Did you always not drink - or did you drink only to give it up?

bassman22

I thought it might be interesting to find out...

SpitfireIV

Always a non drinker - No particular reason, just never bothered with the stuff, to be honest I dont know if I'd even like it or not if I did happen to try! lol. I'm in no rush anyway and have gotten this far without it!

How about yerself?

Phototoxin

I took a vow until I was 18, my friend Angela, the demon succubus who could remove most of my inhibitions, (luckily I escaped with my virginity, sanity and life) convinced me to drink a drink. So for a year or two I had the odd drink tho I've never been drunk. Now I might only have a glass of vino at christmas as alcohol + insulin can be dangerous.

seanybiker

im in pub now. He he. Love the stuff. Not good history in family with drink.

cantdecide

I saw how my friends had been drawn to it and always made a point of trying to get it before we turned 18. It was against the law and seemed like more hassle than it was worth to me. When I did turn 18 I just felt pressurized to drink like it was my birthright. It just made me feel ill so I decided nuts to this.

I have the history of alcoholism in the extended family but that didn't influence my decision- I just wasn't pushed enough about it to spend all my money, time and wellbeing on it.

myusernameis

i was always before a person totally against drinking, but till recently i have relaxed abit towards it and took the odd drink just to try it, but yeah im not really a drinker at all, very rarely i would have a drink but have never got drunk

Delirium

Started drinking around 19/20 and drank until last September. Essentially, for almost all of my 20s.

CianRyan

I use to drink quite excessively, but have been of the drink for just over a month now.
Best decision i have ever made.

Queen-Mise

I used to drink, nearly 11 years since i have drunk anything. quite happy away from it. it never suited me:pac::pac:

token56

Never touched the stuff, although I am only 21, none the less, it can be hard being a non drinker in college and such.
Reason: Just never liked the idea of the stuff and see it as a bit pointless. Dont think I will ever start drinking.

tbaymusicman

i used to love drinking everything about it until i started to get hangovers that brought about panic and anxiety:(:(:( if i could go back drink i would

OK-Cancel-Apply

Lifelong teetotaler here. Never started! They say that's the best way to stop :pac:

AL_otto_pain

I just never started .

And now i've lived so long with out I can't see myself starting now .

The Black Oil

I drink about 5 or 6 times a year, glass or two of wine at Christmas, with meals etc. I just never got into the whole drinking scene and all the talk of underage knacker drinking in school never appealed to me.

Dagon

I started at 15! The local niteclub had no problem serving kids... had my fair share of drunken nights. I was also a bit shy and lacking confidence as a teen and it definitely seemed to help with that...

Gave it up at 24. I never had a drinking problem or anything, but I just gradually needed it less and less.

wolfpawnat

I didnt drink until after I turned 18, I never liked the taste and when I got drunk something used always happen, not always to me though e.g. I fell down some stairs one night, and another time one of the girls had miscarried and it finally hit her when we were out one night. No one in a fit state to help her to come to terms with it. So I am really happy now. I can go to the pub and not give a crap about not drinking and I have a great time. My 2 best friends don't drink either so we can have a great laugh and no stupid drunken arguments! I get alot of stick off some of my OH's friends for it though!

Lobelia Overhill

I never liked the taste of anything alcoholic (wine at Christmas specifically) so I never got into drinking. I'd a friend who did drink, and was of the opinion that if you hadn't drunk 10 pints then you were not in any way shape or form even mildly inebriated (as this was her 'limit', 11th pint = legless-off-her-face), so anyways one New Years Eve I'm staying at her place so we could bitch about it being New Years and what was happy about it, and she'd got in some booze. I said I wasn't drinking thanks. She wouldn't take that for an answer and whinged at me for a good half an hour before I said all right I'd have one drink.

She filled a small tumbler to the brim and handed it to me... Yeah I'll have a quarter of that and a top up of lemonade ... she poured me another drink, with slightly less of the booze than the first time and put a teaspoon of lemonade in. It was becoming obvious that she thought I didn't drink cos I'd do something hi-lair-ious if I had any booze in me - not so, I'd laugh like an idiot and them fall asleep - so I thought what the hey I'll drink that and she can watch the "fireworks" i started sipping the drink, so she puts her hand on the bottom of the glass and tips it up so that I ended up swallowing half the glass in one gulp.

