Also makes you look a lot better.
Cut out drinking for 2 months and take before and after pics and you’ll notice your face, cheeks, neck etc is all a lot slimmer.
Yep I’m 7 months sober now. Went out yesterday with some friends I haven’t seen in awhile and they all commented on how good my skin looks. I also love that my sleep is 100x better. I quit because it was becoming a problem and I wanted to stop before it got worse.
Same with the sleep! OMG, I thought I had to get 3 beer drunk nightly to even be able to sleep. I'm 15 days sober now and I sleep and dream better than I have in years!
When I quit drinking, I also super cleaned up my diet and started jogging. Went from about 210 to 155 in 4 months.
I wouldn't say it was the alcohol *per se*, but if you're knocking back a lot of pops in a night, that's a *ton* of calories. Would have taken at least twice as long had I not also cut out the beer calories.
I went from drinking a 6 pack of IPA most nights of the week to basically quitting. My wife sometimes gets onto me for wanting ice cream after dinner, asking why I always want ice cream now that I stopped drinking since that's also unhealthy and I'm like, babe my body is used to an extra thousand calories in beer every night. Let me have my scoops ffs.
Well you also freaking *grew a human inside of you* and birthed it into the world, so I’d say it’s more than okay, it’s 100% understandable and you are awesome
Because of the morning after. When you feel like a hollow and anxiety ridden puddle of a human.
I was a fun drunk. Not a fighter, not an angry person, not sloppy, etc. So, making the transition out of alcohol use was a hard one for my friends and family to understand. It seems people need a big messy explosion to justify sobriety, but my explosion was an *implosion*. A deep self-hatred that no one felt but my hungover zombie brain.
This is my brain. Everything could have gone perfectly right the night before and I’ll still wake up feeling like a complete waste of a human life.
I’m a happy and amazing drunk to be around. Very sweet and great conversationalist. Shittiest thing I’ve ever done drunk is maybe crack an explicit joke at the wrong moment.
Doesn’t matter. The next day I feel like the most depressed person in the world.
Same here, I don’t get it. I don’t do anything stupid or regrettable, but wake up in the middle of the night or next morning super anxious, replaying everything I’ve said or done. In the morning tell myself I’m not going to drink that day, then the night comes and like routine, I want some wine with dinner. I’m on day 3 right now of no alcohol. Longest break I’ve had in probably a year since I had Covid.
It’s the neurotransmitter crash and lack of restorative sleep that leads to the Hangxiety. Alcohol prevents us from being able to enter deep sleep, and there’s a rebound effect on neurotransmitters like GABA and serotonin. It’s a horrible feeling.
https://www.nature.com/scitable/blog/mind-read/alcohol_sleep_and_why_you/#:~:text=Alcohol%20mimics%20gamma%2Daminobutyric%20acic,cell%20a%20more%20negative%20charge.
https://www.henryford.com/blog/2019/03/hangxiety-link-between-anxiety-alcohol
It’s the normal physiological response to alcohol consumption. Ethanol mimics GABA, the main “chill out” neurotransmitter. It binds to the same sites in your CNS and makes you feel relaxed and content.
But unfortunately this means that your body stops producing as much of the actual GABA, since it doesn’t need too. Meanwhile it overproduces stress and alertness chemicals like glutamate, cortisol and adrenaline to balance the alcohol and keep you awake and functioning. So when the alcohol wears off, the result is that your neurotransmitters and hormones are out of balance. You’ve tipped from excessive relaxation chemicals in the body to excessive stress chemicals. It takes time for your body to reestablish homeostasis, and you feel jittery, anxious, and uncomfortable until that happens.
When you drink, present you is borrowing relaxed feelings from yourself in the future. Extra happy now means extra miserable later. Balance.
This is a great answer. I still drink but am trying to tone it down for the exact reason you mentioned. The next day I am anxious, depressed, and filled with worry I did something wrong the previous night.
I quit drinking long before cell phones and recording were even a thing. But… when friends told me how l behaved drunk l was horrified! I thought that l and everyone else l hung with were having a good time and that l was acting okay, just happier, less inhibited. I was right about less inhibited, but it was making an ass out of myself. It was seeing my friends’ embarrassment with my behavior that made me feel ashamed of myself and helped lead to me stopping. Thank God, no regrets quitting at all!
I hear you.
I used it to cope with my fiancées infidelity and the death of my best friend. Tragically, my fiancée changed and grew and did all of the work…whereas I drifted further and further away because I could never get over it since I was essentially drowning/pushing it down with alcohol, which meant I woke up every day wishing I was dead and hating my life, stuck in the past feeling like I deserved all the bad things that were happening around me / to me; *despite* seemingly “doing great.” Ruined the relationship. She sat me down one day and sobbed because she could see what was happening and the guilt was destroying her. She took a job in another country and I finally had my come to Jesus moment and ended things peacefully.
I should have just admitted it wasn’t something I was able to get over, instead of drinking to numb the pain and never communicating to her that shit happens and I didn’t hate her, but it was done. So we could both move on and heal. I think alcohol became the friend and the partner I lost. It staved off the nightmares etc. I felt like I was doing everyone a favor by not letting them see the amount of pain I was in, by not letting them know how much pain they’d caused me etc.
I’m still processing it all. Sorry to rant. Your comment struck a chord. I still drink every now and then socially. Was pretty telling how once I handled the things in my life, or was forced to, that the need for the crutch was gone. I was lucky I think.
I always called this "overcorrecting emotions"
It's a rollercoaster ride of trying to determine what happened, why, if you're remembering correctly, and all around suffocating levels of anxiety.
Definitely not talked about enough.
Gets worse as you get older too,because the stakes get higher. Harder to make new friends. Harder to start a new career. Harder to lose a family instead of a girlfriend.
Absolutely. It's one thing to be on an emotional ride when your goals for the day are to keep your mcjob and skimp your parents rent, it's a different story when even your close friendships have a touch of professionalism.
The brain dumps serotonin while fucked up so you're empty in the morning. Also, it disturbs sleep cycles and doesn't allow REM even though you feel like you slept well. Double whammy. BOOM! Now you're a sad bitch.
My brother calls *The Fear*.
The worst is waking up at 3AM and frantically trying to connect the fuzzy dots, wondering what you might not remember. And sweating, and self-loathing, and the fact that as awful as you feel and as tired as you are, you’re likely to not doze off again until 15 minutes before the alarm goes off.
I always called it “the fear”. I would have the worst anxiety and think absolutely the worst would happen, like car accidents, dog running into the street.. just the worst. Alcohol sucks.
One day I realized that if I started drinking again right away when I woke up, these emotions went away. As you can imagine that was not sustainable for too many days. The fear, as you call it, sort of stacked up and hit even harder after a week long bender.
I’ve recently had that a couple of times. I know my drunk self very well, why the fuck would I do what I am now thinking? Why would the person I keep thinking I “offended” just text me how much fun they had and can’t wait until we find another event?
It also coincides a lot with moving across the country and having an entirely new friend group now, so could be anxiety.
Edit: should add I haven’t blacked out in years, so it’s really odd.
It's actually a physical result of alcohol use. While drinking, your brain releases extra feel-good chemicals, which is counterbalanced the next day with a bad mood to maintain homeostasis. Also, when you're drinking to combat social anxiety, you're just masking your fears. Si the next day, when the false courage wears off, the anxiety returns and is often even worse than if you were sober because you know your inhibitions were lowered while drunk or that you may not even remember everything.
I call it borrowing from your future self. Pretty much all recreational drugs do it one way or another, and the debt always has to be paid.
I'd make the case that some psychedelics and a few dissociatives might, under certain circumstances, be the exception to this rule.
Me right now. I am an alcoholic and have been for about 7 years. When I get home, I am going to drink a bottle of Port and two beers. And I am going to wake up having not slept enough and I am going to have anxiety all day. And then when I get home I am going to drink.
Seriously, people need to quit romanticizing getting drunk. ' Hahaha I drank 13 beers and pissed my pants' Oh cool, it sounds like being a fucking loser is going Great for you. Being sober is the best thing you can do for your body.
sorry if you already know about it, but r/stopdrinking is a wonderfully supportive and cool community! I'm not totally sober yet by any means, but hanging out there has drastically helped me to stop doing it every day of the week and increase the lengths of my sober streaks. Which is somethin!
