365 days without booze... join me?

[chris4652009]

Blib said:

Thanks for that.

As for your friend who doesn't get it, your sobriety alone may help him make a change. You don't have to say a word.

I hope so,

[othername]

chris4652009 said:

Already doing it, currently have £1153 sat in a separate account that is growing every month via scheduled payment. But yes that's an excellent suggestion.

I'm doing it the opposite way. Whilst I've improved on some of the depths of stupidity I delved into last year I've still managed to disappear down a binge wormhole a few times this year, albeit they are lasting less and less amounts of time. Progress of sorts. I had to go through my statements from the beginning of the year to check some financials and it delivered a shock to me. I could see my binges writ large on my statements: £7.99, £7.99, £7.99 same shop same day. Then the next day. Then maybe £12 at Sainsburys when trying to save a few quid against the corner shop. Blocks of this happening for 3-4 days. So basically pissing £100 up the wall over a few days binging. Ridiculous. So that's yet another motivation on top of the physical and mental health damage (one I'd largely buried my head in the sand over). I will beat it.

[Davie_GLA]

My daughter is 16 this weekend and if you’d have asked me if I would have been here to celebrate with her back in 2019 I genuinely couldn’t have said yes.

Great to hear everyone getting on and either choosing to stop or control whatever they feel is a priority. Onward!

[RobBucks]

Now at 4.5 months / 140 days. Next target is 6 months!

[mooseracer]

Davie_GLA said:

My daughter is 16 this weekend and if you’d have asked me if I would have been here to celebrate with her back in 2019 I genuinely couldn’t have said yes.

Great to hear everyone getting on and either choosing to stop or control whatever they feel is a priority. Onward!

She probably/may not understand what you've been through, and what you've done but I can guarantee she is immensely proud of who you are today.

[mooseracer]

18 months ago today I decided to not drink for the day, and hopefully the day after.

Transformational.

[redrabbit29]

I made it to just over 6 months and then gave up. No regrets and I enjoyed being sober for most of it. I did find counting days to be really unhelpful in the last month or two. It became a big "thing" and added pressure. So rather than me just thinking "I'm not drinking" or others knowing this, it was "Wow, how long has it been now, over 100 days???" etc.

I may give up again at some point. I probably should as it really isn't helping my mental health and moods.

[Blib]

Well done on achieving six months!

Have you noticed any changes since you started drinking again?

[7 5 7]

4 months for me, not tempted one bit to go back to any for the foreseeable - happy with the 0%'s if I really need to have something in a social group, but quite like a tonic water with a slice of lemon, in all honesty.

People are still wary of me not drinking I have found, querying why, or make a joke - really not arsed now as I am doing it for medical reasons, they tend to stop jibbing when I am forced to explain...

The positives clearly out weigh the negatives drinking had for me, the thought of it makes me feel abit sick now tbh (quite a revelation).

[dirtbiker]

I've been reading 'The Unexpected Joy of Being Sober' by Catherine Gray which is very good, brutally honest in places but funny and insightful. Worth a go if anyone is looking for some Quit-Lit! That's me mostly drink-free since the start of February and feeling all the better for it. A couple of annoying slip-ups or deliberate days which I then regretted mean my streak isn't great but will keep it going, it's becoming a habit not to drink which is excellent!

[redrabbit29]

dirtbiker said:

I've been reading 'The Unexpected Joy of Being Sober' by Catherine Gray which is very good, brutally honest in places but funny and insightful. Worth a go if anyone is looking for some Quit-Lit! That's me mostly drink-free since the start of February and feeling all the better for it. A couple of annoying slip-ups or deliberate days which I then regretted mean my streak isn't great but will keep it going, it's becoming a habit not to drink which is excellent!

Ohhh yea, I read that and also her other book "Sober On A Drunk Planet". It's funny but I prefer all the messy sections rather than her getting sober.

I read a few other books on sobriety. They're pretty good, one of the better ones (will try to find the title) listed out 50 tips throughout one chapter and it was very helpful, such as:

Sliding doors

When tempted, stop and think of the two cases.
1) You drink and after enjoying the first glass/beer you will then probably very quickly get drunk, blackout, lose the evening, do something stupid even fi it's just eating rubbish, and end up in bed at 2am. You'll wake up groggy, feeling terrible about yourself, bloated, lost half your morning and tired. You'll just drag yourself through the day and achieve very little.

