[Closed] Giving up booze?

I have. Tried. I've been hypnotised and it helps put me off the after effects of too much but not put me off the beer itself. I've plugged the book on the forum before, but have a read of this if you haven't already. Really helped get my priorities straight, and a good, entertaining (if a little worrying) read for anyone who enjoys a drink. It's not a lecture, it's not a life improvement thing, just a well written account of what many people already know, though probably without the escalation that the author encountered...

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Unexpected-Joy-Being-Sober-alcohol-free/dp/1912023385

I gave up booze completely for 40 days up to Easter Sunday. It was a brilliant feeling to be waking up with a clear head every day, I enjoyed it so much that I'm having a few glasses of wine tonight and beers every night when I head off on a mtb trip to Finale on 15th May just so I can give up for another 40 days when I get back and enjoy that initial pleasure all over again. Just worried that it'll never be as good as the first time and I'll end up having to drink heavier and heavier prior to giving up to get the same sense of relief and self righteousness 🙂

BTW, only joking about the self righteousness obviously.

Wheres the report button...

Better to just cut back. A beer with mates relaxes me as much as post big bike ride.

An old mate seems to have gotten a career out of this!

He started one year no beer following a tough time with booze and now he is doing great it seems. Look up oynb on facebook etc.

whenever i have a drink, even a odd pint

That seems extreme. Some sort of allergic reaction maybe or just bad luck in choosing some of the insanely strong beers available nowadays. I know certain beer types hit me hard regardless of strength and so mostly avoid them although its not at the one pint limit.
If I was feeling that shit after just a pint I wouldnt have problems giving up entirely. As it is an occasional session of roughly the 6-8 pints has me putting off the repeat for a while.

Is it beer or alcohol making you feel ill? Do you feel bad after a pint or two of cider or a couple of glasses of wine? I stopped drinking beer after I found it started really upsetting my stomach.

@dissonance

. I know certain beer types hit me hard

Could you expand? I really try now not to drink as like the OP I have become a little shocked as to how I feel the morning after. 2 cans of 3.6% 330ml beers will make me feel groggy and 'dry' . I'm now wondering if it these fancy IPA and APA beers that are doing it.

I've converted to non alcoholic beer now mind. There are 3 or 4 I've found that really are great

I stopped enjoying beer about a month ago so just have a coffee now. I used to feel a bit odd being the only one but beer was making me tired. I treat myself now to a speciality beer at home now and again, also just a small glass of red with food.

I noticed a few people drinking the zero alcohol stuff so you could try that.

What is your drinking pattern, alone , social etc do you have dry days ?

I have not given up completely but drink a huge amount less than I used to - both at in a session and in frequency - perhaps 3 or 4 pints every couple of weeks from a consumption 10 years ago of 3 pints 3 times a week and a good sess at the weekends

Mainly because of the hangovers getting so bad.

Funny, I've been contemplating this exact scenario. I'm not even 40 but a couple of cans of decent craft beer seems to leave me feeling crap! I also drink a ton of coffee, maybe ten mugs a day, so I've cut that out this week to see if that helps. I really enjoy the whole craft beer scene and I sometimes feel like I deserve a beer at the end of the day. Maybe it's a slippery slope. Maybe I should just do a month with no beer, less coffee and more water and see what happens.

Strange to have that strong a reaction to just the odd pint.
It's always been my plan to give up the drink at 40, but I might bring that forward as I've noticed looking at regular drinkers in pubs, how much it ages people.

It gets harder as you get older and the mass produced beers, especially the premium high strength lagers, are so full of crap it’s not the beer that is giving you the hangover it’s all the crap in the beer. I only drink once a week now with a couple of mates, down the local and decent beer. On the odd occasion we have a larger night I don’t get a hangover on the decent beer. If for some reason I have a few of the premium strength lagers then I just wasy to be euthanatised as soon as I wake up the hangover is so bad.

But clearly if you're Feeling crap then maybe take a break and try again at a much reduced consumption level, if you enjoy beer then just have a few a week.