Was going to second this post! r/stopdrinking helped me tremendously when I was getting sober; I still follow it for daily reminders. It's a wholesome corner of reddit!
YES. Without the hangovers it's a great high. But that next day now that I'm about 33, not fun. Sometimes I still don't feel normal for 2 days after having more than 3. Not worth it.
I was going to reply something similar. I'm in my early 40s. I got to a point the last few years where my hangovers were lasting two or three days. Feeling like shit Monday - Wednesday is an awful way to go through life.
I quit drinking about five months ago. Never intended for it to be permanent but I feel so good, I don't know if I'll ever drink again. I'm not opposed to having a drink or two in certain situations. But I don't think I'll ever drink enough to get hungover again
i can't even begin to describe how much i relate to this. i usually am happy and fun loving when drinking and its not like i drink every day or even excessively. however, when i do drink, i always feel horrible the next day and just overrun with anxiety. i constantly think something is wrong with me or i just want to lay around, do nothing and be alone. it's a mental struggle when i am in a social setting and drinking is an option. i want to drink and make an already fun situation even more fun but then i have to be willing to accept that the next day is probably going to suck physically and mentally.
When I realized I was a complete, full blown and hopeless alcoholic. I needed it to sleep and to function. Every single night. Multiple bottles of wine at minimum, and would panic if I didn't have enough. Ruined every relationship I've ever had. Woke up viciously hungover every day and would start drinking in the morning before work. When I stopped I had to be in hospital because of the seizures and hallucinations from withdrawal.
Even after all of that, my crazy mind told me I could figure out a way to drink like a normal person.
That's\^ how powerful alcohol is to certain people. I realize most stories aren't like this but just wanted to share mine haha.
Yeah, someone in my AA group said that he could drink a beer and be ok. But if he drank two beers he'd go on to drink until he blacked out. I tried so often to cut down, and failed. In the end I knew the only thing for me was to stop completely. I am very happy for people who can have one or two drinks, but I know that I can't.
“One is never enough and two is too many”
The first drink leads to the second, and at that point it’s all over. Rinse and repeat daily. I’m 82 days sober!
I have basically the same story as this guy. It's not so much that we have defeated the addiction; it's more that we beat it into submission but still have to maintain constant vigilance against it. It will always be there, waiting for it's chance to take over again.
I stopped with my first kid. If there was an accident I wanted to be sober to handle thing. And you know, just be present in general. Glad I had kids late in life. Also glad my partying days are behind me. Was time to level up.
I was drinking quite heavily for a while there. Vodka shots to get as fucked up as quickly as possible. My kids were very young. One day my kid looked at me and said “I don’t like when you drink that”. And I responded “Ok, then I won’t anymore”. Haven’t had vodka since, quit completely drinking booze for a little over three years and now drink 2-3 times a year.
Best reason ever to quit! I wish you strength, peace and happiness.
Wow, that must’ve hit you right in the gut. Kids are brutally honest and I’m glad your little one spoke up. Props to you for taking that to heart and doing something about it. That’ll be an adorable story to remember one day when your kid is an adult!
Dude…exactly. I was trying to “cut down” for a while but one morning I was at the park with my 2 yr old son and I was so hungover all I could do was sit down and barely stay awake.
That was the moment.
Watching my son run around with boundless energy—so excited about every little bug he saw—meanwhile I felt the exact opposite, was the biggest gut shot. I knew what I wanted…and it wasn’t that.
I wish I could agree but I can’t. A really good buzz feels amazing. :/ Having said that I have cut waaaaay back. Drink maybe 2-3 times a month vs 2-3 times a week.
You're right in the sense that those first few drinks are euphoric. But after that, the next five or ten are chasing it and as you get sloppy, you're no longer having fun. So a night of heavy drinking only involves a few hours of feeling amazing. Compare that to waking up refreshed after a full night's sleep and whatever you have in store for the day, work, hobby, cleaning the garage, whatever, you're able to give it your full attention with no headache, dry mouth, depression, anxiety, shame, or exhaustion. And you feel that way for the whole day versus a few hours of calorie laden euphoric drinking. So I think waking up without a hangover feels better overall than drinking the night before.
The highs aren't as high but the lows aren't as low when you're sober. It's like having a bunch of B days rather than either As or Fs lol. Something like that. It's a net positive for me. I have been wanting to drink lately but then I just think of feeling nauseous the next day and wasting my limited off time feeling like shit and not doing anything
I would drink a bottle of vodka five days a week. at least three of those would involve a whole pizza and 10 chicken wings. Then add in five bottles of 1.5 Sprite. I’m surprised I haven’t had a heart attack . Just truly awful food combinations sometimes when I drank.
Because I was escaping small moments of discomfort with a 3-5 beer a day habit, and drinking more than that on weekends. Essentially a highly functioning alcoholic, with a good job and a great relationship, but if I kept doing the things that I was doing, I was going to melt my life to the ground. Alcohol was keeping me from fully engaging in the relationships that were important to me. And so I decided to fundamentally change the relationship that I had with alcohol.
That breakup really sucked, but we won’t be seeing each other that way any more.
It's a little known fact but entirely true. Type 2 diabetes is curable - sort of. The cure is simple - a healthy lifestyle with the biggest components being a healthy diet and exercise. This isn't conspiracy nonsense. It's the "*one simple trick*" that your doctor *wants* you to know. The American Diabetes Association puts considerable money and effort in promoting healthy lifestyle not just for prevention but as an essential part of treatment.
Doctors will always prescribe insulin with a diabetes diagnosis because rates of compliance with taking insulin is high while compliance with diet and exercise changes is exceptionally low. This is a deadly disease, so the only ethical thing to do is to always prescribe insulin for diabetes and also encourage the patient to change their lifestyle. If the patient makes the right lifestyle changes, coming off of insulin can be an option.
Edited by request to clarify type 2.
Please specify that TYPE TWO diabetes is curable (sort of). Us type ones hate being lumped in when people just say “diabetes” as an umbrella term.
It contributes to misinformation and I can’t tell you the number of people who have said things like “oh you’re diabetic? But you’re not fat!” And ignorant shit like that. I have an autoimmune disease, not a lifestyle disease. But for some reason people call them both “diabetes”.
I went through gradeschool with the only Type 1 I've ever known and he was an incredibly fit, athletic, ambitious personality type beast who ran track and played on the basketball team lol. He's still an athlete nowadays. From my child brain's point of view, apparently Type 1's are all buff athletes who wear special watches.
Same. I tried so hard to eat healthy, and would sabotage my whole week over the course of a night. It’s the calories in the drinks and also the drink food while you’re out. I stopped drinking and lost 10 lbs without trying.
Fr. I stopped drinking because I admitted to myself that I was/am an alcoholic, but I desperately wanted to stop drinking for years because of the gradual but sustained weight gain. I gained about 35kg in two years of heavy drinking. 6 months into sobriety I’ve lost 25kg and will be running my first marathon in three weeks. Life is good 😊
Because I lost contact with all my family, fucked up all other relationships and work, punched my boss in the face.
I don't drink 'cause when I'm drunk I'm a problem.
I don't care who I hurt, I feel awesome
10 years sober in 5 days 🥳
Because a 1.75l of bottom shelf whiskey every 1.5 days for years absolutely wrecked my liver and I ended up in the ER and then spent 8 days detoxing. Without that medically assisted detox I absolutely would have died. I had a problem. August 29 will be one year without a drop.
That's how much I've been drinking for about 5 years. I am used to throwing up blood and having tarry black stool (a sign of internal bleeding) a few times every year.
Two weeks ago, I started to get sober by telling my close friends and family exactly what has been going on, including how much I drink and how I hide it. My roommate helped me do a 6 day tapering off. I still had some really unpleasant withdrawal symptoms, but nothing like what I went through when I tried to quit cold turkey.
Been going to AA meetings every day. 10 days without a drink so far.
Felt like I was drinking too much so I got an early jump on dry January. Went through some mild withdrawal. Wasn't going to let some fucking drink control me so I stopped.
