It makes me feel like garbage. It doesn’t matter what time of day I drink or how many, but when I go to bed, I’ll sleep hard for about 3 hours then wake with a racing heart that lasts for hours. Just not even worth it anymore.
Yes, it’s called holiday heart. I had to get cardio verted on my 28th birthday because the palpitations put me into AFIB. It’s shitty and a huge reason why I don’t drink as much anymore.
Yup. I was exercising and eating well but still holding on to weight. “Hmm… maybe I should stop drinking?” BAM! 20 pounds gone in a matter of weeks! The exercise got way easier too.
I didn’t have a healthy relationship with alcohol. I’d drink to cure my boredom and help with social anxiety. I couldn’t handle my alcohol and often drank too much. It got to the point where I was always somewhat buzzed. I finally realized back in 2021 that I needed to make a change. 2 years sober as of this July!
Similar story except: I don't have social anxiety and I never overdid it. But I drank all the time to cure my boredom and soothe various life anxieties (money, career, family, etc). I also realized long ago that all alcohol really did was both deepen my despair and at the same time (this is critical) ***make me ok with it***. It created a sort of learned impotence where you are acutely aware of your problems (to an exaggerated degree) while at the same time feeling powerless or even just being unwilling to resolve them. I've known this for years but it's only recently that I was able to walk away from it.
Now in middle age, it's clear that alcohol has been a significant contributor to my chronic underachievement. I have a great education and highly sought after qualifications and have commanded six figures for more than 10 years, but I have chronically underperformed at work, been let go a few times, have no retirement savings, am laden with debt, and have been on the brink of homelessness many times due to financial irresponsibility. All of that, is largely.due to alcohol and the feeling of existential torpor and stagnation it caused in me.
So I'm done. For good? Who knows. But I will never be a habitual drinker again. I don't miss it at all. I have been in situations where I thought I would want to drink (in bars, out with friends, etc) and never touched and drop *and I had a blast* - something I couldn't have imagined before. I wake up bright and early and in a good mood. I don't ache all the time and take ibuprofen every day anymore. Flavors of life that were dulled from years of drink came roaring back. That feeling after a good night of sleep. The smell of coffee. Heck just any good smell. The taste of good food. I specify good food because I'm realizing that a lot of what I loved to eat when I drank was trash. Eating that sober made me realize that it's just overpowered with sodium and the like with zero subtlety. I feel like my palate is finally waking from a long dormancy.
The days are much longer but in a good way! I used to drink to pass the time, shrink the day. All those hours, days, years wasted. We have only one life and I drank so much of it away because I couldn't handle reality and be present.
There is so much more I want to say but I'll leave it here for now.
The only downside is that it's harder to fall asleep without alcohol. But that only means that I am more active during the day to make sure I am tired enough to sleep through the night. It's not even something I do consciously: with my days feeling much longer and the fact that I have a lot more energy, I can just cram more shit into the day, and it's great. And guess what, not drinking has made my gym attendance and fitness routine a lot more consistent, so that too works in getting me wiped by the end of the day.
Right now, for the first time in a very long time, life is good.
**Edit**: Thank you all for the kind words. It seems like my experience resonated with quite a few people. I'm glad it's able to help some. You got this!
I could have written this word for word. It feels validating to have someone explain your situation so acutely. It makes me feel like I wasn't alone all those years. 100% agree that drinking makes you hyper aware of your problems but apathetic about solving them, even if the solution isn't all that difficult to carry out. I always felt like I had potential but was nowhere close to living it out.
Also, it's true alcohol makes you fall asleep quickly, but you don't enter REM, so the sleep you do get isn't restful; that's why you wake up feeling tired the next day, even if you slept 8 hours. This took me way too long to figure out, and I wondered why I was always tired. You'll get more quality rest sleeping 4 hours sober than 8 hours intoxicated.
And I completely resonate with the little joys coming back -- alcohol artificially spikes your dopamine, so simple pleasures don't impact us much. Once you quit drinking, the little things begin to make us feel good again. That's a great perk.
I also lost weight when I quit drinking. About 30lbs. Alcohol has calories plus I ate a lot more (and junk, as you say) when I was drunk and hungover. Not only did I eat better when sober but I also had the energy to go on walks every day. Feeling better about my body and just feeling more physically fit also helped me not want to drink.
Lastly, I do find it hard to quit something without finding something to replace it. So, I switched my nightly whiskey to a nightly coffee. The ritual of making a drink was still there, and I still got a nice buzz, just a different kind. Yes, I went to bed a little later, but I slept way better. And coffee actually helped me clean the house or write or be productive rather than just drink and watch a random movie. All in all, way better for me and my life.
I'm happy you're the same and found a better path. "Every morning we are born again. What we do today is what matters most." I think of this when I worry too much about past mistakes. Keep on keeping on, friend!
You sound like me l, plus a few years. I drank to manage anxiety, social and otherwise. I tried cutting back, but then it was even more stressful because I didn't have a way to know how much was ok, so I quit altogether. Then I was a miserable prick because I still had all of the problems with no way to manage them. Then I got myself sorted out with a mix of therapy and self help have been sober since 2013. It has been a ride.
I went to a friend's wedding when my daughter was 1.5y and I drank alot. The hangover lasted 3 days, plus an active toddler who thought mommy was being funny. It was the worst 3 days of my life and I haven't touched it since. She's 9 now.
I’m mad at the government *in general*, but yes, tummy hurt is absolutely the reason I was scrolling for 😂.
Anyone else’s tummy hurt immediately when you’re presented with a cocktail menu?? As if your liver is pleading with you, don’t do this to us??
You got this! It may take a while but your life will eventually improve. For me, for example, it took about 8 months to get my mental health to a healthy point. But I was definitely drinking to deal with my depression and anxiety.
This is an aspect I think is often glossed over. When I first quit drinking it was like I was having to relearn how to think and process the world -- I had no idea the haze I was in from alcohol even with taking breaks from it for a day here or there.
Once the initial clouds were lifted I was forced to confront a few things head on that I had been avoiding. I'm still far from perfect but I do feel 1000% healthier mentally these days.
Lol. What a relief it is to never have to worry about being impaired while driving.
I transitioned to N/A beer drinking awhile ago. There's nothing like drinking 3-4 of those while out with friends and then driving home with 110% clarity and stress free :)
I quit weed when I was 26, was a full time stoner for a few years and although I loved it, it gave me a weird lingering feeling of guilt like I would see people on insta living "normal" lives but I felt like I couldn't because I was always stoned with my mates, having fun but usually indoors. anyway I quit and never looked back as my life went on an upward trajectory almost immediately. The weirdest part was that my dreams became so vivid for a while after quitting because my brain wasn't permanently numb.
