Who has given up booz and why?

[rero360]

I was a borderline alcoholic for a brief period almost twenty years ago, but now I’ll have a drink or two with dinner maybe once a week or so, often less frequent than that. The few times I’ve had more drinks I never felt like I was getting drunk but still experienced the hangover the next morning.

[sadmin]

liked it too much. bottle of whiskey went from lasting a month to a couple weeks, to a week, to a few days. trend started. didnt want my young daughters to notice. also went for random colonoscopy and had 68 polyps with no familial history. figured it was yet more confirmation.

[DoubleW]

I enjoy good wine and fine bourbon. I try not to get drunk. I’ll have 1 or 2 at night, take some nights off. I do notice a difference in my sleep quality when I don’t drink…it improves pretty noticeably. However, it has been indisputably proven than moderate drinkers live several years longer than both heavy & non drinkers.

[One More Time]

About 12 years ago I stopped drinking.
Easy 12 pack a day, or bottle of whatever kick I was on at the moment.
Vodka and grapefruit juice for a bit, tequila and beer backs other times.
I had a tendency to keep on rolling and like it a bit to much.
Never drank at work but I showed up pretty buzzed from the night before more times than I can count.

No such thing as just one or two for me so I just don't anymore.
I'm finding stopping smoking much harder, my success rate for that sucks ass.

[1168]

liked it too much. bottle of whiskey went from lasting a month to a couple weeks, to a week, to a few days. trend started. didnt want my young daughters to notice.

Solid, mature decision. Nancy said “Just Say No.”, but thats naive, isn’t it? I think that campaign trivialized the importance of home life on behavior and addiction. For every kid that has the opportunity to “Just Say No” to an acquaintance handing him a joint as their first and highly critical experience with drugs, how many were introduced to the long (and it is long; people don’t wake up one day and decide to OD in a vacuum) pathway to addiction in their childhood home by their role models drinking or pushing amphetamines on them? That generational curse is caused by more than genetics.

I enjoy good wine and fine bourbon. I try not to get drunk. I’ll have 1 or 2 at night, take some nights off. I do notice a difference in my sleep quality when I don’t drink…it improves pretty noticeably. However, it has been indisputably proven than moderate drinkers live several years longer than both heavy & non drinkers.

You notice the difference in your sleep quality because alcohol inhibits quality REM sleep via the same mechanism as drugs that cause ICU Delirium via that process. The analogy I like to use is “bouncing a check to the sleep bank”. Eventually the sleep bank is going to say “hey, these checks are fake; its not sleep, its sedation…something, something, GABA”.

Will posted a study a few days ago suggesting that moderate drinking as a health strategy is a myth. As much as I’d like to agree with conventional wisdom, I intuitively arrived at the same conclusion years ago. To me, expecting even small amounts of alcohol to be beneficial is intuitively like expecting small amounts of abrasive dust ingestion to improve engine life.

[WillBrink]

Solid, mature decision. Nancy said “Just Say No.”, but thats naive, isn’t it? I think that campaign trivialized the importance of home life on behavior and addiction. For every kid that has the opportunity to “Just Say No” to an acquaintance handing him a joint as their first and highly critical experience with drugs, how many were introduced to the long (and it is long; people don’t wake up one day and decide to OD in a vacuum) pathway to addiction in their childhood home by their role models drinking or pushing amphetamines on them? That generational curse is caused by more than genetics.

You notice the difference in your sleep quality because alcohol inhibits quality REM sleep via the same mechanism as drugs that cause ICU Delirium via that process. The analogy I like to use is “bouncing a check to the sleep bank”. Eventually the sleep bank is going to say “hey, these checks are fake; its not sleep, its sedation…something, something, GABA”.

Will posted a study a few days ago suggesting that moderate drinking as a health strategy is a myth. As much as I’d like to agree with conventional wisdom, I intuitively arrived at the same conclusion years ago. To me, expecting even small amounts of alcohol to be beneficial is intuitively like expecting small amounts of abrasive dust ingestion to improve engine life.

I think the take home there is really moderate drinking not likely to do you harm, not doing you any good either. Data on that one is (surprisingly) still something of a moving target, but right now I think that's where its landed.

[1168]

I think the take home there is really moderate drinking not likely to do you harm, not doing you any good either. Data on that one is (surprisingly) still something of a moving target, but right now I think that's where its landed.

I agree. I’d liken it to refined sugar. Probably won’t hurt you in any easily measurable way in moderation with adequate caloric burn. But, there are plenty of anecdotes available for either to make one second guess “that won’t happen to me”. The opposite is true, too. Going from MODERATE use to abstinence is unlikely to be harmful. Might help, might not. Certainly the less monetarily expensive path.

To be clear, I’m not advocating for Teetotaling. Just being realistic about the real/potential cost of lunch.

[hotbiggun42]

I drank in my early 20s but stopped when i married. Honestly i despise being around drunk people.

[MegademiC]

I noticed a difference in sleep patterns. Ive been getting more into fitness, so I limit to 0-2 drinks a night, and have 1-2 nights a week I have more. The more I workout, the less I care about drinking.

I really love good craft beer and spririts so I'll never go completely dry.

[AKjeff]

I stopped in 2016. I became a supervisor at work and figured I needed to set an example.
Show up on time sober and clear headed, not an example about drinking or not.

Some can handle it in moderation, I couldn't.
My daily six pack was turning into a daily 12 pack and I knew it was time.
I had known since my 20's that I'd have to give it up one day.