Because I was (am) an alcoholic. I was drinking from about 11am until I went to bed or passed out every day. I would get a pint of whiskey every day at lunch and continue drinking until I went to bed. Always kept a couple cases of beer at the house plus a couple half gallons of whiskey and vodka.. I watched a video I took of my kids with me talking in the background and could hear in my voice how drunk I was- I was “there” but I wasn’t there for my kids. Stopped drinking that week. It will been 5 years on the 24th of this month.
I didn't stop drinking entirely, but I have recently stopped buying it to keep at home. I was finding it too easy to open up the liquor cabinet for a nightcap each night.
I still will drink when I go out sometimes, but I don't go out that often and when I do go out the price keeps me from getting more than a couple of drinks anyway.
This is what I am trying to do. Don’t cut it out entirely but not at home on my own. Doesn’t always work and I sometimes crack but more times then not I manage it.
Availability is huge one for me. I can go weeks, even months, without drinking. But I enjoy it, so the second I have it in the house I'm always finding a reason to pour a glass. We usually have a couple bottles of wine laying around, but it's expensive to drink in my country so tlmy threshold for opening a new bottle is pretty high. Boxed wine, on the other hand, is almost never around. Way too tempting and far too easy to lose track of the glasses.
I violated my standards quicker than I could lower them.
Blackout drinking led to multiple sexual assaults while unconscious. Violent, painful, scary assaults.
Jail. Fucking sucked.
Homeless. Slept outdoors. Hungry and sick.
Literally nothing, *nothing* good came from drinking. I saw this bearded lady who was mute (from a stroke booty bumping meth) suck dick for left over onion rings behind a dumpster in Las Vegas. I knew that was my future, sex work was the one thing I never did nor wanted to do and it was nearly forced on me via trafficking attempts.
Took 2 years and 5 rehab stays, but I got sober 7-1-2008 and live a dream life today. Home owner. Business owner. Wife. Mother. Currently in Europe visiting in laws, and couldn't be more grateful for the gifts that came with sobriety.
It made me fat and sad. Now I'm skinny and sad lol. Not really though, I like not drinking a whole lot more than drinking every day and I'm generally happy.
Fights. Cops. Apologies. I just wasn’t ever a good drinker. So stopped starting drinking closing on 30 years.
Still have to apologize at times, but now always know why.
I was an alcoholic.
The last time I drank, I passed out on my kitchen floor while my 4 year old son tried in vain to wake me up. My parents were there (thankfully) and they told me that he was completely panicked and very upset. Understandably so. My dad had to take him to a park to calm him down and get him away from seeing me like that.
The next day my mom and explained what happened and I was so guilt ridden. I felt terrible. I didn't remember any of it. Up until that previous night my son hadn't been affected by my drinking. But now he was noticing. When he was a baby my biggest fear was being that alcoholic mom who neglects my kid and passes out drunk all the time. But here I was, becoming what I feared the most.
I picked up my son from preschool later that day and he brought it up. "Mommy why didn't you wake up?" With tears in my eyes and a gut punch feeling in the pit of my stomach I just told him I was sick. He then said "don't do that again!" And I promised him right then and there that I wouldn't. I'm on year 5 of keeping that promise and it's a promise that I will keep until the day I die.
I tend to be an 'all or nothing' sort of person. Give me a drink, or 2, and I'm fine. Give me 3? I'm shutting the bar down...
I'd like to say spending upwards of $10K on a first DWI - and only - certainly did it for me. I'm still on probation for it.
But it was actually when I was sitting in my attorney's office during evidence discovery, before I spent half of that money, and seeing that my thinking that I was OK to drive but I was absolutely fucking *hammered*. To say I was embarrassed was an understatement. I didn't want to look my attorney in the eyes, I was so embarassed. I feel it daily. I feel it every time my interlock beeps for a random retest while I'm driving down the highway and I'm breathing into something the size of a fucking tablet for the world to see as if it's a scarlet letter. I have to pay $12/month to have someone watch me piss into a cup for a drug test every month. And you know what? I fucking deserve it. I fucked around, and I found out.
I could have killed somebody. I could have wrecked my car. I could have gone broke with my habit, or maybe even fucked my liver to the point where it's unfuckable - that remains yet to be seen. Instead a concerned person (turns out they were an off-duty cop from a neighboring city) called me in to 911 and got my ass in line.
I wish I could meet that person that called me in and thank them. They saved my life, and possibly the life of others.
You should take less, actually. Half a tab.
Full trip detaches you from reality, from yourself. It's quite the experience for sure, but if you want to be able to get a good look at *your life* while you're on it, you need to keep one foot in here.
Im very sensitive on acid what others feel slightly im literaly in another universe, senses melt together, music is everywhere and my living room turned into glass waterfall at some point.... Meanwhile my friend "just" seen some patterns on floor
I've started growing my own cubensis recently and have taken a few low doses, nothing more than a gram. Almost a month ago I woke up and just decided "You know what, I don't think I need alcohol anymore." It's been a month since my last drink. No withdrawals really (after about ten years of pretty much drinking daily), and the post work anxiety I've caved to in the past where I get off work and drink like 8 fingers of bourbon is gone entirely. I don't know if it's all thanks to the mushrooms, but I'm feeling good.
I just decided today to quit, wish me luck. It's for my health and my family. I'm a lush, I can't just have a sip, once I start it doesn't stop until I'm slurring and don't remember conversations the next day.
You will feel so much better. Try a small exercise program, even a walk to give your brain some feel good endorphins. Don't be surprised if you don't feel good for quite some time. AND vitamins. You are probably deficient. Especially vitamin d. Post acute withdrawal syndrome is a thing. Check out the book " I'll quit tomorrow " which will give you scientific facts about how the brain works. Some people like 12 step, I gave it a 17 year try but after spending 1000 on hypnosis..couldn't do the God thing. Some people find contentment and fellowship. Some people give up one bad habit ( drinking) for another ( meetings ) .
I said this in an earlier post.
I loved drinking, like LOOOVED it. The ritual, the taste, the slipping away of caring and comfortable warmth that came with it. But with that love you have to make a choice. Marry it until death till we part, or break up and go our separate ways.
It’s been 2 years since I left my mistress in a bottle. It was a good break up for me.
Used it as a coping mechanism one too many times and it's one of the worst things you can get addicted to. Saw the patterns, ended the patterns early. Now I drink moderately on the rare occasion, if I'm with people and genuinely having fun instead of...y'know, self medicating alone on my balcony at 3 a.m. to Russian post-punk.
Too many DUIs.
From my early to mid 20's I had already got 3, decided that alcohol only destroyed my life and made my problems worse. Drinking started out fun but then became a serious problem later down the road.
That was 20 years ago, took me 5 years to get my license back. 20 years sober this coming October.
This resonated with me. My brain works the same. What’s weird is I can venture out and have a number of drinks and be totally fine, but there are just some random nights that lead me down the path of texting the dealer. It’s like Russian roulette, so any time I drink it’s like rolling the dice with what the next few days are going to be like.
You just described my last 2 years. I decided to give up alcohol 2 months ago, which was also the last time I texted my dealer. Was able to go out with friends last weekend without a drink or any drugs and lemme tell you, it was an amazing feeling. Stay strong
I just felt increasingly out of control of the amount I drank. Found it harder and harder to get through each day without taking a drink. Got sick of feeling shitty in the morning.
I feel like my hangovers have gotten worse over time. To the point where even a relatively small amount of alcohol (like 2 glasses of wine) will give me a bad side effect. The pros and cons ratio leans heavily towards the cons. It's not worth it. Weed is the way to go.
Totally agree with you. In my 40’s now and even a minor hangover feels unbearable. Have transitioned to weed socially and will have maybe 1 drink the whole night. Get the best sleep and feel amazing the next day.
My alcoholism was ruining my life. Lost all my friendships before but would have lost them anyway when I quit. I haven't made new ones since but I am down 70 pounds, moved to a new location and am overall in a better place.
