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30 days sober

  
 
Benny the Ball
21:55 / 20.07.05
Today is my 30 day sober anniversary.

Why did I give up drink? Well, I'm from one of those families that gave brandy as medicine, guinness as a treat and baily's to help you sleep, so have been drinking since I was about five or six, with my first memory of having a drink when I was about three. My parents were quite the partiers, so would often drift around parties getting whatever drinks I could, and we often went to a social club at weekends, where towards the end of the night a guinness would be bought as a treat. When I was around eight or nine I was bored at a wedding reception, so helped out behind the bar, sneaking as many drinks as I could get, and ending up drunk enough to wander home with dad singing loudly and falling asleep in the dog basket with max the jack russell. Went through the usual routine of drinking in the park when nothing else to be done, but was having a bottle or two of whiskey instead of the usual cider and tennants or thunderbird that everyone else was enjoying. I became socially awkward, drinking instead of talking to people at parties and often just fallen asleep. My 20th birthday saw me collapse face first into a plate of chinese. The first time I met the future Mrs The Ball I was so nervous about talking with her I drank three bottles of wine, danced with her until I went dizzy and then vomitted over the side of a boat before needing to be taken home. The thing was, I never got hang overs, never felt rough, and only had two levels of drunk, had a drink and passed out. But all of this is part of growing up, right? Anyway, I've had enough of it. Although not dependent on alcohol, I can't drink in moderation, so have given the drink the elbow.

What have I noticed from not drinking? My face looks thinner, my man-tits have all but gone. Another thing that I've noticed is strong emotional welling ups. I've been missing Mrs the Ball a lot, and have been listening to music as I put together another mix cd for her, and keep finding myself near tears when I listen to certain songs.

Okay, over to the forum - any others given up drinking? When and why? What effects have you noticed?
 
 
Alex's Grandma
22:09 / 20.07.05
What do you want B the B, a medal, or a chest to pin it on... yer fuggin' bastard... I'll take the lorra yez on...
 
 
Essential Dazzler
22:32 / 20.07.05
December 2004 I gave up alcohol and caffeine for 23 days, simply because I wanted to prove to myself that I could go without drink. After a few irritable days, I felt better than I had done for ages, regular and easy sleep patterns, more energy, more pleasent temperement .
After 23 days I went back to Coffee and booze because It's slightly more fun.
I did manage to destroy my tolerance levels and get black-out drunk on 3 pints Christmas eve.
 
 
Whisky Priestess
23:24 / 20.07.05
I gave up le booze for Lent last year (2004). It went ok for a few weeks, and I certainly noticed that I was a) smoking less and b) had more money thereby (less spent on alcohol and fags) - oh and c) was getting way hopped up because I was drinking more coffee. However, what I had failed to factor in was that I had a highly stressful show on towards the end of March and that Lent did not, in fact, end until after my birthday (April 6) which was unconscionable. The only night of the year when people insist on buying you drinks ... I think not. So I started again.
 
 
Spatula Clarke
23:49 / 20.07.05
Haven't drunk for a couple of years, bar Christmas Eves (and I doubt I'll be doing on them again, either). Not because of any great personal moral beliefs or strength of character, but simply because I get the mother of all hangovers (of the truly horrible, throwing up stomach lining variety) regardless of how much or how little I put away.

A pint? That'll be me talking on the big white telephone in a few hours, cheers.
 
 
Tryphena Absent
00:01 / 21.07.05
I don't drink either, I started cutting down on the small amount of alcohol I was drinking about two and a half years ago and now I can't manage more than half a glass without wondering why I'm bothering. I stopped primarily because I'm mildly allergic to alcohol and I often get nasty headaches when I drink but really I think it tastes almost as rancid as Coca Cola.

What effect did it have? Less tolerance of drunk people but I'm quite tolerant up to a point anyway. I never liked alcohol enough to feel there's any kind of hole in my life, physically it's made no difference to me. It is quite annoying answering questions about it because I have to explain my allergy and then explain that I don't care that I'm allergic- that's the bit that people don't get, the not caring. I seriously don't understand why anyone loves the stuff quite that much (although I do miss red wine a little).
 
 
lekvar
02:22 / 21.07.05
I quit for a year back 'round '98 or '99, just to see if I could. I made it the entire year with only two one-beer slip-ups. I also gave up weed at the same time. It was a pretty good year, all told. More energy, enough drive to get back into school, I looked and felt good.

