan Carr 'Easyway' method I'd still be drinking and much further down the slippery slope.
Clearly, there is no one-size-fits-all solution, but Easyway is invaluable to many, and saved lives.
My understanding (never been to AA but have been told this) is that they consider "Easyway" and similar as treating the symptoms of an individual's "problem" ie alcohol consumption and not addressing the cause of why they drink.I guess he's far 'worse' than me as he's been diagnosed as an alcoholic by his doctor, suffered pancreatitus and developed type II diabetes. He's been dry for more than a year and appears to be happy and comfortable now.
I'd recommended Allan Carr's book a while ago as it's been invaluable to me. I know he's been going to AA meetings and found them a great help - but I was surprised to hear that his group actively discourage this book, and others like it - told him not to read it. They claim it would be counter-productive and make it more difficult to quit.
I suppose it's because the book has a fairly negative opinion of AA and their methods/philosphy - but to suggest it may be harmful is taking it a bit far.
Were it not for the Allan Carr 'Easyway' method I'd still be drinking and much further down the slippery slope.
Clearly, there is no one-size-fits-all solution, but Easyway is invaluable to many, and saved lives.
I hear they use the term "dry drunk" to refer to someone who just quits drinking, the implication being that the factors that caused them to drink are still in play, and if they ignore them this is likely to cause stress and going back on the bottle at some point.
For me, and I imagine the majority who use Easyway, I drank because I liked it, and after reading the book realised that it was in fact giving me nothing. So I stopped. Simple as that.
I suspect that those who use alcohol as a "crutch" for whatever reason may be better suited to AA.
I've said it before and I've posted here about it in the past (probably a similar time last year) but I need to do something about the amount I drink, over the year it has ended up every day in the evening (strong cider mainly), not only do I feel rough in the morning but I've put on a load of weight and I know it's the booze as opposed to my diet, my snoring has got bad which is affecting the wife and I don't know if its a coincidence but lately I've found that when I have a drink I soon get a banging headache and generally start to feel a bit crap, I also start not nod off at 21:30 on the sofa, plus obviously there is the cost.
I'm not sure why I drink though, I think it's more out of habit than anything else and just something to do; I'm more of a home drinker, Oddly if I'm out say at a gig, I'm not that fussed about drinking, I think because there is something else going on to take my mind off it, sometimes I'll offer to drive when we go out so I won't have a drink or I'll only have 1, but I'm not bothered, yesterday we were at my cousins wedding I drove, I had a pint and a half of cider and that was it, I was fine and didn't think I was missing out at all.
I've been off work over Christmas, there has been/is booze in the house but I've drunk far less in this period of being off than if it had been a normal working week, a couple of days I've not drunk a thing, I think because my routine has been different and I've been doing different things and this change has taken my mind off it, I've been opening the fridge and seeing the half bottles of wine but my first thought hasn't been "that needs finishing off" I just ignore it, or seeing the beer in the shed, I've not thought "must get that down me".
So I intend on having January off, however I've pretty much started already and I'll take the following months as it comes, ultimately I'd like to get to a stage where I just have a few at the weekend but I say that all the time and start off there after a dry January, but it soon gets back to a daily thing.
I'm not sure why I drink though, I think it's more out of habit than anything else and just something to do; I'm more of a home drinker, Oddly if I'm out say at a gig, I'm not that fussed about drinking, I think because there is something else going on to take my mind off it, sometimes I'll offer to drive when we go out so I won't have a drink or I'll only have 1, but I'm not bothered, yesterday we were at my cousins wedding I drove, I had a pint and a half of cider and that was it, I was fine and didn't think I was missing out at all.
I've been off work over Christmas, there has been/is booze in the house but I've drunk far less in this period of being off than if it had been a normal working week, a couple of days I've not drunk a thing, I think because my routine has been different and I've been doing different things and this change has taken my mind off it, I've been opening the fridge and seeing the half bottles of wine but my first thought hasn't been "that needs finishing off" I just ignore it, or seeing the beer in the shed, I've not thought "must get that down me".
So I intend on having January off, however I've pretty much started already and I'll take the following months as it comes, ultimately I'd like to get to a stage where I just have a few at the weekend but I say that all the time and start off there after a dry January, but it soon gets back to a daily thing.