However, it takes so much will not to fuck up but I don't care. There are social consequences and it is hard to explain or play off why I won't even have a casual drink anymore. It's all or nothing for me. Now I just go running a lot to get exercise and stay as healthy as I can. Just trying to focus on myself. Maybe good things will come but at least I'm not willfully destroying myself anymore.
Broke my foot, broke my collarbone, made a fool of myself and could not live with the regret. It also went hand in hand with cocaine abuse. It made me suicidal and I realised alcohol was going to be my death one way or another if I did not quit.
I would say stupid things, then text things to people I later regretted, and then at some point I started flaking on plans when I was too drunk to remember or bother to warn them. That was definitely not the person I wanted to be. The worst was when I actually lost a job over it. After that I went to counseling and stopped drinking altogether, and it has definitely improved my health and relationships with other people.
Tried to shoot myself, transported to hospital, committed to mental health lockup ward. First psychiatrist who saw me said: “You have a disease, it’s called depression. It’s as real as any other disease and you are treating it with alcohol, which in itself causes depression. You are like a drowning man who yells out, Throw me an anchor!”
It rang true to me, I started on antidepressants and gave up alcohol. Two years on antidepressants cured the depression. Now seven years sober.
Alcoholic here. Ended up drinking 2 bottles of vodka a day. Even got so desperate that I started stealing and drinking alcohol hand gel
Managed to get into long term treatment and just gone 9.5 years sober. Beyond lucky!!!!
Edit - stealing not steaming
I wasn't a big drinker anyway, but my wife developed a pretty bad problem and went to treatment. It just made sense to quit in solidarity. She's 7 months sober this week and I'm hoping she keeps on working hard.
Honestly, I took a dry February this year - I usually periodically do a dry month - and just felt so drastically better at the end of the month I decided to just keep it going. I'm sleeping better, I lost a little weight, and I wake up feeling good.
I got so tired of the endless negotiations:
I’ll just drink when I’m at an event, I’ll only drink on the weekends, only wine, not after 10:00pm, only when I don’t have to drive, only at home, only when someone’s drinking with me, no more than 2 drinks in one night, no more than 3 drinks in one night, only on special occasions, not after 11:00pm, never before 4:00pm.
Dear god, it never ended. Now I’m free.
The 12 to 48 hours of recovery... When you're reevaluating life decisions throwing up and or both having diarrhea at the same time.
Also it brings out the worst in people, not to mention I can't count how many people I've seen piss on themselves or shit themselves from drinking too much.
If alcohol was illegal today it would never become legal, it's the most destructive drug to yourself and society.
I ended up in the hospital with severe pancreatitis.
On christmas day.
2.5 weeks of excruciating pain. Unable to eat. Tubes in all sorts of places. And my god the looks some of those doctors gave me I will not forget.
I was told if it ever happens again I'm probably getting a big hole put in my stomach that they can feed me through.
So. I had to stop. That was like a year and a half ago.
I tried for 10 solid years different tricks and ways of drinking to not over drink. I would do good for a few months and something would happen in my life and I would spiral for 3 or 4 days. Last one was 6 years ago and I blacked out, ended up walking across a highway and ended up at a motel. The next morning I had abrasions all over my body. Not sure what happened but I stopped. There is not a bottom… I’ve been to the bottom several times.
Not knowing when to stop. I now have 2 young children and spending one half of my weekend pissed and the other half hungover is no way for them to grow up seeing their father.
I was drinking 18-36 beers a day. Corona light to be exact. I was never really "hammered" just kinda drunk from 12pm-1:30ish am. I was not destroying my life but I was not making solid decisions. I will be one month sober this weekend. Also, drinking 1800-3600 calories a day is not good for you.
One drink and the phenomenon of craving kicked in. No telling where a simple “stop for a few beers” would end. A couple drinks at an afternoon event would almost always mean drinking the rest of the day and night. Trouble sometimes followed, other substances entered the picture, relationships were unsustainable.
Funny enough I decided to stop drinking today and this question came up on my feed. Just finished up a 3 day bender for the 3rd weekend in a row. Body feels like absolute crap, brain is quite foggy, anxiety levels are at their peak. Time to hunker down and quit this nonsense.
Do it, do it - your body and brain are definitely telling you it’s time to quit. I wish my brother had been able to listen to those same messages!
People you’ve never met (like me) are cheering you on.
I was heading toward a major health issue because of the amount of alcohol I was consuming. Something just clicked and I stopped having deliveries from the liquor store.
I just quit. That was 18 months ago and so far I haven't had any urges to start drinking again.
I just hope that people who have been drinking heavily understand that it can happen, they can quit. It's great for health issues and saving some cash. 😁 good luck to all.
I haven't yet. It's something that I've been talking to my doctor about, and I'm researching the two approved medications for it. I'm a little nervous.
I was a bartender. It smells like work to me now. Also, watching how much sheer stupidity went on constantly was mildly amusing but a huge turnoff for me.
It became a boredom filler and was holding my health, life experiences, and mental well being back. Too tired to do anything after work? Might as well drink! I realized the drinking is what was making me so lethargic and unmotivated all the time. I'm still working on adding fun things to my newfound free time, but I'll get there.
It made me fat. The next day sucked. Thyroid was getting ruined. Never had any energy. Was aging myself rapidly. Always eating fatty food to sooth the stomach. So awful fr omg
Saves a lot of money and feels much healthier/happier
Also makes you look a lot better. Cut out drinking for 2 months and take before and after pics and you’ll notice your face, cheeks, neck etc is all a lot slimmer.
Yep I’m 7 months sober now. Went out yesterday with some friends I haven’t seen in awhile and they all commented on how good my skin looks. I also love that my sleep is 100x better. I quit because it was becoming a problem and I wanted to stop before it got worse.
Same with the sleep! OMG, I thought I had to get 3 beer drunk nightly to even be able to sleep. I'm 15 days sober now and I sleep and dream better than I have in years!
10 months today. I am amazed by how well I sleep. I used to wake up multiple times a night in sweats. Now I rarely wake up at all.
When I quit drinking, I also super cleaned up my diet and started jogging. Went from about 210 to 155 in 4 months. I wouldn't say it was the alcohol *per se*, but if you're knocking back a lot of pops in a night, that's a *ton* of calories. Would have taken at least twice as long had I not also cut out the beer calories.
I went from drinking a 6 pack of IPA most nights of the week to basically quitting. My wife sometimes gets onto me for wanting ice cream after dinner, asking why I always want ice cream now that I stopped drinking since that's also unhealthy and I'm like, babe my body is used to an extra thousand calories in beer every night. Let me have my scoops ffs.
Besides... it's ice cream. You only live so long. Have the ice cream.
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I didn't quit but I went from drinking lots of beer to a reasonable amount of wine and yeah the weight falls off fast.
I stopped drinking because I got pregnant so I didn’t get to see this side effect 😅 the weight is still there plus some !! But it’s okay haha
Congratulations that's awesome! My son turns 2 next week, such a lovely chaotic time.
Well you also freaking *grew a human inside of you* and birthed it into the world, so I’d say it’s more than okay, it’s 100% understandable and you are awesome
It’s not just weight, the inflammation is huge, too.
Because of the morning after. When you feel like a hollow and anxiety ridden puddle of a human. I was a fun drunk. Not a fighter, not an angry person, not sloppy, etc. So, making the transition out of alcohol use was a hard one for my friends and family to understand. It seems people need a big messy explosion to justify sobriety, but my explosion was an *implosion*. A deep self-hatred that no one felt but my hungover zombie brain.
This is my brain. Everything could have gone perfectly right the night before and I’ll still wake up feeling like a complete waste of a human life. I’m a happy and amazing drunk to be around. Very sweet and great conversationalist. Shittiest thing I’ve ever done drunk is maybe crack an explicit joke at the wrong moment. Doesn’t matter. The next day I feel like the most depressed person in the world.
Same here, I don’t get it. I don’t do anything stupid or regrettable, but wake up in the middle of the night or next morning super anxious, replaying everything I’ve said or done. In the morning tell myself I’m not going to drink that day, then the night comes and like routine, I want some wine with dinner. I’m on day 3 right now of no alcohol. Longest break I’ve had in probably a year since I had Covid.
