Haven't touched a drop in...

07-01-2022 12:33pm

I do find that irelands acceptance and culture of drinking is changing. I wouldn't have thought previously but when that culture shifts it does become easier to not drink.

Its definitely become more acceptable to meet friends and have a heineken zero and people don't approach it in the same manner as years back.

The government interventions like not allowing vouchers being used, no club points for alcohol and MUP are the correct approaches and I was saying this even when drinking.

With the MUP however I would have preferred an increase in tax to match that MUP and not give companies more profit. That MUP tax should then be ringfenced for treatment and help for people who are trying to get away from alcohol addiction.

I also hold the same with legalising cannabis and ringfencing that for all types of drug addiction

Midlife crisis man · 23-01-2022 7:44pm

Off it 17 weeks now and counting. I swapped over to the n/a stuff and surprisingly I don't miss the real stuff at all. I'm feeling the benefits of it too. Lost a bit of weight too so that's a bonus. I like that the range of non alcoholic beers is expanding and that it's not all just bland p1sswater.

I do miss brewing beer as a hobby though but I'm experimenting with trying to brew a good n/a beer.

kerryjack · 23-01-2022 7:55pm

I had 2 pints of draft Guinness 00 yesterday tried the cans didn't think they were great but the draft was very nice indeed, don't have it in our local which is a pitty but his loss I am sure.

Bassfish · 27-01-2022 1:24pm

I went to the pub the other night with a couple of buddies and had three pints of Heineken Zero. If I was at home I wouldn't bother but being out in a pub with friends having 'pints' was a nice experience and kind of scratched the itch when you're off the booze.

pretty boy floyd · 01-02-2022 1:41am

Off the drink a year yesterday. In some ways it has gone quickly, in others it feels a long time since I had a beer or glass of wine. I do enjoy the alcohol free drinks. It seems you have to rotate the selection so you don't get bored. They've definitely made it easier.

Apart from the odd time when I feel people I am with are having more fun with a drink, it has been fine, and there are so many levels on which my life is better. I might have previously been the fella that questioned people who didn't drink (at least to myself). That in itself probably indicated an unhealthy relationship with booze. Now i can go out, have a laugh and enjoy myself without any temptation to drink. Never say never but I now know I can be fully content and happy without the auld drink.

05-02-2022 11:13am

Over 2 months here now. Seemed strangley easy and I feel a lot better for it

pretty boy floyd · 05-02-2022 10:17pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118585544#Comment_118585544

Good stuff Keefo, keep it up :-)

Sigma Force · 08-06-2022 12:59am

Does it depend on the individual person as to wether its 'safe' to drink non ac beers? Esp when some do contain some tiny amount of alcohol. Being back in the pub culture, around others drinking is that not a step towards making it easier to relapse or does it depend on the individual. My oh I know would be dragged back into the culture and temptation if he started going to pubs and having non alc beers. At a family bbq he would have non alc beers so he doesn't feel left out I think the more it tastes like real beer the more tempting it is and could lead him to thinking ah sure I'm grand on this just ran out so will try a regular one. I know it's out of my control but I do think he's kidding himself. But up to him at the end of the day. I will not be there if he relapses again though for my own sake.

tinpib · 08-06-2022 8:19am

Wow, had kinda forgotten this thread existed, hope everyone is doing well. I can't 100% remember my feelings and thought process around non alco beers when I quit. I guess it seemed like the logical thing to do. I do clearly remember going for "pints" after work midweek one time nd I sorta binge drank around 4 non alc Erdingers in the same way, and at the same speed, I used to sink regular pints. I got terrible stomach cramps so that was the end of that for me.

I drank to get pi$$ed, I didn't enjoy the taste of beers. Non alc beers seem so utterly pointless to me, but I do understand why other people drink them.

Sigma Force · 09-06-2022 9:44pm

Yeh I guess if you were never find of the taste and just he effect it can be easier not to bother with them. Would you still go to pubs now and just drink a coke or whatever or do you not bother now? My oh always liked the taste apparently so that may be one reason and he n ay want to just fit in but to be it's a slippery sloap.

Mearings · 10-06-2022 2:38pm

I have a friend who like myself threw in the alcoholic towel many years but is fond of a Heineken 0%. He always orders a bottle of 0% with an empty glass so that he can be sure his Heineken bottle 0%. He learnt to do this because of a barman's mistake.