Oh yes ..At the age of 52 after 30 years of very heavy drinking I went from 25 pints a day ( at the end ....wife counted) to Zero overnight.
Did take an emergency admission and week in a hospital being detoxed to complete though! Had no alcohol for 28 months now .Love the stuff ..all of it... but was self medicating in truth ..trying to be happy in a brain riddled with chronic anxiety and depression ( drink didn't exactly help long term as you might expect!). Despite all the trouble it caused me and having nearly killed me ..if drink didn't make me ill / sick ...I'd still be doing it. Life is softer and lubricated by well by drink...but as you're finding out .. there's a price to pay and for some that's a very high price indeed.

Since stopping drinking last November a month before heart surgery, I've struggled to start again. Even one pint or large glass of wine means broken sleep and a mini hangover.

Yes, pretty much given up. Last drink was mid January (one pint). I'm sure I'm sure I'd still enjoy a pint, but just don't feel I need one. I wasn't someone who had to have a drink if I went out, so don't really miss it now.

I haven't drunk since before Christmas (that is actually a lie, I had a few glasses of wine with food on holiday last month). I was only drinking once a week, but it was a Friday night binge and ruining my energy for the weekends. That was an established pattern going on for probably a couple of decades (before that I was drank much more)

Interesting thread - I'm not a drinker, only a pint or two at most, though I love trying new beers, but for the last year maybe, even just one beer, not even silly strong, will ruin my sleep and have me feeling like death the next day - splitting headache, dodgy guts, amazing hoppy tarts.

Had a bottle of Banks about 9pm last night. Bed at 11 but didn't go to sleep properly till 1, woke up in time to enjoy a spectacular fart about 7.30, now feeling mildly hungover.

Only seems to be beer that has this effect though.

Farts, not tarts.

I used to drink years ago (not massively, maybe 2-4 pints a couple of times a week) and particularly liked real ales, but they started giving me disaster pants more and more frequently.

I tried ciders and the after effects weren't so bad, but the alcohol seemed to hit me straight away and I'd feel yucky

Now any alcohol at all makes me feel crappy almost immediately, hot flush heady just yucky. I've even felt it with a shandy FFS!

Some one had left a couple of cans of magners in a bothy I was at a bit back so after a day out I thought sod it I'll have one. I enjoyed the cold cider briefly, but then felt like shit the rest of the night.

So, other than a moment of madnesses I don't bother as it's just not worth even a shandy!

People can be very outraged when you don't drink though. First they assume you're driving, then they seem to assume it's an affront to them or criticism of them drinking. Nope, it just makes me feel awful!

It's alcohol that gives a hangover, not 'chemicals' in beers, alcohol is the dominant chemical in any beer. Ever had a wine hangover? It's awful, again, it's the alcohol, nothing else.

And Ton only drinks ale, not mass produced stuff.

Could be a gluten intolerance? Worth trying a gluten free beer big yin, see of its any different.

I've not had any alcohol since 4th July Last year, came home from a week in Malta, decided to can it for a bit, as I often did, but found no urge to have a beer came, so I haven't.

It simply doesn't fit with my lifestyle any more, I've too many things I wanna do to glet the beer lethargy get in the way, love waking up fresh every day, and starting a degree at 43 meant I need all of the little grey matter that I have.

I've told my uni mates that I'll have a pint with them when we (hopefully!) Graduate in 3 years time, but the I probably won't.

Saved a bloody fortune as well, and lost nigh on 3 stone too.

All of that outweighs the joy of a beer 10 fold for me.

Nobeer by name.....

😊

I stopped in December aged 34 cos I really didn’t like the person I was when I drank. I also struggled to stop drinking when I started - one pint easily became four. Made the decision to stop and just have Diet Coke in the pub now and feel a lot better for it.

I packed up in October 2018 apart from a couple of glasses of wine at Christmas (which I didn’t enjoy). When I get in from a ride on a hot day I could murder a cold tin of beer but then the crap feeling next morning etc etc reminds me to have coke instead.
I’ve certainly got far more money in my pocket at the end of each month. Not lost any weight though 😀

If people are having reactions to just one pint of beer, then it can't be the alcohol they are reacting to, as it's barely 4percent alcohol, must be the other stuff in it surely.

Could you expand?

Mostly stouts/porters. Can get away with one but beyond that chances of feeling crap go up fast. Mixing different types can also be crappy but never figured out the pattern.
There are increasing numbers of decent low alcohol beer in the 2-3% range. Hopefully trend will continue.