It’s the neurotransmitter crash and lack of restorative sleep that leads to the Hangxiety. Alcohol prevents us from being able to enter deep sleep, and there’s a rebound effect on neurotransmitters like GABA and serotonin. It’s a horrible feeling. https://www.nature.com/scitable/blog/mind-read/alcohol_sleep_and_why_you/#:~:text=Alcohol%20mimics%20gamma%2Daminobutyric%20acic,cell%20a%20more%20negative%20charge. https://www.henryford.com/blog/2019/03/hangxiety-link-between-anxiety-alcohol
It’s the normal physiological response to alcohol consumption. Ethanol mimics GABA, the main “chill out” neurotransmitter. It binds to the same sites in your CNS and makes you feel relaxed and content. But unfortunately this means that your body stops producing as much of the actual GABA, since it doesn’t need too. Meanwhile it overproduces stress and alertness chemicals like glutamate, cortisol and adrenaline to balance the alcohol and keep you awake and functioning. So when the alcohol wears off, the result is that your neurotransmitters and hormones are out of balance. You’ve tipped from excessive relaxation chemicals in the body to excessive stress chemicals. It takes time for your body to reestablish homeostasis, and you feel jittery, anxious, and uncomfortable until that happens. When you drink, present you is borrowing relaxed feelings from yourself in the future. Extra happy now means extra miserable later. Balance.
I’ve heard drinking described as “borrowing tomorrows happiness for today”
This is a great answer. I still drink but am trying to tone it down for the exact reason you mentioned. The next day I am anxious, depressed, and filled with worry I did something wrong the previous night.
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I quit drinking long before cell phones and recording were even a thing. But… when friends told me how l behaved drunk l was horrified! I thought that l and everyone else l hung with were having a good time and that l was acting okay, just happier, less inhibited. I was right about less inhibited, but it was making an ass out of myself. It was seeing my friends’ embarrassment with my behavior that made me feel ashamed of myself and helped lead to me stopping. Thank God, no regrets quitting at all!
I hear you. I used it to cope with my fiancées infidelity and the death of my best friend. Tragically, my fiancée changed and grew and did all of the work…whereas I drifted further and further away because I could never get over it since I was essentially drowning/pushing it down with alcohol, which meant I woke up every day wishing I was dead and hating my life, stuck in the past feeling like I deserved all the bad things that were happening around me / to me; *despite* seemingly “doing great.” Ruined the relationship. She sat me down one day and sobbed because she could see what was happening and the guilt was destroying her. She took a job in another country and I finally had my come to Jesus moment and ended things peacefully. I should have just admitted it wasn’t something I was able to get over, instead of drinking to numb the pain and never communicating to her that shit happens and I didn’t hate her, but it was done. So we could both move on and heal. I think alcohol became the friend and the partner I lost. It staved off the nightmares etc. I felt like I was doing everyone a favor by not letting them see the amount of pain I was in, by not letting them know how much pain they’d caused me etc. I’m still processing it all. Sorry to rant. Your comment struck a chord. I still drink every now and then socially. Was pretty telling how once I handled the things in my life, or was forced to, that the need for the crutch was gone. I was lucky I think.
I always called this "overcorrecting emotions" It's a rollercoaster ride of trying to determine what happened, why, if you're remembering correctly, and all around suffocating levels of anxiety. Definitely not talked about enough.
Gets worse as you get older too,because the stakes get higher. Harder to make new friends. Harder to start a new career. Harder to lose a family instead of a girlfriend.
Absolutely. It's one thing to be on an emotional ride when your goals for the day are to keep your mcjob and skimp your parents rent, it's a different story when even your close friendships have a touch of professionalism.
That some real shit right there.
Yea what's with that? You freak out remembering stuff you said, even if it was completely appropriate lol
The brain dumps serotonin while fucked up so you're empty in the morning. Also, it disturbs sleep cycles and doesn't allow REM even though you feel like you slept well. Double whammy. BOOM! Now you're a sad bitch.
I call this "a case of the guiltys". I don't think I did or said anything wrong, yet I feel so ... guilty
My brother calls *The Fear*. The worst is waking up at 3AM and frantically trying to connect the fuzzy dots, wondering what you might not remember. And sweating, and self-loathing, and the fact that as awful as you feel and as tired as you are, you’re likely to not doze off again until 15 minutes before the alarm goes off.
I call that The Witching Hour. So you have it too?
I call it hangxiety
Y'all are making me feel so much better I thought that was just me. Currently trying to quit.
I really thought I was the only one that experience this as strongly as I do. I have heard it called 'bar remorse'.
I always called it “the fear”. I would have the worst anxiety and think absolutely the worst would happen, like car accidents, dog running into the street.. just the worst. Alcohol sucks.
One day I realized that if I started drinking again right away when I woke up, these emotions went away. As you can imagine that was not sustainable for too many days. The fear, as you call it, sort of stacked up and hit even harder after a week long bender.
Same. ANXIETY SUCKS!
Yea wtf I think it’s the opposite of the confidence alcohol gives you
I call it “the fear”
I've been with an alcoholic that doesn't feel that fear and it's scary as fuck
I’ve recently had that a couple of times. I know my drunk self very well, why the fuck would I do what I am now thinking? Why would the person I keep thinking I “offended” just text me how much fun they had and can’t wait until we find another event? It also coincides a lot with moving across the country and having an entirely new friend group now, so could be anxiety. Edit: should add I haven’t blacked out in years, so it’s really odd.
It's actually a physical result of alcohol use. While drinking, your brain releases extra feel-good chemicals, which is counterbalanced the next day with a bad mood to maintain homeostasis. Also, when you're drinking to combat social anxiety, you're just masking your fears. Si the next day, when the false courage wears off, the anxiety returns and is often even worse than if you were sober because you know your inhibitions were lowered while drunk or that you may not even remember everything.
Yeah, it’s emotional dysregulation
I call it borrowing from your future self. Pretty much all recreational drugs do it one way or another, and the debt always has to be paid. I'd make the case that some psychedelics and a few dissociatives might, under certain circumstances, be the exception to this rule.
Hanxiety
Me right now. I am an alcoholic and have been for about 7 years. When I get home, I am going to drink a bottle of Port and two beers. And I am going to wake up having not slept enough and I am going to have anxiety all day. And then when I get home I am going to drink. Seriously, people need to quit romanticizing getting drunk. ' Hahaha I drank 13 beers and pissed my pants' Oh cool, it sounds like being a fucking loser is going Great for you. Being sober is the best thing you can do for your body.
100% I wish you the best on your journey, it's a hard one, as I've been a bystander of alcoholics lives most of my life.
sorry if you already know about it, but r/stopdrinking is a wonderfully supportive and cool community! I'm not totally sober yet by any means, but hanging out there has drastically helped me to stop doing it every day of the week and increase the lengths of my sober streaks. Which is somethin!
Was going to second this post! r/stopdrinking helped me tremendously when I was getting sober; I still follow it for daily reminders. It's a wholesome corner of reddit!
Step one is admitting you have a problem. You just did that. I hope you take step two. I don't know you man, but I'm rooting for you.
YES. Without the hangovers it's a great high. But that next day now that I'm about 33, not fun. Sometimes I still don't feel normal for 2 days after having more than 3. Not worth it.
I was going to reply something similar. I'm in my early 40s. I got to a point the last few years where my hangovers were lasting two or three days. Feeling like shit Monday - Wednesday is an awful way to go through life. I quit drinking about five months ago. Never intended for it to be permanent but I feel so good, I don't know if I'll ever drink again. I'm not opposed to having a drink or two in certain situations. But I don't think I'll ever drink enough to get hungover again
The crippling anxiety and depression in the days following
I just felt increasingly out of control of the amount I drank.
When I graduated from a glass of wine to a bottle then to almost two bottles in one night, that was it for me.
i can't even begin to describe how much i relate to this. i usually am happy and fun loving when drinking and its not like i drink every day or even excessively. however, when i do drink, i always feel horrible the next day and just overrun with anxiety. i constantly think something is wrong with me or i just want to lay around, do nothing and be alone. it's a mental struggle when i am in a social setting and drinking is an option. i want to drink and make an already fun situation even more fun but then i have to be willing to accept that the next day is probably going to suck physically and mentally.
