Unexpected side effect of stopping drinking
Discussion
Hi all, this is a weird one. Since lockdown I have been drinking red wine, which has progressed in the last year particularly to kind of dependence, although in a functioning capacity. I have not engaged on here up until now, although I have read a lot of the threads around drinking without contributing.
I have faced a lot of emotional challenges in the last two years and since stopping, all the emotions have come to the surface and essentially forced me to deal with them and square them away without drink being involved. I feel I'm coming out the end of a tunnel now. I have stopped regularly drinking for around 4 weeks now, and I feel much better for it and I'm in a much better place.
One aspect though has surprised me, and I'll come right out with it, despite my embarrassment. My sex drive has become really low and my erections very intermittent and 'non-stable' shall we say. I kind of thought it was the opposite when stopping alcohol consumption? Everything I've read on the medial pages on various health websites indicate an increase in arousal/testosterone/erections etc, yet I seem to have somehow gone the other way. Has anyone else experienced this when knocking the old vino on the head?
FYi I'm 38 and not overweight and feeling happier than in a long time, and everything is great with Miss Badger.
I have faced a lot of emotional challenges in the last two years and since stopping, all the emotions have come to the surface and essentially forced me to deal with them and square them away without drink being involved. I feel I'm coming out the end of a tunnel now. I have stopped regularly drinking for around 4 weeks now, and I feel much better for it and I'm in a much better place.
One aspect though has surprised me, and I'll come right out with it, despite my embarrassment. My sex drive has become really low and my erections very intermittent and 'non-stable' shall we say. I kind of thought it was the opposite when stopping alcohol consumption? Everything I've read on the medial pages on various health websites indicate an increase in arousal/testosterone/erections etc, yet I seem to have somehow gone the other way. Has anyone else experienced this when knocking the old vino on the head?
FYi I'm 38 and not overweight and feeling happier than in a long time, and everything is great with Miss Badger.
Panamax said:
popeyewhite said:
Any addiction involves dopamine release and you've over-stimulated.
Interesting. Can you expand on that concept? i.e. How it works during addiction and resultant effects during withdrawal. "As a result of habitual intake of addictive drugs, dopamine receptors expressed in the brain are decreased, thereby reducing interest in activities not already stamped in by habitual rewards"
Speed Badger said:
Hi all, this is a weird one. Since lockdown I have been drinking red wine, which has progressed in the last year particularly to kind of dependence, although in a functioning capacity. I have not engaged on here up until now, although I have read a lot of the threads around drinking without contributing.
I have faced a lot of emotional challenges in the last two years and since stopping, all the emotions have come to the surface and essentially forced me to deal with them and square them away without drink being involved. I feel I'm coming out the end of a tunnel now. I have stopped regularly drinking for around 4 weeks now, and I feel much better for it and I'm in a much better place.
One aspect though has surprised me, and I'll come right out with it, despite my embarrassment. My sex drive has become really low and my erections very intermittent and 'non-stable' shall we say. I kind of thought it was the opposite when stopping alcohol consumption? Everything I've read on the medial pages on various health websites indicate an increase in arousal/testosterone/erections etc, yet I seem to have somehow gone the other way. Has anyone else experienced this when knocking the old vino on the head?
FYi I'm 38 and not overweight and feeling happier than in a long time, and everything is great with Miss Badger.
I have had the same, when I drink my sex drive is through the roof, especially next morning. I have been through phases as you described. Use wine to reduce stress and anxiety a lot and have at time ended up drinking very heavily.I have faced a lot of emotional challenges in the last two years and since stopping, all the emotions have come to the surface and essentially forced me to deal with them and square them away without drink being involved. I feel I'm coming out the end of a tunnel now. I have stopped regularly drinking for around 4 weeks now, and I feel much better for it and I'm in a much better place.
One aspect though has surprised me, and I'll come right out with it, despite my embarrassment. My sex drive has become really low and my erections very intermittent and 'non-stable' shall we say. I kind of thought it was the opposite when stopping alcohol consumption? Everything I've read on the medial pages on various health websites indicate an increase in arousal/testosterone/erections etc, yet I seem to have somehow gone the other way. Has anyone else experienced this when knocking the old vino on the head?
FYi I'm 38 and not overweight and feeling happier than in a long time, and everything is great with Miss Badger.
When I quit my sex drives drops, its like flicking a switch. It will come back but it takes time. Some of the effects of quitting are quite instant and others take weeks, sometimes months to come through.
4 weeks isn't really any amount of time for proper change.
90 days is a good target to aim for you should really see some change by then.
Alcohol explained is a good book to go for or there is a good podcast which is an easy listen and goes into some of the science around 90days
Why Giving Up Alcohol Could Change Your Life: Andy Ramage | Dr Rangan Chatterjee
90 days is a good target to aim for you should really see some change by then.