In the alcoholic beverages industry, congeners are substances, other than the desired type of alcohol, ethanol, produced during fermentation. These substances include small amounts of chemicals such as methanol and other alcohols (known as fusel alcohols), acetone, acetaldehyde, esters, tannins, and aldehydes (e.g. furfural). Congeners are responsible for most of the taste and aroma of distilled alcoholic beverages, and contribute to the taste of non-distilled drinks.[1] It has been suggested that these substances contribute to the symptoms of a hangover.[2][3] Congeners are also used by forensic toxicologists to determine what a person drank in a sub-discipline called alcohol congener analysis.

From Wikipedia.

Maybe I should just do a month with no beer, less coffee and more water and see what happens.

I would suggest it's better to change one thing at a time and check the outcome. Personally I suspect the coffee.

I had that. So have two other people I know.

Cider and ginger beer were fine, so switched to those for a few months and I recovered (as did the other two). I think it’s a gut bacteria issue of some kind.

Sounds very familiar Tony. A few years ago I developed an intolerance to beer (I'd not put it as severe as an allergy). Basically, I'd develop migraines after as little as a pint. Certain beers were worse than others (and it wasn't just down to type of beer - lager vs IPA vs stout etc). With some beers I could tell when I was drinking it that it was going to hit me. I switched to ciders for a while and didn't have the problem. Similarly with whisky and wine. So, it was just beer and not alcohol. I did some digging and found out that there are certain enzymes, produced during the malting process of barley, that some folk react to. With that information, I then found that wheat beers were much more acceptable (much lower barley content).

The phase of this intolerance lasted around 10 years and has, largely, diminished now but I still get the occasional bad day after as little as a pint.

Totally support this. I have one beer and feel like death. Since having children I have found it unbearable to have a hangover and look after the little ones. I have also put on weight in the last year or so which I attribute to drinking

I think it’s a gut bacteria issue of some kind.

In that case, I have an idea . . . Faecal Transplant 😉

Been off alcohol for almost a year. Did it to support a weight loss program, lost 20kg. Biking is a remarkably easy now in comparison, I sleep better, snore less, eyes look better, skin is a better texture and I haven't had a headache in almost a year. Sort of got to a target weight but I can't see the point in taking up the alcohol thing again.

Draught Guinness in the pub no issue, Draught Guinness in a can and one can is enough for me to get a thick head feeling. As discovered this weekend, never used to get this but Ii'm starting to find a few beers that seem to disagree with me even if it is just a single can. No such issues with cider, wine or this evenings port. Some ports do have a similar effect though. I'm guessing it's an age thing.

That's 22ml of alcohol. You know that it's a toxin? It's the alcohol.

Sorry, that's in reply to Handybear.

i keep thinking about packing it in too. but its the thought of not drinking round the fire on camping trips or that quencher after a good bike ride or long walk that puts me off. i live for those moments!

i attempted veganuary after crimbo and while i didnt too well at that i manged to stay off the meat so decided to keep that up... it was the thought of not tucking into a bacon butty on a sunday morning or a steak & ale pie at the pub that put me off quitting meat sooner - but i have done and ive not missed it one bit, so maybe theres hope for the booze.

or that quencher after a good bike ride or long walk that puts me off. i live for those moments!

indeed. Thats my favourite pint - the well deserved one

53 here and stop drinking real ale last year due to struggling with my breathing ( diagnosis with asthma at 51), dire stomach upset and general feeling crap. Tried just lager and reduction of intake from 3 to 5 pints at the weekend to one or two, now on lager shandy after a walk or a ride.

Hardest part of not drinking is explaining over and over again why you don’t.

Interesting Sctoroutes. Which beers did you find worked for you?

Further to my earlier post, these are great

https://drydrinker.com/product/mikkeller-weird-weather-500ml-can/

Hardest part of not drinking is explaining over and over again why you don’t.

I dined out with a group and a lady at table I'd never met before quite firmly declined wine. Seeing she was under pressure I quipped something to the effect of "don't worry we aren't going to force a reformed alcoholic to drink" which raised a laugh and put an end to the pressure. The next time we met there was nobody else around and her first question was "How did you know?"

I don't drink much, it's a lot easier in France or Spain where ordering a coffee doesn't shock.