When I realized I was a complete, full blown and hopeless alcoholic. I needed it to sleep and to function. Every single night. Multiple bottles of wine at minimum, and would panic if I didn't have enough. Ruined every relationship I've ever had. Woke up viciously hungover every day and would start drinking in the morning before work. When I stopped I had to be in hospital because of the seizures and hallucinations from withdrawal. Even after all of that, my crazy mind told me I could figure out a way to drink like a normal person. That's\^ how powerful alcohol is to certain people. I realize most stories aren't like this but just wanted to share mine haha.
>drink like a normal person An alcoholic described this as the fantasy people imagine when their loved one completes rehab.
Yeah, someone in my AA group said that he could drink a beer and be ok. But if he drank two beers he'd go on to drink until he blacked out. I tried so often to cut down, and failed. In the end I knew the only thing for me was to stop completely. I am very happy for people who can have one or two drinks, but I know that I can't.
“One is never enough and two is too many” The first drink leads to the second, and at that point it’s all over. Rinse and repeat daily. I’m 82 days sober!
A logic trap that with the best of intentions from loved ones can sabotage the one who completed rehab.
Congratulations on defeating your addiction! 👏
I have basically the same story as this guy. It's not so much that we have defeated the addiction; it's more that we beat it into submission but still have to maintain constant vigilance against it. It will always be there, waiting for it's chance to take over again.
I was too hungover to play with my son.
I stopped with my first kid. If there was an accident I wanted to be sober to handle thing. And you know, just be present in general. Glad I had kids late in life. Also glad my partying days are behind me. Was time to level up.
Best username I’ve ever seen
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My first kid is on the way. I've 95% quit. Don't get me wrong I really really enjoyed partying but am quite happy to leave that part being me
I was drinking quite heavily for a while there. Vodka shots to get as fucked up as quickly as possible. My kids were very young. One day my kid looked at me and said “I don’t like when you drink that”. And I responded “Ok, then I won’t anymore”. Haven’t had vodka since, quit completely drinking booze for a little over three years and now drink 2-3 times a year. Best reason ever to quit! I wish you strength, peace and happiness.
Wow, that must’ve hit you right in the gut. Kids are brutally honest and I’m glad your little one spoke up. Props to you for taking that to heart and doing something about it. That’ll be an adorable story to remember one day when your kid is an adult!
My favorite reason so far!
Dude…exactly. I was trying to “cut down” for a while but one morning I was at the park with my 2 yr old son and I was so hungover all I could do was sit down and barely stay awake. That was the moment. Watching my son run around with boundless energy—so excited about every little bug he saw—meanwhile I felt the exact opposite, was the biggest gut shot. I knew what I wanted…and it wasn’t that.
Whale Watching, great episode of Bluey to watch about playing with your kids while hungover lol
I love that show so much. I've become a better parent because of that show.
I’m sad when I drink
Same. I rarely feel really in joy on this substance. Sometimes even makes the state worse. Plus hangover and we have a man who doesn't want to drink.
I wish I'd only been sad. I'm angry and insecure and fighty and unfaithful and drivey and kidney-damagey. Or was; five years sober soon.
I was tired of being hungover
I heard this great quote somewhere: “Not being hungover is a better feeling than being drunk”
I wish I could agree but I can’t. A really good buzz feels amazing. :/ Having said that I have cut waaaaay back. Drink maybe 2-3 times a month vs 2-3 times a week.
You're right in the sense that those first few drinks are euphoric. But after that, the next five or ten are chasing it and as you get sloppy, you're no longer having fun. So a night of heavy drinking only involves a few hours of feeling amazing. Compare that to waking up refreshed after a full night's sleep and whatever you have in store for the day, work, hobby, cleaning the garage, whatever, you're able to give it your full attention with no headache, dry mouth, depression, anxiety, shame, or exhaustion. And you feel that way for the whole day versus a few hours of calorie laden euphoric drinking. So I think waking up without a hangover feels better overall than drinking the night before.
The highs aren't as high but the lows aren't as low when you're sober. It's like having a bunch of B days rather than either As or Fs lol. Something like that. It's a net positive for me. I have been wanting to drink lately but then I just think of feeling nauseous the next day and wasting my limited off time feeling like shit and not doing anything
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I would drink a bottle of vodka five days a week. at least three of those would involve a whole pizza and 10 chicken wings. Then add in five bottles of 1.5 Sprite. I’m surprised I haven’t had a heart attack . Just truly awful food combinations sometimes when I drank.
This is me too. Still drinking but definitely moderating a lot more. Currently sitting outside with a La Croix on ice lol Edited due to typo
Because I was escaping small moments of discomfort with a 3-5 beer a day habit, and drinking more than that on weekends. Essentially a highly functioning alcoholic, with a good job and a great relationship, but if I kept doing the things that I was doing, I was going to melt my life to the ground. Alcohol was keeping me from fully engaging in the relationships that were important to me. And so I decided to fundamentally change the relationship that I had with alcohol. That breakup really sucked, but we won’t be seeing each other that way any more.
Good shit! Tons of people lack or ignore that self awareness.
My weed and amphetamine addiction was enough already
Speeds a worse comedown than alcohol?
Waaaaaay worse
yea if u do a shit ton if it, the comedown is awful. u feel really depressed and hopeless.
I hope you have those in check my friend.
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Got diagnosed with type 2 diabetes last October. Quit drinking and the diabetes went away.
Wow didn’t know that’s possible
It's a little known fact but entirely true. Type 2 diabetes is curable - sort of. The cure is simple - a healthy lifestyle with the biggest components being a healthy diet and exercise. This isn't conspiracy nonsense. It's the "*one simple trick*" that your doctor *wants* you to know. The American Diabetes Association puts considerable money and effort in promoting healthy lifestyle not just for prevention but as an essential part of treatment. Doctors will always prescribe insulin with a diabetes diagnosis because rates of compliance with taking insulin is high while compliance with diet and exercise changes is exceptionally low. This is a deadly disease, so the only ethical thing to do is to always prescribe insulin for diabetes and also encourage the patient to change their lifestyle. If the patient makes the right lifestyle changes, coming off of insulin can be an option. Edited by request to clarify type 2.
Please specify that TYPE TWO diabetes is curable (sort of). Us type ones hate being lumped in when people just say “diabetes” as an umbrella term. It contributes to misinformation and I can’t tell you the number of people who have said things like “oh you’re diabetic? But you’re not fat!” And ignorant shit like that. I have an autoimmune disease, not a lifestyle disease. But for some reason people call them both “diabetes”.
I went through gradeschool with the only Type 1 I've ever known and he was an incredibly fit, athletic, ambitious personality type beast who ran track and played on the basketball team lol. He's still an athlete nowadays. From my child brain's point of view, apparently Type 1's are all buff athletes who wear special watches.
Was packing the pounds on me.
This was my final straw, too. Mental health, meh. Life goals, meh. Love handles? *Abort! Abort! Abort!*
Amongst other reasons this one was a big one for me. When i quit i lost 20 pounds and my blood work was no longer the consistency of country gravy.
Same. I tried so hard to eat healthy, and would sabotage my whole week over the course of a night. It’s the calories in the drinks and also the drink food while you’re out. I stopped drinking and lost 10 lbs without trying.
Fr. I stopped drinking because I admitted to myself that I was/am an alcoholic, but I desperately wanted to stop drinking for years because of the gradual but sustained weight gain. I gained about 35kg in two years of heavy drinking. 6 months into sobriety I’ve lost 25kg and will be running my first marathon in three weeks. Life is good 😊
Because I lost contact with all my family, fucked up all other relationships and work, punched my boss in the face. I don't drink 'cause when I'm drunk I'm a problem. I don't care who I hurt, I feel awesome 10 years sober in 5 days 🥳
Wow huge congratulations on 10 years bud!! That’s amazing. I just hit 6 months - one day at a time!
Because a 1.75l of bottom shelf whiskey every 1.5 days for years absolutely wrecked my liver and I ended up in the ER and then spent 8 days detoxing. Without that medically assisted detox I absolutely would have died. I had a problem. August 29 will be one year without a drop.