Alcohol explained is a good book to go for or there is a good podcast which is an easy listen and goes into some of the science around 90days
Why Giving Up Alcohol Could Change Your Life: Andy Ramage | Dr Rangan Chatterjee
Since I stopped regular heavy drinking I'm now "performing" better than I had for a long time, took a little while for this to happen form ending drinking but for me it is the case. I'd give it time and if no change in say 3 months then see a Dr. Also I think that over thinking it, and focussing on it will only make it worse. Focus on being healthy, detoxing etc and the "performance" may well return imo. I'm not a Dr, this is just my experience.
I think as others have said, it takes quite a while for the body to adjust to reduced or stopped alcohol consumption. When it goes through that adjustment there are a number of counter intuitive things that happen. If you think of it your body has got used to operating in a particular chemical state. You change that & the body gets imbalanced until it find s its new normal. 4 weeks is not long in the scheme of things for your body to adjust.
popeyewhite said:
First Google "As a result of habitual intake of addictive drugs, dopamine receptors expressed in the brain are decreased, thereby reducing interest in activities not already stamped in by habitual rewards"
That seems to be talking about an effect during addiction, not an effect that would only begin after addiction has ceased..Thank you all for the replies so far, at least I'm someone else has experienced similar issues. It does seem perhaps the answer is the body chemistry is going through changes and needs time to settle down.
I'm not at the level where if I have a drink I'll be back on the booze, I'm just limiting my alcohol intake to special occasions/going out etc (which isn't that often), just once in a while when me and Miss Badger get a free evening without the small girl child, as opposed to it being 'Friday'. We have both stopped having wine randomly at home, Thursday recycling day was getting embarrassing, tipping 8 empty bottles of wine into the box.
I might have a look into the little blue pill, for a bit of reassurance and possibly a bit of extra fun. I had always considered it an old man thing, feels stupid to think about that still in my 30's.
I'm not at the level where if I have a drink I'll be back on the booze, I'm just limiting my alcohol intake to special occasions/going out etc (which isn't that often), just once in a while when me and Miss Badger get a free evening without the small girl child, as opposed to it being 'Friday'. We have both stopped having wine randomly at home, Thursday recycling day was getting embarrassing, tipping 8 empty bottles of wine into the box.
I might have a look into the little blue pill, for a bit of reassurance and possibly a bit of extra fun. I had always considered it an old man thing, feels stupid to think about that still in my 30's.
Speed Badger said:
I might have a look into the little blue pill, for a bit of reassurance and possibly a bit of extra fun. I had always considered it an old man thing, feels stupid to think about that still in my 30's.
The liitle blue pill will increase your erectile ability, but not your libido, ie desire for the opposite sex. You're doing well though, you'll be OK, just needs a little time.Well I tried the blue pill, nothing really happened to be honest, just intermittent as usual. Although it did give me a massive headache which kind of ruined any mood I was in anyway.
There is also another weird side effect. Since I stopped drinking I also started eating healthily, and knocking takeaways on the head, been going on a fast 2 mile walk in a hilly area, started doing sit-ups and stopped snacking on random things but having more fruit and veg. I have managed to put on 2 pounds every week for the last month, to the point I've put on half a stone and now my (medium) jeans and t shirts etc are feeling snug. I have gone from 12st to 12st 9lbs since stopping drinking, cutting out unhealthy snacks and getting more exercise.
I'm really f
king depressed to be honest, I thought I would feel the exact opposite of how I do.
There is also another weird side effect. Since I stopped drinking I also started eating healthily, and knocking takeaways on the head, been going on a fast 2 mile walk in a hilly area, started doing sit-ups and stopped snacking on random things but having more fruit and veg. I have managed to put on 2 pounds every week for the last month, to the point I've put on half a stone and now my (medium) jeans and t shirts etc are feeling snug. I have gone from 12st to 12st 9lbs since stopping drinking, cutting out unhealthy snacks and getting more exercise.
I'm really f
king depressed to be honest, I thought I would feel the exact opposite of how I do.I've never tried them but I believe it is a common side effect to the extent that many people take them with a couple of paracetamol to combat the headache.
You are only a few weeks in, it can take a while for the effects of stopping drinking to really kick in, if you are doing more exercise you may well be putting a bit of muscle on which is offsetting your fat loss, it could also be you are actually eating more calories now than you were before since the weight gain.
about 3 months ago I embarked on a significant cut down of drinking paired with multiple sessions a week with a personal trainer, my weight hasn't really changed but my strength and bodyshape have really changed, I actually feel much fitter as well, but the feeling better has only really kicked in over the last 3-4 weeks.
You are only a few weeks in, it can take a while for the effects of stopping drinking to really kick in, if you are doing more exercise you may well be putting a bit of muscle on which is offsetting your fat loss, it could also be you are actually eating more calories now than you were before since the weight gain.
about 3 months ago I embarked on a significant cut down of drinking paired with multiple sessions a week with a personal trainer, my weight hasn't really changed but my strength and bodyshape have really changed, I actually feel much fitter as well, but the feeling better has only really kicked in over the last 3-4 weeks.