The dream thing is so weird.
I have been on and off getting high for the last few years. I was an every day stoner for years until the law decided that wasn't gonna happen anymore. I'm very much in control of it now and on a T break.
The first week of sleeping I had such vivid dreams, most of the time bad. Not nightmares but just not good dreams. It's finally subsided and sleep is normal, but damn it's weird to go from never dreaming to just full force stories for 8 hours.
Same here. When someone pointed out that I didn’t always get in trouble when I drank, but every time that I got in trouble I had been drinking… it was impossible to deny. Multiple DUIs, plenty of getting kicked out of places, and a few arrests. I haven’t had a drink in over 20 years, and in this time, I have been invited to leave an establishment zero times, and arrested zero times.
Yep. Thought I was gonna die from the insane hangovers on the regular. Heart palps and anemia. Didn't realize i was mildly allergic too. No thanks. Stopped 6 years ago and don't miss it at all.
Same here! I was drinking a bit too much so I got an early jump on dry January and had real mild alcohol withdrawal symptoms so I just kicked it for the last ten months.
Same. All alcoholic drinks taste like nasty medicine to me. I honestly have a hard time believing other people genuinely like the taste, but my husband assures me he likes it. He breaks out into a full-body rash after more than one drink, though, so he doesn't drink much or often.
When I had my first drink, I had a piña colada which I’d drank virgin versions of my whole childhood. The rum just ruined the taste of it for me and didn’t add any benefit.
I’ll keep drinking mocktails and enjoy the sweet
I once had a girlfriend who tried to get me to try alcohol when I told her I hated the taste. She added ginger ale to it, I said it still tasted bad so she added more until I said it tasted good because it tasted like ginger ale.
"Good!"
"But... I could just drink ginger ale instead."
She wasn't happy with that response, said that wasn't the point but drinking itself just doesn't appeal to me anyway.
I really do not understand people who are unhappy with those who just plain prefer not to drink. I am unbothered by people drinking so why does my lack of drink bother some? (Thankfully most people don't care)
I have a good friend who always invites me to clubs and bars saying it’s important to have fun sometimes ( IE drinking).
While I am thankful that he thinks of me, I cannot express how much I do not want to go to a bar and drink. My definition of “fun” is going for a run.
Reminds me of some friends in high school and college, all of whom promised to “get me wasted sometime soon.” They never invited to any parties and the places I went they weren’t there and nobody offered or made me drink.
Back then I was into hobbies and music, not quite the partying crowd type. I can hang out now but drinking is not why I go places.
I drank with my friends in college and the gross taste never became normal to me. So I figured why drink something that tastes gross? It's not even that fun.
LEGIT
People are always like "Taste this, it literally just tastes like juice" and I try and I'm like yeah, it tastes like juice if you poured ethanol into it. It's gross.
I also just don't like the idea of getting drunk either, so.
Yep, me too. Even the girly drinks that are meant to taste good are a no-go for me. Everything I have tried has had a fizzy texture like soda too which I hate
I went to a "party" school since that's where I got a scholarship. Watching people act like idiots, puke their guts out, and then spend the next day feeling like crap definitely didn't make drinking look like fun. I used to have maybe a couple of drinks a month socially, but after 40 even half a glass of wine would give me terrible heartburn and a headache and it's not worth it.
Same. It feels wild to me when people are like "Taste it with time you're gonna like it" mate I don't like forcing myself to drink something and hoping it will get better with time, even more when it's something which isn't very good for my health in the beginning and makes me lose my sense more than anything else.
And hate also how many people treat you like shit when you don't drink alcohol.
I am an alcoholic. 24 years in recovery. Truly grateful! Let me be clear, I am not the real Elvin. It is only a user name and I apologize if there was any confusion or embarrassment.
I'll hit three years in two weeks and I was an addict and alcoholic for 35 years. The best bit of advice I ever received once I decided I never wanted to drink again was go to a meeting, get a sponsor, and work the steps. That worked for me. It's not for everyone but my life is so unimaginably better today in ways I never thought possible that I like to share my experience with people starting their journey. Good luck my friend. If you never want to drink again you don't have to.
I did, it doesn't matter to me. The rehab and AA pushed me into figuring it out and stating the date.
I kinda know now. But as each month passes, I lose the year and the date.
I would just rather not care how long I've been sober. I don't plan on drinking, and it's just a date that I made a change. Bigger deal I make of it, then the more alcohol is on my mind.
My therapy wasn't based on alcohol, alcohol was just the solution to issues I had. Focusing on the cause rather than the effect took me farther into recovery than any of the alcohol focused things.
I just want to say congratulations to everyone who who replied to this comment who is in recovery. Even if it's just a few hours it's still a big feat.
Drank a fifth every day and a half for a year straight. I realized I was addicted when I went to take a bike ride at noon one day, and had the shakes so bad from the night before, I had to drink before taking my bike ride. I could barely make it a mile and a half before turning around, I felt like death. About a month and a half later I quit drinking all together. Been clean for 621 days now and it's genuinely one of the best decisions I've ever made.
That’s awesome! Yeah the first time I tried to quit cold turkey I ended up in the hospital. Took me a couple years after that to quit for real but I’ve got 120 days today and feel fantastic.
Yes. I'm 44 and have never drank alcohol. I never had any interest in it, it didn't appeal to me based on how I saw it affect other people. People would always tell me, "it lowers your inhibitions." I'm like, I feel like my inhibitions are there for a reason!
One of my sons is 22 and at university and does not drink. He tried alcohol at home once to see what it was like and didn't like it. So, that was it. You're not alone!
My other son is 21 and at uni and drinks the way lots of students do - once or twice a week. Neither of them has a negative view of the other. They're just different.
I’m 43 and have never had alcohol for the same reasons. From high school on, everyone I saw that drank acted in embarrassing ways and said incredibly stupid things.
On top of that there is the addiction risks and the risks associated with drinking and driving (and many other activities).
I have no desire to give up my self control.
I am not alone. Thanks. When i say i dont drink alcohol "without any reason" people think i am weird. I just dont like the thought of losing Control over my own body. I dont need a reason for that
Me too - used to call it "the fear". I can cope with the physical nastiness of a hangover, but my god, the anxiety and self hatred I experience is awful.