“don’t worry we aren’t going to force a reformed alcoholic to drink”

What a shit thing to say. Eased the pressure? Or just made everyone including the lady embarrassed?...

What a shit thing to say.

She didn't think so. Not to fussed what someone who is often a judgemental dick on this forum thinks. 🙂

Cool.

Seeing she was under pressure I quipped something to the effect of “don’t worry we aren’t going to force a reformed alcoholic to drink” which raised a laugh

It does come across quite harshly to be honest.

Breaking the tension would usually mean you also would decline the wine and saying something like "sometimes it's nice not to have a drink" or something that doesn't draw further attention to someone who isn't partaking in 'social norms'.

Wasn't there so maybe it was all taken in good spirits (pun intended).

So how many of you folk would happily drink orange juice if everybody else did and mainly drink alcohol because of peer pressure to do so? And would you drink five pints of beer if all the orange juice drinkers took the piss out of you for being a wimp and drinking beer? I've given up on socialising with more than one group I've every reason to get on with because of the pressure to drink alcohol.

There's a bizarre culture around alcohol with all the ills people should be aware of:

https://www.verywellmind.com/alcohol-is-the-most-harmful-drug-3969483

On this forum there's a laddish culture around drink, when the site goes down an image comes up of a man with a big grin and several tins of beer. A helmet who rides with Stella tins on his rider is an MTB hero. I've lost count of the number of alcohol related brags in EDL threads. It's big, it's clever, it's grownup... er no it's not.

It's a drug, consume with the same prudence you would any of the drugs that objectively do society less harm but don't make the tax man happy.

There's an advertising campaign in these parts to convince us to drink less than two glasses a day and not every day. That's about one British pint or somewhat less than the contents of the typical British wine glass I'm given - they look more like flower vases.

No-one should need an alibi not to drink.

 I quipped something to the effect of “don’t worry we aren’t going to force a reformed alcoholic to drink”

You what? Are you absolutely ****ing mental?

Interesting Sctoroutes. Which beers did you find worked for you?

As I said, I tended to go for wheat beers. Hoegaardens, Erdinger both good. Some nice bottled stuff too if you look around.

No Scotroutes, no-one tried to persuade her to drink for the rest of the evening. We had all met that day so no-one had any reason to think I was being serious but it did mean they stopped plying the drink. The only thing that bothered her was that she thought I'd guessed she was an alcoholic as if it was written on her forehead, hence her question the next day "how did you know?", to which I replied "I didn't", and that was the start of a really good chat about all sorts of rubbish.

Anyhow, I'm not an alcholic (or am I? for all you know I could be), but it's really annoying when I have to refuse a drink more than once or someone makes a disparaging comment about my choice of drink or size of drink. Doesn't happen often around here.

I gave up last year for just over three months after a mate of mine said he had signed up for the one year no beer thing.I didn't sign up for that but did listen to the podcasts they do which had some good content on there.I was drinking at least a bottle of wine everynight for years prior.It was hard for the first week then once i found an alcohol free beer i didn't mind i got into it.I thought i would start again for xmas and then get back on the wagon in the new year.It never happened,i had a few alcohol free days between xmas and new year and i have drunk every night since.Less than before but still everynight.I don't really want to stop now where as before i did.I don't really suffer with bad hangovers with the amount i drink and it doesn't stop me getting up early to go for a pre work bike ride.This is not a pro drink post just my experience of giving up and starting again.

Not a funny joke really.

Friend of mine had a serious problem with alcohol - he ended up in A and E three times after drunken accidents - one of the main reasons being he simply didn't get hangovers, so it didn't affect his work for the most part. He could also sober up during sessions by not drinking for an hour, then start again.
But he's given up completely now since getting married, I think his wife would have definitely left him if it continued. I saw him in the pub the other day and I'm careful to keep a distance from him - I don't want to be good friends with him incase it means he wants to come down the pub more and it sets off the old drinking patterns again.
For some people, social drinking inevitably leads to alcohol problems.

I've nothing but respect for folk looming to give up alcohol. The UK and Ireland have an insane dependency on it and it's a ticking time bomb.

I "officially" stopped drinking about 5 years ago. I was a bottle of JD on a saturday night kinda guy and then hitting the town with mates. Took me longer to get a buzz and started to cost me a fortune.