I'm drinking too much these days, and I'll probably be giving the booze up for a while soon. I'm just drinking out of boredom and habit and it's getting in the way of all the other stuff I want to be doing with my life.
 
 
astrojax69
03:31 / 21.07.05
twelve weeks yesterday - no drugs, incl coffee and booze (chocolate is not, i repeat not, a drug, ok...)

don't miss booze, don't think i miss coffee, though get tired and wonder if that is when i used to get the kick..? was drinking a little too much, though not on the scale of bottles of whiskey a day, more like a glass of sherry while cooking, mebbe a beer too, and then half a bottle of wine or less with dinner, but every day. never really got drunk. certainly not pass out...

i think i had enough depression without adding depressants. got suicidal. still moody, of course, but coping and, as i said, not missing them, so no plans to start again; certainly no timetable, like 'oh, i will go without for three months, then...' i guess the time will be right.

i do miss the taste of a nice red, but...
 
 
illmatic
07:51 / 21.07.05
Well done Benny.

I gave up the booze last September for a month (details here). The effects on me the first time round weren’t that amazing, but I just felt clear-headed and healthy. Lately, I’ve been tempted to go back on the wagon again because of two things:

a) the £3 pint is well and truly with us and I cannot bring myself to pay £3 for what is basically a glass of water, sugar and yeast .

b) the fact that I don’t really know why I drink anymore. I don’t understand why I get pissed, it’s just something I do automatically, pretty much whenever I meet one of my friends. It’s just a reflex, rather than a source of pleasure.

I find myself asking questions like. Am I really getting that much from it? Am I really enjoying the disinhibiting effects that much? Is it really worth the ruinously expense (it’s definitely the biggest segment of my monthly budget after rent). I just find it a bit odd, that’s all. I don’t know why I do it beyond habit.

I don’t think I’m going to give up totally, but I do find myself cutting down more and more… (which helps me stay off the fags) - perhaps this is the way to go?
 
 
Nobody's girl
08:11 / 21.07.05
Booze is a boring drug anyway.

I've never been one of life's great drinkers, two pints and I'm pissed, three and I'm out. Not only am I a tremendous lightweight, but a while ago at the Edinburgh Beltane festival I got really sick from too much drinking and had to bolt for home- the cab journey was a hell ride. Problem was, before I turned green, probably literally, I'd been getting on very well with a lovely lady I'd fancied for ages and we were this close to getting it on. I don't think I've ever forgiven alcohol for that.
 
 
Haus of Mystery
08:16 / 21.07.05
Erm... a week is the longest I've managed for years. Not big or clever, but a weakly addictive personality I fear. Working in a bar/venue definitely doesn't help. Do occassionally worry about my alcohol intake, but unfortunately I seem to like it a great deal. My recent roadtrip in California wouldn't have been the same without the copious Bourbon diet...I guess once I feel it's a social crutch (or I find myself drinking before I've even opened my eyes in the morning) I might have to reconsider.

But well done to all you strongwilled hombres...
 
 
Regrettable Juvenilia
08:17 / 21.07.05
Booze is a boring drug anyway.


Compared to what?
 
 
Nobody's girl
08:20 / 21.07.05
Every other mind altering substance known to man, Flyboy. I include fags and caffeine in that list. But then I recently gave up fags and every one looks beautiful to me right now. Damnable fetus.
 
 
Char Aina
08:36 / 21.07.05
congratulations, benny.
sounds to me like you have made the right decision for yourself and i reckon its cool you can stick to your guns.

i have never given up alcohol and i dont suspect i will anytime soon. the only thing that really annoys me about it is the amount i smoke when i am drunk. i can handle all the other effects and enjoy some of them, but that one sucks infected ass.
i reckon i consume about ten units in a week, somtimes less.
the problem is each one of those units can come with one cigarette, sometimes more.

lung damage through disinhibition is not cool.
 