I went right passed the giggle/sleep stage and ended up somewhere else completely.

Her living room ended up trashed and her cat was on the top of the curtain rail yowling in terror ...

She took great delight for the next six months telling everyone what I'd done at New Years (without mentioning the alcohol). I stepped in one time when I heard her explaining why such and such an item was broken - erm wanna tell them about the glass of whatever it was you tipped down my throat earlier on? no, why should she? How could I (who'd not had a drop pass my lips in 10 years) have been drunk after one glass of something? The woman she was talking to looked utterly horrified at the idea that she'd more or less force fed me alcohol after [I saying I don't drink] (she admitted she'd shovelled the drink down me, and gotten me to have another glass after) and pointed out that any amount of alcohol given to someone who doesn't drink would have an effect on them.

She never apologised, nor did she tell any of the people that I'd been drunk at the time I'd wrecked her flat.

She never again offered me booze. And I swore off the stuff.

Although I have had the odd drink now and again, I make sure I never get bladdered.

You have been warned!

(oh and BTW the cat lived till he was 23 years old, so no need to call the ISPCA on me!!)

colrow

I got in a right mess drinking and stopped at Easter 1985 went through a treatment centre and joined aa, I moved here 4 years ago and started to drink I was on my knees in 3 months, I went back to AA, and I couldn't live without it I'm really grateful for aa and the people in it who have given me my life back.

Hello Queenie

unreggd

Was always afraid to drink out of fear of ending up like my mother [alcoholic] so I didnt start til I was 17 goin on 18, but by then I didnt NEED it for confidence etc, so never drank much

Gave it up altogether in october 07, and didnt drink at all til a trip to Canada in August 08 where I had a smirnoff ice, and a shot, but both made me feel like crap, so havent drank again since, and have no plans to any time soon

The only thing that makes me wanna drink is the lack of soft drinks in pubs over here! Theres only so many Lucozades you can stomach :P

colrow

unreggd wrote: »

The only thing that makes me wanna drink is the lack of soft drinks in pubs over here! Theres only so many Lucozades you can stomach :P

I'd agree with that, have you tried J2O, my favourite is Orange and Passionfruit

Used to drink a fair amount, nothing insane but spent too much on it, stopped for a while, realised I was happier not wasting the money, hated the taste of most drinks anyway, and tunnel vision and feeling ill isn't all that much fun

Don't mind a little cider once in a while or something, but never get tipsy or close anymore

tannytantans

I used to drink quite a bit but once I finished college I'd only drink maybe twice a month and then I'd suffer terribly the next morning so I just decided to give it up!Probably a good idea - a lot of my uncles are alcoholics.

Mr Benevolent

Didn't drink until 22. Now drink occasionally but don't like being drunk. No-one's ever commented on my drinking or not drinking and accepts that I'm a slow drinker too. When socialising I do prefer to drink as it's more fun, but a max of 4 pints.

unreggd

Ah, good ol "Joe-Juice" :P

L.Jenkins

Started drinking at 18 myself and used to love going off state side for the summer getting legless during time off, but recently at the age of 23 I saw sense and decided to give it up altogether after a casual night out turned problematic when I got picked up by the Gardai for drunk and disorderly behaviour. I'm 24 now and haven't drank in 6 months and I was very lucky to get away with a caution.

So to anyone who has found that Alcohol has become a problem and has given it up or reduced their intake, I salute you.

I'm 21 and never drank. Can't say I ever felt compelled to, though in saying that, I don't really visit pubs, etc. on any kind of regular basis. I'm not really a social person though, generally speaking, so I'd rarely feel the need to get drunk or anything, and there's never been any kind of "peer pressure" on me either, as most of my school friends didn't really get into drinking until just recently and most people I know don't drink that much anyway.

kelle

I started drinking at 18, but one glass of Ritz would do me for the night (there was no danger from somebody lacing your drink in those days). I moved to London at 19 and started drinking to get drunk as I enjoyed the sensation of being drunk, being able to get away wirth saying things I wouldn't normally have the courage to, and generally having the reputation for being a "wild woman" who was normally shy and reserved.