Me? A sparkling water does nicely.

tinpib · 10-06-2022 5:14pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119181226#Comment_119181226

Before Covid I used to go to the pub on my own quite often, once a week anyway, but during the day time. Had a tea/coffee, OJ or something.

I'm in my 40's now, so "the lads" all meet up for a night out maybe only once or twice a year now instead of every week. I don't enjoy that night out as much as I did in my early 20's, but here's the thing, I can see that they clearly aren't having as much fun as they did in their 20's either. It's just a part of getting older.

So I know I'm not missing out on much. It's still nice to see them and catch up, but as I say none of us are having the blast that we did when we were 20.

Sigma Force · 10-06-2022 11:41pm

Yeh I think my oh is realising he's not 18 anymore I think men get tired in their 40's and women get a new lease of life and freedom 😄 My oh doesn't generally like going out he gets bored really easily in one way it's good in another way you can't relax and enjoy the time because you know he'll itching to go home.

11-06-2022 2:17am

I find the non alcohol beers become less appealing as time goes on, I was drinking them a good bit for a while and now I will have the odd one, maybe when the OH is having a drink. I'd have a bottle or 2 if I go to the pub which is very rare these days. Pubs just don't appeal to me anymore.

BingCrosbee · 11-06-2022 8:40am

I’m off it 9 days now and feel good. I’m motivated to cycle the Ring of Kerry in 3 weeks so I want to be at my best at 64. Never gave it up in my life so I’m proud of myself.

Bobtheman · 15-06-2022 5:25pm

Can I suggest two fantastic books

Alcohol explained by William porter and This Naked mind By Annie Grace

Both basically say nobody should drink regularly for a range of reasons and that practically every positive thing we think booze does is a myth.

All scientific

Remember once upon a time everyone thought smoking was a good idea

pretty boy floyd · 30-06-2022 5:32pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119186988#Comment_119186988

Good for you. I hope you keep it up. It really does get easier and easier, and you start noticing the things that you are gaining. It surprises me how much better it is not to be thinking about drink, whether I can have a few tonight, whether I drank too much last night etc etc. I say that as someone who hadnt gone a weekend without drinking for 30 years and now hasnt touched a drop in 17 months

Sigma Force · 30-06-2022 5:42pm

That's what my oh found, the relief of not having to plan how to get enough beer every day and how to hide it and how to get away with it, how to find enough money for it. It was like a military plan every day and the strain of it was head wrecking in the end.

ocallagh · 03-07-2022 1:25am

Alcohol was such a huge part of my life from my early teens. I turned 40 in 2020. Physically and emotionally I was a complete mess, drinking many bottles of wine a day.

My last drink was November 2020. I don't recall the exact date as it was a complete blur.. I'm slowly rebuilding my life, I've lost over 40kg in weight and miraculously my latest liver tests show no lasting damage. I feel great for the first time in a long time.

09-07-2022 9:31am

220 days here, before if I got this far I thought I could go back on it but it would always go downhill. Glad to say I am very content now and enjoy waking fresh on the weekends.

As most say here the zero alcohol helps, I don't have it a fraction as opposed to the start, have it the odd time now more of a social thing

Good luck to all

riddles · 20-08-2022 2:52pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119282762#Comment_119282762

Cut it five days ago. My previous largest stint off it was 12 weeks up Christmas 2020. Slipped into the bottle or two of vino a day which wears you down over time and adds the weight and leads to hideous procrastination and anxiety.

Looking to close the door on it for good as one or two drinks, I could leave it completely. I find if I open the door to it at all good intentions are eroded and it’s back to square one.

ocallagh · 23-08-2022 4:20am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119497768#Comment_119497768

I've found my battle with addiction really interesting over the last 18 months. All the urges, one or two can't harm, worry about it tomorrow, the depression, the hopelessness (whats the point in life without drink) - looking back on it all, it was my addiction fuelling all this angst. It took about 12 months for these symptoms to abate, and for me to start truly enjoying life without alcohol. The depression and hopelessness lingered for a long time, but it did improve slowly and is very much under control now. I currently have no desire to drink, but I know I am still addicted, and if I open that door just a small bit it's game over. Everyone's story is different, but your experience is quite similar to mine and I just want to backup your point on keeping the door shut.. best of luck!