 
Char Aina
08:39 / 21.07.05
oh, and i'd agree with nobody's girl, but i'd remove fags from the list.
dont promise yourself cigarettes when your baby's born!
take this chance to be free forever!
run while you still can!
 
 
Axolotl
09:06 / 21.07.05
I have to say I love booze, both the taste and the effects, but occasionally I think the fact that I am generally drinking every day should bother me. I could probably do with the odd detox period now and again but the motivation just isn't there. I don't drink heavily as I get killer hangovers, just a couple of beers most nights, and I figure the pleasure I gain from it outweighs the possible damages, I hope that decision would change if I started waking up in gutters, but I don't know.
All power to those who have made that decision and stuck with it though, I think I'd find it pretty hard.
 
 
Quantum
09:27 / 21.07.05
I gave up fags no problem for my 30th in March. Why smoke? Booze on the other hand, there's another matter. Congratulations BB, when I tried to give up drinking I found it really hard- I either compensated by transferring to other substances (BAD idea) or found some excuse to start again (birthday, Xmas, cold beer in summertime, wedding, party, because it's a Wednesday...).

The most difficult thing was meeting people- I arrange to meet people in pubs mostly, and that's a hard habit to break. Coffeeshops don't stay open late, street corners aren't very social, so I end up in a pub. Then someone offers to buy me a beer, well it would be rude to refuse...

At the moment I'm aiming for drinking less, to avoid the memory loss, embarrassment etc. but the problem is my drunk self wants to get more drunk, not stop at a sensible point. Bastard. Maybe the trick is to sort out the self destructive tendencies and tackle the root cause...
 
 
lekvar
18:32 / 21.07.05
the fact that I don’t really know why I drink anymore. I don’t understand why I get pissed, it’s just something I do automatically, pretty much whenever I meet one of my friends. It’s just a reflex, rather than a source of pleasure.

[gets comfortable in armchair psychologist armchair.]
One of the things I've concluded, upon reflection, is there's a part of my brain that equates being social with chemical intake. My parents are/were party people. My youth was filled with sneaking off with friends to get drunk by the train tracks or find some epic party or other.

These days heading for the liquor cabinet seems like reflex more than anything else. It doesn't grease the skids in social situations like it used to and the morning after, while rarely "hangover black," isn't very enjoyable.
Time for me to start reprogramming the headmeats.
[gets out of armchair psychologist armchar. Hopes ganesh didn't notice.]

Oh, and congrats, Benny the Ball and everyone else.
 
 
STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK
18:44 / 21.07.05
A week is the longest I can manage, though recently I've managed that every other week, which has been pretty good (I work nights on alternate weeks, and I've discovered it's easier to abstain then, largely because I'm asleep when I'd normally be drinking). The last three weeks I've been on holiday so it... um... hasn't worked so well. Hopefully this is just a blip- I was in counselling for my love of booze until a month ago, and really hope I can do okay without it... but I'm starting to worry now.
 
 
bitchiekittie
18:56 / 21.07.05
other than the tiny portions of alcohol found in certain foods (like tiramasu, mmmm), I haven't had any type of alcohol for 6 years or more.

in some ways, my response is much like nina's. though I'm not allergic, I don't care for the taste. but I also don't find anything appealing about willingly giving up any portion of my self control - which is the same reason I have never and will never use illicit drugs, and why I am very reluctant to use strong pain relieving meds (so far I only have done so when my ailments were severe enough to warrant a hospital stay). and I don't miss it or feel as if I'm missing out on something special or even slightly more fun.

I rarely have any trouble relaxing or finding something to amuse me wherever I go, and if I do, drinking isn't going to magically transform the place into an environment that's fun for me, period, and so I leave.

I don't mind hanging out with people who get drunk, but it's very definitely a turn off when someone I'm dating gets sloppy drunk around me, and I prefer to date teetotalers (not much luck with that one). I have trouble respecting people who have difficulty separating "drinking" and "fun", or those not currently embroiled in some type of situational turmoil who state an eagerness to "get fucked up".

