365 days without booze... join me?

[Mobile Chicane]

Alternatives to AA exist. SMART Recovery for one, which is grounded in the principles of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy.

[othername]

Mobile Chicane said:

Alternatives to AA exist. SMART Recovery for one, which is grounded in the principles of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy.

I did SMART and did not have a great experience. Kicked off in the end as I was seemingly not 'bad enough'.... which seeing some of the folks who turned up to meetings pissed on the regular may have been a fair judgement! Half the group (yes including me) would go straight to the pub after (conveniently 200m away) with inevitable consequences in opposition to what the group was trying to achieve. Showed up to a personal meeting twice (a 40min round journey) to be told my therapist was off.... yeah, thanks for letting me know Of course, I realize the quality of these groups probably vary from town to town but that was my experience....

[7 5 7]

1 year and 2 months for me, very happy with myself. Was always a keen cyclist (mountain biker) - ever since having my 2nd child at NY time has been limited the past month or so, as many can imagine!!

I managed to get out yesterday, and having not been on my bike for a while I thought I would be a sluggish, achy out of breath mess as I usually am from not keeping it up regularly, but what a revelation, felt absolutely normal, I seriously put this down to not boozing for such a long time now.

I am definitely seeing changes in myself after this amount of time now, I am not going back to drinking anytime soon.

Fully understand it's harder for some, but hope everyone's journey, get to where they need it to get too.

Edited by 7 5 7 on Sunday 9th February 07:38

[Hugo Stiglitz]

OK my blood pressure is elevated and for the past few months I've not really had a booze break.

Google AI says cutting back only drops circa 5 per side on blood pressure?

Is that it?!!

[Digga]

Hugo Stiglitz said:

OK my blood pressure is elevated and for the past few months I've not really had a booze break.

Google AI says cutting back only drops circa 5 per side on blood pressure?

Is that it?!!

That's a fairly narrow view of the potential positive effects.

Small changes all add up and if you look at things like calories in booze and also that you could make additional, minor changes - diet, exercise, sleep etc. - then the cumulative benefits are potentially larger.

[Jiebo]

Hugo Stiglitz said:

OK my blood pressure is elevated and for the past few months I've not really had a booze break.

Google AI says cutting back only drops circa 5 per side on blood pressure?

Is that it?!!

You probably need to visit a GP to get checked out. My BP was very elevated when I drank (160/110), but it turned out it was high when I didn't drink too. Pay to see a private GP if you don't want alcohol misuse related stuff on your medical file, which should be avoided at all costs.

[Hugo Stiglitz]

I'm also coming off 6 months of Apixiban for DVT and that caused a fair amount of anxiety and some weight gain

[7 5 7]

Hugo Stiglitz said:

OK my blood pressure is elevated and for the past few months I've not really had a booze break.

Google AI says cutting back only drops circa 5 per side on blood pressure?

Is that it?!!

One of the reasons (medical reasons) I stopped the booze, as my BP was too high - heredity in my family anyway, but drink does not help one bit!

amongst other medical issues around my kidneys when I was born, as I have aged, I have been acutely more aware of these now, so not drank for over a year and will continue this theme. One of the best things I have ever done for my health.

Edited by 7 5 7 on Thursday 20th February 11:29

[Hugo Stiglitz]

7 5 7 said:

One of the reasons (medical reasons) I stopped the booze, as my BP was too high - heredity in my family anyway, but drink does not help one bit!

amongst other medical issues around my kidneys when I was born, as I have aged, I have been acutely more aware of these now, so not drank for over a year and will continue this theme. One of the best things I have ever done for my health.

Edited by 7 5 7 on Thursday 20th February 11:29

We need a like 👍 button on PH to like posts.

[Digga]

Aside basic BP considerations, alcohol can cause inflamation of organs surrounding the heart, so the secondary issues can be heart related, but the primary cause is the inflamation.

The process of reduction may or may not be noticeable fairly soon after stopping, but the overall effects only wear off after months.

[AB]

Not that I'm generally counting but I have done a quick total. Not had a beer since Christmas Day, so 58 days.

Not that I drank massively beforehand but as I've mentioned before I was all or nothing so a session could wipe me out for days. Maybe once a month.

Not missing it, enjoying nights out more, remembering them, also noticing what a dick I must have looked now I'm around my peers who haven't.

All said I can't see myself bothering to do it again.

[swanseaboydan]

Just done 500 days according to my counter ( last week). Life is better, much better. Sometimes I miss going out and getting wrecked but the my mind doesn’t remind me of the days I lost to hangovers, anxiety, not going to work etc. The mind seems to only remember the good times and not the bad.
Life now is different, more stable, possibly less exciting but it is worth it in my case. Good luck everyone who is trying to take control of or get more discipline in their life.
I think I’d rather be seen as a bit on the boring side than an overweight bore in the pub with a massive gut like I used to be !
I’m much more confident now and sleep a lot better. Don’t get me wrong, I still get occasional anxiety. However, it is short lived and easy to deal with. I hope this helps others out there, it’s worth it in my opinion to give this lifestyle a go.

[funinhounslow]

A pub near me now has this on draught. Right up there with Lucky Saint imo.