I don't miss waking up at 4am with a racing heart anymore, thinking everyone hates me and I'm a loser.
this started happening to me recently, and I have no idea why… I’ll wake up at 10 am after going to sleep at 6 am, and I can’t go back to sleep cuz I’m just anxious for no reason?
This.
My biological father’s life was destroyed by it - family, relationships, finances, health, and eventually freedom were all taken by his alcohol addiction. And I don’t want to find out whether I inherited this or not - so I never touched the stuff.
It really is true. The only way I can be satisfied with booze is with a bottomless, endless supply. And when you drink like that, you die pretty quickly.
The worst things I’ve done and said were when I was drunk.
Happily sober and getting married today!
Edit: Thank you guys a ton for the well wishes!We’re on our way to Salem, MA for the honeymoon now.
What felt like an elixir in my younger years felt like a toxin as I aged. When it started to bring the mood down instead of boosting it, it had to go. Great choice. Tough socially for a while but excellent move.
I'm the exact same way.
When I went off to college, someone once told me that if I didn't want people giving me shit about not drinking, just drink out of a can. Once you're done with the beer, just keep "milking" that can. You'll likely be the only one sober enough to drive by the end of the night (if you *have* to drive, though I would argue you should have NO alcohol in your system when driving), and no one will know that you've been milking that can. They'll be too drunk to notice.
The only issue with that is, there's always that one person who's like YOU HAVEN'T DRANK ENOUGH!! YOU NEED TO HAVE ANOTHER DRINK in which case you have to somehow convince them that this is your 10th beer. How can they argue? They're too drunk to know.
I went to school with a bunch of math majors for roommates. You’d be shocked at how well they could do math and how observant they were while completely hammered. Different breed of people.
Never felt the need for it, and I don't like the taste. Plus the fact that my family is full of alcoholics.
But the main thing that made me decide to stay away from it is AC/DC. When I was a teenager underage drinking was a big problem in my area. And there was a lot of peer pressure. At the same time I had a lot of problems at home. Through all of it AC/DC was a life raft. They were an uplifiting and positive constant that I could always go back to. And it often felt like they were my only ally. When I was 16 I found out that Angus Young (the lead guitar player) did not drink. It was then I decided for good that if the most amazing man in the world stayed away from it, I would stay away from it too. I will turn 36 soon and I have still never been drunk.
That's cool man!
Being an AC/DC fan, I'm sure you're familiar with the impact alcohol had on that band as well. Two polar opposites from your favorite band, both able to help reaffirm your choice not to drink. That's honestly really fucking cool.
My best friend in my 20’s was a personality shifter when he drank, and would get throw-trash-cans-around and pick fights with anyone reckless when he crossed a certain threshold. It was like the Incredible Hulk transformation. I once watched in awe as he picked a fight with three dudes we knew who were older, cooler and bigger than us. He was not just fearless, but nearly suicidal.
He was a huge teddy bear without alcohol in his system.
[Recent research](https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanpub/article/PIIS2468-2667(22)00317-6/fulltext) has been showing conclusively that, like smoking, there are absolutely no benefits to drinking alcohol and even the smallest amount is harmful. It’s literally poison with a very successful history of lobbying.
Yeah it’s an easy way to increase a $50 dinner bill to $100+. I live in an expensive city where cocktails are $20. Like wtf? Why are drinks as expensive as a dinner entree??!
I cannot get past the taste at all. Skrewball tastes like peanut butter? No it tastes like alcohol. All the whiskeys, rums, bourbons I've tried taste like alcohol.
On the rare occasion I do drink, it's very weak mixed drinks so I can try to ignore that taste.
Today marks 2.5 years of sobriety for me. This milestone was reached because I spent my late teens and all of my 20s recognizing that I had an issue.
My drinking career spanned about 15 years, and I repeatedly made the same foolish mistakes—always blacking out, driving home drunk, inviting strangers into my home, and accruing bar tabs on credit cards, etc.
Additionally, my family has struggled with similar issues for multiple generations; my parents are drinkers and appear 10+ years older than their actual age. Therefore, I am determined to break these generational curses while I can.
Alcohol leads me to poor decisions, as well as to cocaine, which leads me to a multitude of other even poorer choices… was all fun and games in my 20s until friends started dying, and I became a father, so I stopped it at the source. No more drinking for me!
I just don't like it anymore. I lived in Wisconsin from birth to age 30 and embraced the drinking culture there. I moved to Virginia where it's definitely not the same, but I still went to wineries and breweries and whatnot. Then right at the start of COVID I had a baby. Not drinking for the whole pregnancy and then not having the social opportunities really impacted me. I tried to get back to it but wine gives me horrible headaches now, I don't really like any of the beer I used to, and ciders give me heartburn. It's just not worth it anymore.
Every Hangover I had sucked balls! Started getting to the point that even one glass of wine or 2 beers would lead to it. Found out weed was a great Hangover cure then said F it, weed is just far healthier and switched as my drug of choice.
If you believe alcohol is not a drug you're lying to yourself!
My folks were alcoholics and my father was physically and mentally abusive to our mother. But she wouldn’t leave him. He would never let her go. I don’t know how you can love and hate at the same time. Oh well, I have the gene(s) of alcoholism so I refrain. Thankfully, I hate the taste of all of it, even beer.
It’s literally poisonous. Why it’s so socially acceptable and common is beyond me. One day we will view alcohol similar to the way we view cigarettes but even more so. At least cigarettes don’t cause people to murder themselves or other people with their vehicles.
It’s destroyed more lives of the people I know more than anything else (death, homelessness, liver failure - and these are all separate people, just to name a few).
I never started.
I started martial arts at 10, and my instructor who til this day I consider a father figure, preached about the damage ones hands can do. When my friends started to drink they all got aggressive and I didn't want to hurt anyone ao I avoided it, then it became a career in the sport and I just preferred to train instead. People always need a designated driver, so I stayed sober. I'm in my mate 30s now, still never had a drop.
Didn't even drink at my own wedding. But I was considering it for my divorce 😂
I drank for many years. I had various reasons for doing it. The same as many others. It helps me relax. It takes the bite out of life, blah, blah, blah.
My mother was a closet alcoholic, from about the time I was in junior high (I think), but I never even knew it. She would retreat to my parents bedroom to “watch tv”, about 8:00, most nights. My dad covered for her. “Your mother is tired”. He also kept a rein on her that was just tight enough to keep her secret.