2) You don't drink and instead get to 9-10pm and go to bed. You'll probably sleep relatively well and wake up at a decent time. You'll feel fresher, be awake early, not hung over, bloated or tired. You will not have the depressing feeling of having been drinking the night before.

[redrabbit29]

Blib said:

Well done on achieving six months!

Have you noticed any changes since you started drinking again?

Thank you! Yes I have noticed a few things:

• I am less stressed, before I wanted to drink or at least end the stupid counting cycle and the whole "I am not drinking" just got tiring. It was like a constant mental drain on me towards the end

• One probably bad sign is I am now feeling myself in the same cycle as before. Even now as I sit here on a Thursday afternoon, I am feeling the urge to start drinking as I am coming to the end of a busy day (WFH), football is on tv, the weather is rubbish and I'm just a bit stressed.

• Feel bloated and definitely fluffier than before. I drank a bit on Friday and a lot on Saturday. Already I see my stomach is a lot more bloated than before.

.........

I've stopped a few times. What drained me towards the end this time was I had absolutely no benefits from not drinking (that I could feel). I was sleeping terrible for about two months.

I felt depressed, irritable. I was always wound up and angry. I felt unfit. Exercise wasn't well, running and cycling, gym work was a mixed bag.
In other instances when I have stopped it's always been a very different feel - in fact it was when I first gave up this time.

As I said, no regrets about drinking - not going to say I will continue but I just wanted to mentally reset and rid myself of the stupid counting of days. If I stop again, I'll just stop, no counting and I won't tell others about it like I did before

[thebraketester]

1st April marked 12 months off the booze for me. I still miss it but the benefits far outweigh the desire to want to start drinking again.

[d_a_n1979]

I've been off since Nov now

I've had a few issues with my body trying to kill me over the last 3 years and one issue raised its ugly head in October and been on the strong pain killers from them up until late Feb, as it took me nearly a month to wean myself off them after the op early Jan 2024

Another issue has come back to haunt me (post gallbladder removal) and drink just does not appeal to me... I'm struggling with food at the best of times, so booze on top is just a no go for me...

Am I missing it? Not really although sometimes on a Sat afternoon; a bottle of ale after a hard slog of training mid morning and then doing stuff in the gardens works up a thirst

I'm a huge whisky fan too with LOTS of bottles...

But none of it, currently, is appealing to me and happy to keep it that way for now...

I do feel better for being off it!

[swanseaboydan]

Hit 6 months sober last week - feels amazing.
I’m kind of used to it now but I do worry about the spring / summer beer garden temptations. . Just new to keep strong - for me it’s been worth it - especially in terms of mental health

[tim jb]

Three weeks for me tomorrow. Motivated by a feeling of fullness and a burning / side stitch sensation below the ribs where the liver is. Narrowed it down to gastritis or a fatty liver, probably something more sinister knowing my luck but alcohol's a trigger. Hopefully it's a reversible fatty liver and it recoveres with abstinance, time will tell

[Blib]

swanseaboydan said:

Hit 6 months sober last week - feels amazing.
I’m kind of used to it now but I do worry about the spring / summer beer garden temptations. . Just new to keep strong - for me it’s been worth it - especially in terms of mental health

No need to concern yourself about those right now.

Many on here have already coped with those type of situations and you'll get plenty of support if you need it when the time comes.

[Blib]

tim jb said:

Three weeks for me tomorrow. Motivated by a feeling of fullness and a burning / side stitch sensation below the ribs where the liver is. Narrowed it down to gastritis or a fatty liver, probably something more sinister knowing my luck but alcohol's a trigger. Hopefully it's a reversible fatty liver and it recoveres with abstinance, time will tell

What changes, if any, have you noticed so far?

[tim jb]

Blib said:

What changes, if any, have you noticed so far?

Not many positives at the moment. Abstinence has taken the sting out of the sensation I feel under the ribs but I'm still aware of it, more time required with that. The worst thing is I've been plagued by very vivid detailed dreams which leave me wiped out with fatigue the next day. I will be sticking this out anyway; 21 days sober.

[d_a_n1979]

tim jb said:

Three weeks for me tomorrow. Motivated by a feeling of fullness and a burning / side stitch sensation below the ribs where the liver is. Narrowed it down to gastritis or a fatty liver, probably something more sinister knowing my luck but alcohol's a trigger. Hopefully it's a reversible fatty liver and it recoveres with abstinance, time will tell

Could also be gallbladder issues; if you keep getting the sensations, get yourself checked out, believe me, it's not nice if it catches you out