Henlars67 · 19-10-2022 6:37pm

I haven't drank since the middle of August. When I'm drinking I don't go home until I'm well full, but halfway through my second pint I just decided I'd had enough of drink and I left and walked home. Haven't had a drink since, and haven't really wanted one.

I've done good stints off it before, but I was always looking forward to the session I was going to have when I went back on it. I'm not thinking lime that this time. After a couple of weeks I started thinking about staying off it. I'd never considered quitting for good before this.

I started drinking regularly at about 17. I knew by the time I was 23 or 24 that I had an issue with drink and that it didn't really suit me. I'm almost 40 now.

I'm pretty sure that I don't want to drink again, and as of now I have no desire to.

I haven't posted on Boards in years and not really sure what I'm hoping to gain by posting this, but I guess I just want to put it down in writing.

I've spent years drinking all my money, and even when I was taking a break from drink I was really only saving for a big binge. I was always telling myself I couldn't afford holidays or nice clothes or whatever, but of I realise now that I could always afford them, it's just that I'd rather spend it on drink. I haven't saved any money the past couple of months but I've bought things that I've needed or wanted for a while, but didn't want to waste my drinking money on.

For the first time in over 20 years I'm not thinking about drink all of the time. I know I'm not off it that long, and I have previously been off it longer, but back then I had no intentions of staying off it. This feels different. I feel like I've broken free from drink. Maybe I'm getting ahead of myself, but I feel like I'm in a good place for the first time in my adult life.

Sigma Force · 21-10-2022 12:17am

That's great, it makes all the difference when you actually want to do it yourself rather than feeling obligated to do it or just giving yourself a break from it. Sometimes it just takes time and it's never to late to start changing habits. Just ensure you have support around you even if you can do it yourself it's nice to have back up there if you're having a low day or just stressed. You don't even have to be craving a drink it can be just if things get on top of you that you have someone to chat to. My OH quit after nearly 30 years of hard drinking he's 5 years sober and turned his life around in such a short space of time. No point in regretting what you could have done everyone has regrets drinkers or not, just look forward to what's ahead.

global23214124 · 22-10-2022 4:50pm

Around 9 months now following a slip 9 months ago. Its not all perfect dealing with life without it but it couldn't keep going the way I was going using it to numb all my problems. Going to keep going now with it. Don't have intentions of going back to it.

02-11-2022 4:40pm

This used to be such an active thread, hope all is doing well. I'm going on a year now, still feel the same as I did back then, acceptance that drink does nothing good for me and content with that fact. Coming up to Xmas I have no fear that I will booze

Juran · 02-11-2022 4:45pm

Folks, can I ask. Did you find that you lost weight easy after giving up the drink? And did you taste bud change eg. No longer feel like sugar or salty crap.

Henlars67 · 04-11-2022 7:19pm

The feeling of freedom is definitely an unexpected bonus. I wasn't expecting that as I never felt it in previous stunts off the drink. I suppose the difference is that back then I was only off the drink and what was keeping me going was the thoughts of a several day session when I went back on it. This time I'm not off the beer, I've given it up. It's a totally different mindset.

On the weight loss, I have lost weight but that's because I'm exercising a lot. I always did a bit of exercise anyway but not nearly as much as I needed to because I simply wasn't able while I was drinking. The reason I've lost weight is because I now have the energy and more importantly the time to do more exercise. There's no point giving up the drink and just staying at home watching TV trying to kill time. You need to make at least one other positive change in your life.

riddles · 11-12-2022 10:38am

Hi

I’ve cut booze for about three 12 week spells in the last two years. And then complacency kicks in and I go back to it. I recently started a new sport and was flying at it but with booze and lack of hydration picked up an annoying injury.

I’ve stopped now for seven days and intend to make this break permanent. Any hints on how to refresh commitment when reaching that 10-12 weeks area.

thx

josealdo · 11-12-2022 4:00pm

7 years without a drop , I don't miss it a bit , I started at 18 , peer pressure , working away from home in a factory with heavy drinkers , I drank to fit in and when I was a mess with drink , I fitted right in . I wish I never drank . It cost me so much , not even the time and money wasted, its the lost opportunity, the lost potential, my self esteem took a beaten from my embarrassing black out nights of drinking to excess but thankfully thats all behind me now . I will never drink again .

Haven't touched a drop in...

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