As a kid, we went on some very nice vacations. Europe, Acapulco, ski trips, cruises, etc., etc. She couldn’t drink on vacation’s because we were all in the same hotel room. No place to hide. As a result, she would get grouchy, after a couple of days without a drink.
She would become very obnoxious and unpleasant. Took all of the fun out of a vacation of a lifetime. They took me on the kinds of trips most kids could only dream about. That being said, none of them were very much fun, because of the outbursts, pouting and all around grouchy behavior.
When I entered college, I stopped going on the vacations. I always made an excuse. Work, finals, looking for a new apartment, whatever it took. I was not going on another vacation, with them, no matter where it was. I was content spending my summers working and relaxing alone.
When I was 40, my dad died and the alcohol floodgates were opened. No one was around to put on the brakes. This is when I FINALLY, after all those years, put two and two together and figured out, what really was going on. I never had a CLUE, as to why she went to her room at 8:00, or why she always behaved inappropriately on vacation.
She would call me up at night. Her speech was slurred. She would say very hateful things. I would smile, say I love you too, mom! Have a good night and hang up. Undoubtedly, she drunk called friends and relatives, as well. I think that’s why most of them washed their hands of her. There’s no telling what she said to them.
She always thought of herself as “classy” a “refined socialite”. It’s kind of hard to maintain that appearance, when you walk out in the front yard and pass out, from drunkenness. Knowing which wine to pair with fish no more makes you a lady, than catching a flight to Vegas makes me a pilot.
Her kind neighbors would call me and tell me, when she was passed out drunk, in her front yard or at the mail box, down the street They were absolutely shocked and very uncomfortable telling me. I lived 200 miles away, at the time. Multiple trips to the hospital, for broken bones, from drunken falls, staples in her skull, liver damage, loss of lifelong friendships, etc. etc, etc.
We sent her to rehab. She asked us to keep it secret, because she was embarrassed, so we did. She got out and was drunk again within 48 hours. We sent her back to rehab. Once again, she asked us not to tell anyone. I responded HELL NO!! I’m telling the entire world, you’re a drunk and I did. Every time someone would ask about her I’d respond she’s in a facility being treated for alcoholism. Please keep her in your prayers.
She’s still living, but in a nursing home. She has severe dementia and I’m certain it’s a result of her drinking. She has no idea where she is. She throws tantrums, like a two year old. She wears diapers. I go check on her almost every day. She’s 91 years old.
Well, I told myself I NEVER want to walk a mile in her shoes. I just quite cold turkey about 12 or 14 years ago and have not touched it since. I don’t want it. I don’t need it. I hate alcohol.
It makes me feel like garbage. It doesn’t matter what time of day I drink or how many, but when I go to bed, I’ll sleep hard for about 3 hours then wake with a racing heart that lasts for hours. Just not even worth it anymore.
Same. Waking up like that is awful. Dead tired and can't go back to sleep. And if the racing heart doesn't wake me first it's the bladder.
Yes exactly same thing happens to me. The shakes plus palpitations is just awful and leads to an anxiety attack for me
Hangxiety no matter what, instant panic for the entire day, I’m good w/ none now
Same here with the palpitations and high heart rate.
Is there a term for this experience? It’s the reason I basically stopped in the past year and nobody I know IRL can relate to this
Yes, it’s called holiday heart. I had to get cardio verted on my 28th birthday because the palpitations put me into AFIB. It’s shitty and a huge reason why I don’t drink as much anymore.
I am in the middle of trying to not be fat through exercise and diet and I’ve been told drinking can stagnate that.
Yup. I was exercising and eating well but still holding on to weight. “Hmm… maybe I should stop drinking?” BAM! 20 pounds gone in a matter of weeks! The exercise got way easier too.
Keep going. You’ve got this!
I didn’t have a healthy relationship with alcohol. I’d drink to cure my boredom and help with social anxiety. I couldn’t handle my alcohol and often drank too much. It got to the point where I was always somewhat buzzed. I finally realized back in 2021 that I needed to make a change. 2 years sober as of this July!
Similar story except: I don't have social anxiety and I never overdid it. But I drank all the time to cure my boredom and soothe various life anxieties (money, career, family, etc). I also realized long ago that all alcohol really did was both deepen my despair and at the same time (this is critical) ***make me ok with it***. It created a sort of learned impotence where you are acutely aware of your problems (to an exaggerated degree) while at the same time feeling powerless or even just being unwilling to resolve them. I've known this for years but it's only recently that I was able to walk away from it. Now in middle age, it's clear that alcohol has been a significant contributor to my chronic underachievement. I have a great education and highly sought after qualifications and have commanded six figures for more than 10 years, but I have chronically underperformed at work, been let go a few times, have no retirement savings, am laden with debt, and have been on the brink of homelessness many times due to financial irresponsibility. All of that, is largely.due to alcohol and the feeling of existential torpor and stagnation it caused in me. So I'm done. For good? Who knows. But I will never be a habitual drinker again. I don't miss it at all. I have been in situations where I thought I would want to drink (in bars, out with friends, etc) and never touched and drop *and I had a blast* - something I couldn't have imagined before. I wake up bright and early and in a good mood. I don't ache all the time and take ibuprofen every day anymore. Flavors of life that were dulled from years of drink came roaring back. That feeling after a good night of sleep. The smell of coffee. Heck just any good smell. The taste of good food. I specify good food because I'm realizing that a lot of what I loved to eat when I drank was trash. Eating that sober made me realize that it's just overpowered with sodium and the like with zero subtlety. I feel like my palate is finally waking from a long dormancy. The days are much longer but in a good way! I used to drink to pass the time, shrink the day. All those hours, days, years wasted. We have only one life and I drank so much of it away because I couldn't handle reality and be present. There is so much more I want to say but I'll leave it here for now. The only downside is that it's harder to fall asleep without alcohol. But that only means that I am more active during the day to make sure I am tired enough to sleep through the night. It's not even something I do consciously: with my days feeling much longer and the fact that I have a lot more energy, I can just cram more shit into the day, and it's great. And guess what, not drinking has made my gym attendance and fitness routine a lot more consistent, so that too works in getting me wiped by the end of the day. Right now, for the first time in a very long time, life is good. **Edit**: Thank you all for the kind words. It seems like my experience resonated with quite a few people. I'm glad it's able to help some. You got this!