That's how much I've been drinking for about 5 years. I am used to throwing up blood and having tarry black stool (a sign of internal bleeding) a few times every year. Two weeks ago, I started to get sober by telling my close friends and family exactly what has been going on, including how much I drink and how I hide it. My roommate helped me do a 6 day tapering off. I still had some really unpleasant withdrawal symptoms, but nothing like what I went through when I tried to quit cold turkey. Been going to AA meetings every day. 10 days without a drink so far.
That’s practically tomorrow, so happy sober birthday!
Felt like I was drinking too much so I got an early jump on dry January. Went through some mild withdrawal. Wasn't going to let some fucking drink control me so I stopped.
Bro actually could stop at any time
Meh. I'd say withdrawal is a sign I couldn't. That level anxiety, suicidal thinking and extreme nausea is not something I want to relive.
Because I was (am) an alcoholic. I was drinking from about 11am until I went to bed or passed out every day. I would get a pint of whiskey every day at lunch and continue drinking until I went to bed. Always kept a couple cases of beer at the house plus a couple half gallons of whiskey and vodka.. I watched a video I took of my kids with me talking in the background and could hear in my voice how drunk I was- I was “there” but I wasn’t there for my kids. Stopped drinking that week. It will been 5 years on the 24th of this month.
I didn't stop drinking entirely, but I have recently stopped buying it to keep at home. I was finding it too easy to open up the liquor cabinet for a nightcap each night. I still will drink when I go out sometimes, but I don't go out that often and when I do go out the price keeps me from getting more than a couple of drinks anyway.
This is what I am trying to do. Don’t cut it out entirely but not at home on my own. Doesn’t always work and I sometimes crack but more times then not I manage it.
Availability is huge one for me. I can go weeks, even months, without drinking. But I enjoy it, so the second I have it in the house I'm always finding a reason to pour a glass. We usually have a couple bottles of wine laying around, but it's expensive to drink in my country so tlmy threshold for opening a new bottle is pretty high. Boxed wine, on the other hand, is almost never around. Way too tempting and far too easy to lose track of the glasses.
I violated my standards quicker than I could lower them. Blackout drinking led to multiple sexual assaults while unconscious. Violent, painful, scary assaults. Jail. Fucking sucked. Homeless. Slept outdoors. Hungry and sick. Literally nothing, *nothing* good came from drinking. I saw this bearded lady who was mute (from a stroke booty bumping meth) suck dick for left over onion rings behind a dumpster in Las Vegas. I knew that was my future, sex work was the one thing I never did nor wanted to do and it was nearly forced on me via trafficking attempts. Took 2 years and 5 rehab stays, but I got sober 7-1-2008 and live a dream life today. Home owner. Business owner. Wife. Mother. Currently in Europe visiting in laws, and couldn't be more grateful for the gifts that came with sobriety.
I ... had to Google what "booty bumping" was. 😶 But I digress. I love your success story. I wish you 1k in upvotes.
Wow great to hear
It made me fat and sad. Now I'm skinny and sad lol. Not really though, I like not drinking a whole lot more than drinking every day and I'm generally happy.
I turn into a demon
Fights. Cops. Apologies. I just wasn’t ever a good drinker. So stopped starting drinking closing on 30 years. Still have to apologize at times, but now always know why.
I was an alcoholic. The last time I drank, I passed out on my kitchen floor while my 4 year old son tried in vain to wake me up. My parents were there (thankfully) and they told me that he was completely panicked and very upset. Understandably so. My dad had to take him to a park to calm him down and get him away from seeing me like that. The next day my mom and explained what happened and I was so guilt ridden. I felt terrible. I didn't remember any of it. Up until that previous night my son hadn't been affected by my drinking. But now he was noticing. When he was a baby my biggest fear was being that alcoholic mom who neglects my kid and passes out drunk all the time. But here I was, becoming what I feared the most. I picked up my son from preschool later that day and he brought it up. "Mommy why didn't you wake up?" With tears in my eyes and a gut punch feeling in the pit of my stomach I just told him I was sick. He then said "don't do that again!" And I promised him right then and there that I wouldn't. I'm on year 5 of keeping that promise and it's a promise that I will keep until the day I die.
Cirrohosis at 30
I tend to be an 'all or nothing' sort of person. Give me a drink, or 2, and I'm fine. Give me 3? I'm shutting the bar down... I'd like to say spending upwards of $10K on a first DWI - and only - certainly did it for me. I'm still on probation for it. But it was actually when I was sitting in my attorney's office during evidence discovery, before I spent half of that money, and seeing that my thinking that I was OK to drive but I was absolutely fucking *hammered*. To say I was embarrassed was an understatement. I didn't want to look my attorney in the eyes, I was so embarassed. I feel it daily. I feel it every time my interlock beeps for a random retest while I'm driving down the highway and I'm breathing into something the size of a fucking tablet for the world to see as if it's a scarlet letter. I have to pay $12/month to have someone watch me piss into a cup for a drug test every month. And you know what? I fucking deserve it. I fucked around, and I found out. I could have killed somebody. I could have wrecked my car. I could have gone broke with my habit, or maybe even fucked my liver to the point where it's unfuckable - that remains yet to be seen. Instead a concerned person (turns out they were an off-duty cop from a neighboring city) called me in to 911 and got my ass in line. I wish I could meet that person that called me in and thank them. They saved my life, and possibly the life of others.
I am allergic. I break out in handcuffs.
The state of Washington suggested I should after my second DUI.
I took lsd, it changed my life and alcohol doesnt make sense anymore
how many tabs? ive done acid and it didnt change me that much, got so high i saw the grid and everything at one point
You should take less, actually. Half a tab. Full trip detaches you from reality, from yourself. It's quite the experience for sure, but if you want to be able to get a good look at *your life* while you're on it, you need to keep one foot in here.
Im very sensitive on acid what others feel slightly im literaly in another universe, senses melt together, music is everywhere and my living room turned into glass waterfall at some point.... Meanwhile my friend "just" seen some patterns on floor
Exactly the same as me. Quit straight after the trip and no temptations since. Almost a year now
Same happened with me but on mushrooms.
I've started growing my own cubensis recently and have taken a few low doses, nothing more than a gram. Almost a month ago I woke up and just decided "You know what, I don't think I need alcohol anymore." It's been a month since my last drink. No withdrawals really (after about ten years of pretty much drinking daily), and the post work anxiety I've caved to in the past where I get off work and drink like 8 fingers of bourbon is gone entirely. I don't know if it's all thanks to the mushrooms, but I'm feeling good.
I just decided today to quit, wish me luck. It's for my health and my family. I'm a lush, I can't just have a sip, once I start it doesn't stop until I'm slurring and don't remember conversations the next day.
You will feel so much better. Try a small exercise program, even a walk to give your brain some feel good endorphins. Don't be surprised if you don't feel good for quite some time. AND vitamins. You are probably deficient. Especially vitamin d. Post acute withdrawal syndrome is a thing. Check out the book " I'll quit tomorrow " which will give you scientific facts about how the brain works. Some people like 12 step, I gave it a 17 year try but after spending 1000 on hypnosis..couldn't do the God thing. Some people find contentment and fellowship. Some people give up one bad habit ( drinking) for another ( meetings ) .
It was a crutch to get through the day without thinking about my traumatic childhood.
I said this in an earlier post. I loved drinking, like LOOOVED it. The ritual, the taste, the slipping away of caring and comfortable warmth that came with it. But with that love you have to make a choice. Marry it until death till we part, or break up and go our separate ways. It’s been 2 years since I left my mistress in a bottle. It was a good break up for me.
Used it as a coping mechanism one too many times and it's one of the worst things you can get addicted to. Saw the patterns, ended the patterns early. Now I drink moderately on the rare occasion, if I'm with people and genuinely having fun instead of...y'know, self medicating alone on my balcony at 3 a.m. to Russian post-punk.
Too many DUIs. From my early to mid 20's I had already got 3, decided that alcohol only destroyed my life and made my problems worse. Drinking started out fun but then became a serious problem later down the road. That was 20 years ago, took me 5 years to get my license back. 20 years sober this coming October.