I'm not a big drinker and never have been but in the last month I've been socially more busy than normal and have drank a fair bit.
Each morning after, I've felt awful, even if I've only had one or two drinks, especially so if I've had 4 or 5. I went to London 2 weeks ago and drank 2 pints and a load of water and felt horrendous the next day, for example.
I'm definitely in next year.
Shame really, I've got quite a good whiskey collection going
Each morning after, I've felt awful, even if I've only had one or two drinks, especially so if I've had 4 or 5. I went to London 2 weeks ago and drank 2 pints and a load of water and felt horrendous the next day, for example.
I'm definitely in next year.
Shame really, I've got quite a good whiskey collection going
Today I've made it to 7 years without a drop and drinking is something that just doesn't feature in my thoughts at all now - I don't know why people do it! Still enjoying the benefits of staying off it too!
Despite excessive job stress (can't seem to nail another job at the moment) I don't think about going back to it as I know it would make matters worse by amplifying negative thoughts and I would put on a lot of weight fast, especially with my 53 year old metabolism. That would be the start of a downward spiral and I don't want to go back to day 1 after all this time anyway.
This year stress has killed my willingness to continue with the superb fitness regime I enjoyed for a few years but I will try and get back in to it. Consequently the weight is going back on slightly - not helped by the alcohol substitute sugar cravings that remain as strong as ever!
I would urge anyone thinking about giving it a go to do so. The health benefits are literally amazing and start the following day after a great night's sleep, positive outlook and the end of feeing 'lightly poisoned' all the time. The weight literally falls off too so it's an easy win.
Finally there's a few grand in the bank to fund the classic car.
All the best!
Despite excessive job stress (can't seem to nail another job at the moment) I don't think about going back to it as I know it would make matters worse by amplifying negative thoughts and I would put on a lot of weight fast, especially with my 53 year old metabolism. That would be the start of a downward spiral and I don't want to go back to day 1 after all this time anyway.
This year stress has killed my willingness to continue with the superb fitness regime I enjoyed for a few years but I will try and get back in to it. Consequently the weight is going back on slightly - not helped by the alcohol substitute sugar cravings that remain as strong as ever!
I would urge anyone thinking about giving it a go to do so. The health benefits are literally amazing and start the following day after a great night's sleep, positive outlook and the end of feeing 'lightly poisoned' all the time. The weight literally falls off too so it's an easy win.
Finally there's a few grand in the bank to fund the classic car.
All the best!
yonex said:
I’ll be joining the alcohol free ranks for 2-3 months from January, it’s become a yearly fixture now.
Snap.On the run up to Christmas with different nights out with different groups I drank to excess perhaps 10 nights running. My problem is I either don’t drink or I overdo it. I’ll either be the driver or the one who is carried back to the car. No middle ground for some reason.
29th December I woke up feeling dreadful, kidneys aching, headache, decided that was it, few months off needed.
Even overnight last night I kept waking up in a pool of sweat, my hands aren’t all that steady. Who knew after a relatively short period of time the withdrawal symptoms would be similar to that of a cider drinking homeless bloke!
Back to work on Thurs so hopefully I’ll feel better tomorrow.
I'm in (again) and am going to try harder this time around. Been hitting it far too hard for far too long and feel terrible. Actually stopped 30th December, so day 3 for me today and I feel awful... done this before though, a week of dreadfulness and sleepless nights and i should feel brighter.
Going to force myself into the gym this week as well to lift my mood.
Good luck all.
Going to force myself into the gym this week as well to lift my mood.
Good luck all.
Joscal said:
Good luck Robert I’ve been off it for 3 months and have genuinely never felt better. I would recommend This naked mind by Annie Grace and Alchohol Explained by William Porter also. They’re both great books but be warned you’ll never look at drinking the same!
Feel free to PM me if you want any advice!
I've taken Joscal's advice and read, or rather listened to, Alcohol Explained by William Porter. It is a fascinating book and has changed my perspective on drinking completely. It has also explained a lot about some issues I have experienced for quite some time, mainly with anxiety, OCD and depression and how the booze has effected and played a part in these. Feel free to PM me if you want any advice!
I'll be giving The Naked Mind a go next.
I'm in for being booze free, stopped on the 21/12/2018 and so far am enjoying it. I've tried to quit many times and failed but feel very different approaching it on this occasion.
Good luck everyone!
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