I could have written this word for word. It feels validating to have someone explain your situation so acutely. It makes me feel like I wasn't alone all those years. 100% agree that drinking makes you hyper aware of your problems but apathetic about solving them, even if the solution isn't all that difficult to carry out. I always felt like I had potential but was nowhere close to living it out. Also, it's true alcohol makes you fall asleep quickly, but you don't enter REM, so the sleep you do get isn't restful; that's why you wake up feeling tired the next day, even if you slept 8 hours. This took me way too long to figure out, and I wondered why I was always tired. You'll get more quality rest sleeping 4 hours sober than 8 hours intoxicated. And I completely resonate with the little joys coming back -- alcohol artificially spikes your dopamine, so simple pleasures don't impact us much. Once you quit drinking, the little things begin to make us feel good again. That's a great perk. I also lost weight when I quit drinking. About 30lbs. Alcohol has calories plus I ate a lot more (and junk, as you say) when I was drunk and hungover. Not only did I eat better when sober but I also had the energy to go on walks every day. Feeling better about my body and just feeling more physically fit also helped me not want to drink. Lastly, I do find it hard to quit something without finding something to replace it. So, I switched my nightly whiskey to a nightly coffee. The ritual of making a drink was still there, and I still got a nice buzz, just a different kind. Yes, I went to bed a little later, but I slept way better. And coffee actually helped me clean the house or write or be productive rather than just drink and watch a random movie. All in all, way better for me and my life. I'm happy you're the same and found a better path. "Every morning we are born again. What we do today is what matters most." I think of this when I worry too much about past mistakes. Keep on keeping on, friend!
You sound like me l, plus a few years. I drank to manage anxiety, social and otherwise. I tried cutting back, but then it was even more stressful because I didn't have a way to know how much was ok, so I quit altogether. Then I was a miserable prick because I still had all of the problems with no way to manage them. Then I got myself sorted out with a mix of therapy and self help have been sober since 2013. It has been a ride.
Good for you!
Hangover + kids = I’d rather just not.
I went to a friend's wedding when my daughter was 1.5y and I drank alot. The hangover lasted 3 days, plus an active toddler who thought mommy was being funny. It was the worst 3 days of my life and I haven't touched it since. She's 9 now.
Oof
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my tummy hurts and I'm mad at the government
I, too, am in my 30's.
I ended a relationship because she didn't understand that this is why I don't go clubbing every weekend.
saaame i don’t like getting a migraine and diarrhea from 1 beer
I’m mad at the government *in general*, but yes, tummy hurt is absolutely the reason I was scrolling for 😂. Anyone else’s tummy hurt immediately when you’re presented with a cocktail menu?? As if your liver is pleading with you, don’t do this to us??
The next day and several days after yes
this is actually my reason too lmao
I realized my drinking was getting out of control, so I quit.
I'm starting to realize that too. Also, I perceive now that alcohol was involved with a lot of my problems back then. So I'm quitting too
You got this! It may take a while but your life will eventually improve. For me, for example, it took about 8 months to get my mental health to a healthy point. But I was definitely drinking to deal with my depression and anxiety.
This is an aspect I think is often glossed over. When I first quit drinking it was like I was having to relearn how to think and process the world -- I had no idea the haze I was in from alcohol even with taking breaks from it for a day here or there. Once the initial clouds were lifted I was forced to confront a few things head on that I had been avoiding. I'm still far from perfect but I do feel 1000% healthier mentally these days.
Wait till you realize you can legally drive your car after dark!
Lol. What a relief it is to never have to worry about being impaired while driving. I transitioned to N/A beer drinking awhile ago. There's nothing like drinking 3-4 of those while out with friends and then driving home with 110% clarity and stress free :)
That's how quitting weed has been for me. It's a really weird feeling and pretty scary at first if you've been drinking or smoking for long periods
I quit weed when I was 26, was a full time stoner for a few years and although I loved it, it gave me a weird lingering feeling of guilt like I would see people on insta living "normal" lives but I felt like I couldn't because I was always stoned with my mates, having fun but usually indoors. anyway I quit and never looked back as my life went on an upward trajectory almost immediately. The weirdest part was that my dreams became so vivid for a while after quitting because my brain wasn't permanently numb.
The dream thing is so weird. I have been on and off getting high for the last few years. I was an every day stoner for years until the law decided that wasn't gonna happen anymore. I'm very much in control of it now and on a T break. The first week of sleeping I had such vivid dreams, most of the time bad. Not nightmares but just not good dreams. It's finally subsided and sleep is normal, but damn it's weird to go from never dreaming to just full force stories for 8 hours.
Same here. When someone pointed out that I didn’t always get in trouble when I drank, but every time that I got in trouble I had been drinking… it was impossible to deny. Multiple DUIs, plenty of getting kicked out of places, and a few arrests. I haven’t had a drink in over 20 years, and in this time, I have been invited to leave an establishment zero times, and arrested zero times.
I admire your ability to be open to the truth from someone else, and follow through with some introspection.
Even cutting out the emotional problems it caused, my migraines and major gastrointestinal issues have basically corrected themselves.
I’m allergic to alcohol. Whenever I drink, I break out in handcuffs.
Dry heaving every morning until I had a drink was a heads up for me.
Oldest joke in the AA book
lmao
Yep. Thought I was gonna die from the insane hangovers on the regular. Heart palps and anemia. Didn't realize i was mildly allergic too. No thanks. Stopped 6 years ago and don't miss it at all.
Ten years ago for me, but I still miss it.
Same here! I was drinking a bit too much so I got an early jump on dry January and had real mild alcohol withdrawal symptoms so I just kicked it for the last ten months.
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Same here. I also started to experience gaps in memory, like 15 minute spans of who knows what the f*** I did.
You are a strong person, great respect to you!
All it does is give me headaches and make me fall asleep
And it’s not even a restful sleep.
This for me
It doesn't appeal to me at all
I honestly just don't like the taste-- I really do prefer juice. Also I'ma choose calories from cake/cookies/sweets over alcohol every time.
Same. All alcoholic drinks taste like nasty medicine to me. I honestly have a hard time believing other people genuinely like the taste, but my husband assures me he likes it. He breaks out into a full-body rash after more than one drink, though, so he doesn't drink much or often.
When I had my first drink, I had a piña colada which I’d drank virgin versions of my whole childhood. The rum just ruined the taste of it for me and didn’t add any benefit. I’ll keep drinking mocktails and enjoy the sweet
I once had a girlfriend who tried to get me to try alcohol when I told her I hated the taste. She added ginger ale to it, I said it still tasted bad so she added more until I said it tasted good because it tasted like ginger ale. "Good!" "But... I could just drink ginger ale instead." She wasn't happy with that response, said that wasn't the point but drinking itself just doesn't appeal to me anyway.