I am almost always the designated driver, a role which I actually enjoy because I get to ensure that my friends arrive home safely. I always spend the least at bars - I often spend as little as a couple of dollars (I usually tip a dollar for free water, and rarely drink those nasty watered down sodas).

I have never consumed enough alcohol to pass out, get sick, earn a hangover, or do anything stupider than I would have done entirely sober.
 
 
FinderWolf
19:28 / 21.07.05
Congrats Benny.

For a great story of alcoholism, read "Dry" by Augusten Burroughs. (I'm not saying Benny nor anyone here is an alcoholic, it's just a great book about drinking too much)
 
 
FinderWolf
19:30 / 21.07.05
>> The first time I met the future Mrs The Ball

oh, and this made me laugh.
 
 
grant
19:43 / 21.07.05
Like bk + nina, I've never much cared for alcohol, and have always been the designated dweeb.

However, I've recently started drinking a glass of port after dinner. Partially, it's that unfashionable whimsy problem I have. And partially, it's a health thing. I don't much care for red wine, which all the researchers say is a good thing to have with dinner what with the polyphenols and anti-heart disease and that. Port's really just red wine + distilled wine (brandy) + unfermented grape juice (they add the brandy halfway through the fermentation, which stops the yeast and leaves some of the juice unfermented).

I'm kind of fond of the flavor, but always feel a bit unpleasantly medicined afterwards.
 
 
ibis the being
20:32 / 21.07.05
I have absolutely no desire to ever "give up" alcohol, with the possible future exception of abstaining while pregnant. I certainly don't begrudge anyone else's abstention, and I'm aware that some people are just not able to drink in moderation. For me, though, rigid self-denial - be it with drinks, food, caffeine, what have you - sends me to a bad place mentally, I've found. Like, a kind of freaky almost self-punishing bad place. Moderation's the key for me. I don't drink every day, though I do at times go through streaks of the (one) beer-after-work routine, particularly in the summer.
 
 
Regrettable Juvenilia
22:00 / 21.07.05
If I was as easily amused as FinderWolf, I wouldn't need to drink.
 
 
fuckbaked
04:15 / 22.07.05
Congrats to everyone who's given it up or is trying to give it up.

My drug is pot. No one really understands that, but I spent about 5 years smoking more pot than any of you can probably imagine. 3 years ago I tried to give it up, and I started drinking a lot, which I never had before. When I finally started smoking weed again, I was able to give up alcohol. 2 years later, I tried to give up weed again, and the same thing happened, so I started smoking weed again. (number of years ago is approximate, and might differ from something I've said in other threads due to my general inability to even know what fucking month it is). Lately, my money situation's been bad (basically because whenever I have money, I spend nearly all of it on weed, and sometimes all of it, so that I don't have enough money for food. Did I mention that I'm losing weight, despite the fact that I'm drinking every day and I'm not trying to lose weight?). Since I haven't had much weed lately (really, hardly any) I've stared drinking again. It's not bad yet. I've been spending a good part of every day without anything intoxicating me, and then getting drunk at night, unless I have to work. On one hand, I'm scared that I'm drinking again at all, because I remember how things were last time, and the time before that. I don't forget things from when I'm drunk, even if I end up puking my guts up and passing out on a fucking rooftop. I also rarely get a hangover. The fact that I'm spending a good part of the day not intoxicated, and that I'm not feeling...the way I used to when I didn't have weed, it seems like a good thing. On the other hand, I know that if I don't deal with the drinking thing soon, it'll be back to the way it was before. Oh, and I'm a lightweight. I mean, I seriously only weigh 100 pounds, and even if I'm drinking every day, I have a rediculously low tolerance for alcohol. There's just something weird about me. I've never met anyone who can get as drunk as I get by drinking so damn little. It sort of sucks, because the difference between "not drunk enough" and "puking my guts up and passing out on somebody's bathroom floor" is a very small amount of alcohol. On the other hand, I spend way, way less money on alcohol than the friends that I drink with do. I know my tolerance will go up more, but it just never goes that high. Unlike weed. No matter how much weed I've smoked, I can always smoke more, and I always want to smoke more. I smoke until I'm not high anymore, and then I just keep smoking. I don't know why. My favorite feeling in the world is when I haven't smoked pot in a week (which doesn't happen very often) and I buy some, and I can smoke enough to get me high. I get really high when I haven't smoked in a while. If I haven't smoked in a while, and someone smokes me out....well, it's a nice gesture. It doesn't get me stoned, though. It's not enough weed. And no, I'm not a social pot smoker. If I can afford weed, I buy as much as I possibly can, and I sit alone in my house and smoke it all. Right now I'm a social drinker, but that will change if I keep drinking as much as I currently am.
 