I was always a social drinker, never drank on my own so it wasn't a big step for me. As mates started getting married and having kids etc I was also going out less and so pulled the plug. Haven't missed it one bit.. though I still piss away the money on stupid stuff!

I'm a social drinker, but over time I'm reducing both the frequency of the sessions and how many pints I have in a session.
I value local pubs. They've been very important for forming new friendships and acquaintances as I've had to move around a bit for work.
But I'm single and I doubt I would drink at all if I were married with kids. Still, I'm amazed at how many bottles of wine the local residents get through. I think the worse thing would be for two heavy drinkers to get married, that can never end well.

my experience of giving up and starting again.

My experience differ a little.   I gave up 100% between January and March.  I wasn't a heavy drinker but it creeps up to "that one, maybe two beers after work/the kids are in bed".

After much, I told myself I wouldn't drink the day before training sessions so as not to restrict performance in any way, or afterwards not to affect asleep / recovery.  This basically means I drink 1-2 beers or glasses of wine a week now, and I enjoy them.

There's loads to google about health benefits of no or little alcohol which is essentially a poison to our body's.   Unfortunately its one of the mainstream complimentary adverts for living or celebrating in our society today which makes avoidance difficult.

Because I drink so little now I have a low tolerance, but mainly once you do give up - even for a week or so, its surprising how much you notice the mornings are better - no fuzzy head, no dry mouth, more alert, more energy etc.

Congrats on people that do give up - there so much to pull you the other way its nothing but a difficult challenge.

I like the idea of giving up. Being hungover every day sucks, plus there's the weight gain. The problem is, it tastes good, makes me feel good & takes the misery a way for an hour or two.

Take away the misery instead ?

Aye, address the issue*, instead of medicating.

* Easier said than done at times, I know.

Gave up 4 years ago - I'm 53 now. First 6 months was tough. The last time i missed it was last summer in the Lakes. Coming off the fells and having a coke just seemed strange. Increasingly if out for the evening and late to bed still feel a bit knackered in the morning but think whatever would I feel like if I had been drinking. It cant be a bad thing to give up. My kids are 10 and 12 and I want to see them grow up and hopefully giving up booze can only help my health.

It does seem that these threads are dominated by folk that have/had an issue with excessive alcohol consumption. Maybe its just my social circle but my friends all seem to be occasional drinkers, a few units per week, sometimes none, and there is never any pressure on folk to have an alcoholic drinkif out in the pub etc. It's perfectly possible to combine moderate alcohol intake with good health and the responsibilities of a family.

I wish i could, but girlfriends mental health & my family business losing several hundred thousand pounds this year is making me lose the smiley face:(

It does seem that these threads are dominated by folk that have/had an issue with excessive alcohol consumption. Maybe its just my social circle but my friends all seem to be occasional drinkers,

only drink on a Saturday. some weeks a couple, some weeks a gallon.

I drink a lot less than I used to. We (MrsIHN and I) would share a bottle of wine one or two nights a week and one Fri/Sat/Sun nights it'd be a couple beers or G&T's (home measures, i.e. large), a bottle of wine, maybe a whisky or a brandy late on. Or we'd be out and I'd have five or six pints.

The MrsIHN did Dry January and, whilst I didn't go the whole hog, I did Semi-Arid January. So, on a Friday night I'd have a (i.e. one) beer, same Saturday, maybe same Sunday. That was it. The habit has basically stuck, mid-week drinking is gone, weekend drinking is much reduced. I feel better for it and have lost a fair bit of weight.

However, the thing that struck me most was on the occasional times I have had a few (say, out for a friends birthday or something) I've felt pretty rubbish the next day and realised that I used to drink that amount regularly and feel fine, which can't be good.

I drink almost nothing by comparison with some here and those in my club. A half pint after a ride whilst others might drink several, for example. I am however, a believer in quality over quantity. So I'm happy to buy and try different beers from anywhere, and just as happy to open a bottle of wine and spend a week drinking it and have some left to pour away.

Lightweight? Or wahtever, I think some of this is attitude. I like the taste of some beers like wheat beers, IPAs etc, and am happy to try anythinh. But three pints in an evening would see me in a pretty poor state!