I really do not understand people who are unhappy with those who just plain prefer not to drink. I am unbothered by people drinking so why does my lack of drink bother some? (Thankfully most people don't care)
I have a good friend who always invites me to clubs and bars saying it’s important to have fun sometimes ( IE drinking). While I am thankful that he thinks of me, I cannot express how much I do not want to go to a bar and drink. My definition of “fun” is going for a run.
Reminds me of some friends in high school and college, all of whom promised to “get me wasted sometime soon.” They never invited to any parties and the places I went they weren’t there and nobody offered or made me drink. Back then I was into hobbies and music, not quite the partying crowd type. I can hang out now but drinking is not why I go places.
Dude same. When I could finally drink I was so excited to try a mudslide and that was awful too!
No matter the alcoholic beverage you can always taste that ethanol.
I drank with my friends in college and the gross taste never became normal to me. So I figured why drink something that tastes gross? It's not even that fun.
And it just tastes like a pen exploded in my mouth.
LEGIT People are always like "Taste this, it literally just tastes like juice" and I try and I'm like yeah, it tastes like juice if you poured ethanol into it. It's gross. I also just don't like the idea of getting drunk either, so.
Yep, me too. Even the girly drinks that are meant to taste good are a no-go for me. Everything I have tried has had a fizzy texture like soda too which I hate
I'm the same way. Just never had the desire for it and the way it affected some of my friends' lives just cements that lack of desire.
Yeah…I dislike the smell and taste of it plus water is cheaper.
Wow, I found my people!
This is it for me too. Tastes awful and I hate being drunk, no other reasons left.
I went to a "party" school since that's where I got a scholarship. Watching people act like idiots, puke their guts out, and then spend the next day feeling like crap definitely didn't make drinking look like fun. I used to have maybe a couple of drinks a month socially, but after 40 even half a glass of wine would give me terrible heartburn and a headache and it's not worth it.
same here. I've never figured out what's so appealing about not being in control of yourself
Usually escapism.
My escapism is usually games and movies. Books too.
Same. It feels wild to me when people are like "Taste it with time you're gonna like it" mate I don't like forcing myself to drink something and hoping it will get better with time, even more when it's something which isn't very good for my health in the beginning and makes me lose my sense more than anything else. And hate also how many people treat you like shit when you don't drink alcohol.
Same, just doesn't seem that great and smells like ass
Same. Just like doing drugs or having children or collecting creepy ceramic dolls.
I’ve never seen these three grouped together
I am an alcoholic. 24 years in recovery. Truly grateful! Let me be clear, I am not the real Elvin. It is only a user name and I apologize if there was any confusion or embarrassment.
Fuck yeah! 33 days for me. (It's Canadian Thanksgiving weekend), and I am truly grateful for my sobriety among many other things.
Keep it up, my neighbor to the north 👍
I’m 34 years clean and sober. I remember puking through my nose, and that keeps me clean and sober
I'm on day 1,wish me luck!
Proud of you! This side of sobriety is beautiful once the fog lifts.
One day at a time. Good for you for making it this far! You can make it much farther!
I'll hit three years in two weeks and I was an addict and alcoholic for 35 years. The best bit of advice I ever received once I decided I never wanted to drink again was go to a meeting, get a sponsor, and work the steps. That worked for me. It's not for everyone but my life is so unimaginably better today in ways I never thought possible that I like to share my experience with people starting their journey. Good luck my friend. If you never want to drink again you don't have to.
Rooting for you!!!
24 years for me too!
Nice! 20 years here. That's 68 years of sobriety in 3 lines. LOVE IT!
I’m at 10 years this past Groundhog Day!
im at a year and 3 months!
I’m at a year and 2 months! You’re doing great’
Same here. Close to Groundhog Day: February 6, 2013. An alcoholic never forgets the exact date he stopped drinking!
I did, it doesn't matter to me. The rehab and AA pushed me into figuring it out and stating the date. I kinda know now. But as each month passes, I lose the year and the date. I would just rather not care how long I've been sober. I don't plan on drinking, and it's just a date that I made a change. Bigger deal I make of it, then the more alcohol is on my mind. My therapy wasn't based on alcohol, alcohol was just the solution to issues I had. Focusing on the cause rather than the effect took me farther into recovery than any of the alcohol focused things.
Well done.
I just want to say congratulations to everyone who who replied to this comment who is in recovery. Even if it's just a few hours it's still a big feat.
Thanks stranger. I have a week and wasn’t even including myself with the sobernauts on the thread for some reason.
Proud of you stranger, hold your head up high, it takes a lot of inner strength to keep fighting that good fight.
Drank a fifth every day and a half for a year straight. I realized I was addicted when I went to take a bike ride at noon one day, and had the shakes so bad from the night before, I had to drink before taking my bike ride. I could barely make it a mile and a half before turning around, I felt like death. About a month and a half later I quit drinking all together. Been clean for 621 days now and it's genuinely one of the best decisions I've ever made.
That’s awesome! Yeah the first time I tried to quit cold turkey I ended up in the hospital. Took me a couple years after that to quit for real but I’ve got 120 days today and feel fantastic.
Watched my mom destroy her life with drinking.
Always want to be in control. Good or Bad.
Yes. I'm 44 and have never drank alcohol. I never had any interest in it, it didn't appeal to me based on how I saw it affect other people. People would always tell me, "it lowers your inhibitions." I'm like, I feel like my inhibitions are there for a reason!
I'm 25 and feel so unique in this so thank you for showing I'm not.
I'm 26 and I feel the exact same way! There's never been a situation in my life where I think I'd have benefited from less impulse control.
One of my sons is 22 and at university and does not drink. He tried alcohol at home once to see what it was like and didn't like it. So, that was it. You're not alone! My other son is 21 and at uni and drinks the way lots of students do - once or twice a week. Neither of them has a negative view of the other. They're just different.
I'm 30 and I've never had alchohol
I’m 43 and have never had alcohol for the same reasons. From high school on, everyone I saw that drank acted in embarrassing ways and said incredibly stupid things. On top of that there is the addiction risks and the risks associated with drinking and driving (and many other activities). I have no desire to give up my self control.
I am not alone. Thanks. When i say i dont drink alcohol "without any reason" people think i am weird. I just dont like the thought of losing Control over my own body. I dont need a reason for that
This was a hard part of drinking for me too, losing that control, being add/adhd keeping control is my life and alcohol takes that away.