But when I had children and going out was non-existent I started having a glass of wine every 3rd evening. That became a glass every second evening. Then a half bottle every afternoon, as I was craving for the stuff! So I knew this was the beginning of the road to alcoholism and I made the decision to stop drinking in February 2006. I have never looked back and I don't regret it.

Last weekend I went out with a few girls and drank water all night, and danced till 4am. I really enjoyed myself, I would have conked out had I drank alcohol. And I was able to drive my friends home afterwards!

Persius

Started drinking at 15 and kept drinking quite a bit all the way through my teens and twenties. Was legless many a time, but never got to the alcoholic stage as my body would reject it before I got to the passing-out stage. I.e. I'd puke it back up and that would be it for the night (and the next few days too).

As I hit my 30's my tolerance started decreasing dramatically, and my suffering the morning after started getting much worse and extending into the whole day. Also after coming back from abroad, I discovered that I no longer liked the whole Irish drinking scene. Still it took me a few years to bite the bullet and definitivly quit. Can't actually remember when I last had a drink, but I think it was about a year and a half ago.

My respect goes out to all those recovering alcoholics out there who are staying dry.

Lone Stone

I started drinking when i was aroun 12 binge drank till about 20 then just kind of stoped, Il drink on a rare occasion but usually about 4 drinks does me , or if im out with friends i might just sip on one. Grew up with a lot of alcoholism in the family to so i supose ive always felt uncomfortable with alcohol around in a way.

Trail_Blazer

Yes, I drank/got drunk no more than 15 times in a period of 3 yrs, only to give it up. It's just not me at all.

Teabag!

Can i ask by not drinking do people mean....

Never touching the stuff,

or

having the very odd/rare drink wedding christmas bar mitzvah's etc....

as i dont drink at all, in my entire life i have takin to swigs of drinks,

1 was to break my pledge (cos it was the cool thing to do) i spat that in the fire....

2 was a part a parachuting club all new members had to swig this dutch spirit, which i also spat out promptly...

Theponylady

I just never had an interest in it. That and the fact that I recognized from a young age that I had an addictive personality. If I like something, I have no willpower to say no. So there were things I decided weren't worth trying, like alcohol and other drugs. There were certain drugs that did attract my attention, cocaine being one(ran into a friend who used to be fat and boring-she was georgeous, thin, energetic, and no longer boring, and she attibuted it to her cocaine use allowing her to lose weight and come out of herself). I was tempted, but decided it could be a very bad idea.

As to alcohol, all my friends drank(most still do). I was always the one to make sure everyone got home in one piece. I couldn't believe the stupid things they would do when drunk-it just gave me more reason to not drink. I did NOT want to act like an eijit or deal with the consequences some of them did(drunken sex leading to pregnancy or stds, trouble with parents, alcohol poisening, my friends were always in crisis!). Watching them made it REALLY easy to say no! That and the fact that I'm a bit of a control freak and didn't want to deal with that loss of control drinking causes;)

dan719

Gave up nearly a month ago. Realised that I was for all intents and purposes, an alcoholic, a high fuctioning one, but still an alcoholic. When I drank, I drank the bar, and would look for more. Entire weeks would be spent drinking, and no hangover would stop me having another bender.

Basically I got sick of being the guy who was always up for drinking, and being the guy who had to have twenty pints in a night.

I've given up a couple of times before, hoping I can stay off it this time.

whatdoicare

Never really bothered- the most I drink is watered down with 7up white wine. Maximum two small glasses or a small glass of baileys at x-mas.
Reason: Alcoholic parent really put me off it.

Deoir

I never started, saw it as too expensive and too much hassle from what I could see with some of my family and friends.

I still went out though, a lot and totally loved it, even though most of my friends were off their faces on something or another.

It was a lot easier to get into clubs when you're stone cold sober (even when I was 15)

As I got older I didn't see the point in starting and when I started driving it made even less sense to me to start to do something that would cost me more than my usual lucosade and I'd have to get a taxi home.

I'm 26 now and it's not something that I even think about any more unless someone asks me what I'm drinking and they ask if I'd like something stronger. Doesn't happen often since all my friends know for years that I don't drink.