 
Rachel Melmoth
05:26 / 22.07.05
With the exception of a sudden relapse last night, I've more or less given the stuff up for the last two months, and like everyone else, I feel a trillion times better for it. Clearer, more optimistic, more creative and energetic... in fact, I feel more or less as though I'm finally getting past the crippling depression that I was trying to tamp down with all that booze - the obvious solution, and therefore, the last one I try of course.

My little man-boobs, sadly, have not responded as well to the process as Benny's, but I suppose it's something to hope for. Stubborn little bastards. *glares at own chest*
 
 
haus of fraser
13:04 / 26.07.05
I saw this thread last week and meant to post on it. I am currently 13 days in on an enforced month off the booze, having been ill with Kidney pains during my entire stay in Barcelona only to discover that I have a Kidney stone upon my return- Which has been something of a wake up call to me. Basically I drink too much booze and not enough water, causing dehydration...

I backtracked the last couple of months and realised that pretty much everyday for the last 2-3 months i'd had a drink and probably had a big night at least once a week. However I'm quite enjoying my new found regime, its been much much easier than I thought, I've started exercising everyday and in 13 days i've lost half a stone! i'm actually fairly shocked at the rate my boozy belly is falling off me.

Hopefully I will manage the full month- the other knock on effects are that i've stopped smoking (i only really smoke when i drink), and i'm saving shit loads of money.

I'm not sure whats going to happen when the months up- my plan is to only drink when the occasion calls, rather than wine with virtually every meal and monday nights sitting outside a dingey Soho dive with only the office runners for company...

Benny what's your plan, are you off the sauce for good or will you partake in the odd tipple if the occasion demands?
 
 
Quantum
14:51 / 26.07.05
My drug is pot. No one really understands that, but I spent about 5 years smoking more pot than any of you can probably imagine (fuckbaked)

Hahahaha. You clearly don't know your audience, I'm on a dozen years and counting.

I'd been aiming to drink moderately, until Sunday when someone concerned said I should stop completely- so I have. So far it's meant being very bored in the pub, and wondering what to do with the appalling clarity sobriety brings, other than getting stoned. I'll let you know how it goes.
 
 
Axolotl
15:21 / 26.07.05
Quantum - That's the problem I've always had with complete abstinence: the realisation that the pub, and your friends, are much less entertaining when you are the only sober person present.
The other thing is what the hell you do with all your time? Evenings seem to stretch on forever, and all those self improving activities seem far too much like hard work, while TV is far less enticing without booze to numb the brain.
But, y'know, don't let me put all you budding tee-totallers off. Go sobriety!
 
 
Fist Fun
21:17 / 26.07.05
Well done on not drinking mate.

I go through spells where I drink too much. Mainly because I go out a lot and all my friends drinks a lot. I love drinking, I love getting drunk.

It kinda messed me up a bit though. Like I kept having weird vivid dreams and feeling uhealthy and getting less done.

I'm really busy at work now and overseas so I am drinking less. Does make me feel better.
 
 
modern maenad
08:18 / 04.08.05
reading through this thread really reminded me of the whole genetic component of taste/preference/addiction etc. And though I despise animal testing thought this would be interesting:

Researchers at McGill University in Montreal fed
alcohol to 1,000 green vervet monkeys and discovered
that they fell into four categories: binge drinker,
steady drinker, social drinker and teetotaler. Most
were social drinkers who indulged in moderation and
only with other monkeys-but never before lunch.
Fifteen percent drink regularly and heavily. Another
fifteen percent drink little or no alcohol. Five
percent were classified as "seriously abusive binge
drinkers."

Unfortunately my brain/body loves the stuff.....
 
  
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