It was quite a novelty having a draught pint again after so long. Makes a nice change from coffee or soda water as a post dog walk drink

There is clearly plenty of demand for AF drinks now which can only be good news for us

[blue_haddock]

AB said:

Not that I'm generally counting but I have done a quick total. Not had a beer since Christmas Day, so 58 days.

Not that I drank massively beforehand but as I've mentioned before I was all or nothing so a session could wipe me out for days. Maybe once a month.

Not missing it, enjoying nights out more, remembering them, also noticing what a dick I must have looked now I'm around my peers who haven't.

All said I can't see myself bothering to do it again.

I'm not counting either but my last drink was a small whiskey on our christmas works do on 13th december.

Wasnt bothered at all over christmas and have no plans to start again.

[Digga]

I was talking to my wife about this over the weekend. She is still drinking, the same as she ever did, which was always moderate and generally a glass of wine with dinner, or a beer with a curry, but a good few days a week of none at all.

The progressive difference I've felt not drinking - how it seems to evolve, in terms of being less tired, more energised and feeling younger and clearer headed - is real. I am now at the point where I would certainly not say never again, but to drink needs to be a real occasion, whereas before the odd drink was a default and any 'occasion' was okay for a few more.

I now feel like I need an extremely good reason to ditch the cumulative benefit of not having drunk for so long. Is the transitory joy of a pint or a decent wine enough to outweigh the ongoing and seemingly increasing benefit of being off alcohol? I now feel I at least have to get to 3 months or I'll suffer from the FOMO of not knowing what it felt like.

[funinhounslow]

Digga said:

The progressive difference I've felt not drinking - how it seems to evolve, in terms of being less tired, more energised and feeling younger and clearer headed - is real. I am now at the point where I would certainly not say never again, but to drink needs to be a real occasion, whereas before the odd drink was a default and any 'occasion' was okay for a few more.

I now feel like I need an extremely good reason to ditch the cumulative benefit of not having drunk for so long. Is the transitory joy of a pint or a decent wine enough to outweigh the ongoing and seemingly increasing benefit of being off alcohol? I now feel I at least have to get to 3 months or I'll suffer from the FOMO of not knowing what it felt like.

My experience (I gave up in 2012 as a result of this thread) is that it takes about a year for the changes to fully "kick in". The "brightness", better sleep, health etc is pretty immediate as you have found - and continues to get better...

You should also be noticing financial "side effects" - with the price of booze these days, even a moderate drinking habit can cost a few quid over the course of a month.

The "magic" really happens when you realise you have improving health, more spare time (no weekend mornings shaking off hangovers) and a few extra quid in your back pocket at the end of the month - and deciding what to do with it.

As we get into spring the possibilities are endless - from things as simple as taking an early morning walk or reading more to taking up a new hobby or maybe volunteering...

I lost 20kg in the year after quitting alcohol. Since then I've learned to scuba dive, I volunteer at a museum, read and cycle a lot more and am now learning the piano. The sky really is the limit.

I mentioned this before but I have heard quitting drinking described as winning a really life Willy Wonka golden ticket and I think that is a wonderful way of putting it.

Best of luck!

[21TonyK]

souper said:

I gave up 745 days ago, 2 years 15 days and counting

Never thought I'd be able to do it, what helped was playing Far Cry 5 and 6 at or around the times I would normally open up a bottle or two of red every evening the playing the games took my mind off it and I was probably doing 14 bottles a week!

I don't even think about drinking now.

We must have packed it in the same sort of time. I thought it was only a year plus but its not. Its now 2 years and nearly 2 months.

I still have a rack full of wines, beers and spirits for guests and family but then I also kept half a pack of cigarettes in the kitchen for 10+ years when I quit that in some 20+ years ago.

Weird because I have a very addictive nature but like with smoking, once I decided I'd had enough it was very easy to stop over the course of a few weeks. Like you going from 2 bottles+ a night.

Not sure if its a normal thing but I used microdosing to literally wean myself off wine!

[Blib]

21TonyK said:

Not sure if its a normal thing but I used microdosing to literally wean myself off wine!

If it works for you, then it's a thing!

[Caddyshack]

Blib said:

21TonyK said:

Not sure if its a normal thing but I used microdosing to literally wean myself off wine!

If it works for you, then it's a thing!

Micro dosed with what? LSD?

[Caddyshack]

othername said:

Mobile Chicane said:

Alternatives to AA exist. SMART Recovery for one, which is grounded in the principles of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy.

I did SMART and did not have a great experience. Kicked off in the end as I was seemingly not 'bad enough'.... which seeing some of the folks who turned up to meetings pissed on the regular may have been a fair judgement! Half the group (yes including me) would go straight to the pub after (conveniently 200m away) with inevitable consequences in opposition to what the group was trying to achieve. Showed up to a personal meeting twice (a 40min round journey) to be told my therapist was off.... yeah, thanks for letting me know Of course, I realize the quality of these groups probably vary from town to town but that was my experience....

Going straight to pub after probably means there is no desire to give up, without the desire then there is zero will power. I can’t see why you would bother going to a meeting and knowing you were going to drink directly after?

I think another route may be better to explore.