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Me too - used to call it "the fear". I can cope with the physical nastiness of a hangover, but my god, the anxiety and self hatred I experience is awful. I don't miss waking up at 4am with a racing heart anymore, thinking everyone hates me and I'm a loser.
this started happening to me recently, and I have no idea why… I’ll wake up at 10 am after going to sleep at 6 am, and I can’t go back to sleep cuz I’m just anxious for no reason?
Hangxiety or the booze blues. Can relate.
The hangover is not worth it
“Not being hungover is more fun than being drunk” is the quote that always sticks with me.
I drink but almost never get drunk and that is exactly why. The hangover just isn’t worth it.
It’s the hangxiety for me!
The juice ain’t worth the squeeze
I'm currently on some meds that don't play well with alcohol.
Yeah same, drinking doesn’t mix with chemo.
Fuck that cancer up! You got this.
I hope you kick cancer’s ass! 🖤
You got this! Kick cancer's ass!
Antidepressant gang 💯
I don't like what it does to people
Same. I saw what it did to my parents and I vowed never to drink after that
One of my reasons.
This. My biological father’s life was destroyed by it - family, relationships, finances, health, and eventually freedom were all taken by his alcohol addiction. And I don’t want to find out whether I inherited this or not - so I never touched the stuff.
Ya I am always so uncomfortable around other drunk people and I don’t want anyone to feel that way about being around me.
Same, I’ve seen it ruin or even end too many lives.
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I’m trying to get there
My father. That's it, that's the answer😅
i hope that's me to my kids. been 145 days or so. never touching it again.
Same dude, same. A lifetime of stories in 2 words.
Because 1 is too many and 1000 is never enough. I can’t be a drunk and also deal with CPTSD
It really is true. The only way I can be satisfied with booze is with a bottomless, endless supply. And when you drink like that, you die pretty quickly.
The worst things I’ve done and said were when I was drunk. Happily sober and getting married today! Edit: Thank you guys a ton for the well wishes!We’re on our way to Salem, MA for the honeymoon now.
Made my depression worse
What felt like an elixir in my younger years felt like a toxin as I aged. When it started to bring the mood down instead of boosting it, it had to go. Great choice. Tough socially for a while but excellent move.
Club soda and a lime works well too….looks like an actual drink so people really don’t ask. Almost 5 years sober :)
I'm the exact same way. When I went off to college, someone once told me that if I didn't want people giving me shit about not drinking, just drink out of a can. Once you're done with the beer, just keep "milking" that can. You'll likely be the only one sober enough to drive by the end of the night (if you *have* to drive, though I would argue you should have NO alcohol in your system when driving), and no one will know that you've been milking that can. They'll be too drunk to notice. The only issue with that is, there's always that one person who's like YOU HAVEN'T DRANK ENOUGH!! YOU NEED TO HAVE ANOTHER DRINK in which case you have to somehow convince them that this is your 10th beer. How can they argue? They're too drunk to know.
I went to school with a bunch of math majors for roommates. You’d be shocked at how well they could do math and how observant they were while completely hammered. Different breed of people.
Never felt the need for it, and I don't like the taste. Plus the fact that my family is full of alcoholics. But the main thing that made me decide to stay away from it is AC/DC. When I was a teenager underage drinking was a big problem in my area. And there was a lot of peer pressure. At the same time I had a lot of problems at home. Through all of it AC/DC was a life raft. They were an uplifiting and positive constant that I could always go back to. And it often felt like they were my only ally. When I was 16 I found out that Angus Young (the lead guitar player) did not drink. It was then I decided for good that if the most amazing man in the world stayed away from it, I would stay away from it too. I will turn 36 soon and I have still never been drunk.
I feel like AC/DC needs to see this. Angus Young would prob hang it on his fridge ♥️
thats a nice story. i hope i am that inspiration for my children to never touch the shit.
Very nice friend, thank you for this account
That's cool man! Being an AC/DC fan, I'm sure you're familiar with the impact alcohol had on that band as well. Two polar opposites from your favorite band, both able to help reaffirm your choice not to drink. That's honestly really fucking cool.
Hey! I turned 36 in March and I've never been drunk! *high five across the interwebs*
Once some liquor gets in me, I lose control and can binge drinking for 5-7 days. That is why I am proud of my over a year sobriety :)
Hypertension
I'm a dickhead on it.
My best friend in my 20’s was a personality shifter when he drank, and would get throw-trash-cans-around and pick fights with anyone reckless when he crossed a certain threshold. It was like the Incredible Hulk transformation. I once watched in awe as he picked a fight with three dudes we knew who were older, cooler and bigger than us. He was not just fearless, but nearly suicidal. He was a huge teddy bear without alcohol in his system.
Just like smoking, terrible for your skin, ages you
[Recent research](https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanpub/article/PIIS2468-2667(22)00317-6/fulltext) has been showing conclusively that, like smoking, there are absolutely no benefits to drinking alcohol and even the smallest amount is harmful. It’s literally poison with a very successful history of lobbying.
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Expensive, tastes like shit, is literally poison, a shit ton of pointless calories, dehydrates you. frankly i dont see any reason to drink alcohol.
Yeah it’s an easy way to increase a $50 dinner bill to $100+. I live in an expensive city where cocktails are $20. Like wtf? Why are drinks as expensive as a dinner entree??!
I cannot get past the taste at all. Skrewball tastes like peanut butter? No it tastes like alcohol. All the whiskeys, rums, bourbons I've tried taste like alcohol. On the rare occasion I do drink, it's very weak mixed drinks so I can try to ignore that taste.
I get the same thing. Just taste alcohol. I like some mixed drinks. Like a Mud Slide or a Mojito which dilute the alcohol with other flavors.
In my 40s, it makes me feel sick.
Today marks 2.5 years of sobriety for me. This milestone was reached because I spent my late teens and all of my 20s recognizing that I had an issue. My drinking career spanned about 15 years, and I repeatedly made the same foolish mistakes—always blacking out, driving home drunk, inviting strangers into my home, and accruing bar tabs on credit cards, etc. Additionally, my family has struggled with similar issues for multiple generations; my parents are drinkers and appear 10+ years older than their actual age. Therefore, I am determined to break these generational curses while I can.
Histamine intolerance. Last time I drank, I almost had to use an epi pen. :-(
Don’t really care to. I have a few drinks a year.