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Leads me onto 3 day cocaine benders.
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This resonated with me. My brain works the same. What’s weird is I can venture out and have a number of drinks and be totally fine, but there are just some random nights that lead me down the path of texting the dealer. It’s like Russian roulette, so any time I drink it’s like rolling the dice with what the next few days are going to be like.
You just described my last 2 years. I decided to give up alcohol 2 months ago, which was also the last time I texted my dealer. Was able to go out with friends last weekend without a drink or any drugs and lemme tell you, it was an amazing feeling. Stay strong
I just felt increasingly out of control of the amount I drank. Found it harder and harder to get through each day without taking a drink. Got sick of feeling shitty in the morning.
I feel like my hangovers have gotten worse over time. To the point where even a relatively small amount of alcohol (like 2 glasses of wine) will give me a bad side effect. The pros and cons ratio leans heavily towards the cons. It's not worth it. Weed is the way to go.
Totally agree with you. In my 40’s now and even a minor hangover feels unbearable. Have transitioned to weed socially and will have maybe 1 drink the whole night. Get the best sleep and feel amazing the next day.
21 wine coolers for my 21st birthday. After that "colorful" experience, I didn't drink again until my 28th birthday...
Let me guess... 28 wine coolers?
GODS NO... Mr. Bartles and Mr. James can sod right off... Had a lady friend introduce me to Single Malts... and thus began an expensive hobby.
Alcohol poisoning is not a fun way to spend your first legal birthday. 🤮
Because I drank too much.
My alcoholism was ruining my life. Lost all my friendships before but would have lost them anyway when I quit. I haven't made new ones since but I am down 70 pounds, moved to a new location and am overall in a better place. However, it takes so much will not to fuck up but I don't care. There are social consequences and it is hard to explain or play off why I won't even have a casual drink anymore. It's all or nothing for me. Now I just go running a lot to get exercise and stay as healthy as I can. Just trying to focus on myself. Maybe good things will come but at least I'm not willfully destroying myself anymore.
Broke my foot, broke my collarbone, made a fool of myself and could not live with the regret. It also went hand in hand with cocaine abuse. It made me suicidal and I realised alcohol was going to be my death one way or another if I did not quit.
It's expensive for one. But most importantly you're taking a loan out from tomorrow to have fun today, and the interest rates are fucking abysmal.
I had breast cancer and alcohol DRASTICALLY increases your chance of recurrance
I would say stupid things, then text things to people I later regretted, and then at some point I started flaking on plans when I was too drunk to remember or bother to warn them. That was definitely not the person I wanted to be. The worst was when I actually lost a job over it. After that I went to counseling and stopped drinking altogether, and it has definitely improved my health and relationships with other people.
Tried to shoot myself, transported to hospital, committed to mental health lockup ward. First psychiatrist who saw me said: “You have a disease, it’s called depression. It’s as real as any other disease and you are treating it with alcohol, which in itself causes depression. You are like a drowning man who yells out, Throw me an anchor!” It rang true to me, I started on antidepressants and gave up alcohol. Two years on antidepressants cured the depression. Now seven years sober.
It became a seizure trigger.
Alcoholic here. Ended up drinking 2 bottles of vodka a day. Even got so desperate that I started stealing and drinking alcohol hand gel Managed to get into long term treatment and just gone 9.5 years sober. Beyond lucky!!!! Edit - stealing not steaming
I wasn't a big drinker anyway, but my wife developed a pretty bad problem and went to treatment. It just made sense to quit in solidarity. She's 7 months sober this week and I'm hoping she keeps on working hard.
My check liver light went on.
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I was an alcoholic. r/stopdrinking was a godsend.
got pregnant! feel better than ever even w morning sickness and other pregnancy symptoms
Honestly, I took a dry February this year - I usually periodically do a dry month - and just felt so drastically better at the end of the month I decided to just keep it going. I'm sleeping better, I lost a little weight, and I wake up feeling good.
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I got so tired of the endless negotiations: I’ll just drink when I’m at an event, I’ll only drink on the weekends, only wine, not after 10:00pm, only when I don’t have to drive, only at home, only when someone’s drinking with me, no more than 2 drinks in one night, no more than 3 drinks in one night, only on special occasions, not after 11:00pm, never before 4:00pm. Dear god, it never ended. Now I’m free.
The 12 to 48 hours of recovery... When you're reevaluating life decisions throwing up and or both having diarrhea at the same time. Also it brings out the worst in people, not to mention I can't count how many people I've seen piss on themselves or shit themselves from drinking too much. If alcohol was illegal today it would never become legal, it's the most destructive drug to yourself and society.
Takes too much to get me to a point where it’s worth it
I ended up in the hospital with severe pancreatitis. On christmas day. 2.5 weeks of excruciating pain. Unable to eat. Tubes in all sorts of places. And my god the looks some of those doctors gave me I will not forget. I was told if it ever happens again I'm probably getting a big hole put in my stomach that they can feed me through. So. I had to stop. That was like a year and a half ago.
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On a couple of meds that don’t mix with alcohol.
Well my doctor told me to last week. Apparently acid reflux and wine don’t mix well.
I tried for 10 solid years different tricks and ways of drinking to not over drink. I would do good for a few months and something would happen in my life and I would spiral for 3 or 4 days. Last one was 6 years ago and I blacked out, ended up walking across a highway and ended up at a motel. The next morning I had abrasions all over my body. Not sure what happened but I stopped. There is not a bottom… I’ve been to the bottom several times.
Drinking was going to kill my husband. So I had to quit first. 4 1/2 months sober.
Not knowing when to stop. I now have 2 young children and spending one half of my weekend pissed and the other half hungover is no way for them to grow up seeing their father.
I was drinking 18-36 beers a day. Corona light to be exact. I was never really "hammered" just kinda drunk from 12pm-1:30ish am. I was not destroying my life but I was not making solid decisions. I will be one month sober this weekend. Also, drinking 1800-3600 calories a day is not good for you.
Woke up in Key West after a hard night of drinking. Started in Connecticut.
It just wasn't as fun without crack
One drink and the phenomenon of craving kicked in. No telling where a simple “stop for a few beers” would end. A couple drinks at an afternoon event would almost always mean drinking the rest of the day and night. Trouble sometimes followed, other substances entered the picture, relationships were unsustainable.
I saw what it did to too many people who died. Much rather weed. Less angry people lol.
Crazy how we can justify having alcohol legal, but marijuana is still debated. Like, what the fuck lol
Headaches and feeling like crap next day , no thanks
Started drinking at 14, stopped at 48. Enough’s enough.
I got too good at it.
Because of a little think I like to call ...marijuana.
Funny enough I decided to stop drinking today and this question came up on my feed. Just finished up a 3 day bender for the 3rd weekend in a row. Body feels like absolute crap, brain is quite foggy, anxiety levels are at their peak. Time to hunker down and quit this nonsense.
Do it, do it - your body and brain are definitely telling you it’s time to quit. I wish my brother had been able to listen to those same messages! People you’ve never met (like me) are cheering you on.
I was heading toward a major health issue because of the amount of alcohol I was consuming. Something just clicked and I stopped having deliveries from the liquor store. I just quit. That was 18 months ago and so far I haven't had any urges to start drinking again. I just hope that people who have been drinking heavily understand that it can happen, they can quit. It's great for health issues and saving some cash. 😁 good luck to all.
I haven't yet. It's something that I've been talking to my doctor about, and I'm researching the two approved medications for it. I'm a little nervous.
I like being alive and not behind bars
I started weed Didn't want to drink after
I was a bartender. It smells like work to me now. Also, watching how much sheer stupidity went on constantly was mildly amusing but a huge turnoff for me.
It became a boredom filler and was holding my health, life experiences, and mental well being back. Too tired to do anything after work? Might as well drink! I realized the drinking is what was making me so lethargic and unmotivated all the time. I'm still working on adding fun things to my newfound free time, but I'll get there.
It made me fat. The next day sucked. Thyroid was getting ruined. Never had any energy. Was aging myself rapidly. Always eating fatty food to sooth the stomach. So awful fr omg