I don't necessarily beleive in giving up, but I do beleive in tryng different things and savouring. Why not try that. Bottled beers help, due to portion size, of course. That and I drink a huge amount of all sorts of tea!

I like the idea of giving up. Being hungover every day sucks,

You don't need to drink every night.

Not in my 50s (at the tender age of 42) but I am 18 months into giving up drinking, well almost, I do still drink LA beer.

I don't regret it, having done it I can feel a real difference in my mood, alertness and fitness. Im also better off financially and I don't miss it now its gone. You should try some of the new breed of LA beers that are commonly available like Adnams Ghost Ship, Brooklyn LA etc. While they tend to be quite citrus-ey they're a decent drink in their own right unlike say Bitburger, or Heineken or a host of other drain cleaner LA beers, and certainly enough to sway you from the perception that you're missing out. They're also usually low in calories relatively speaking too.

I'm like Scotroutes, started getting 2 day hangovers from 1 or 2 pints - it was IPA/Pale Ales at first but not can be a pint of any beer (I live in Munich so the purity of the beers is pretty good!).
The crazy thing is that sometimes I can have 1 pint and be ill for 2 days - headaches, cold sweats, bad stomach, but when I'm away snowboarding with the lads I can have 3-5 pints a night and no issues. Its like Russian Roulette!
Got to the stage where I'v basically given up drinking full stop - maybe 1 beer or 1 glass of wine every couple of weeks. I never really drank much as standard but I do like the occasional glass of something so not going 100% dry.

As a follow on to this - and the journey probably started (in my mind at least) with reading the book I recommended, I've just signed up for One Year No Beer - the 90 day version 🙂 On Day 2 but actually my 5th day without a drink. Boy do I feel better waking up and throughout the day. No doubt there'll be harder bits once the honeymoon period is over, and particularly stressing about a business trip next week - but for the moment the overriding sentiment, after my first alcohol free Friday and Saturday evening for a long time, is what a lovely time I'm having with family and how much more fun it is.

Like I say, there'll be harder days, but just ordered a big selection of alcohol free beers that I think will help. I'm very dominantly a beer drinker, and the first couple at least are because I really like the taste. The others are usually social triggers or just because it takes my mind off things. They are the ones I'll have to fight with, I've no doubt.

Anyway. 88 days to go 😀

I gave up over 100 days ago now, just had my first sober birthday since my teens probably. It gets easier as you go along and in my opinion has been my best ever decision. Its easy and hard at the same time with some strange mental conflicts. Ive been reading plenty of blogs but im trying to keep to the positive ones but ive come to the conclusion that there are people out there who are just going sober so they can write about something and gain instagram followers! Lots of shite about getting up early and meditation!

Keep it up orange! It's a real gift that we have come to this point and realisation in life!

Well done dougie, keep going if that's what you want, it gets easier. 15 months down the line it's not something I even think about now.

Yea I've sort of convinced myself to do a year, that way I don't have the mental challenge of the whole rest of life thing.

I don't drink a lot by some standards, maybe 4 cans a week, or maybe 4 cans a week plus a couple of pints down the pub. However I did find myself becoming more dependent on it, if only for the routine of having a pint rather than the feeling it gave me. I also struggle massively with depression and anxiety - current period is especially bad - and therefore I'm trying to remove anything that could make this worse.

I'm 7 days in now and despite fancying a pint over the weekend (and 'needing one to take the edge off' on Friday) I've managed to abstain. I don't feel any happier, I've certainly not lost any weight but at least it's something else that isn't adding to my mood. My stomach isn't as bad as it was either, which could also be seen as a positive.

Big thumbs up to the AF beers though - I've been drinking Moretti Zero and now actually prefer it to normal beer. Plus it's £3 for 4 which is a bonus.

I have to be careful which alcohol I drink even some soft drinks as I have a terrible reaction to Sulphites which a lot of them have.

1 bottle of Magners and I have a migraine the next day the same with shipyard Pale ale. Lime cordial and ginger ale also have them in too so have to try and avoid them. It's a bit of a lottery to be honest but the good news it means I only drink very occasionally

I was necking a litre of vodka a night for years. (rough childhood). I just stopped. I didn't drive for a week incase I had a fit. It was rough but I did it. Staying sober is the hard bit. It's in your face on the telly, in shops etc.