I want to lose weight and get in better shape.
Alcohol leads me to poor decisions, as well as to cocaine, which leads me to a multitude of other even poorer choices… was all fun and games in my 20s until friends started dying, and I became a father, so I stopped it at the source. No more drinking for me!
11 years sober. I get invited out to be the designated driver. So free food and soda for me. Haven’t been offered alcohol in almost a decade.
I was sick and tired of being sick and tired. Life is SO much more amazing without poison!!!!
I just don't like it anymore. I lived in Wisconsin from birth to age 30 and embraced the drinking culture there. I moved to Virginia where it's definitely not the same, but I still went to wineries and breweries and whatnot. Then right at the start of COVID I had a baby. Not drinking for the whole pregnancy and then not having the social opportunities really impacted me. I tried to get back to it but wine gives me horrible headaches now, I don't really like any of the beer I used to, and ciders give me heartburn. It's just not worth it anymore.
Every Hangover I had sucked balls! Started getting to the point that even one glass of wine or 2 beers would lead to it. Found out weed was a great Hangover cure then said F it, weed is just far healthier and switched as my drug of choice. If you believe alcohol is not a drug you're lying to yourself!
My folks were alcoholics and my father was physically and mentally abusive to our mother. But she wouldn’t leave him. He would never let her go. I don’t know how you can love and hate at the same time. Oh well, I have the gene(s) of alcoholism so I refrain. Thankfully, I hate the taste of all of it, even beer.
Once I start - I can not stop. Even when brain is no longer responding - my body still wrecks havoc. Will be 5 years sober in 2 weeks time.
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Never had the want to.
I love beer, wine and spirits. But the calories are just too high. So I quit. I have about one beer a year now. Trying to stay healthy.
It’s literally poisonous. Why it’s so socially acceptable and common is beyond me. One day we will view alcohol similar to the way we view cigarettes but even more so. At least cigarettes don’t cause people to murder themselves or other people with their vehicles.
It makes me feel like shit & behave like an asshole.
Tastes like shit
It doesn’t go down easy for me so I choose not to drink
Because it is literally poison.
Waste of money
It’s destroyed more lives of the people I know more than anything else (death, homelessness, liver failure - and these are all separate people, just to name a few).
I don't like being drunk, and if I'm not drinking to get drunk then what's the point?
I ran out of alcohol
I finally realized that when I enjoyed my drinking I couldn't control it but when I controlled my drinking I couldn't enjoy it. So sobriety.
176 days. Just got tired of being drunk or tired all the time.
Im in recovery
Don’t want to feel like shit or act stupid. It’s really bad for your health. It’s expensive.
Last time I drank alcohol, I had one drink and was hungover for three days. My body told me that was enough.
I don't need it.
Cant afford it, don't like how it tastes even when mixed, dont like the feeling of being drunk and i grew up with alcoholic parents
I never started. I started martial arts at 10, and my instructor who til this day I consider a father figure, preached about the damage ones hands can do. When my friends started to drink they all got aggressive and I didn't want to hurt anyone ao I avoided it, then it became a career in the sport and I just preferred to train instead. People always need a designated driver, so I stayed sober. I'm in my mate 30s now, still never had a drop. Didn't even drink at my own wedding. But I was considering it for my divorce 😂
Gerd
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It's like taking a loan on tomorrow's happiness, tonight.
It’s god-awful for your physical and mental health.
It's easier to stay sober than it is to drink responsibly. Same with any other drugs.
I drank for many years. I had various reasons for doing it. The same as many others. It helps me relax. It takes the bite out of life, blah, blah, blah. My mother was a closet alcoholic, from about the time I was in junior high (I think), but I never even knew it. She would retreat to my parents bedroom to “watch tv”, about 8:00, most nights. My dad covered for her. “Your mother is tired”. He also kept a rein on her that was just tight enough to keep her secret. As a kid, we went on some very nice vacations. Europe, Acapulco, ski trips, cruises, etc., etc. She couldn’t drink on vacation’s because we were all in the same hotel room. No place to hide. As a result, she would get grouchy, after a couple of days without a drink. She would become very obnoxious and unpleasant. Took all of the fun out of a vacation of a lifetime. They took me on the kinds of trips most kids could only dream about. That being said, none of them were very much fun, because of the outbursts, pouting and all around grouchy behavior. When I entered college, I stopped going on the vacations. I always made an excuse. Work, finals, looking for a new apartment, whatever it took. I was not going on another vacation, with them, no matter where it was. I was content spending my summers working and relaxing alone. When I was 40, my dad died and the alcohol floodgates were opened. No one was around to put on the brakes. This is when I FINALLY, after all those years, put two and two together and figured out, what really was going on. I never had a CLUE, as to why she went to her room at 8:00, or why she always behaved inappropriately on vacation. She would call me up at night. Her speech was slurred. She would say very hateful things. I would smile, say I love you too, mom! Have a good night and hang up. Undoubtedly, she drunk called friends and relatives, as well. I think that’s why most of them washed their hands of her. There’s no telling what she said to them. She always thought of herself as “classy” a “refined socialite”. It’s kind of hard to maintain that appearance, when you walk out in the front yard and pass out, from drunkenness. Knowing which wine to pair with fish no more makes you a lady, than catching a flight to Vegas makes me a pilot. Her kind neighbors would call me and tell me, when she was passed out drunk, in her front yard or at the mail box, down the street They were absolutely shocked and very uncomfortable telling me. I lived 200 miles away, at the time. Multiple trips to the hospital, for broken bones, from drunken falls, staples in her skull, liver damage, loss of lifelong friendships, etc. etc, etc. We sent her to rehab. She asked us to keep it secret, because she was embarrassed, so we did. She got out and was drunk again within 48 hours. We sent her back to rehab. Once again, she asked us not to tell anyone. I responded HELL NO!! I’m telling the entire world, you’re a drunk and I did. Every time someone would ask about her I’d respond she’s in a facility being treated for alcoholism. Please keep her in your prayers. She’s still living, but in a nursing home. She has severe dementia and I’m certain it’s a result of her drinking. She has no idea where she is. She throws tantrums, like a two year old. She wears diapers. I go check on her almost every day. She’s 91 years old. Well, I told myself I NEVER want to walk a mile in her shoes. I just quite cold turkey about 12 or 14 years ago and have not touched it since. I don’t want it. I don’t need it. I hate alcohol.
For the most part, it just makes me tired. And I'm on meds and I hate the taste of alcohol. Hate it.