Speed Badger said:
Thank you all for the replies so far, at least I'm someone else has experienced similar issues. It does seem perhaps the answer is the body chemistry is going through changes and needs time to settle down.
I'm not at the level where if I have a drink I'll be back on the booze, I'm just limiting my alcohol intake to special occasions/going out etc (which isn't that often), just once in a while when me and Miss Badger get a free evening without the small girl child, as opposed to it being 'Friday'. We have both stopped having wine randomly at home, Thursday recycling day was getting embarrassing, tipping 8 empty bottles of wine into the box.
I might have a look into the little blue pill, for a bit of reassurance and possibly a bit of extra fun. I had always considered it an old man thing, feels stupid to think about that still in my 30's.
This bit jumped out of your post at me OP.I'm not at the level where if I have a drink I'll be back on the booze, I'm just limiting my alcohol intake to special occasions/going out etc (which isn't that often), just once in a while when me and Miss Badger get a free evening without the small girl child, as opposed to it being 'Friday'. We have both stopped having wine randomly at home, Thursday recycling day was getting embarrassing, tipping 8 empty bottles of wine into the box.
I might have a look into the little blue pill, for a bit of reassurance and possibly a bit of extra fun. I had always considered it an old man thing, feels stupid to think about that still in my 30's.
How old is your kid? Ours is 8 now, but when he was younger we were both just so bloody tired by the whole parenting experience that it killed any bedroom action for a short while. Neither of us wanted to indulge because we were just shattered all the time. Getting some quality sleep helps on that score.
We'd also, when 'trying for a baby' had to have timetabled pre-arranged bouts of getting down to it, when my wife was ovulating. Don't get me started about 'the window' during her cycle and all that business. As a result the spontaneous nature of it was all lost, which completely dampened my enthusiasm for it. This carried on post birth for a while, it took some time for normality to resume.
PurpleTurtle said:
This bit jumped out of your post at me OP.
How old is your kid? Ours is 8 now, but when he was younger we were both just so bloody tired by the whole parenting experience that it killed any bedroom action for a short while. Neither of us wanted to indulge because we were just shattered all the time. Getting some quality sleep helps on that score.
We'd also, when 'trying for a baby' had to have timetabled pre-arranged bouts of getting down to it, when my wife was ovulating. Don't get me started about 'the window' during her cycle and all that business. As a result the spontaneous nature of it was all lost, which completely dampened my enthusiasm for it. This carried on post birth for a while, it took some time for normality to resume.
The girl child is 7 in a few weeks. It usually ends up with one of us being stressed after doing bedtime and then a couple of bottles of wine (although not now). We've been having a few more nights out lately, but they rarely end in anything of a graphic nature due to us being so tired/drunk after unwinding!How old is your kid? Ours is 8 now, but when he was younger we were both just so bloody tired by the whole parenting experience that it killed any bedroom action for a short while. Neither of us wanted to indulge because we were just shattered all the time. Getting some quality sleep helps on that score.
We'd also, when 'trying for a baby' had to have timetabled pre-arranged bouts of getting down to it, when my wife was ovulating. Don't get me started about 'the window' during her cycle and all that business. As a result the spontaneous nature of it was all lost, which completely dampened my enthusiasm for it. This carried on post birth for a while, it took some time for normality to resume.
I'm going to push through and keep doing what I'm doing and hopefully my body chemistry will start getting itself sorted. It probably didn't come across in my post but I am absolutely feeling happier within myself generally without drinking all the time, I was just depressed at the increase in weight and lethargy.
Speed Badger said:
Well I tried the blue pill, nothing really happened to be honest, just intermittent as usual. Although it did give me a massive headache which kind of ruined any mood I was in anyway.
There is also another weird side effect. Since I stopped drinking I also started eating healthily, and knocking takeaways on the head, been going on a fast 2 mile walk in a hilly area, started doing sit-ups and stopped snacking on random things but having more fruit and veg. I have managed to put on 2 pounds every week for the last month, to the point I've put on half a stone and now my (medium) jeans and t shirts etc are feeling snug. I have gone from 12st to 12st 9lbs since stopping drinking, cutting out unhealthy snacks and getting more exercise.
I'm really fking depressed to be honest, I thought I would feel the exact opposite of how I do.
If only 38 you're probably increasing muscle with all the extra walking/ working out which is denser....really wouldn't stress it...There is also another weird side effect. Since I stopped drinking I also started eating healthily, and knocking takeaways on the head, been going on a fast 2 mile walk in a hilly area, started doing sit-ups and stopped snacking on random things but having more fruit and veg. I have managed to put on 2 pounds every week for the last month, to the point I've put on half a stone and now my (medium) jeans and t shirts etc are feeling snug. I have gone from 12st to 12st 9lbs since stopping drinking, cutting out unhealthy snacks and getting more exercise.
I'm really f
king depressed to be honest, I thought I would feel the exact opposite of how I do.I went on a juice detox and piled on 13lbs in 3 weeks....
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